A Good Horse

On her family's California horse ranch in the 1960s, eighth-grader Abby Lovitt faces the possibility of giving up her beloved colt, Jack, when it comes to light that his dam might have been stolen.

After several visits to study Icelandic sagas, Nancy Brown returns to Iceland to search for the perfect Icelandic horse, one she can bring back to her Pennsylvania farm and make her own. To do so, she must become part of the country's tightly knit horse-breeding community, which can be wary of outsiders and extremely protective of the world-famous breed. In this clear-eyed, evocative account set against Iceland's austere and majestic landscape, she describes what makes Icelandic horses and their owners so distinctive. She also discovers her limitations as a horsewoman and learns much about what she is looking for-in a horse and in her life.

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 readers a new perspective on these breeds and others. This new edition features added introductory notes for each chapter that contribute to a better understanding of Rashid’s philosophy and methods.

A Pulitzer Prize winner makes her debut for young readers. Jane Smiley makes her debut for young readers in this stirring novel set on a California horse ranch in the 1960s. Seventh-grader Abby Lovitt has always been more at ease with horses than with people. Her father insists they call all the mares “Jewel” and all the geldings “George” and warns Abby not to get attached: the horses are there to be sold. But with all the stress at school (the Big Four have turned against Abby and her friends) and home (her brother Danny is gone—for good, it seems—and now Daddy won’t speak his name), Abby seeks refuge with the Georges and the Jewels. But there’s one gelding on her family’s farm that gives her no end of trouble: the horse who won’t meet her gaze, the horse who bucks her right off every chance he gets, the horse her father makes her ride and train, every day. She calls him the Ornery George.

Since moving west over a decade ago, Tom Groneberg has worked with horses as a trail guide, as a ranch hand, and as the manager of his own ranch in Montana, but he has never owned a really good horse. Until, on an autumn night, in a warm barn under a blanket of snow, Blue is born. Soon, he will belong to Tom Groneberg. "If I had a good horse," writes Tom, "I could give it my life. I could ride it for years. We could grow old together." So begins this unique American love story about a man and his horse. In straightforward, poetic prose, Tom Groneberg chronicles the early successes and failures of trying to train Blue, earning the animal's trust, and saddling him for the first time. The experience is challenging, but ultimately rewarding for Tom. Through his relationship with the animal, he develops a deeper understanding of the land and his community, and of himself -- as a man, and as a husband and father. In a world in which horses are fast becoming nothing more than warm-blooded lawn ornaments, Tom still believes these animals are important in human lives. At its heart, One Good Horse is about the power of hope, the simple story of a horse and the way people connect with nature and with each other across the generations.

Hidden atop Montana¿s Pryor Mountain, the last of the purebred Spanish mustangs still roam free. They are the direct descendants of Cortez¿s noble jennets and a rare breed. For over two hundred years they have lived in an isolated Garden of Eden, safe from the outside world and the most feared predator of all ¿ man. But in 1919, when a band of cowboys discover their whereabouts, all tranquility ends. The taking of free mustangs on Federal land becomes a lucrative but tainted business. Over the next twenty years the cowboys systematically slaughter thirty thousand horses and ship the carcasses to cannery plants hungry for cheap feed. By the summer of 1939, less than one thousand jennets remain alive. Enter seventeen-year-old Billy Bartell. Desperate to flee a macabre life as a mortician, Billy all-too eagerly takes up company among the last of the old West drovers. It seems Billy has the requisite skills to both hunt down the horses and prep the creatures¿ carcasses for the iced-down boxcars. Yet, the pact he makes with the camp boss, Captain Belial, may not have been his wisest decision. Getting out of a pact with the devil never is. Now, Billy is faced with another monumental decision: continue eradicating the herds or save the last of the good horses from extinction.

Eastern philosophy enters the stables in this unique guide to horsemanship. Allan Hamilton describes how horses understand and respond to the flow of vital energy around them. They use this energy, called chi, to communicate with their herd, express dominance, and sense predators. Hamilton shares safe, simple techniques to make you more receptive to your animal’s chi, so you can develop a calm and effective training style that will not only help your horse follow commands, but strengthen the spiritual bond between horse and rider.

A revised edition of the inspiring bestseller, now in paperback with new good rider profiles! This book is exactly what you need to become a better rider. It's a smart, honest, on-target kick-in-the-pants, guaranteed to rev your engines as you see how a few changes in your life, a few smart choices and strategic moves, can transform you from a run-of-the-mill rider into a good one. How does Denny Emerson know what makes a good rider? For one thing, he is one—he is the only rider in the world to have won both a gold medal in international eventing and a Tevis Cup buckle in endurance. Plus, he's been around great riders, and taught those on their way to becoming great, for over 40 years. How will what Denny knows help you become a good rider? He's boiled the whole thing down into seven broad "Areas of Choice" that determine whether you are a "gonnabe" or whether you'll be stuck in the "wannabe" category for decades. Examine how your choice of riding sport may or may not be the best for who you are and where you live. Find out how those frustrating hurdles known as "life circumstances" don't necessarily hold you back like you think they do. Learn how to build a strong support team by winning people to your cause and choosing the right teachers and mentors. Analyze your physical self (your body, how it is formed and how you care for it) and your intellectual self (your "horse smarts" and how you are adding to them or not) and apply the results to your "gonna-be-good" equation. Take a good hard look at your partner—your horse—and think critically about his ability to help you attain your riding goals. Discover the nine key character traits of successful riders and how you can learn to call each one of them your own. Along the way you'll read the stories of 23 of the world's top riders from different disciplines and sports—including dressage, reining, driving, show jumping, endurance, hunter/jumper, and eventing—and how they "got good" despite the same kinds of challenges and setbacks you face in your own day-to-day riding. You'll get an inside look at their path to success, as well as their very best tips for how to "make it" in the horse industry.