A review by fruitbatwoman
Nature in Horsemanship: Discovering Harmony Through Principles of Aikido by Mark Rashid

informative reflective slow-paced

2.5

When I had just started horseriding, I found Mark Rashid's other books interesting and helpful. Now that I have a few more years of experience and tried different training approaches myself, I found that there was very little in this book that I didn't already hear elsewhere. The anecdotes and examples from his horse training were somewhat entertaining, as such tales always are, but what he tried to convey sounded more condescending and preachy than helpful. I also found a lot of inconsistencies between him mocking one training method, only to do the same thing in a later chapter. The interaction between aikido and horsemanship was also not new to me, and while I think one can definitely benefit the other, I felt that Rashid tried to sell aikido as a cure for every ailment (including old age), which felt almost ableist to me. I was rather disappointed with this book and doubt I will read another one.