Mark Rashid – författare

Here renowned trainer Mark Rashid introduces us to his revolutionary method for training horses. His sensitive, thoughtful approach emphasizes the importance of balance, and has led some to refer to him as a real-life horse whisperer.“It has always been my contention that working with horses is, or at least should be, a delicate balancing act between finding how much or how little direction it will take to help the horse we are working with understand whatever it is we are trying to teach. Too little direction and our efforts might become ineffective. Too much direction and we may develop resistance and animosity between our horse and us.”With this sensitive, thoughtful approach, Rashid challenges the conventional wisdom of “alpha leadership” and teaches the reader to become a “passive leader”—a human counterpart to the kind of horse other members of a herd choose to associate with and to follow. Applying Rashid’s principles and techniques helps cultivate horse personalities that are responsive and dependable regardless of the rider. Reliving Rashid’s experiences with him, you will come to feel the same sort of compassion and appreciation for your horses that you do for the people in your life.This edition features additional notes at the end of each chapter that contribute to a more complete understanding of Rashid’s methods and philosophy.

In A Good Horse Is Never a Bad Color, Mark Rashid continues to share his talent for training horses through communication rather than force. Rashid uses humorous, feel-good stories to relate his techniques of teaching horses by examining their view of the world. These stories deal with many aspects of buying, owning, and training horses with a special focus on those that are troubled and hard-to-train. The arrested development of horses like these, Rashid shows, is often a result of their trainers’ own lack of understanding of their unique psychologies.   With stories that stress the importance of patience and understanding, this book is a must-have for compassionate horse trainers and owners. Tales of Arabs, appaloosas, and paints—mistrusted and mistreated because of their breed—will give readers a new perspective on these breeds and others. Sometimes, it’s the attitude that needs to be fixed rather than the horse. Rashid’s accounts of horses bound for slaughter because they were considered impossible to train will inspire you to give your own problem horse a second look. This new edition features added introductory notes for each chapter that contribute to a better understanding of Rashid’s philosophy and methods.  

Many horse trainers, even those who espouse the so-called natural horsemanship approach, take the position that horses who fail to obey a human's request are doing so as much out of perversity as ignorance. That's not Mark Rashid's view. In his words, "If we understand that horses can't separate the way they feel from the way they act, then we can start to see that unwanted behavior isn't bad behavior at all. More times than not, it's just the horse expressing the way he feels at that particular moment in time. . . .How we perceive that information dictates how we respond to it."Whole Heart, Whole Horse focuses on this idea, covering such subjects as gathering information from the horse, turning rider/trainer mistakes into positive experiences, developing realistic boundaries between you and your horse, understanding how and why horses release energy from real or perceived traumas, and reaching a comfortable balance point between horse and rider. Rashid analyzes developing softness, consistency, dependability, trust, and peace of mind in both horses and humans, as well as how to become a leader whom your horse will willingly want to follow and work with.Full of examples that extend beyond the training pen, Whole Heart, Whole Horse offers good sense and information that will make you a more astute, capable, and sensitive horseman and person.

In Horses Never Lie, renowned horse trainer Mark Rashid challenges the conventional wisdom of “alpha leadership” and teaches the reader to become a “passive leader”—a counterpart to the kind of horse other members of a herd choose to associate with and to follow. Applying Rashid’s principles and techniques helps cultivate horse personalities that are responsive and dependable regardless of the rider. Reliving Rashid’s experiences with him, you will come to feel the same sort of compassion and appreciation for your horses that you do for the people in your life. This new edition features added introductory notes for each chapter that contribute to a more complete understanding of Rashid’s methods and philosophy.

The popular and highly respected horse trainer Mark Rashid brings together Western and Eastern philosophies to demonstrate a seamless new incarnation of horse training. After years of helping “difficult” horses, Mark Rashid understands how to build the foundation of a horse’s training and resolve any problems encountered along the way. He explains how he allows the traditionally firm or assertive approach of the old Western style to take some lessons from the softer conflict resolution and ego reduction approach that the Japanese martial art of aikido teaches. Rashid’s ultimate goal is for harmony between horse and rider.

Own an unruly horse? Thinking about purchasing a horse but don’t exactly know what to expect once you do? Ever wondered what and how a horse thinks? Mark Rashid tells stories that provide horse owners and potential buyers with the best training solutions—straight from the horse’s mouth. By considering the horse’s point of view, he explores a variety of solutions to common training problem like head tossing, trailer loading, mounting problems, and more. After years of training and teaching, Rashid assures you that you don’t need to sell that rebellious horse of yours, and there’s no need to panic if you just bought a horse with a problem and don’t know what to do. More likely than not, the answers are here for you.

