At a young age Peggy Cummings noticed that many horses she rode and worked with were sadly inhibited—unable to express their innate curiosity, trust, and freedom of motion—and went about their work in a mechanical, stiff way. This inspired a lifelong search for real-world ways to achieve the "lightness" and "ease" promoted by top instructors and classical texts. Now, in this long-awaited book, Cummings describes the essentials of her specialized groundwork—the first half of her acclaimed Connected Riding program—along with over two dozen highly illustrated exercises to help horses and their handlers find a reciprocal "connection" on the ground before attempting to establish it from the more difficult position in the saddle. These exercises—done both standing still and in motion—drastically change the way you see and feel your horse, and radically improve how your horse moves, responds, and goes about his work.