Students Speak
March 2008, E.S. wrote:
I think a great, great deal of your philosophy. I recently read
one of your books and enjoyed it so much I purchased your DVD "Finding the Try". Our filly and I have both benefited from your
the DVD a lot. I am at the extreme opposite end of "heavy handed". With your techniques I get the intended response while not having
to "change my light handed ways". Our little filly did everything
so well...except stop. I did not like to pull so hard on her tender
little mouth, especially when she does everything else so well with
next to no pressure. My favorite character in the DVD, Arny, had the
same problem of walking through the bit. I applied what you
demonstrated with Arny to our filly...and she has improved immensely.
Throughout my life I have been given tons of unsolicited advise to
"show him/her" who is boss and get "meaner". It just wasn't
something I was willing to do or wanted to do, and it is really
difficult for one to do something they really do not want to do.
You formulate the "use the least amount of pressure" so well and
succinctly that I can easily understand and apply your techniques - and I want to apply them.
Thank you for all the efforts that you have made to write books
and produce DVD's - they are so appreciated and needed.
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August 2007 A.H. wrote:
Dear Mr Rashid,
I am a horse owner and have just finished reading 4 of your beautifully written books (Horses never lie, Life lessons from a ranch horse, Considering the horse and a Good horse is never a bad colour) I couldn't put them down. Visualization was really easy due to the way they were written. I felt like I was there watching you work with the horses. I found the books very emotional, happy, funny and sad in parts. I am looking forward to a brighter future with my horse learning from the lessons you have learnt. You have certainly proved that partnering and being respectful with your horse gets results. Being able to blend with him and learning to listen to him and appreciate his feelings, being able to understand his requests and giving none confusing answers and ultimately gaining a trusting partnership.
Other areas that I have found interesting are: Blending, finding the try, unrestrained technique and what Pete & Buck taught you with passive leadership and the lessons you learnt (1 - 6) from that
It was nice to see Walter Pruitt was so kind and respectful to horses and people and his nonjudgmental attitude, considering the era he lived in and the practices that went on during that time (and sadly still do).
It is nice that you have touched on all aspects of life.
Once again thanks for some excellent books, I have really enjoyed reading some humanity and you have given me a lot to think about.
Kind Regards
England
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June 2007, M.K. wrote:
Hello Mark,
When I read your first book some years ago, it felt like coming home and this feeling hasn’t changed since I read the last one. Your books are a pleasure to read and they make me aware of the improvements I still can make in working with my horses and in my everyday life.
There are 3 reasons why I admire your horsemanship:
- you teach from your heart
- you adjust your work to each horse individually
- you are not afraid to show your mistakes
Buck’s book is my favorite; probably because I learn so much from my own horses and the horses I have in therapy (I am a holistic veterinarian).
I can imagine you still miss Buck, because he is a part of who you are now. However this can also be a comfort: he will live forever in the work you teach and all your students and readers will continue to use pieces of insight Buck taught you. Besides I believe all animals have a soul, which will go on living in heaven. Like before, he will help you if you really need him.
As I mentioned before, the most important thing I learned from you is awareness.
Awareness that all is not what it seems (like a horse in the round pen which seems to kick towards a person because he is aggressive, but is really telling the person he uses to much pressure). Awareness that sitting on a horse for the first time may make him think you are never getting off him again. And awareness I am using too much muscles and too little attention (I am still learning this every week at my aikido classes :-)).
I teach a few days horse behaviour at a school for natural healing for animals. Among other things I use principles I learned from you. I hope I can be a link in transferring the knowledge of the Indian way of working with horses, you learned from Walter Pruitt, to other people. Whether it is through aikido, Indian philosophy or Zen, if we can leave our ego behind and work together, I think the world will be a better place.
At last this summer I will be able to see you working with horses live, because I am coming to Hollensted in Germany. I am really looking forward to your clinic!
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