[.ca] Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse (ISBN 1555662838)

Not your average horse book:
This is simply a great book, whether you are a horse person or not. In fact, so far I have given it to all my friends and employees, none of which are "horsey", and they all love it! It's hard to put into words what I have learned from it and what I continue to learn each time I read it. (4 times so far) Suffice it to say that it is the best book I've read in the last two years, and maybe longer. However, I must also say if you buy this because you are looking for a horse training book per si, then you will most certainly be disappointed. It isn't a training book in the literal sense. Rather it opens doors to possibilities that are available to us all not just with horses, but more importantly, in our overall daily lives. If you are looking to find better ways to help your horse through understanding and communication, or simply to help improve your life in general, then this one is for you. The lessons to be gleaned from this book are simple but very powerful. Right up there with another one of my favorites, The Tao of Pooh. I HIGHLY recomend this book.

Hearing the Wiseman Speak:
I'm not talking about Mark Rashid when I refer to the Wiseman...I'm talking about Buck! But Mark is his spokesman - and a great one at that. Although I have enjoyed all of Mark's books, this one is really special. "Life Lessons From A Ranch Horse" is a gentle and compelling story that explains how the keys to understanding and communication are often completely overlooked even by the "experts". Mark leads us through his slow discovery of Buck's Life Lessons in a very sincere and honest way. This is not a "How To Ride and Train Horses" book; it's an introduction to a more effective way to approach problems and solve them to everyone's benefit. Not a bad thing to be able to use in our lives, with horses or other people! Mark has done us all a good service by sharing his tale of discovery. Now Buck can reach more folks than those who could ever meet him in person. And perhaps we will be able to better hear the other "Bucks" in our lives.

A Humbling/Inspiring Read:
Get ready to look inside at your own approach to your horse. How much effort do you make in the day to day interaction with him/her to hear what he/she is trying to say? I think we can all benefit from the inspiration this book can give us. After all, can we ever be too intune?