{"product_id":"natural-horsemanship-based-on-a-passionate-riding-instructors-papers-by-otto-de-lacroix-with-an-appendix-by-paul-plinzner","title":"Natural Horsemanship based on a passionate riding instructor's papers by Otto de LaCroix with an Appendix by Paul Plinzner","description":"\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"whitespace-normal\"\u003eNatural Horsemanship based on a Passionate Riding Instructor's Papers\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, by \u003cspan class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"whitespace-normal\"\u003eOtto de LaCroix\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e with an Appendix by Paul Plinzner\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"26\" data-end=\"465\"\u003eFirst published in its expanded second edition in Berlin in 1905, this book is one of the most intellectually rigorous and quietly radical works in the history of classical horsemanship. Long unavailable to modern readers, it now returns as a vital document in the ongoing conversation about horse-friendly training, balance, and true self-carriage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"467\" data-end=\"1251\"\u003eEmerging at a moment when the riding world was sharply divided, the book addresses the great controversy of its time: whether correct riding begins at the horse’s head and forehand, or whether posture and expression can only arise as consequences of correct balance, engagement, and seat-driven impulsion. The debate was personified by two towering figures—\u003cstrong data-start=\"824\" data-end=\"865\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"whitespace-normal\"\u003eJames Fillis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, admired for brilliance and refinement, and \u003cstrong data-start=\"910\" data-end=\"951\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"whitespace-normal\"\u003ePaul Plinzner\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, advocate of work from back to front. Yet this book refuses to become a partisan manifesto. Instead, it undertakes a far more demanding task: following the rider’s aids through the horse’s body step by step, and asking what must logically occur when anatomy, balance, and natural laws are respected.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1253\" data-end=\"1811\"\u003eBeginning not with dogma but with physical balance, de LaCroix demonstrates how genuine collection arises only from the engagement of the hindquarters, transmitted through an active, elastic back. Contact, flexion, and elevation are shown not as goals to be imposed, but as secondary effects—inevitable outcomes when the horse is ridden in harmony with its natural structure. Methods that manipulate the forehand in isolation may produce convincing appearances, the author argues, but they do so at the expense of internal connection and long-term soundness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1813\" data-end=\"2397\"\u003eRemarkably modern in tone, the book anticipates today’s discussions of biomechanics, back activity, welfare, and self-carriage with striking clarity. Its relevance lies not only in its historical importance, but in its method: authority is withheld, names are downplayed, and the reader is invited to judge solely by coherence and consequence. Only at the end does the author reveal that editor, author, and original publisher were one and the same—an intentional gesture underscoring the book’s central claim that truth in horsemanship cannot rest on reputation, only on natural law.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1813\" data-end=\"2397\"\u003eThe Chapter Titles:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e1. The Artificial and Natural Foundations of Campaign Riding (field riding)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e2. The Back and its Importance for the Horse’s Gaits\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e3. The Rider’s Aids and their Relationship to the Horse’s Movement\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e4. On Collection, and the Rider’s Aids for Achieve It\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e5. Purpose and Importance of the Lateral Movements in Dressage\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHow They are to be Executed. Conclusions for the Training\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e6. The Hard and the Soft Side of the Horse\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e7. About the Rider’s Aids on the \"Bent\" or Crooked Horse\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e8. The Plinzner system — Fillis — Natural Horsemanship\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2399\" data-end=\"2651\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003eFor riders, trainers, and scholars seeking a deeper foundation than fashion or slogans, \u003cem data-start=\"2487\" data-end=\"2564\"\u003eNatural Horsemanship According to the Papers of a Passionate Riding Teacher\u003c\/em\u003e remains as challenging, humane, and necessary today as it was more than a century ago.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2399\" data-end=\"2651\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2399\" data-end=\"2651\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003eHere's an excellent excerpt: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2399\" data-end=\"2651\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003e\"Most appropriate to the canter is the sequence:\u003cbr\u003e“Counter shoulder-in – Travers – Shoulder-in – Renvers,” whereby the latter is either used for the change or appears as an immediately renewed counter shoulder-\u003cbr\u003ein as a gliding, breath-like transition. The entire process plays itself out, so to speak, inwardly between rider and horse.\u003cbr\u003eFor example: \u003cstrong\u003eright rein canter\u003c\/strong\u003e! A minimal pressing of the left seat bone inward, firm tension of the corresponding rein, and pressing drive bring the horse almost imperceptibly into the right aids (\u003cstrong\u003ecounter shoulder-in\u003c\/strong\u003e); the rein fingers vibrate, the right seat bone swings the received central weight outward to generate \u003cstrong\u003etravers\u003c\/strong\u003e; left seat bone and the forehand, using the restrained soft pressure of the outer rein, push the forehand inward as if working on a very tight right volte, while the right aids merely continue the previous activity more softly (\u003cstrong\u003eshoulder-in\u003c\/strong\u003e), until in the next moment—drawing in, it presses the horse to the left, while these, just as before toward travers, counter-bend the right. There is then a breath of \u003cstrong\u003erenvers\u003c\/strong\u003e present, which either immediately transitions to counter shoulder-in, the right\u003cbr\u003eaids swinging in continuous attachment into the tight left volte, whereupon the\u003cbr\u003ecycle is complete and begins anew; or the transition to \u003cstrong\u003erenvers\u003c\/strong\u003e is executed with a bit more accentuation, after which the right aids behave imperceptibly, the left drive imperceptibly, and \u003cstrong\u003ethe change occurs\u003c\/strong\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslation by Richard F. Williams Copyright 2026\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Xenophon Press","offers":[{"title":"Patron Pre-Publication Pair (2 books including a copy of Principles of Equitation: a Swiss Cavalry Manual)","offer_id":44369678925875,"sku":"sku-46916211474581","price":60.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"All ages","offer_id":44369678958643,"sku":"XEN-Croix","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0694\/6258\/9491\/files\/FullSizeRender_bfaf327a-8cd3-4569-ad01-ec747ab0cf46.jpg?v=1780183671","url":"https:\/\/baybridle.com\/products\/natural-horsemanship-based-on-a-passionate-riding-instructors-papers-by-otto-de-lacroix-with-an-appendix-by-paul-plinzner","provider":"Bay \u0026 Bridle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}