# Favorite horsemanship figures?



## Arora (Mar 29, 2020)

Hey guys, I'm pretty new here so sorry if I have put this in the wrong place. I was wondering if people would be interested in telling me their favorite horsemen/women in regards to horsemanship as I'm going to spend a lot more of my time during quarantine focusing on these videos etc. Why are they your favorite and what methods do you like and even use:Angel: yourself?
Thanks all!


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Mark Rashid. He doesn't have a "method" and he doesn't sell stuff except his books, which are all wonderful. He doesn't tell you what to do, either. He just tells stories that have a lot of heart, but there's still important stuff to learn in there.

If you want deep insight into horses, and the horse-human bond, I would absolutely recommend his books. I don't know if he has videos.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

I think it depends on your style and what you're looking to achieve.
YouTube has piles of videos from various trainers to browse through obviously.

I like the performance horse type stuff so I like Les Vogt, Sandy Collier, Ted Robinson.

As far as clinician type trainers, it seems many on here like Warwick Schiller. I'm sure others will chime in.


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## Arora (Mar 29, 2020)

I've not heard of him I'll have to have a look. I didn't even consider that and I agree with you there, I've clicked on a couple of videos and many of them end up being advertisements for rope head collars lol
I also have to respect your passion for the human horse bond, this is something I'm also very interested in and a great believer of. I was actually previously laughed at in another equine community from my area for 'believing I can bond with my horse'...
Lets just say that's how I ended up here!


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

I'd highly recommend giving this Warwick Schiller series a watch. Gives really comprehensive training advice on a whole bunch of topics.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRanqnpaErQ5PVpPHRBNwfgs26-EsndmO


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## Arora (Mar 29, 2020)

SteadyOn said:


> I'd highly recommend giving this Warwick Schiller series a watch. Gives really comprehensive training advice on a whole bunch of topics.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRanqnpaErQ5PVpPHRBNwfgs26-EsndmO


Wow, that will keep me busy. Awesome, thank you!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I would agree that Warwick Schiller is a good person to watch. I also enjoy Julie Goodnight, but I think she has less free stuff to watch.


Mark Rashid's books are very entertaining. I do not know your actual hands on experience level. Some of these books and videos can be somewhat 'esoteric', so if you don't have a basis of actual , physical real world experience, it might be a bit hard to relate to.


When I first started riding, I read a ton of stuff. A lot of stuff abotu dressage, oritinally, because that was my first area of interest. When someone recommended I read "True Horsemanship Through Feel", I was very confused by it. Over the years, as I learned more, it confused me less. Still, much of it is too hard for a person whithout years of actual expeiernce training to really understand . . because the concepts are so apparently simple. But, they are actually profound, you just can't see it until you can.


See, I sound totally like a woo-woo nutcase. I assure you, I am not.


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

Arora said:


> Wow, that will keep me busy. Awesome, thank you!


There's loads more on his channel, as well as additional seasons of that series, but it's a good place to start.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Hands down another vote (make that 20 votes) for Mark Rashid. That’s one vote for every year I’ve known about him. 

Home

I did have his first five books but I gave one away, so now I have the first four.

I like him because his horse principles closely align with how my grandfather taught me, many years ago.

It also doesn’t hurt that he looks a lot like Sam Elliott


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

> When someone recommended I read "True Horsemanship Through Feel", I was very confused by it. Over the years, as I learned more, it confused me less. Still, much of it is too hard for a person whithout years of actual expeiernce training to really understand . . because the concepts are so apparently simple. But, they are actually profound, you just can't see it until you can.


Completely agree. Same here, that book made little to no sense the first time I read it. 
I think it is a good gauge of progress in a way, no matter who you choose to follow for training advice or who you ride with. Read it every couple years and see what didn't make sense before now does.


