Lessons in Lightness: The Art of Educating the Horse Russell, Mark; Steele, Andrea W. and Drummond, Bettina

Drawing on the theories of the old dressage masters-Riding in Lightness shows how a rider at any level can greatly benefit from traditional dressage techniques and exercises. Written by a thirty-year veteran horse trainer, this is the only book that takes the core elements of classical dressage and applies them as the basis for good general horsemanship today.
The reader learns to:
-Relax the horse and release tension from the horse's body
- Open energy blocks, allowing access to direct all parts of the horse's body
- Direct the horse in an academic way, building the strength necessary for the horse to balance in self-carriage

With this step-by-step program, both horse and rider learn from each other. The rider is trained to focus on subtle nuances of communication, while the horse develops gymnastically so he can respond correctly to the aids. Once
the horse masters the basic exercises, the rider not only has a very ridable horse but one that can perform and advance in almost any discipline for which it is suited-from western pleasure and performance riding to show jumping and dressage.

Veteran horse trainer Mark Russell studied twenty years ago with legendary dressage master Nuno Oliveira, an experience that revealed to him the concept of riding in lightness and forever changed his outlook on horsemanship. Today he trains horses and riders from his home base in Tennessee.

Andrea W. Steele is a native of England and a lifelong equestrian. She met Mark Russell in the early 1980s and has followed his vision for riding in lightness ever since. She lives on a small farm in Durham, Connecticut, with her husband and their horses and many other animals.