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Whole Heart, Whole Horse: Building Trust Between Horse and Rider
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.
- GenresHorsesNonfictionAnimals
224 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2009
23 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Mark Rashid
46 books132 followersMark 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 the local dojo.
Mark worked full time on ranches for many years gathering herds, managing stock, and training horses. When time permits, he still enjoys working on ranches near his home in Estes Park, Colorado.
Mark has been a guest on NPR’s The Horse Show and was featured on the Nature series on PBS. He is the author of nine books - Considering the Horse, A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color; Horses Never Lie; Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse; Horsemanship Through Life; Big Horses, Good Dogs, & Straight Fences; A Life With Horses; Whole Heart, Whole Horse; and his latest, a novel, Out of the Wild. He also has a solo music CD Song of the Prairie and enjoys singing and playing guitar with a local band The Elktones.
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 the local dojo.
Mark worked full time on ranches for many years gathering herds, managing stock, and training horses. When time permits, he still enjoys working on ranches near his home in Estes Park, Colorado.
Mark has been a guest on NPR’s The Horse Show and was featured on the Nature series on PBS. He is the author of nine books - Considering the Horse, A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color; Horses Never Lie; Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse; Horsemanship Through Life; Big Horses, Good Dogs, & Straight Fences; A Life With Horses; Whole Heart, Whole Horse; and his latest, a novel, Out of the Wild. He also has a solo music CD Song of the Prairie and enjoys singing and playing guitar with a local band The Elktones.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 2, 2014
After marathon-reading a bunch of Mark Rashid’s books (the next one up is in the mail as we speak, by the way), I’ve come to the conclusion that this man is the epitome of everything I want to be as an equestrian— and probably as a human being, as well. Calm, soft, thoughtful, creative, humble, self-aware and aware of others…
Rashid has a respect for the life around him that is uniquely genuine and commendable. No one is perfect, of course, (including Mark Rashid) but it is my belief that the closest we come to perfection is being ever-mindful of our weaknesses and actively working toward growing into a better version of ourselves. If there is even a smidgeon of truth in these memoirs, Rashid is quite an impressive illustration of self-awareness and lifelong growth.
The process of being a good human and, in this case a good horseman, never ends, and as a mentor of mine once said, there is no arrival time. The piece that matters is doing it, showing up; trying once, trying again, and trying each time after that until either your life or your passion has gone.
Rashid has a respect for the life around him that is uniquely genuine and commendable. No one is perfect, of course, (including Mark Rashid) but it is my belief that the closest we come to perfection is being ever-mindful of our weaknesses and actively working toward growing into a better version of ourselves. If there is even a smidgeon of truth in these memoirs, Rashid is quite an impressive illustration of self-awareness and lifelong growth.
The process of being a good human and, in this case a good horseman, never ends, and as a mentor of mine once said, there is no arrival time. The piece that matters is doing it, showing up; trying once, trying again, and trying each time after that until either your life or your passion has gone.
January 21, 2021
This was another excellent book by Mark Rashid, and actually probably my favorite. It seemed to go deeper into the relationship between horses and their owners than did the other books I've read by him.
Unfortunately, there were some things that I had no idea what he meant. This book was slightly more philosophical than the others and he mentioned things like being 'light' and being 'soft' and I have no idea what he meant by these terms. I thought at first that it meant responsiveness from the horse, that only a light touch would result in a desired response from the horse. But nope. That's not what he meant. It seems to be more like some sort of mystic exchange of energies between horse and rider. Now, like some of you, that immediately makes my eyebrow shoot up on my face and every bit of cynicism about cookey mysticism come to the forefront of my mind. But, I think that actually, it's just that I don't have enough of a background to understand what he is saying. First of all, I don't understand some of the horse terminology that he is using. I'm a dabbler, and/or a beginner, so I don't understand what 'bend' is or what 'leading off' is, or how I'm supposed to look at a horse bobbing its head and know that its feet are hurting, it's going to take a whole lot more experience before I can do something like that. The other aspect is that he uses a lot of metaphors and analogies with aikido in this book, and never having studied aikido, I also don't get those. I think that the exchange of energy he is talking about is largely about the give and take of physical energy that takes place in aikido, and that would also make sense with a horse. How you sit on the horse is going to change how you move with the horse. All of that is good. I've got it. But I'm more analytical than the author is and I would like a breakdown please. Bullet points of each individual step would be nice. Unfortunately for those like me, this author is more the type of 'go forth and do' kind of teachers. That works for many people, and even works for me, I just don't prefer it. I would rather have everything explained to me before I begin than pick it up on the job.