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

_Clinton Anderson's Downunder Horsemanship: Establishing Respect and Control for English and Western Riders_ -- read it before you watch any of his videos.
 I really like Stacy Westfall, but a lot of her videos quickly dive into the subtleties of shoulder control and the value of doing patterns, so unless you're pretty advanced they might not make sense.
 Mark Rashid's books are great but the one video I have is not especially well done.
 Shawna Karrasch if you'd like to look into positive reinforcement.
 Richard Winters is great; he and his wife are very nice and he is a good teacher. Especially valuable if you want to work with cattle.
 Xenophon's _The Art of Horsemanship. _I especially enjoyed his emphasis on the importance of a "double backed" horse (presumably with prominent muscle on both sides of the spine), which was very important in the days before the invention of the saddle. Also the instruction of stabling on rock, since this was also before the invention of the shoe. It is amusing that the English translation refers to the "onside" and "offside" of the horse. I'm pretty sure the British translators took some liberties there with the Greek text.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

@Joel Reiter reminds me of books that I do like.

Xenophon's The Art of Horsemanship. I really like it.

And Ed Connelly's Hackamore Reinsman. 

Both are very informative, regardless of discipline.

I do like working with good horsemen. Even just good riders. I don't like watching clinicians. They all talk too much.


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## Arora (Mar 29, 2020)

Thanks for all the great replies guys, these people sound super interesting and will definitely help me learn more. I'm definitely not a new rider, been riding from the age of 9 but there is always something more to learn, especially when it comes to horsemanship and horse behavior so now I can keep myself busy during lockdown!
I'm sure this thread will be super interesting for many others too, thanks for the wonderful replies


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Now I want to order "True Horsemanship Through Feel." To see how much I know about horses, LOL.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

ACinATX said:


> Now I want to order "True Horsemanship Through Feel." To see how much I know about horses, LOL.


Just be ready to be confused. It was written by Leslie Desmond, and she did it by way of many interviews with Bill Dorrance. And, she wrote it just the way he actually spoke, so you get a lot of 'folksy' sounding language.

But some of it a person starts to take up , like: "put a feel on that rope". that has become something I use, too. "A horse will get real bothered by . . . ". "cause a lot of worry in a horse", Get to feelin' that . . and on and on. 
​


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## DanisMom (Jan 26, 2014)

Another vote for Mark Rashid. I have all or most of his books. I used to reread the first three every winter. I think now might be a good time to do that! I also like Warwick Schiller.

And I have "True Horsemanship Through Feel". I think it's time to finish reading it. I've had a hard time getting through it, but I've learned a lot since I bought it and I think now I can digest it and get something from it. I found in the beginning I didn't really know what a lot of it even meant, but now I think I will understand a lot more of it. It helps that I made a new friend who trained horses for 50 years and was taught by Ray Hunt. She is now retired and moved to my area from CA and I've learned a few things from her in the short time I've known her. Hope to learn more when we are able to get together again.


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

tinyliny said:


> Just be ready to be confused.


Bill Dorrance could communicate with horses in ways none of us will ever understand, and what the Good Lord gave him in that ability he subtracted from his communication with people. Parelli, after visiting with him for years, found it impossible to understand some of what he said, and even if he understood the instruction, he didn't understand why it worked or how Bill knew it would.

It isn't so much a test of your knowledge of horses as a test of your imagination and reading comprehension. I have read parts of it, and I have read Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. They are equally impenetrable, but I have a better understanding of Kant. Good luck.


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## barrelracerqueen007 (Mar 2, 2021)

Arora said:


> Hey guys, I'm pretty new here so sorry if I have put this in the wrong place. I was wondering if people would be interested in telling me their favorite horsemen/women in regards to horsemanship as I'm going to spend a lot more of my time during quarantine focusing on these videos etc. Why are they your favorite and what methods do you like and even use:Angel: yourself?
> Thanks all!


As some people have said it definitely depends on your on what you are looking into doing with your horse. I really like Clinton Anderson’s training because it works for most horses and what you may be doing with your horse (even if it is english). His yearly membership comes with loads of step by step training methods from fundamentals to barrel racing, liberty/trick, bridless, and many more! His method is based off of pressure and release as well as the pecking order of the horse and how they would act with other horses! His training is also very adaptive to personal opinions. Would definitely recommend


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## Luna’s rider (Jan 23, 2021)

Does anyone recommend Horse Speak? I’m about to download it.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

So does it have to be people you learn from or horse people that I find entertaining?


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