The photographic guide to schooling your horse

To get the best from your horse and to improve your riding you need to spend time training together, and lessons with an instructor are an ideal way to do this.

But your trainer can't always be there and it's not always possible to see when things are going wrong.

Now help is at hand. Lesley Bayley has worked closely with trainer Jon Bowen, who coaches international eventer Jeanette Breakwell, and with Bob Mayhew, the founder of the Western Equestrian Society, to produce this comprehensive guide to schooling your horse.

All the basics, such as teaching the horse to flex properly when riding circles and how to change pace without resistance, are shown in specially photographed step-by-step sequences.

Trouble shooting panels tell you what mistakes to watch out for and how to put them right.

If jumping is the area you are interested in, there are gridwork exercises and advice on using polework to help you vary your horse's lessons and improve your own position.

A final section on Western riding techniques shows you how to perform the basic tests required in reining classes, or introduce new ideas to those wishing to cross-train their horse in this growing equestrian field.