Actually, that might be why I'm frustrated with the trainer I'm working with. He also seems to be the 'do it and learn from your mistakes' kind of guy. But how can you learn from your mistakes when you don't even know you made one? There's the difficulty with that approach.
Unfortunately, there were some things that I had no idea what he meant. This book was slightly more philosophical than the others and he mentioned things like being 'light' and being 'soft' and I have no idea what he meant by these terms. I thought at first that it meant responsiveness from the horse, that only a light touch would result in a desired response from the horse. But nope. That's not what he meant. It seems to be more like some sort of mystic exchange of energies between horse and rider. Now, like some of you, that immediately makes my eyebrow shoot up on my face and every bit of cynicism about cookey mysticism come to the forefront of my mind. But, I think that actually, it's just that I don't have enough of a background to understand what he is saying. First of all, I don't understand some of the horse terminology that he is using. I'm a dabbler, and/or a beginner, so I don't understand what 'bend' is or what 'leading off' is, or how I'm supposed to look at a horse bobbing its head and know that its feet are hurting, it's going to take a whole lot more experience before I can do something like that. The other aspect is that he uses a lot of metaphors and analogies with aikido in this book, and never having studied aikido, I also don't get those. I think that the exchange of energy he is talking about is largely about the give and take of physical energy that takes place in aikido, and that would also make sense with a horse. How you sit on the horse is going to change how you move with the horse. All of that is good. I've got it. But I'm more analytical than the author is and I would like a breakdown please. Bullet points of each individual step would be nice. Unfortunately for those like me, this author is more the type of 'go forth and do' kind of teachers. That works for many people, and even works for me, I just don't prefer it. I would rather have everything explained to me before I begin than pick it up on the job.
Actually, that might be why I'm frustrated with the trainer I'm working with. He also seems to be the 'do it and learn from your mistakes' kind of guy. But how can you learn from your mistakes when you don't even know you made one? There's the difficulty with that approach.
October 1, 2022
Wow. I'm an equestrian author and track the best seller ranks on Amazon like it's my job, because it kind of is. Rashid always has multiple books ranking in the equestrian categories and I've wondered what the big deal was (with a bit of criticism because, hey, he's competition!). When audible had a sale, I snagged one of his books. Now I know what the big deal is.
Listening to his book was like sitting in front of the fire on a cool night with a wise mentor and your favorite hot drink. Sure I kind of knew some of the stuff, but I love the way he wrapped stories within a story. His teaching made sense. I could look back at my own horse experiences and it was like I had all the pieces but he put them together so I could see the big picture.
I also love his open-handed style of teaching. Like he's saying, "this is my experience, and this is what I learned, but that doesn't mean it's fact or maybe it's fact for this horse but your horse has a different truth." But let's face it, it probably is fact.
He tackles approximately 5 lessons in this book. Again, he wraps a story within a story within a story so you can see it from different viewpoints and experiences. One of the lessons was on boundaries. It's an old lesson I've known since I was 12, yet I found myself nodding and feeling a bit called out. I've been working with a 4 year old "in your pocket" Thoroughbred, and I love his personality, but I've totally laid weak boundaries that I know will come to bite me (possibly literally) if I don't set better boundaries. There were other lessons that were less familiar to me.
Honestly, I can't decide if I want to re-listen to this one or get a new Rashid book.
Side note - the narration was excellent. I spent the entire book wondering if Rashid himself was narrating. Logically I knew the guy probably doesn't have time to narrate his own books, but the voice sounded exactly like I'd imagine Rashid sounding - a kind voice with a bit of a drawl. When the book was over, I checked and it was not Rashid. They did an excellent job casting the narrator.
Listening to his book was like sitting in front of the fire on a cool night with a wise mentor and your favorite hot drink. Sure I kind of knew some of the stuff, but I love the way he wrapped stories within a story. His teaching made sense. I could look back at my own horse experiences and it was like I had all the pieces but he put them together so I could see the big picture.
I also love his open-handed style of teaching. Like he's saying, "this is my experience, and this is what I learned, but that doesn't mean it's fact or maybe it's fact for this horse but your horse has a different truth." But let's face it, it probably is fact.
He tackles approximately 5 lessons in this book. Again, he wraps a story within a story within a story so you can see it from different viewpoints and experiences. One of the lessons was on boundaries. It's an old lesson I've known since I was 12, yet I found myself nodding and feeling a bit called out. I've been working with a 4 year old "in your pocket" Thoroughbred, and I love his personality, but I've totally laid weak boundaries that I know will come to bite me (possibly literally) if I don't set better boundaries. There were other lessons that were less familiar to me.
