Riding with Oliveira-Barbier

Over several years Dominique Barbier had the unique opportunity to form an intimate relationship with Mestre Oliveira, and in this deeply personal book he chronicles their time together. Beginning in a tiny, dimly lit riding hall in Póvoa de Santa Iria e Forte da Casa, Portugal, where seminal moments of Barbier’s riding education dawned under the watchful eyes of many luminaries of the European riding elite, it then explores what came later when Barbier studied with the Mestre in Avessada and travelled with him to Belgium, France, and Spain.

Barbier’s recollections are complemented by those of three other equestrians who studied with the Mestre: Dany LaHaye, Bettina Drummond, and Luis Valença. The result is a remarkable and insightful retrospective of one of the most extraordinary horsemen of all time.