Mark Rashid shares personal stories about events in his life that helped him on his journey to softness, as well as the stumbling blocks along the way. The narrative includes a section in which Mark passes on the experiences of others from a wide variety of walks of life and occupations, all sharing their views on how feel, connection and softness apply to their respective professions. Those interviewed for this special section include a musician who has written and performed several number one country music hits, a highly decorated helicopter pilot, a movie actor, a college professor, a master carpenter, an artist, and numerous others. What the reader learns by example is how to develop feel, relaxation, connection, and softness in both horse and rider. The methods and techniques Mark demonstrated have been gleaned from decades of work with horses and horse people, as well as while he trained with world-class martial artists whose lives have been dedicated to developing softness and connection with a partner through feel.

What if the key to a calmer, more responsive horse wasn't a new training method, but a better understanding of how the horse's brain actually works?In A Horse's Life: The Neuroscience of Equine Welfare, neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Peters, internationally recognized horseman Mark Rashid, and clinician Crissi McDonald bring together brain science and decades of hands-on horse experience to explain what is actually driving your horse's behavior and what you can do about it. This is not another training manual. It is the first book to combine real horse case studies with plain-language clinical neuroscience written for everyday horse people, not academics.Most horse behavior problems are not attitude problems. They are nervous system problems. When a horse is spooky, hard to catch, resistant under saddle, or just not the horse you hoped for, there is a neurological reason behind it. This book explains what that reason is and how to address it at the source.Dr. Peters brings decades of clinical neuroscience and equine brain research. Mark Rashid brings over forty years of working with horses that other trainers gave up on. Crissi McDonald brings a lifetime of horsemanship, bodywork, and the rare ability to make complex ideas feel immediately usable. Together they cover what no single author could cover alone.Here is what you will find inside:Why horses develop reactive, resistant, or shut-down behavior and the specific neurological mechanisms driving itHow pain, poor environment, restricted movement, and social stress quietly reshape your horse's baseline temperament over timeHow the horse's nervous system learns, builds habits, and responds to training pressure in ways most handlers never considerWhat the Five Domains of equine welfare actually mean in daily management and why getting them right changes everythingHow nutrition and forage patterns directly affect emotional stability and behavioral consistency in horsesHow the horse's brain responds differently to low-conflict training versus pressure-based methods and why it matters for long-term resultsWhat horse welfare actually means from a neuroscience perspective, well beyond food, water, and shelterHow to create the specific conditions that support learning, trust, relaxation, and lasting behavioral change in any horseThis book is for horse owners, trainers, veterinarians, barn managers, and equine professionals who are done guessing and want science-backed answers grounded in how horses actually work. It is for anyone who has ever felt like they were missing something fundamental about their horse and suspected the answer was deeper than technique.If you have ever wondered why your horse is spooky, hard to catch, difficult under saddle, tense in the barn, or resistant to things that should be simple, the answer starts here. And once you see it, you cannot unsee it.

"Chances are real good that if a person is indecisive, angry, scattered, hesitant, belligerent, argumentative, bossy, or impatient in everyday life, he is bound to bring those same qualities to his horsemanship, and in turn, his horse will tend to reflect those qualities. By the same token, if a person is patient, calm, willing, quiet, self-confident, focused, and dependable, it is more than likely to be those qualities the horse will reflect." —Mark RashidHere is compelling meditation from renowned horseman Mark Rashid on all the ways that the principles we apply in our dealings with fellow humans can apply to our relationships with our horses, and vice versa. Rashid describes how his discovery of the Japanese martial art aikido helped reenergize his commitment to positive horse training and self-improvement at a time when his dedication was flagging, with negative consequences for his health. He began taking classes in aikido and, with dedicated training, came to recognize its transformative effects on his sense of self. He found his mental and physical communication with others had improved greatly, and understood the incredible benefits that aikido might hold for greater emotional balance and understanding between a horse and its rider during training. By sharing his examples from personal experience with horses in the lively and engaging style that has made his earlier books so successful, Rashid shows us how the things he learned can be applied to guide you further on your path with horses.This is a book you’ll want to share with your friends and relatives, whether they are horse lovers or not. Every reader will find something new about how to form a more mutually communicative relationship with a horse you have, or hope to have one day in the future. Horsemanship Through Life is about awareness, learning, teaching, honesty, integrity, and much more. It is about more than tips or technique; it is about principles to live by. It is about taking responsibility for our lives and our relationships with horses and humans. It doesn’t take long to read, but will be with you for life. Experience the profound lessons of this inspiring book.