Honestly, I can't decide if I want to re-listen to this one or get a new Rashid book.
Side note - the narration was excellent. I spent the entire book wondering if Rashid himself was narrating. Logically I knew the guy probably doesn't have time to narrate his own books, but the voice sounded exactly like I'd imagine Rashid sounding - a kind voice with a bit of a drawl. When the book was over, I checked and it was not Rashid. They did an excellent job casting the narrator.
October 16, 2017
Really enjoyed reading this Mark Rashid book. It was a thoughtful read, especially if you interact with horses, and really gets readers to reflect on the way we treat and have a relationship with horses. I ride in English disciplines and never owned my own horse. Instead, I was very much the type that went to the local riding school, took lessons, and left (in my defence, I wasn't actually allowed to do the husbandry part of the sport because they have grooms to do it). This book really got me to reflect upon the importance of building trust with the animal.
I had hoped that the book would provide more insight into the practical examples though as Rashid did in "Considering the Horse" and "Horses Never Lie" though.
I had hoped that the book would provide more insight into the practical examples though as Rashid did in "Considering the Horse" and "Horses Never Lie" though.
June 24, 2020
A good read
For a new horse owner this book is very helpful. It teaches you the important things; heart, consistency and end results from his personal experiences which makes it very relatable.
For a new horse owner this book is very helpful. It teaches you the important things; heart, consistency and end results from his personal experiences which makes it very relatable.
February 27, 2024
A must book for everyone, especially horse lovers
What an amazing read about humans and horses. Such gems of wisdom. Grew up with a horse and the love never left me. I have never given a 6 before, but I felt compelled to after this read.
What an amazing read about humans and horses. Such gems of wisdom. Grew up with a horse and the love never left me. I have never given a 6 before, but I felt compelled to after this read.
December 18, 2017
Must read for horse lovers... even animal lovers in general. He captures the love and honesty that a horse offers.
February 3, 2020
Pleasant. Good writing.
November 17, 2020
Just reviewing for fellow equestrian friends: this one was quick and enjoyable. Lots of well told anecdotal stories of horses that helped developed his horsemanship. Thoroughly enjoyed.
June 4, 2021
What an incredible learning experience! Rashid was able to explain clearly and simply some of the questions I've had with my horse, particularly how to visualize and achieve balance.
April 15, 2016
This was a lovely read. Even though I prefer classical dressage and I was a little hesitant of what I had gotten myself into at first, I really enjoyed it. A lot. Mark Rashid is a pure horseman. His ways are unagitated and quite and I had a good time listening to his different anecdotes. And it got me thinking about everyday life in an amateur barn. Because sometimes I see a horse/rider combination together and just ask myself: why are they doing that? None of these two look like they are having fun, or even like each other. I see tense-shouldered riders on top of tense-backed horses trying to reach a certain goal with a stiff and tense determination that is exhausting to look at. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean this bad 3-week-period we all go through occasionaly. I mean day in day out, week after week, month after month, sometimes even year after year, until both of them don't even notice anymore that this is not how it should be. They bicker at each other while grooming. They go through the motions while exercising. And it's the same ol' thing every day. So sometimes I want to just ask the rider "Why do you ride?" Not to be mean or to put them down. I just really want to know. Is it habbit? Peer pressure? It doesn't seem like the "because I love it" it should be. In the end, I never do. I don't want to be the mean one. I know the riders are working hard. Doing their best. I just sometimes have the feeling, they are working too hard. Trying too hard. And tend to forget something very important, the old man put very simple: Whole Heart, whole horse.
May 6, 2016
They were nice stories with some good tidbits-- like the importance of feeding a distrustful animal at exactly the same times daily to build consistency- but I'm not sure it told me much about building trust. I still enjoyed it.
June 12, 2012
I enjoyed reading this book and the stories he wrapped around lessons. Very heartfelt and would recommend to other horse folk.
November 23, 2014
Food for thought
A thoughtful and meaningful read for any rider that wants a deeper connection with their horses. Very highly recommend it.
-Sonja Dake
A thoughtful and meaningful read for any rider that wants a deeper connection with their horses. Very highly recommend it.
-Sonja Dake
September 21, 2016
I LOVED IT! It explained so many things about what my horse was doing, and why. It explains it really well, and compares it to real life scenarios, that totally make sense.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews