HORSEWORDS: THE EQUINE DICTIONARY. The Ultimate Reference Book. Maria Belknap. Trafalgar Square Publishing. North Pomfret, VT 05053. 539 pages. 2005.$29.95.

“A” is for Auxois, “B” is for Ballotade, “C” is for Cremello, and “Z” is for Zebroid.

From A to Z, 10,000 (plus or minus) other words and their definitions are found in Maria Belknap’s revised and updated reference work. Some readers will enjoy the book as a leisurely way to explore equine terms and facts, while others may use it to answer an immediate question.

The contents are presented in anyeasily followed format with the entry words displayed in boldface type. The publisher’s choice of an unadorned font allows the reader to quickly and easily study the definitions.

Maria Belknap, a resident of the West Coast (Oregon and California), writes for the equine- and adventure-travel market. She’s previously published the Horseman’s English/Spanish Dictionary.

Thousands of entries cover a wide range of topics, including breeds, diseases, tack and equipment, place names, equine artists, mythology, racing terms and horses of historical figures.

If we accept the definition of “ultimate” to be that of “representing the greatest possible development, sophistication or significance,” there will be a few disappointments in store for the reader. Both Cushing’s syndrome and Lyme disease are omitted, while many other afflictions and illnesses are identified. But the absence of these two not-so-rare maladies is noteworthy.

Also missing is British master painter George Stubbs (1724-1806). But the brief career of French artist Jean Luis Gericault (1791-1824) gets six lines.

And while not all dictionaries have illustrations, one calling itself “the ultimate” might be expected to include drawings or sketches to clarify a definition.

Useful for research or as an authority for a game of “equine pursuit,” it is an interesting compilation of words and their definitions. While it falls short of being “ultimate,” where else can you discover that the hobbles Standardbred trotters and pacers wear to keep them from breaking gait were originally called “Indiana Pants”? Cynthia Curran

DESIGN AND BUILD A CROSS-COUNTRY COURSE. Hugh Morshead. Kenilworth Press. Distributed by Half Halt Press, P.O. Box 67, Boonsboro, MD 21713. www.halfhaltpress.com. 192 pp. Illus. 2005. $59.95.

Have you ever wondered how someone can look at a meadow, an open field or a patch of woods and build a cross-country course? Or have you ever wondered why one cross-country course flows smoothly but another forces you to rearrange your horse’s dental plan?

Hugh Morshead has the answers in this well-illustrated book. Morshead has designed courses at all levels in England, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and the United States, and he notes many times that no book could possibly have all the answers to course design and fence construction. Experience, he said, is really the key ingredient to building cross-country jumps properly.

Still, anyone who wants to design schooling or competition jumps will find almost all the information they need here, from materials to tools, from how to prepare the footing to how to get the striding right.

He describes in detail (with photos and drawings) how to build specific portable and permanent fences and how to create centerpieces like banks, steps and a variety of water jumps. And his designs will work whether you’re building on a shoestring or can afford to build another Rolex Kentucky.

Morshead is also a technical delegate and event organizer, so the book is full of tips for those important event personnel.

Here’s a sample of some of Morshead’s best advice: “The hinges of sport are held with little screws, to paraphrase Bismarck. Today, more than ever, there are conflicting elements that a designer has to balance. Courses are expected to be more technical, yet riders and horses have less background experience of riding cross-country. Safety concerns have increased the cost and complexities for organizers and course builders. It is debatable how much the course should do the riding for the riders in the quest for safer courses. If there is an answer, I believe it is that it is in understanding the subtleties of intentional and unintentional illusions.”
John Strassburger

101 DRESSAGE EXERCISES FOR HORSE & RIDER. Jec Aristotle Ballou. Storey Publishing, 210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247. 240 pp. Illus. 2005. $29.95.

Ever find yourself repeating the same flatwork exercises time after time? Perhaps you start out with the best of intentions, but get stuck trying to find that perfect transition. Or do you get bored and decide to go for a hack instead?

101 Dressage Exercises is an excellent resource to make time spent on flatwork more valuable. There really are 101 exercises divided into 11 sections, and progressing in logical order.

It’s really a sort of workbook, and each chapter goes from easier to more difficult as your horse improves. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t flip through if you want something specific to improve the canter or work on lengthening.

The introduction lays out the materials you’ll need to complete the exercises, although it’s nothing more complicated than rails, cones and an arena. Then it
moves into seven different warm-up exercises and a quick discussion of why the warm-up is important.

Each exercise is illustrated with a diagram as well as a description of how to ride the movement, the benefits of doing the exercise, and tips to remember. There is also a key for the level of difficulty.

The chapters focus on the basics of dressage you would expect like looseness, straightness and lateral work. But there are also chapters dedicated to improving the rider’s position and the horse’s fitness. Ballou believes that dressage is important across disciplines and describes how dressage training improved an endurance horse she was training. She also is a proponent of taking dressage horses out of the ring to improve their balance and strength.

As with any workbook, some of the exercises seem more useful than others. Because the 101 Dressage Exercises isn’t aimed at a specific level of rider, some would be totally inappropriate for a green horse and others would be a waste of time for a more experienced one.

This isn’t a “how-to-ride-dressage” book, but a manual of exercises for the dressage enthusiast who needs a little guidance between lessons or the experienced rider looking to improve their horse through educated flatwork. Sara Lieser