Book Review - "How Good Riders get GOOD" by Denny Emerson

I just finished Denny's book and I have to say, it is very much in character. I first met Denny in 1995, when I fired a trainer and was stuck with a horse the I couldn't ride. He did eventually find a buyer for this difficult beast, but that's not this story. I had a perfectly good horse for myself at the time, and I would truck up to his farm in VT for lessons and to see my "investment" horse. The thing with Denny is that it didn't matter who you were, how deep your pockets were, or how good you were riding right now.  It's about improving as a rider and a horseman. In this book, Denny explores 7 areas in which we must make choices, and how those choices will affect our prospects for becoming good riders. In a lot of ways, this book applies to more than good riding, it can apply to many things we might do, be it a sport, a hobby, or a business, or pretty much any skill. Denny is very aware that we are all different people, however, he really stresses the age old adage "know thyself." Only by knowing what you want to be can you even begin to figure out how to get there.  I was particularly struck by his chapter on character traits.  As many of my friends know, I have struggled with depression and anxiety stemming from PTSD for nearly my entire life. Unbeknownst to me until recently, riding was my therapy. Now that riding is no longer just therapy, and something that I can choose to become better at (or not, but it's my choice) I have other choices to make. Not just, will I ride today?, or will I go take lessons?, but will I also go to the gym?  Will I work on that diet to loose the weight to become a better athlete? Will I choose to put my frustration aside when the horse and I are having a bad communication day and take a deep breath and work through it instead of loosing my temper? The truly good riders get there by thinking, analyzing, and epic amounts of practice.  Decide what you want to do, and go do it, no excuses. Of course this book is written in Denny's clear and forthright writing style that made him so popular a columnist in the Chronicle of the Horse. Keep your heels down for grounding and your eyes up on the prize. Happy riding all!