Polo Horse Riding

"A marvelous addition to the literature of inspirational sports stories." - Booklist (Starred Review) "This remarkable and inspiring story shines." - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "Crossing the Line will not just leave you with hope, but also ideas on how to make that hope transferable” - New York Times bestselling author Wes Moore An inspiring memoir of defying the odds from Kareem Rosser, captain of the first all-black squad to win the National Interscholastic Polo championship. Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Kareem thought he and his siblings would always be stuck in “The Bottom”, a community and neighborhood devastated by poverty and violence. Riding their bicycles through Philly’s Fairmount Park, Kareem’s brothers discover a barn full of horses. Noticing the brothers’ fascination with her misfit animals, Lezlie Hiner, founder of The Work to Ride stables, offers them their escape: an after school job in exchange for riding lessons. What starts as an accidental discovery turns into a love for horseback riding that leads the Rossers to discovering their passion for polo. Pursuing the sport with determination and discipline, Kareem earns his place among the typically exclusive players in college, becoming part of the first all-Black national interscholastic polo championship team—all while struggling to keep his family together. Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Their Lives Forever is the story of bonds of brotherhood, family loyalty, the transformative connection between man and horse, and forging a better future that comes from overcoming impossible odds.

A compelling look at a lifetime of success competing with horses, and what it takes to make sure it is the horse that always wins. Is it possible to be simultaneously passionate about winning in an equestrian sport and about the welfare of horses? Professional polo player Adam Snow and sport horse veterinarian Shelley Onderdonk answer this undeniably twenty-first-century question with a resounding, “Yes!” They have spent a lifetime together, nurturing Adam’s astounding career at the top of his sport (he is the last American polo player to achieve the perfect 10-goal handicap) with the artful, conscientious care and training of the equine partners he needed to be the best. And Shelley’s twenty-five years as an equine veterinarian have been spent helping sport horses compete at the highest levels in other disciplines, as well—including reining, racing, eventing, show jumping, and dressage—while always prioritizing long-term health and well-being. In these pages, Adam and Shelley share the keys to their success…and the struggles and celebrations that taught them along the way. Through the lens of their disparate and yet synchronous experiences in the intense realm of world-class equestrian sport, they explore topics of concern and those worthy of consideration, including the: • Role of natural training methods and horse-human communication • Cultivation of a competitive training mindset • Responsibility of a veterinary team member: goals of prevention and realities of diagnosis • Options offered by therapeutic alternatives • Best steps when preparing human and horse for competition • Hard questions to ask when maintaining an equine athlete • Pieces that make up the performance puzzle: conditioning, farriery, tack, and travel • Reality of retirement and when it is the right thing to do, for horse and human Smart, engaging, and honest, this book is the answer to the online debates and the boardroom arguments. With intelligence and experience, the authors provide the much-needed antidote to the dark side of horse sports. “Our story is an explicit acknowledgement that doing good for the horse is good for results in the competitive arena,” they write. “Our task is to explain our method, and yours is to prove that it can be replicated.”

"The Complete Guide to Polo is the perfect resource for anyone interested in finding out more about this exciting game, especially those new to the sport. It discusses the history and evolution of the sport that we know today and its migration from India to Asia to Europe, and finally the Americas. It describes in detail the equipment used by both horse and rider, and offers advice on choosing one kind of equipment over another. The book covers the horsemanship skills needed to excel in the game, and breaks down the swing into bite-sized chunks for analysis. It looks at basic polo strategy, explains the finer aspects of the rules of the sport, and compares the differences between the US and UK rule books. All in all it offers a great foundation for the beginner or intermediate player, the patron, or the spectator."--Publisher's description.

This vintage book contains the equestrian polo edition of the "Spalding's Athletic Library" series. This profusely illustrated handbook includes information on all aspects of equestrian polo from the rules of the game to horsemanship and beyond. This volume is highly recommended for those with an interest in polo and is not to be missed by collectors of vintage sporting literature. Contents include: "Pony Polo and How to Play it", "The Game and Equipment", "How to Play the Game", "Number One", "Number Two", "Number Three", "Number Four", "Points about the Ponies", "Polo in the United States", "Polo Association Championships", "Ranking of Polo Association Players", "The Polo Association", et cetera. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are now republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on horses used for sports and utility.

This collection of articles were originally published in equestrian magazines in the early part of the 20th century. Carefully selecting the best articles from our collection we have compiled a series of historical and informative publications on the subject of horse riding. The titles in this range include 'The Use of Horses in the Military, ' 'The Sport of Point-to-Point Horse Riding, ' 'Holidays on Horseback, ' and many more. Each publication has been professionally curated and includes all details on the original source material. This particular instalment, 'The Sport of Polo' contains a variety of articles on the history and technique of polo riding. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editio

Horses allow ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and this extraordinary ebook shows you how. Now revised and updated, the Complete Horse Riding Manual covers dressage, show jumping, and cross-country riding, detailing everything you need to know to compete in these events, whether you are a beginner or more experienced rider. Complete Horse Riding Manual is brimming with advice on finding the best horse for you, training a young horse, forming the ultimate horse-and-rider team, boosting and maintaining your own physical fitness and suppleness, and building the fitness and stamina of your horse.

This vintage book contains a comprehensible guide to horse shoeing, focusing on shoeing race horses, polo horses, horses used for hunting, and draft animals. The timeless information in this handbook will be of considerable utility to farriers and horse owners alike, and it is not to be missed by collectors of vintage equestrian literature. Contents include: “Polo Horses”, “Hunters and Jumpers”, “Draft Animals”, “Definition”, “Bar Shoe”, “Beveled-edge Shoe”, “Cotts and Corrective Shoeing”, “Fundamentals of Correcting Faults in Gaits”, “Square-Toe Shoe”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on horses used for sports and utility.

As seen on The Today Show A Good Morning America, Vanity Fair, TODAY, NYLON and PureWow Best Book of May and a Publishers Weekly and Boston.com Best Book of Summer An Amazon Best Book of 2022 So Far (Biography & Memoir Category) Sharp, heartfelt, and cathartic, The Year of the Horses captures a woman’s journey out of depression and the horses that guide her, physically and emotionally, on a new path forward. At the age of thirty-seven, Courtney Maum finds herself in an indoor arena in Connecticut, moments away from stepping back into the saddle. For her, this is not just a riding lesson, but a last-ditch attempt to pull herself back from the brink even though riding is a relic from the past she walked away from. She hasn’t been on or near a horse in over thirty years. Although Maum does know what depression looks like, she finds herself refusing to admit, at this point in her life, that it could look like her: a woman with a privileged past, a mortgage, a husband, a healthy child, and a published novel. That she feels sadness is undeniable, but she feels no right to claim it. And when both therapy and medication fail, Courtney returns to her childhood passion of horseback riding as a way to recover the joy and fearlessness she once had access to as a young girl. As she finds her way, once again, through the world of contemporary horseback riding—Courtney becomes reacquainted with herself not only as a rider but as a mother, wife, daughter, writer, and woman. Alternating timelines and braided with historical portraits of women and horses alongside history’s attempts to tame both parties, The Year of the Horses is an inspiring love letter to the power of animals—and humans—to heal the mind and the heart.