# One Book recommendation needed.



## Karoo (Dec 13, 2012)

Hello. I am looking to buy a single book to give me the basics of starting a young horse.
I like Clinton Anderson's style, though am aware of his critics.
I am a rancher familiar with livestock and horses, but have yet to train a horse.
Your suggestions will be appreciated.


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## Roman (Jun 13, 2014)

Storey's Guide to Training Horses

Buy CA books. I think he's a great trainer!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Tom Roberts, "Horse Control - The Young Horse" and later "The Rider" and "The Bit" in the same series were my primary, highly useful go-to manuals for starting my yearling that was my first own horse (as a kid growing up on a remote farm) and taking her though to successful competitions at a variety of disciplines, and more importantly, a lifetime of mutual enjoyment. I still highly recommend these books, which espouse sensible, kind, thoughtful education of young horses, by a person who used to educate horses and riders for the cavalry, and later, in civilian life, very successfully competed in dressage, jumping, polo, tent-pegging etc, and formed the Dressage Club of South Australia. Nobody who bought these books on my recommendation has not thought very highly of them.


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## budley95 (Aug 15, 2014)

If you like CA's style (I have no idea who he is I'm afraid!) then I suppose go with it. But unfortunately no one book will be able to help you as much as a trainer that has experience who can help you when you come across the odd problem a youngster likes to throw at you!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

I actually disagree with that statement, Bud!  If you have a super training manual by a person with decades of experience in training horses and riders in diverse settings writing at the end of their lifetimes (as in the Tom Roberts recommendations above), then that's going to have a great deal more detail, information and tricks up the sleeve than the average trainer. I personally have never found the on-the-ground trainers I came across anywhere near as useful as those manuals I mentioned (and I saw a lot of trainers being unnecessarily rough with animals, and quite unintelligent in the way they proceeded). I think in part that's also because horse people tend to be more specialised in particular areas in our times, whereas in the days when horses were used in cavalry and for transport, there were a lot more "all-rounder" horse people able to accumulate tremendous and diverse experience in a lifetime.

I think these days, trainers/instructors are best value for teaching beginners the basics of riding, and good specialist trainers/instructors for particular specialties. But reading systematic manuals on training (and books on horse behaviour) from a range of experienced people with different approaches and making up your own mind which approach you want to adopt and why is, I think, really valuable for anyone who wants to further their horsemanship and improve their understanding with their horse.

I think the problem is that the average trainer/instructor these days is nowhere near the quality as really excellent all-rounders with half a century of experience who have sat down and produced a super systematic manual that's stood the test of time like Tom Roberts has in Australia. While he taught literally thousands of horses and people in person in his lifetime, he also has left a legacy of teaching many more through his books than he could ever have reached in person.

Similar situation to learning to fly: While a licensed practical instructor takes you on flying lessons, the amount of theory in the form of books which has to be swatted up for the examinations is very formidable, and very essential. Add to that the consideration that the average licensed flying instructor is going to be of better quality as a teacher than the average horse trainer/instructor (because of the necessarily tight regulations around flying), and that flying is a more mechanical, predictable process than working with a live animal, means the potential value of good horse wisdom in print becomes very clear!

If I had to estimate, I'd say I got around 5% of my horsemanship from on-the-ground riding instructors, 45% from manuals, and 50% from the horses themselves. The fractions will vary from person to person, but the decline in the popularity of systematic reading has also, from what I've seen, played a significant role in reducing the overall quality of people's horsemanship these days, and tended to produce closed thinking.


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## Hackamore (Mar 28, 2014)

I have to agree with Budley99. Everyone learns differently but I feel It will be hard to find a single book that will teach you everything you need to start colts successfully. I personally have learned more over the years by seeing how it’s done. Reading will not show you how a horse reacts to a method or how an experienced trainer handles situations that may not go smoothly 

My suggestion would be to go to some clinics or to a local trainer and see how it’s done. If that’s not an option then rent some colt starting DVD’s from some place like http://www.giddyupflix.com along with your books on colt starting so you have a visual reference. I would suggest reading or viewing anything by Jon Ensign, Peter Campbell, Richard Winters, Buck Brannaman, Tom Curtin or Bryan Neubert to get started in the right direction. 

