In Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse, Mark Rashid is yet another talented horse clinician who has to balance the bottom line of his business and get results with horses fast, when Buck the ranch horse comes into his life. Buck will not be homogenized into one-size-fits-all training, responses, and behavior. This unassuming ranch horse remains persistent in who he is, and what he knows to be true. Buck lives his life in a gentle, non-confrontational manner with the humans and other horses he encounters. Mark is stumped by some of Buck’s refusals under saddle until he begins to understand the myriad ways Buck is patiently offering information and waiting for Mark to hear it. This quiet horse teaches Mark about himself, and about life.
Mark and Buck’s story is from the heart of a horse and a man, and a reflection of what is often missed: listening, observing, and processing information fresh in each moment. Buck will leave you with a feeling of admiration for his infinite patience, and with an opportunity to peruse, as Mark did, the self.
Life Lessons From a Ranch Horse is not a training book, but instead a glimpse into the expansion of what is possible when we learn to listen with more than old beliefs guiding how and what we hear.
Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse will leave you with a thread to follow, if you choose to pursue it.
(Publisher Johnson Books 2003) $17.50