Welcome to the Reader's Corner!
Fall 2010
Klaus Balkenhol; The Man and His Training Methods
Authored by Britta Schoeffmann, the book is truly two books in one; the first book being Klaus’s theory behind his training methodology; the second an account of his personal history. Interesting in design, the two texts run concurrently, and each page is divided with the top portion addressing the training piece, the bottom his life story.
Personally, I had a hard time putting the book down. I particularly enjoyed that Klaus had a good deal of input regarding his training methods, it was as if he wrote that piece himself. As well I liked the fact that the information was generously peppered with his opinion and that a classical timeline in regards to training the horse was followed. The last third or so of the information offers the FEI rider or trainer invaluable information regarding correcting faults in the upper level movements.
I did find it somewhat distracting to bounce back and forth between the two texts, as the account of his life was quite interesting. About halfway through, I gave up and continued only reading the training text and once finished I returned to read the rest.
Whether dressage professional or enthusiast……this one is a must read!
Enjoy...JW