I love Mark Rashid, although I only "know" him through the many books he has written through the years. This is his latest, published in 2016 and available on his website www.markrashid.com for $24.95. Mark studies the martial art known as aikido, and often intertwines its philosophies with his training methods. I'll never forget the time Nancy P. was on the back of the yellow quad as I gave her a tour of the farm...we had just met and were headed down to the river...Nancy was interested in becoming a horse owner, but she also was involved in aikido and wanted to be sure there was room for both in her life. I stopped the quad, turned it off and said, "You are going to love hearing about Mark Rashid." The rest is history of course, and she now owns THREE horses :-) Interacting with horses is a lifelong process of learning...Mark gets this and is not afraid to admit it. Mark focuses on improving the partnership relationship between us and the horse...always encouraging and developing willing cooperation as partners instead of a totally dominant/submissive relationship. Don't be fooled by the title; this book is not just for horses that have major re-training issues. EVERY horse can have areas that need to be "re-started". His chapter titled "Respect" is genius, and helps clarify a term that we horse people carelessly toss about.
Mark is thoughtful, introspective, and humble...he also illustrated his points with many personal stories and examples. Lois gives this book four horseshoes up! A great idea for a Christmas gift for the horse person in your life!
http://www.markrashid.com
