Book Review

Horse's Never Lie by Mark Rashid. My mom bought me this book as a surprise the other day because she knew I was getting into the concept of a peaceful, basically spiritual partnership with my horses, so she thought it I would find it interesting. I finished it in two school days. This is the first book I've read by Rashid, and I plan on buying and reading his others.
This is unlike any other horse training book I've read. Whereas others are written like school text books you just sort of skim or skip to a section you care about, this had me glued to every word with his style of educating through life experiences. That alone made it an entertaining, engaging, and far more useful guide to working with horses.
So,the lowdown on this book. First off, if any of you are interested in building a relationship with your horse based off of trust, this is a must read for you. Through all the stories told in it, you learn the differences between "alpha" leading and "passive" leading. Most of us, I believe, have been taught to lead as alphas. That means, we use utter dominance with hints to copious amounts of aggression to get what we want and make our horses submit, thinking that that will get their respect. However, Rashid demonstrates how horses are drawn to the passive leader, or rather, someone who leads quietly, peacefully, and by using consistency from day to day. It shows you how to trust your horse and give it the benefit of the doubt, which, in turn, will make your horse want to trust you. It's particularly amazing because it uses no specific "technique" to do this. Rather, passive leading is like a new, zen way of life with your beloved horses.

This is Lorenzo, the Flying Frenchman.
His horses trust him, and he trusts his horses.