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Riding Towards the Light

This is Paul Belasik's honest and compelling account of his personal struggle to discover the ultimate truths of dressage riding. His apprenticeship, as he calls it, lasted about thirteen years. It involved traversing thousands of miles. It entailed countless hours of rigorous practice. It meant researching through centuries of literature penned by the great riding masters of the past. It took in hours and hours of observation and lectures from latter-day masters, such as Henri Van Schaik and Nuno Oliveira. It even encompassed the study of Zen Buddhism and martial arts.

Riding Towards the Light provides more than an enthralling narrative. It discusses and offers practical information on important issues such as the use of the seat, hands and legs, balance, and the half-halt. As such it will be of tremendous value to riders, trainers and judges and therefore deserves a place in the library of every dressage enthusiast.

Paul Belasik is a graduate of Cornell University. His articles on horses and horsemanship have appeared in many equestrian publications in the United States, most frequently in The Chronicle of the Horse. He lives in Pennsylvania, where he runs a small training stable.
 

 

"This is a gem and an immensely good read...as well as satisfying the mind this is also a practical book..."

"This is one of the best books I have ever read...As a dressage trainer and former judge. I have a great respect for this author."
  -Pegoty Henriques (HORSE AND HOUND, London)   -the late Chuck Grant
       

"Horsemanship is essentially paradoxical...It is an introduction to the mysteries of BEING a kind of exploration of the Divine...Paul Belasik's report of exploration is a great, great one."

"...I feel, that the most significant contribution is the philosophical dimension which will give readers a fresh perspective...and a sense of fellowship..."
  -Jean-Claude Racinet  

-Eric Herbermann
       

"All serious horsemen continually look for better methods...Here is a tale of an individual's torturous journey to discover the best way to ride to let the horse be at his best."

-Sylvia J. Wilson (Dressage & CT)

 

"Ditto for Belasik’s book. But he proves that dressage is as mental a quest as it is a physical one. Rarely has a horseman revealed so much of himself as Belasik does in discussing his progress toward harmony with the horses by using everything from measuring the angles in the legs of the dressage greates pictured in books to eastern philosophy for coping in the ring."

-Nancy Jeffer (New Jersey Sunday Star-Ledger)

 

"I realize with I like about Belasik, about his book, about his example. It is the integrity. He points us to our own responsibilities, our own choices with great joy and optimism."

"There are a number of very good books about this equine process, among them is Alois Podjasky’s book, My Horses, My Teachers; and another I like is Paul Belasik’s Riding Towards the Light."
  -Richard Weis (The Horse Magazine, Australia)   -Kathy Connelly
       
Published by: J.A. Allen & Co., Ltd.
1 Lower Grosvenor Place
London SW1W0EL, United Kingdom