Lessons with Margot

Author Karen McGoldrick found her first job at age twelve by answering an ad in her local newspaper. Now, 48 years later, with over 30 of those years dedicated to dressage, Karen has collected a wealth of knowledge and "in-the-saddle" practice in riding and training horses. Having been a voracious reader of fiction all her life, Karen understood the power of fiction to tell truths in a way that was just not available in most non-fiction riding books.

In hopes of filling that niche, she wrote a four-book series called The Dressage Chronicles. In her novels, the character of Margot came to represent all of the best Karen had experienced in her trainers and mentors. To the character of Margot she gave words of wisdom that had been given to her. When the wisdom delivered just wasn't right for the character of Margot, she invented other characters that were better suited to the lesson.

But storytelling limits how much of the actual training theory can be imparted. The plot carries the reader forward and demands movement rather than too much time spent on formal theory, and so the idea for this final book was born. And while this slim work is not intended to be a complete guide to training and riding dressage, it offers up a more cohesive presentation of the theory and practice, gleaned from the best of Karen's "Margots." Karen continues to write in a way that is both educational and light in tone, yet dead-on realistic. While the book can be read without having first read the series of novels, readers who enjoyed the novels will relish taking one more trip down centerline with Karen.