old men and horses

[el]

a brilliant brilliant horsemanship story book. cant recommend it enough. the stories of one young boy as he trains horses under the guidance of two old horseman. seriously fab fab fab incredbile amount of horsemanship packed into here.

www.goodhorsemanship.com.au/

[rifleman]

Thanks for the tip on this one, El; another book on my 'wanted' list!

I loved the quote from Ross Jacobs on the home page of the site:-

"Control is not something you impose on a horse; control is something a horse gives you."

Um - you could write a whole book based on that one quote, couldn't you?

Best regards,

Jack

[carol]

Thanks for the heads up on this one El, definately one I want to send off for.

[silverrocn]

I haven't read this book but I can highly recommend that people read Ross' thoughts page as much as they have time to do so. He is a prolific writer of his day to day interaction with horses he trains and rifleman, you are right regarding his thought about a horse giving you control and that a whole book could be written on that!! I had the privilege of Ross working with a young horse I had a few years ago, the change in the horse was truly amazing but unfortunately the horse and I were not a very good match and he proved too much for my confidence level to cope with as he constantly tested me and it was always a battle for me to go and work with him. So, I sold him and bought an older horse who happens to be an ex-racehorse and he comes with his own set of problems when it comes to how he feels about humans and doing what they ask. I now read as much of Ross' thoughts as possible and think about how some horses he works with are similar to my horse and work each day to get PJ to feel better about doing what I ask rather than going through the motions like a robot trying to get the job done and keep out of my way. Ross' thoughts are thought provoking (pardon the pun, LOL) and really get you to thinking about the horse's thoughts and feelings and how important they are when it comes to having a safe, reliable riding horse. I particularly love a quote of Ross' about how a horses feet will follow his thought, so if his thought is to be at home with his field buddy his feet will try to take him there which may manifest to just a little bulging of the shoulder towards the gate out of the arena or perhaps something much bigger if the thought is a lot stronger. Happy reading!!

[el]

There is a brand new story by Ross on the Tipperary Horse here if anyone wants to get a flavour of his style:

www.irishnaturalhorsemanshipsociety.com/jan2009.html

its lovely

[mandal]

I didn't enjoy this book that much I'm afraid... I found it rather contrived. It does have loads of great messages and insights though.