Finding Heart Horse

Have you ever wanted something so badly it was all you could think of? All you could talk about, write about, dream about. Claire did. She wanted a horse. Finding Heart Horse is her journey and her search for her Heart Horse. It takes her from being "the girl most likely to succeed" to a life on the streets of Yorkville in the late sixties. As an adopted child she had no identity, no history, and no place where she "fit." Her years on the streets lead her into many dark places, where she began to add more secrets and traumas to her already large collection in the wall of secrets. Life changed quickly in those days, from peace and love to war and violence. She went along for the ride not knowing where it would lead, just knowing that she had to find Heart Horse. If you know anyone who may be struggling, perhaps even yourself, Finding Heart Horse can give you hope where you thought there was none. We all have different journeys, but the essence is the same. We all want to be loved, to belong, and to be happy. Everyone at some point has yearned for something so powerful that, like a magnet, it pulls you into the unknown. Even if you weren't really sure what it was for, you knew you had to pursue it. Life lessons are learned, spirituality discovered. The reality of opposites is proven. With pain comes pleasure, with despair comes hope, with sadness comes joy, and perhaps along the way even your Heart Horse may be found.

To Catch A Horse is honest, humble, insightful and, at times, funny. Its pages radiate concern for the horse and commitment to being the sort of person a horse would want. A thoroughly enjoyable read, To Catch A Horse will not only inspire you to better horsemanship, but it will illuminate the way. (Samantha Salomon) Amy's philosophy of having truly good intentions for your horse is something that all horse people need to remember. Too often we are lost in the world of training and competition and we forget that our horse is our greatest friend, and we should treat them that way. Changing our ways and experimenting with new things can be extremely uncomfortable, but as she reminds us here, we search for better ways to do things so that we and our equine partners may be peaceful and content, inside and out. (Stefanie Maihofer) Opening up this book is like sitting down at the kitchen table with a friend, where you feel connected by the quiet, and sometimes lively, conversation. There is a lot to take away from To Catch a Horse, but I keep coming back to this passage: "...we have to be able to offer real peace to the horse. To do that, we have to have peace with ourselves." Amy offers practical truths and consequences in To Catch a Horse that are hard to find anywhere else. (Julie Kenney)Amy is at the forefront of an exciting revolution that is focused on quality of life, for the horse as much as the human. (Kristen Anthony)To Catch a Horse is a must-have for those want an honest and refreshing look at horsemanship. Amy Skinner allows the reader into her world. Her willingness to challenge the status quo in the world of horsemanship demonstrates her drive to improve how the horse is seen and developed. The stories shared are skillfully worded to help the rider elevate their approach with understanding the horse. With each read, you'll find new nuggets of information. My favorites: The Problem with Training; Live Soft, Ride Soft: Bomb Proof or Shut Down; Questioning the 30-Day Start. (Michael Benner)

An introverted horse-whisperer, a famous equine artist, and the mare who brings them together. Tori Reynolds has never liked the term “breaking” horses to ride. Instead, she earns their trust, and can climb aboard a wild mustang the same day she meets it. Her farm, an historic bed and breakfast, sits along the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan in the small town of St. Ives, and her life as a B&B owner and sought-after horse whisperer is pretty much perfect. Until a visit to New York City changes everything. Matt Cheval is a handsome, nationally-known artist. When Tori steps into his Manhattan art show, she unexpectedly finds herself and her horse in his paintings. Angry and frightened, she is now faced with the memory of a day she has spent years trying to forget. Tori flees back to the security of her farm and the comfort of her horse, but Matt follows to apologize for a wrong he isn’t sure he knows how to fix. Torn between anger and her growing feelings for Matt, she wonders if she has wrongly judged this sensitive artist. Maybe some wounds can be healed. But when tragedy strikes, will their hope in the future, and their faith in God hold their relationship together? Or will they lose each other forever?

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. . . .How we perceive that information dictates how we respond to it." Whole Heart, Whole Horse focuses on this idea, covering such subjects as gathering information from the horse, turning rider/trainer mistakes into positive experiences, developing realistic boundaries between you and your horse, understanding how and why horses release energy from real or perceived traumas, and reaching a comfortable balance point between horse and rider. Rashid analyzes developing softness, consistency, dependability, trust, and peace of mind in both horses and humans, as well as how to become a leader whom your horse will willingly want to follow and work with. Full of examples that extend beyond the training pen, Whole Heart, Whole Horse offers good sense and information that will make you a more astute, capable, and sensitive horseman and person.

Expressive portraits convey the power and elemental majest of horses in ways we've never seen before, protraying these complex beings in their infinite subtleties of mood.

With the right team, miracles can happen. Even during a global pandemic. Welcome to the story of Mighty Heart, a one-eyed bay colt who captured the attention of horse racing fans all over the world when he won the 2020 Queen’s Plate, Canada’s iconic Thoroughbred race, at Woodbine racetrack. It is the comeback story of a horse whose outlook was bleak after his first few disappointing races, and got worse when the pandemic largely shut down horse racing. It is the comeback story of an owner, Larry Cordes, who had stepped away from racing after suffering a series of personal tragedies. Larry was always smitten with horses and racing, and became an owner when his late wife gave him a birthday gift of a racehorse. A leader in the heavy machine industry in Ontario, Larry’s love for horses became a warm and fulfilling family affair as his wife and daughters joined him in his fabulous obsessions. But the tight-knit group was rocked by the deaths of three family members that forever changed their perspectives on life and Larry, crestfallen, stepped away from his passion. Nine years later, he returned with renewed love for horse racing, and an idea to breed his own horse with the help of some of the finest minds in Ontario’s Thoroughbred industry. It is a heartwarming, comeback story—all because of a little horse that could. Run With a Mighty Heart is a refreshing, joyful read that is full of hope and wonder—showcasing that it truly takes a team to overcome the hurdles that we face in life. We are left cheering at the end.

Learning to 'listen' with all our senses and the magic that happens when we keep an open mind about the idea of communication from the animal world

This book is not a training manual with step-by-step instructions. It is instead an honest, sometimes funny, and sometimes awkward window into the journey of horsewoman Amy Skinner. It prompts the reader to ask themselves questions, to evaluate and think a bit differently.The book will take you through the messy parts of our personal lives with humor, insight, and a little discomfort. It offers support and connection to those who have felt alone in their struggles. It will help readers find strength from struggle, and sensitivity from the harsh and ugly realities we experience.This book will also take you through the eyes of a horse - what they need, how they feel, and how we can best support them. By finding balance in our personal lives and within ourselves, we can cultivate something truly valuable to offer to a horse.