101 Drill Team Exercises for Horse and Rider

Book excerpt: Equitation drill teams provide thrilling entertainment at rodeos, horse fairs, and parades. They also participate in competitions that judge timing, originality, speed, uniformity, spacing, overall difficulty, and crowd appeal. Both entertainment and competition require disciplined practice and focused dedication from every member of the team - equine and human. 101 Drill Team Exercises gives riders more than 100 exercises that build the teamwork and good horsemanship skills necessary to every successful team. The exercises progress from basic skill-building drills to fun and challenging synchronized formations, with detailed chapters on circular shapes, linear drills, and daring weaves. Within each chapter the exercises range in difficulty from one diamond (good for beginners) to five diamonds (extremely challenging). Author Debbie Sams concludes the book with 10 complete drills that pull sequences of exercises together into performance routines. From "Threads N' Pinwheels," a simple but impressive two-line mirror drill, to "Good Vibrations," a sure crowd-pleaser choreographed to the catchy Beach Boys tune, these drills are a good measure of the team's skills, and they're great fun to perform. Following the format of four previous books in Storey's successful and practical Read & Ride series, the two-page full-arena diagrams are designed to be hung from a post and referred to from the saddle. Riders can study the clear step-by-step instructions and detailed diagrams, mount their horses, and perform the exercise, always able to look back at the open diagram as necessary.