Louis Seeger

System of Horsemanship Louis Seeger

Louis Seeger was an important 19th century dressage figure in Berlin. He was the son of a court horseman in the service of Prince Heinrich of Prussia, the brother of King Friedrich II. After training at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna with Max Ritter von Weyrother, Seeger founded his own riding school, Seegershof, where he preserved Old School training principles. His most famous student was Gustav Steinbrecht, the author of "Gymnasium of the Horse."Seeger authored a number of books about horses. In addition to "System of Horsemanship" (1844), he wrote "Rathgeber fuer die Stalldienerschaft" (1848), "Zuechtung, Erziehung, Ausbildung des Pferdes im systematischen Zusammenhang" (1850), and "Monsieur Baucher and His Arts: A Serious Word with Germany's Riders" (1852) (translated by Cynthia F. Hodges). Seeger was also a board member of the Berlin Racing Club and was awarded the Gold Medal of Honor. This book lays out a dressage training system that begins with breaking the colts and continues all the way up to the Airs Above the Ground of the High School. Proven methods to put the horse in perfect balance under the rider are outlined in this book, as well as how to use jumping to unlock the power in the hindquarters. Seeger also explains how horses that are not suited to dressage can be made serviceable for the cavalry, hunt-riding, etc. Seeger's classic horse-training treatise, "System of Horsemanship," was once only available to an elite group of European experts. Now that Cynthia F. Hodges, JD, LLM, MA has translated this pillar of equestrian literature, the classical principles of Old School dressage training contained herein are available in English for the first time.