A Reading List for Classical Riders

Here’s an ever-growing list of books for the classical riding enthusiast! More will be named soon. We’re focusing on books that are currently translated at this point in this list, but we’ll likely add some that have yet to be translated into English in a separate section.

By the Old Masters pre-1900 (from less difficulty to greater)

• On Horsemanship – Xenophon
• Gymnasium of the Horse – Gustav Steinbrecht
• School of Horsemanship – Francois Robichon de la Gueriniere
• The Book of Horsemanship – Dom Duarte I of Portugal
• Instruction of the King/Manege du Roy – Antoine de Pluvinel
• Fragments by Max Ritter von Weyrother
• Rules of Riding – Frederico Grisone

By Newer Masters post-1900

• Complete Training of Horse and Rider – Alois Podhajsky
• Dressage in Harmony – Walter Zettl
• Notebooks from the Spanish Riding School – Charles Harris
• You Decide! – Christin Krischke
• The Art of Classical Horsemanship – Egon von Neindorff
• Reflections on Equestrian Art – Nuno Oliveira

By Contemporary Riders

• Classical Dressage – Anja Beran
• When Two Spines Align – Beth Baumert
• Balance in Movement – Suzanne von Dietze

Books About Dressage History

• The Austrian Art of Riding – Werner Poscharnigg
• The Italian Tradition of Equestrian Art – Giovanni Battista Tomassini