Customer Reviews

Good Horse is Never a Bad Color

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Truly, Mark Rashid must be here on earth to be the voice of the horse. Never have I read a more eloquent, spellbinding pair of books as 'Considering the Horse' and 'A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color.' If you read them as training manuals, you will find them informative and thought-provoking. If you read them for entertainment, you'll find humor, drama, compassion, and common sense.

Rashid doesn't offer a quick fix for horse training problems. Rather, he advocates considering the lesson from the horse's point of view, then using communication, patience, gentleness, and compassion to form a lasting partnership with the horse.

I urge you to read these books, apply Rashid's principles to your training programs, and spread the word to as many other horsepeople as you can. We owe it to our horses.

I bought this book not knowing what it was about. I had read Mark Rashid's two other books, and his name on this one was all I needed to make the purchase. I have already been educated and inspired from 'Considering the Horse' and 'Horses Never Lie' more than I have been from all other horse books put together. I knew 'A Good Horse Is Never a Bad Color' would be as good. I was not disappointed.

Unlike the other two, though, this book covers a slightly different subject. While the others mainly discuss training attitude and problem solving, this one focuses on making good horses. It discusses practical issues such as choosing a good horse, imprinting newborns, early training, solving problems that might occur along the way, and even changing a bad horse into a good horse. Of course, Mark never tells you, "if you have a problem with that, do this to solve it." Instead, he writes in story format, recalling his experiences as they happened. This charming style guarantees the book unputdownable. Even if you are not into horses, you could read this book as an autobiography.

In the last chapter, Mark concludes that it was 'the old man' who had passed on this gift to him. He hopes that through this book, he had been able to pass on the gift to the reader. But really, to learn the gift and use it, you must read all his books. They complete each other and deliver his message to the world: a horse will give his all to the person who talks to him in a language he understands. This book costs only $[money], but I would've bought it even it the price was $500. If you have to read only one book in your life about horses, make it one of Mark Rashid's.

I grew up around horses most of my life, but never really understood horses. As a child, I rode horses as a passenger, and did not really appreciate my horse. I am now older, and have a horse of my own. She is green as green can be, and I love her. I have decided not to continue my ignorance of these beautiful creatures, and read and learn all about them. I was bombarded with wonderful books and training techniques to assist my equine partner and myself, but no other book touched me like this one. It kept me turning pages, and I even stayed up til 6 am to finish reading it. Unfortunately, I had to be at work at 8:00. Uuuggghhh. Anyway, I enjoyed the stories, all the wonderful theories and techniques enveloped into a book that just grabs you. I could not recommend this book higher. I passed it on to my parents so they can also benefit from this perspective, and begin to appreciate their horses as well. By the way, It worked. They are now born-again horse lovers. Do not get me wrong, we all love horses, but you can love them for their beauty, strength, and the enjoyment you can have riding them, but that is not a true and complete understanding of horses. We now are working on our relationships with our horses. Wish us luck! Enjoy the book!

I have long been a fan of natural horsemanship, and have read John Lyons, Pat Parelli, Monty Roberts. I learned a lot from each, but always felt that something was missing. Enter Mark Rashid. Rather than profess that we should be alphas (harsh, dominating leaders), he argues for a passive leadership where respect is gained from consistency and kindness, and so true partnership becomes possible. This book is wonderful to read for pleasure (I devoured it in 2 days), and also has very practical insights into common problems. My relationship with my horses is already the better for it. So much for the other books on my shelf--I won't be referring back to them again!

To get absolutely! If you love and live with horses, this is what you need! This book will make you understand the horse point of view and will broaden your horizons. At the same time, the author focuses on specific problems that we've all been confronted to, from catching an "uncatchable" horse to make a young horse go through the water and more. I don't want to reveal anything, just read it... Also, the author has great writing qualities, I didn't put this book down!

Mark Rashid "shows" instead of "tells" us about the ways and means of better communication with horses. For years, stories have been used to convey information and social commentary. In this age and day of "Self-Help Manuals" and "Do It This Way" books, I found it extremely refreshing that I was allowed to enjoy my education into a wider range of "horse talk". Mr. Rashid displays in his writing an unusual sense of humility and honor, and as a result I find that I value what he has to say all the more. I look forward to anything else he may decide to put into print.

My 3 year old is a pleasure to ride and shows even better but on the ground he is down right nasty. I was about to give up when my trainer suggested a certain book, while online amazon brought my attention to this book. It certainly changed my view of my geldings behavior and with a different perspective on his behavior I gratefully stuck it out with him. He is not completly cured but he much more pleasant to be around (and a success at the shows). This book is written in such a way you want to keep reading, it is not written above your head.

An absolutly great read. I've been a horseman for 27 years and have to say that I have never found a better,more common sense approach to horsemanship. We always have something new to learn when it comes to our horses and Mark give us a lot to think about. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves their horse.

In an era of horse whisperers and natural horsemanship, Rashid quietly writes on about his life long experiences training & caring for horses. I appreciate the perspective Mr. Rashid writes from and being a true gentleman in the horse world only helps to reinforce the natural tendency to believe in his writing. He is one of the few trainers who doesn't take on an "in your face" style of writing. When I bought my first filly, I read this book while waiting for her to arrive from another state. Before she arrived and I finished this book, I was on Amazon buying up everything else he had published at the time! The lessons taught by Mark Rashid's stories transcend the horse world and send wonderful life messages. A true gentleman and scholar in the world of horsemanship who doesn't seem to put the capitalization of his knowledge first...It's a refreshing read!

Mark shares his experiences with horses in a short story format. He explains different situations that he has encountered and how he approached them - not always succesfully, but what he learned and how he could handle them better in the future. He shares what he learned from "the old man" and how he has used the knowledge in his dealings with horses. Mark does clinics around the country where he shares more of his stories and his knowledge about working together with your horse to create a better partnership. Check out his website for clinic dates and comments from participants - look it up! Rumor has it he's working on a third book!