After growing up in Rome, Italy, Simon Cocozza was educated in England. The family passion for horses inspired him to study for the British Horse Society's BHSAI, followed by the Instructor training of the Advanced National Certificate in Equine Business Management at Warwickshire College of Equine Studies. This led to many years as a professional trainer contracted to some of England's large equestrian centers. After returning to mainland Europe, Cocozza studied with some wonderful mentors and became driven to overcome the limits set by the horse industry on horses, and to discover the unifying principles behind Greek, Roman, and the Renaissance school of equestrian art to find ways of helping each and every horse be as healthy, happy and useful as he can be. Cocozza became the first non-French national to obtain the Brevet Professionnel and become a Trainer and Examiner for the La Fédération Française d'Equitation (FFE). He now coaches biomechanically sound training techniques internationally. He's based in Normandy, France.

Introduction 1 Part One: Understanding the Horse's Core 7 1 The Back: Where All Movement Begins 9 The Magic Inside Every Horse 9 Mother Nature's Perfect Design 10 The Silent Language of the Herbivore 20 Riding "Feels" 22 Taming the "Snorting Beast" 24 Releasing the Natural Athlete 28 2 The Source of Force in the Horse: The Core 37 The Power of Three Will Set You Free 44 The Dark Side of the Core 54 3 Horses Are People, Too 65 The Human Touch 66 Using the Warm-Up to Condition the Core 68 Yoga: Kind to the Core 72 4 Assessing the Horse's Core and Choosing a Warm-Up Plan 81 The Core Score 82 Non-Ridden Core Indicators 100 Choosing Your Warm-Up Plan 107 Putting It All Together 110 Special Considerations 111 Part Two: The Core Conditioning Exercises 115 5 How to Ride from the Horse's Core 117 Building Blocks: What You Need to Know for the Core Exercises 119 The Three Exercise Levels: Release, Coordination, and Tone 123 Head-and-Neck Positions (HNP) 130 Yoga-Inspired Warm-Up Aids 136 6 10 Core Exercises for the Horse 151 Getting Started 151 Exercise 1: The Half-Moon Pose/The Core Release Volte 156 Exercise 2: The Yoga Half-Split/The Turn on the Forehand 169 Exercise 3: The Cat Pose/Forward,, Down, and Out (FDO) 186 Exercise 4: The Balancing Table to Tiptoe Chair Poses/Forward and Back 198 Exercise 5: The Chair Pose/The Driving Seat 211 Exercise 6: The Garland Pose/The Rounding Rein-Back 223 Exercise 7: The Revolved Triangle Pose/The Limbering Leg-Yield 238 Exercise 8: Thread the Needle Pose/The Perfect Pirouette 250 Exercise 9: The Cat to Cow Pose/Forward, Down, and Out to Competition Outline 264 Exercise 10: The Revolved Half-Moon Pose/La Giravolta Longe 274 7 Happy Bendy Horsey! Practice Makes Perfect 288 Acknowledgments 291 Index 293