Mark RashidHorses Never Lie: The Heart of Passive Leadership

I'm affraid this might sound a little repetitive with the preivous reviews, but what can I say ?Mark Rashid as an empathy for the horse that seems unmatched by anyone else. He falls in the same category with Buck Brannaman, Ray Hunt (and Tom Dorrance I assume, though I haven't got to the work of this other great horseman yet).Rashid is also a fatalist, in a good, quiet kind of way. He never seems to have an agenda with horses, all will fall into place when the time is right. Sure might sound a little frustrating for goal driven riders, but as a horse owner without any deadline (I don't compete in anything !) I was at ease with that concept. Taking the time is very important, and more often then not trying to save time actually ends up losing lots of it by having to redo things later, which is always harder than doing them right in the first place !Rashid is great at reading horses, I'd say that's probably the best strength of this book, help you learn, through the description of any particular problem, how he interpreted, and therefore acted upon it. It can also be discouraging sometimes because it actually goes to show there is not ONE method for all, every horse is different, and Rashid will never train a scared horse like a spoiled one, though in the end both will cooperate and comply of their own will.The narrative is very good, it's humorous, touching, humble. Very enjoyable. I also read Considering the horse, and I do like Horses Never Lie a tad better (though both books are similar in form) as it comes later in Rashid's horsemanship journey, hence holds even more refined philosophy about it all.The number one lesson of fairness, reliability and consistency is precious. I've experienced its value with my own horse. Something that'd be a bit tricky, and a potential issue, just disappeared after a few days of positive reinforcement and acting calm and consistent. Another example : while riding in the round pen my mare was a little upset by a poop scoop set against one of the posts, and she'd leave the rail by about a yard while passing the scoop. Instead of making an issue of it, I just totally ignored her avoidance, and by the third lap she too was ignoring the scoop and riding by as if she had never noticed it !I never thought as humans like refuges to horses, yet they can become just that. If you horse trusts you it will become less spooky, more complient and much nicer overall. But trust is only gained through fairness and consistency, even within discipline.Rashid also insists on the right of the horse to be an individual with preferences, not a slave or a machine, and that is very refreshing as well.Like others have said this is NOT a hands-on manual or step-by-step guide (I needed that, got Cinton Anderson's method and am very pleased with it) but a general horsemanship philosophy type of book; However, it is absolutely thought provoking and will definitely help you on a very practical basis with your horse(s) as it is packed with simple yet brilliant concepts.I many not buy all is litterature in the future, but Mark Rashid is certainly a great horseman and an excellent and helpful author.

I absolutely love this book. I was having a difficult time understanding the was my horse actualmente, and this book really helped. He is partially blind in his left eye, so this makes some of the easiest (it seems) tasks nearly imposible. I really recomend this book for anyone who wants to better understand horses.

A lot of excellent stories with lessons from everyone's experiences. I am glad to have found this author and read this book. The way he writes makes it easy to understand the lessons he is teaching.

Finally...it all makes sense...49 years of working with horses is so much clearer in my mind. I had bits of it here and there. Never enough to put all the pieces together until now. I have been able to look back at the different horses I have had and see each one of them in the examples of the stories Rashid writes. I could see myself creating some of the exact issues in the stories he has written going all the way up till now from when I first started as a child to a more recent horse. I could see the resemblance of the different trainers and farriers I had in the past and how the horses reacted. I always wanted to communicate with my animals & horses. I have always loved horses. Reading this book has given me new energy and perspectives. I find it a comfort and a relief to go back and look at each horse that has been in my life and see more insight into why they were doing some of the things they did, what I was going thru at that time in my life and put it all together. I remember as a teen reading horse training articles. Two come to mind right away. One was an article that said horses were stupid, lazy and bullies. I felt sorry for the person (big time trainer) that wrote that story because I didn't have that experience being around horses since I was 6, but was dismayed at the way this person trained and felt sad for their horses. That was not the route I wanted to continue down. Another was from an olympian rider that talked about "the touch" and connecting with your horse. That was the direction that I wanted to go and tried my best to do so. Wish I had come across this book earlier in my life. Will be signing up for more training and books! Thank you. What a wonderful writer & human Rashid is. This applies to almost every relationship I can think of as well. With or without horses!

I really enjoyed this book. Aside from being rather entertaining, I thought it had really valuable lessons on how to be open to the nuances of how horses communicate. I am currently having a lot of trouble with one of my horses and can totally relate to clients who had stories of how their horses were written off by trainers. There is a lot of insight on herd dynamics and learning how to see the world from the horse's point of view. I especially like Mark's counter argument for making yourself the so-called alpha horse. I agree that it's all fine if you want to dominate your horse, I'm looking for a partner and am more interested on how to build a relationship that puts my horse at ease and I found a lot of guidance here on how to take that path. Don't get me wrong, this is not a cookbook on how to fix your problem horse. There are no lesson plans, methods or tricks - it is just a lot of wisdom, observation and suggestion on what else could possibly cause your horse to not cooperate as you expect. If you are willing to listen, then I believe this is a great start to put a rider in his or her right frame of mind to go to the next level of horsemanship and allow your horse a voice in how you go about it. Also, I think the lessons in this book perfectly transfer to relationships with people and valuable lessons on leadership in a corporate setting. It'a all about being self aware, how to focus and truly listen and practice that art of silent communication.