.. born in 1959, is an écuyer without equal in terms of experience with horses. He has been riding for over half a century. He has ridden thousands of horses of every breed and trained around 500 to the level of the Haute École – i.e. to verticality. Manuel Jorge de Oliveira He has been the leading professional at OLIVEIRA STABLES in D-86875 Waal since 2015. His aim is to make his knowledge available for the benefit of (riding) horses, riding pupils and apprentice grooms. In 2016, the ESCOLA de EQUITAÇÃO began offering three-year courses for riders of varying levels of experience. This book presents the content of the second year of the course. Manuel Jorge de Oliveira says: “There are essentially only two ways of training a horse: the way of the truth and the way of the lie. Every person who buys or owns a horse, and every professional who trains a horse must decide which of these two paths to take. The way of the truth produces horses with alert eyes, with a proud demeanour under the saddle and with a willingness to respond to tiny, invisible aids.” As a horse owner you will find this book useful because it will enable you to evaluate to what extent your instructor is implementing the content. And if you are a professional, you will either find yourself being confirmed in your path, probably a somewhat lonely one up to this point, or you will be motivated to take your skills further ... Oliveira offers his services to everyone: to professionals and leisure riders, to tournament riders and gaited horse specialists alike. He sees the dissemination of his knowledge as an act of service. Much of what Manuel Jorge de Oliveira relates in his lessons cannot readily be found elsewhere – it is ancient lore that, unfortunately, is rarely taught in this concentrated form. And that is the reason why this book has been written and why the OLIVEIRA STABLES training centre was founded. Both the book and the centre are unique. The book is entitled VERTICAL, because the goal of all riding is vertical balance.