Horse Sports

In The Horse God Built, best-selling equestrian writer Lawrence Scanlan has written a tribute to an exceptional man that is also a backroads journey to a corner of the racing world rarely visited. As a young black man growing up in South Carolina, Eddie Sweat struggled at several occupations before settling on the job he was born for - groom to North America's finest racehorses. As Secretariat's groom, loyal friend, and protector, Eddie understood the horse far better than anyone else.

When Casey started riding again, she thought she'd nailed the tough part. That was before she tried starting over at a new farm, with a new job, in a new city. Casey's horse, James, seems happy enough at Twin Palms Ranch. And Casey's boyfriend, Brandon, is loving his dream job saving the ocean. Casey knows she should love her job marketing for a growing horse show organization. If only she had known how fast they'd be growing!

Many horse trainers, even those who espouse the so-called natural horsemanship approach, take the position that horses who fail to obey a human's request are doing so as much out of perversity as ignorance. That's not Mark Rashid's view. In his words, "If we understand that horses can't separate the way they feel from the way they act, then we can start to see that unwanted behavior isn't bad behavior at all. More times than not, it's just the horse expressing the way he feels at that particular moment in time....

A revolutionary approach to the techniques of working with horses, by a renowned instructor. In Horses Never Lie, renowned horse trainer Mark Rashid challenges the conventional wisdom of "alpha leadership" and teaches the listener to become a "passive leader" - a counterpart to the kind of horse other members of a herd choose to associate with and to follow. Applying Rashid’s principles and techniques helps cultivate horse personalities that are responsive and dependable regardless of the rider.

The popular and highly respected horse trainer Mark Rashid brings together Western and Eastern philosophies to demonstrate a seamless new incarnation of horse training. After years of helping "difficult" horses, Mark Rashid understands how to build the foundation of a horse's training and resolve any problems encountered along the way.

In the late 1980s, a spectacular three-year-old female racehorse named Winning Colors was being groomed for success under her famous Hollywood trainer D. Wayne Lukas and the billionaire owner of the San Diego Chargers pro-football team Eugene Klein. Meanwhile, three fun-loving gamblers Miami Paul, Dino Mateo, and Big Bernie believed that Winning Colors could be the unlikely female winner of the 1988 Kentucky Derby.

In A Good Horse Is Never a Bad Color, Mark Rashid continues to share his talent for training horses through communication rather than force. Rashid uses humorous, feel-good stories to relate his techniques of teaching horses by examining their view of the world. This book is a must-have for compassionate horse trainers and owners. Tales of Arabs, appaloosas, and paints - mistrusted and mistreated because of their breed - will give listeners a new perspective on these breeds and others.

Here is a compelling meditation from renowned horseman Mark Rashid on all the ways that the principles we apply in our dealings with fellow humans can apply to our relationships with our horses, and vice versa. Horsemanship Through Life is about awareness, learning, teaching, honesty, integrity, and much more. It is about more than tips or technique; it is about principles to live by. It is about taking ownership of and responsibility for our lives and relationships with horses and humans. It doesn t take long to listen to, but will be with you for life.

Lissa Bachner was born with a passion for horses and won her first blue ribbon at age five. Other awards would follow as a young rider, and for years Lissa trained with jumpers, tackling more difficult leaps, and working to perfect her ride. When blindness struck in her teens, it appeared her passion for riding would come to an end. How could she jump hurdles when she could barely navigate through her own home? But success, trust, and love came to Lissa when her trainer convinced her to buy a "diamond in the rough" from Germany.

Inspired by a true story, Horse Gone Silent delivers adventure, drama, and life lessons in a perfectly tidy package that will speak to your heart like no horse story ever has before. Champion show jumping horse Calebo gives a divinely critical message of hope in his inspirational tale of perseverance and courage. Calebo's story follows him from his charmed youth to the top of his sport to finding himself moments from death by slaughter.

In this illuminating book, brain scientist and horsewoman Janet Jones describes human and equine brains working together. Using plain language, she explores the differences and similarities between equine and human ways of negotiating the world. Mental abilities—like seeing, learning, fearing, trusting, and focusing—are discussed from both human and horse perspectives. Throughout, true stories of horses and handlers attempting to understand each other—sometimes successfully, sometimes not—help to illustrate the principles.

In this abridgement of River-Horse, the pre-eminent chronicler of American back roads - who has given us the classics Blue Highways and Prairyerth - recounts his singular voyage through American waters from sea to sea. Along the route, he offers a lyrical and ceaselessly fascinating shipboard perspective on the country and its rivers, lakes, canals, and landscapes.

John Saint Ryan has traveled the world working with horses. His behavior with all students—whether equine or human—aligns with his principles, a rare and admirable practice. He shares his knowledge with agility, openness, humor, and grace, often in a poetic manner. This audiobook is a joy to listen to, as you’ll discover John's love and humility when he describes the lessons his mentor, Tom Dorrance, helped him learn. His humor shines through as he recounts horse stories from earlier days.

Monty Roberts' father, a traditional horse trainer, had taught his son to dominate a horse in order to "break" it. But when he was 13, Monty made a discovery that changed his life. As he watched a mare tame a rebellious colt, Monty saw that she was speaking to it through eye and body movements. Astonished, Monty realized that he could train horses by using their language, speaking to them in ways that would form trust and understanding. Developing techniques based on what he learned from the horses around him, Monty embarked on a remarkable career - one that would bring him international fame as the real Horse Whisperer.

Great Horse Racing Mysteries digs beneath the surface of some of the sport's most intriguing cases.

In the second story of the highly acclaimed Horse Gone Silent Trilogy, sweet Emma Sterling is living a storybook life filled by horses, friends, and her loving parents Julia and Chase. Then, without warning, young Emma’s heart is shattered when her father returns home from military duty a completely changed person. Emma’s innocence and family’s future are threatened as her mother desperately attempts to save them from a viscous emotional struggle that may destroy them all.

November 1958: the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Into the rarefied atmosphere of wealth and tradition comes the most unlikely of horses - a drab white former plow horse named Snowman - and his rider, Harry de Leyer. They were the longest of all longshots - and their win was the stuff of legend.

Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail.

Feisty Jenna Murphy doesn't give a whiff about an animal's pedigree. As the local horse masseuse, she knows she has the magic touch and is keen to help every animal in her small town, including her beloved pony, Peanut. Any extra money earned from her job at the Equine Center is earmarked for her younger sister. At least someone in their family is going to receive a college education. High-powered businessman Derek Burke's main goal is to fix his new company's financial woes. And the first thing on his agenda is to force employees to only look after thoroughbreds.

In The Faraway Horses, Buck Brannaman shares his renowned methods for horse training and provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Robert Redford's movie The Horse Whisperer, for which he was the technical adviser.