Starting colts is not for everyone. It requires a confident rider, patients and the ability to keep emotion and frustration out of the equation with working with these horses. 

Best of luck,


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## Karoo (Dec 13, 2012)

Thank you very much for the replies so far and I have already searched these recommendations. 
I do not have professional trainers around but will certainly ask some knowledgeable friends for advice.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Ill have to check out this Tom Roberts . he is not known really, in US, but with your strong recommendation I am now curious. I assume he'd be on Amazon?


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## Karoo (Dec 13, 2012)

I found his books on Amazon and am also keen to find out more on his work.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Then, get ready to read a LOT of good books. There is no one definitive book on starting young horses. Get yourself a good wrangler and learn from him (or her.) =D


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

While there is no one _definitive_ book, like I said, my TR horse education books taught me multiple times more about training horses than any on-the-ground person ever did, and I've been training my own horses (and at times other people's as a favour) without major dramas since I was 11 - i.e - over three decades. On the other hand, I have seen quite a few horses who have been through people who do it for money come out with all sorts of issues - and a number of horses our family bought off others (rather than bred and educated ourselves) needed rehabilitating out of various problems that had made their prior owners want to give up on them. So the point here is, the average horse trainer we've seen isn't equipped with the same amount of experience, intelligence, lateral thinking and probably kindness than someone like TR, for reasons I outlined earlier. And yes, I'd rather learn good habits and ideas around horses from a book by an outstanding practitioner than bad habits or ideas from the average trainer. (And that's also why your average GP doesn't write the medical textbooks for university: The beauty of the printing press is that the reach of outstanding people became so much wider. Of course, that's not to say there isn't plenty of rubbish printed as well.)

I'll bet one thing: People who swear there isn't one book on educating horses that can substitute well for an average trainer (or even training clinics) haven't read a good one, and it's not because there aren't any.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Caroline: I think people can still get these books via online sources. Here's a "taster" I posted a while ago in a different thread, from the beginning of "The Young Horse" - just to give you an idea of what he's about:

http://www.horseforum.com/horse-tra...ong-willed-yearling-461114/page3/#post5974978

There are other very valuable books on training and horse behaviour in print (and much mediocre stuff, as usual) - TR's is the most useful stuff I've come across, but then my snapshot is from our part of the world, and I'm sure other people here can suggest other gems.

And on the subject of horse behaviour, the best text I've personally found in the last twenty years is Marthe Kiley-Worthington's recent "Horse Watch: What It Is To Be Equine." Marthe is like the Jane Goodall of the horse world - really excellent. She's a professional biologist, and won't make you suffer through the urban (or should I say rural?) myths that abound on the subject. She avoids both anthropomorphising and its opposite extreme (where most people seem to be stuck these days) of subscribing to human exceptionalism (which renders non-human animals significantly more primitive and limited than at least the social mammals actually are). 

On equine health, "Veterinary Notes For Horse Owners" (originally by Hayes, but best to get the most revised edition) is my top recommendation.

Happy reading - and I'm always interested in hearing about other people's "gems" that have stood the test of time. 


PS: My favourite blog on invitation-and-reward type training:

http://augustusthemustang.wordpress.com/

I've been following the progress of this trainer (who started in classical dressage) and her mustang since they became a team a relatively short time ago and I love their working relationship and what they have achieved together (the mustang was lying down on cue before etc before there was ever any thought of mounting him to ride). They do some wonderful things and it's worth going through the archive to get the story from the beginning!


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

No such thing as only one book. If you even try that, you will not be learning. You must keep your mind open to all kinds of ideas, use common sense to guide you and learn to read what a horse is telling you. If you think you can start a yearling by reading one book, you aren't ready to start.


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## Karoo (Dec 13, 2012)

Thanks and I am more intrigued now by Tom Roberts than ever before.
I have no doubt that one book is not enough, but I am experienced with horse and livestock behaviour and handling, just not in starting a horse.
One good book, coupled with common sense, will certainly be a worthwhile starting point.


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