Description: James Fillis' masterwork, Breaking and Riding has been a touchstone of commonsense training for over a century. Xenophon Press has returned to the original French language manuscript entitled Principe de dressage et d'equitation and re-translated some of M.H.Hayes' translation of this work's references to 'breaking.'
Brief description: James Fillis (1834-1913) was a well-known English-born French riding master. He was trained by Francois Caron, a student of Francois Baucher, in France and also studied with Victor Franconi (famous for the Cirque Olympique de Franconi). Although engaged to train horses for the French Thirteenth Army during the Franco-Prussian War, Fillis was never officially employed at Saumur - although his name is inscribed on the roll of Écuyeres Célèbres.Whilst performing with the Ciniselli Circus at St. Petersburg, Russia - he caught the attention of the Grand Duke Nicholas, who subsequently offered him the position of Ecuyer en chef at the Russian Cavalry School.