Beginning Ground Work
The latest blog from our friend Joe Camp.
When we were first starting with horses less than five years ago we dove deeply into the training books and DVDs of several of the top clinicians in the United States. We owned virtually everything ever written or videoed by Monty Roberts, Clinton Anderson, and the Parellis and we were bouncing back and forth from one to the other testing what worked best with our horses. But I was secretly longing for a compressed, congealed, shuffled together guide to the basics. Not only what works best, but why. And what is most important right from the beginning. I wanted to bypass the multi-levels and two-year regimens of one small step after another and encircle the heart and soul of what we really needed to know about the horse and what he needed to know about us before racing off to the trail.
I think as much as anything those were the two nuggets eating away at me: what we needed to know about the horse and what he needed to know about us.
I wanted to stop spending hours upon hours hunting and pecking to find this answer and that answer which logic had dictated could be important in relationship and leadership building. To find the quickest, safest, soundest route to self-sufficiency and to trusting myself to figure things out. That guide to the basics I mentioned. Now, at last, we have one. Written for all of us who truly love our horses. A book of the good stuff crammed with everything we have learned about relationship and leadership and why it makes such a difference up front. Right from the get go. Why it all works. Why five years later our herd of six are happy healthy horses love and respect their human leaders. And do awesome things for them. For us. And there’s an entire chapter on fear. I believe this book can change your relationship with your horse, and teach you to trust yourself to trust yourself. Stories, discoveries, and information you will love can now always be with you. At home, in the barn, the pasture, or the arena.
Read more on The Soul of a Horse website
Joe Camp is the author of the national best seller The Soul of a Horse – Life Lessons from the Herd, The Soul of a Horse Blogged – The Journey Continues and his new series of eBook Nuggets from the Soul of a Horse. He is also the creator of the canine superstar Benji and the writer-director of all five Benji movies.