What do you think?
Rate this book
Begin and Begin Again
An exciting follow-up from the bestselling author of How Good Riders Get Good and Know Better to Do Better.
We all start somewhere with horses. As a toddler on a pony. As a teenager with friends who ride. As an adult who always loved horses, but life just got in the way…until now.
Some of us start over. We sell our horses to go to school, to have careers or babies (or both). We decide to quit dressage and start reining. We fall off…and get back on.
There are all sorts of beginning places, and they can be for the first time or after a “gap.” They can mean you are beginning, or your horse is. They can mean you barely got started, or you started badly. Renowned horseman Denny Emerson knows all about the importance of these beginnings. Through an impressive career in the saddle that spans decades, he has worked with all different breeds, competed at the top international levels of eventing and endurance, lost horses and found new ones, taught young riders and adult amateurs, traded Western tack for English and back again, been injured…only to rehab, climb back in the saddle, and start over.
In his third book, Emerson once again masterfully intertwines his entertaining reflections from a life embedded in the equestrian world with serious philosophical questions faced by the industry today and practical advice honed by his immense experience. Readers will
How to make your beginning with horses easier…and how to make it harder.How having the right horse versus having the wrong horse can affect a beginning…or mean you should begin again.The importance of a team (family, friends, trainers, coaches) you trust and rely upon.Ways to identify how you learn, see, hear, and feel, and how to apply that knowledge with horses.The need for knowing how far you want to go and how much are you willing to give up to go there.With inspirational stories of beginning and beginning again from top equestrians, as well as personal reflections from “regular” horse people around the world, these pages promise to inspire a start or a change, and provide a roadmap we all can follow, whatever our ambitions. Emerson reassures us that it doesn’t matter where your beginning point is—start where you are. And, even better, there is a do-over button—you just have to decide to push it. This book is for every horse person who continues to dream of something else or something more, and just needs someone to “Begin.”
We all start somewhere with horses. As a toddler on a pony. As a teenager with friends who ride. As an adult who always loved horses, but life just got in the way…until now.
Some of us start over. We sell our horses to go to school, to have careers or babies (or both). We decide to quit dressage and start reining. We fall off…and get back on.
There are all sorts of beginning places, and they can be for the first time or after a “gap.” They can mean you are beginning, or your horse is. They can mean you barely got started, or you started badly. Renowned horseman Denny Emerson knows all about the importance of these beginnings. Through an impressive career in the saddle that spans decades, he has worked with all different breeds, competed at the top international levels of eventing and endurance, lost horses and found new ones, taught young riders and adult amateurs, traded Western tack for English and back again, been injured…only to rehab, climb back in the saddle, and start over.
In his third book, Emerson once again masterfully intertwines his entertaining reflections from a life embedded in the equestrian world with serious philosophical questions faced by the industry today and practical advice honed by his immense experience. Readers will
How to make your beginning with horses easier…and how to make it harder.How having the right horse versus having the wrong horse can affect a beginning…or mean you should begin again.The importance of a team (family, friends, trainers, coaches) you trust and rely upon.Ways to identify how you learn, see, hear, and feel, and how to apply that knowledge with horses.The need for knowing how far you want to go and how much are you willing to give up to go there.With inspirational stories of beginning and beginning again from top equestrians, as well as personal reflections from “regular” horse people around the world, these pages promise to inspire a start or a change, and provide a roadmap we all can follow, whatever our ambitions. Emerson reassures us that it doesn’t matter where your beginning point is—start where you are. And, even better, there is a do-over button—you just have to decide to push it. This book is for every horse person who continues to dream of something else or something more, and just needs someone to “Begin.”
- GenresHorses
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2022
27 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 13, 2022
This is the third book by Denny Emerson, one of the wisest horsemen of today. If you religiously follow his Facebook page "Tamarack Hill Farm", you may have heard all the wisdom of this book (and the previous two) before, but it is still very nice to have it all in one place. This is not a "how to" book on riding or training or horse care. This, like the previous two books, is a compendium of wisdom borne of experience and deep thought. It is a little meandering, but that is on purpose - it is about the meanderings of an equestrian life and career that many of us go through (I have dabbled myself in many areas: dressage, showjumping, hunters, I rode racehorses and harness trotters in training, I raised a foal, I retrained OTTBs, I trained rescues with dangerous behavioral issues, I worked as a judge for flat racing, harness trotters and showjumping, coached an IEA team, and these days I mostly teach beginner kids to ride). It is a book that is supposed to make you stop and think, and hopefully change something about the way you approach your work with horses, perhaps make it easier to shift gears and try something new - be it a different discipline, different breed, or a different training method. I have a feeling that the book will be most appreciated by those of us up in our age, with lots of experience ourselves. I hope, though, that the youngsters, just starting out as trainers, riders and instructors, will read it and gain some of its wisdom before they make the inevitable mistakes with their horses. Highly recommended.
March 26, 2022
A thought provoking read
I wasn't sure when I began this book if I would like it. As I finish it I believe it is a book that will change and support my journey in attempting to be a good horse person. I have read all of your books and learned from each of them. So at almost age 70 I will begin again, striving for " Kindness above all things " and taking the time each day to become more thoughtful.
Thank you for your wise words. It seems they will be a good place to start again.
I wasn't sure when I began this book if I would like it. As I finish it I believe it is a book that will change and support my journey in attempting to be a good horse person. I have read all of your books and learned from each of them. So at almost age 70 I will begin again, striving for " Kindness above all things " and taking the time each day to become more thoughtful.
Thank you for your wise words. It seems they will be a good place to start again.
January 2, 2023
Great insights from one of the best. Denny's ability to critique himself and tell others "don't do what I did" is refreshing. This was a great book for me at this moment in time, as I look at changing directions myself.
March 16, 2022
It’s always a delight to read something by Denny Emerson. His writing is well considered, kind and presented from the perspective of love for the horse. Beautiful book overall.
January 1, 2023
Lots of good take aways! I’m starting out in the horse world as an adult (25) and this is my first nonfiction book I’ve read about horsemanship. Some good nuggets of wisdom in here for sure!
November 2, 2024
Excellent read!
Wish I had this book 20 plus years ago! Another gem to add to the boom collection to return to again and again. Thank you!
Wish I had this book 20 plus years ago! Another gem to add to the boom collection to return to again and again. Thank you!
November 16, 2023
Evolution
The definition of responsible horsemanship has changed drastically over the last few decades but it’s comforting to know that the instincts I had as a child are now becoming mainstream. If you have lived a lifetime loving and caring for horses this book will give you hope that it never has to stop.
The definition of responsible horsemanship has changed drastically over the last few decades but it’s comforting to know that the instincts I had as a child are now becoming mainstream. If you have lived a lifetime loving and caring for horses this book will give you hope that it never has to stop.
April 20, 2022
Good read
Good advice, plus nice stories about horses, his riding career, and good vignettes from people who have experienced beginning. Could have more pictures
Good advice, plus nice stories about horses, his riding career, and good vignettes from people who have experienced beginning. Could have more pictures
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews