A Journey to Softness: In Search of Feel and Connection with the Horse [Paperback]

Internationally acclaimed horse trainer Mark Rashid shares and analyzes the remarkable events, quiet moments, and humbling stumbling blocks that—looking back—he can identify as significant in his personal journey to finding “softness” with both horses and people. “Softness,” via what many in the horse world today might refer to as “feel,” begins, Rashid says, with one simple truth: “It’s not about what we do that starts us on the path to softness, but rather, it’s what we don’t do.” Softness is having the sensitivity we need in order to feel when and if the horse tries to “give.”It is about developing the kind of awareness and feel it takes to know when we are working against our horses, rather than with them. In these forthright stories, readers get a glimpse of a life that has produced a man known for his ability to solve difficult problems with communication rather than force, as well as methods and techniques gleaned from decades of work with horses, horse people, and the “way of harmony” through the martial arts.

Mark Rashid(pronounced RASH-id) is an internationally acclaimed horse trainer known for his ability to understand the horse’s point of view and solve difficult problems with communication rather than force. He began working with horses at age ten, when he met the “old man,” who taught him to work with horses, not against them, and to listen to what the horse is trying to say. Mark’s clinics center on one-on-one work with horse and rider and are immensely popular with people around the world.

When Mark decided to study the martial art of aikido as a way to improve his horsemanship, he brought the same quiet determination to it that he exhibits in his work with horses. After years of practice, he has earned a second degree black belt in Yoshinkan aikido and now teaches the “way of harmony” in thel“ä