In which *Endurance 101* gets a "Boekrecensie," so, okay!

Monica is so cool.

When the publisher of the Dutch endurance magazine Her & Der (Here and There) contacted Monica in her persona of Publisher of the Endurance 101 book and asked for a review copy, she smiled and shrugged and sent them a copy of the e-book.

Both of us figured we'd probably never hear from them again.

But we did!

Here's the Google Translate version of the review:   

To begin : What is a good book ! The cover does not look particularly attractive, but that makes the content more than good. The book is written in English not too complicated and easy to read way . the author formulates its objectives very clearly : "Gain the skills you need to succeed with the horse you have and learn what endurance riders mean when they say That to finish is to Win . "

Like most endurance books this book will also be launched with some general text about what endurance is , what the rules are (in this case, the U.S. rules ) and what kind of horse you can practice the sport. This shall include storms , " finding the right horse for a beginning rider endurance is easier than you think . Do you already have a horse ? is he sound ? he can carry a rider ? he is willing and able to move down the trail with you ? if so , you have already found your beginning endurance horse . " This clearly sets the tone of the book . No com-plex hassle, but pragmatic look at what you have and how can you save your note . The author encourages the reader to learn from your horse and other riders / officials .

After a chapter on the search for the right horse discusses tack and clothing . For riders with more experience , this information is probably not very innovative, but for novice combinations can be very instructive chapter - are helpful . After tack and apparel storms in the training of your horse . She gives clear guidance on the treatment ginner for building the training but also drive through water or snow . in the Netherlands is relatively rare that you have a river with your horse , you get abroad that more often . For storms , it is not really special, it can be just as trained as tasting of traffic . topics that are discussed in light tone and she shows how you could practice this you do not feel that you are doing something spectacular . We just do not ? 's Go through a river , why snow ? cha , which may be weeks so adjust a little and continue .

in the book is also devoted considerable attention to the ri - HOURS of competitions , how do you prepare for , how it works , where you have to think and what to do if you lose in " the middle of nowhere ." your horse the chance that you fall into the middle nature of your horse in the Netherlands and do not know where you are is indeed relatively small . But with training or competitions abroad can be useful to know what you should do if you find yourself on the ground with the sound of a galloping horse acting road in the background .

A large part of the book deals with the basics. If you want to learn more and be- ginner and want a book where you can learn how to start, then I definitely recommend you this book . Although I already for a while turn in the endurance I certainly learned things yet . From singing to rate / to keep always graze so he learns that there is eaten immediately after work (useful for the vet gate ) 5 minutes until your horse after training ( to get ) the rhythm of your horse

Apparently, riders in Holland don't much fear getting lost, or crossing water, lol.

I'm not sure what the reviewer means about the unattractive cover, but Monica says (and lytha in Germany concurs, I think) that endurance in Europe is not the family-friendly sport that it is here in the States, so maybe the happy kid/cooperative riders on the front don't seem as pertinent there as they do here?  It's just a guess.

But, as Monica (who is very cool, as I may have mentioned before?) says, perhaps now there will be more singing on the European endurance trails.

To me, that seems like a very good thing.

EDIT:  Hey, you know who else is cool?  Marga, (Marieke de Vos) that's who.  She saw this post and wrote to me, asking if we would like a REAL TRANSLATION (that is, a translation made by somebody who speaks Dutch and English fluently).   And then she sent us her translation of the review!  It's much easier to read.

First of all: what an amusing book! The cover is not very attractive, but the content makes up for it. The book has been written in not very complicated English and is an easy read. The author formulates her goal very clear: “Gain the skills you need to succeed with the horse you have...to finish is to win”

Like many endurance books, this one starts with a general writing of what endurance is, what the rules are (in this case the American rules) and what kind of horse you can use for the sport. On this subject, Storms notes the following:” Finding the right horse may be easier than you think. Do you already have a horse? Is he sound? Can he carry a rider? Is he willing and able to move down the trail with you? If so, you have already found your beginning endurance horse.” This sets the tone in the book. No complicated hassle, but a pragmatic look at what you have and how you can make it work. The author stimulates the reader to learn from your horse or other riders/officials.  

After a chapter about the search for the right horse, the clothing and tack is being discussed. For more advanced riders, this may be nothing new, but beginners can learn a lot from it.

After clothing and tack, Storms discusses the training of the horse. She gives clear tips for the beginner for building up the training, and about riding through water and snow. In the Netherlands, it won’t happen too often that you have to ride through a river, this will happen more often abroad.  Storms doesn’t consider it at all special, it is the same as getting your horse used to traffic. Because she uses a light tone to describe this and how you can practise this, it doesn’t give you the feeling that you are working on something special.  Geez, we just cross a river, and why not? Snow? Could be there for weeks, you just got to deal with it.

The book looks extensively at competition. How do you prepare, what to expect, what to think of, and what to do when you fall of your horse “in the middle of nowhere”.  In the Netherlands, the chance that you fall of your horse and you don’t know where you are, is very slim. But abroad it may be handy what to do when you find yourself on the ground with the sound of a galloping horse in the distance.

Most of the book deals with the basics. If you as beginner want to learn more and you are looking for a book to show you how to start, I recommend this book sincerely. Although I have been doing endurance for a while now, I did learn new things. From singing to rate or control your horse’s pace to letting your horse eat grass (for 5 minutes) right after competition and before cooling down, so he learns that after work there is food (very handy for the vetgate).

So there you have it:  a realio trulio international review of the book!

Can you see me dancing?  I'm dancing.

Because it's good.