Eric Smiley

Eric Smiley is a former international event rider who represented Ireland at European, World, and Olympic level, winning team bronze medals on two occasions. Smiley began his equestrian career in the Pony Club and continued it in the army and then the world-renowned Talland Equestrian Center, during which time he gained his British Horse Society Instructor’s certificate. In 1995 Smiley passed his British Horse Society Fellowship exam, the highest teaching qualification in the industry. He was Team Coach to the Belgian Eventing team for the 2011 European Eventing Championships and 2012 London Olympics and is an FEI judge who regularly acts as a Ground Jury member. Smiley is the author of the cross-country bible Look… No Hands! and travels the globe helping professional and amateur riders achieve their goals.
2 products
The Sport Horse Problem Solver
The Sport Horse Problem Solver
Eric Smiley
Paperback
$29.95
Two Brains, One Aim
Two Brains, One Aim
Eric Smiley
Paperback
$27.95
Eric Smiley

The Sport Horse Problem Solver

$29.95 Save $-29.95

A simple system for figuring out and fixing what’s wrong with a horse’s performance.

Former international event rider Eric Smiley has brought along his own top-level horses for decades. Now he taps his immense knowledge to help riders whose horses may not have had "the right start." Every horse comes with his own “baggage”—behavior or training issues, minor or significant, that may be difficult to pinpoint or resolve. In these pages, Smiley addresses the most common problems he has seen over the years in dressage, eventing, and show jumping, including:

  • Problems with head and neck position.
  • Connection issues.
  • Failure to follow the rules of forward, straight, and regular.
  • Difficulty with collection.
  • Lack of consistency. 

    • Smiley teaches readers how to identify what isn’t working by looking at how things should work. Then he walks us through dismantling and reassembling the issues, providing an easy-to-follow system for determining what's potentially wrong with a horse and choosing sensible exercises for fixing it. He introduces a troubleshooting five-point system: 

  • Ask yourself, “What is the problem?”
  • Ask, “How, when, and why did it arise?”
  • Ask, “Why does it need solving?”
  • Formulate a plan.
  • Analyze the results in the context of “now” and what they may mean for the future. 

    • Layers and shifts of understanding in horses combined with the physical and psychological challenges of riding can often make solving problems that arise seem complicated, and sometimes it is difficult to know where to even begin. Smiley’s system helps readers find that “start point” and map out a sensible plan for future training. He shows how to determine when something may have become an issue for your horse or your performance, ways to try and avoid it happening in the first place, and of course, offers highly practical solutions to employ when you find you do have a problem. Smiley’s goal is to “always leave people and horses with a positive journey to go on, with the prospect of ‘better to come.’” With its usefulness, cross-disciplinary approach, and optimism, The Sport Horse Problem Solver is all you need to achieve success in partnership with your horse, wherever you are in your journey together.

    The Sport Horse Problem Solver
    Eric Smiley

    Two Brains, One Aim

    $27.95 Save $-27.95
    A valuable, thought-provoking look at the best ways riders and horses can learn and improve together.

    Riding well can be a puzzle. This book puts together the pieces, including:

    • How humans and horses learn.
    • Striving for partnership vs. dictatorship.
    • Early training and developing skills.
    • Demystifying equestrian-speak.
    • Dressage outside the arena.
    • Ground poles for the rest of us.
    • Jumping and cross-country tips.
    • Solving problems, wherever you ride.
    • Competition psychology.
    • Being coached and being a coach.

    “This book is aimed at riders, coaches, and anyone interested in learning more about how humans and horses interact. I have tried to harness my own experiences when I cover the three main disciplines—dressage, show jumping, and eventing—and how they relate to one another. I look at how those in a coaching position can guide riders to perform better by making their lives less complicated and more fulfilling, and I examine how riders can apply the same principles to training their horses and become self-sufficient.” —Eric Smiley

    Two Brains, One Aim