Internationally acclaimed horse trainer Mark Rashid shares and analyzes
the remarkable events, quiet moments, and humbling stumbling blocks
that--looking back--he can identify as significant in his personal
journey to finding "softness" with both horses and people. "Softness,"
via what many in the horse world today might refer to as "feel," begins,
Rashid says, with one simple truth: "It's not about what we do that
starts us on the path to softness, but rather, it's what we don't do."
Softness is having the sensitivity we need in order to feel when and if
the horse tries to "give."It is about developing the kind of awareness
and feel it takes to know when we are working against our horses, rather
than with them. In these forthright stories, readers get a glimpse of a
life that has produced a man known for his ability to solve difficult
problems with communication rather than force, as well as methods and
techniques gleaned from decades of work with horses, horse people, and
the "way of harmony" through the martial arts.