The work on the lunge in its classical form, as it is still practiced today, for example, at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, has unfortunately fallen into the background in the daily lives of many dressage riders and is often dismissed as unnecessary. This overlooks how valuable this ground work is as an alternative and complement to work under saddle—not only in advanced lessons but also in the area of basic exercises that can be easily learned by almost all riders and horses. This applies to horses that cannot wear a saddle temporarily for health reasons, as well as to horses that find it difficult to be gymnasticized under the rider and struggle to find their balance. Riders benefit from lunge work by training their precise aids and preparing their horse for more challenging lessons, regardless of their own riding abilities. For both partners, classical lunge work offers the opportunity to bring variety into their training routine.

The book systematically explains step by step the path to the correct and playfully easy training of the horse from the ground up. A special emphasis is placed on the description of lateral movements, which play a central role in gymnasticizing and preparing for advanced lessons. The images complement the written explanations excellently and, thanks to special photographic techniques, also vividly illustrate sequences of movement.