A practical guide to using reward-based training techniques to create a true partnership with your horse. This leads to lifelong connection, effective problem-solving and joyful performance.

From the author of the #1 bestseller The Man Who Listens to Horses, a book for all of us seeking to strengthen our human relationships "Monty Roberts will make you marvel."—The New York Times Book Review In The Man Who Listens to Horses, Monty Roberts revealed the depth of communication possible between human and horse. Touching the hearts of more than four million readers worldwide, that memoir—which spent more than a year at the top of The New York Times bestseller list—described his discovery of the "language" of horses and the dramatic effectiveness of removing violence from their training. Now, the world's most famous horse gentler demonstrates how his revolutionary Join-Up technique can be used not just for horses, but as a model for how to strengthen human relationships. With vivid, often deeply moving anecdotes, Roberts shows how the lessons learned from the thousands of horses he has known can provide effective guidelines for improving the quality of our communication with one another—from learning to "read" each other effectively, to creative fear-free environments, and, most importantly, teaching belief in the power of gentleness and trust.

If you broke your horse to saddle and rode it for the first time yesterday, this book (chapter 1) is where you'd start tomorrow. If you have an older horse and you've taught him everything you know and he still don't know nothin', this book is where you'd start, (chapter 2). It's a roadmap to building the foundation every horse needs, regardless of age, breed or background, regardless of what you've got ultimately planned for that horse. Afterwards, when your horse knows this book back to front, go train for barrels, roping, eventing, jumping or dressage. But today, basics are basics. Section I is the stuff your horse needs to know. Section II is the stuff (the theory) you need to know. Practice the first handful of chapters in order, as written. Beyond that, you should feel free to mix and match depending on your needs or abilities. Some chapters are dependent upon others - but in those cases, I've spelled out necessary prerequisites. Question: "I just bought a horse. What do I do now?" Answer: "Buy my book, 'What I'd Teach Your Horse.'" Contents: SECTION I, BASICALLY TRAINING YOUR HORSE - Legs Mean Move (Step 1 if This Is "Day 2" for Your Young Horse) - Hip Control, Part I - Hip Control, Part II - Classic Serpentine - Train Your Horse to Travel Straight - Clockwork: How to Teach Anything to Your Horse - Shoulder Control - The Reverse Arc Circle - How to Fix Leaning Shoulders - Serpentine: Indirect to Direct - Speed Control - Slow Down, Part I: Move the Hip - Slow Down, Part II: Wherein We Train the Brain - Balky Horses: Comatose One Minute, Hot to Trot the Next - Crossing Creeks and Scary Stuff - Teach Your Horse to Lower Its Head While Standing - Better Back Ups - Simple Steps to Power Steering - Diagonal Movement ("Leg Yields Without the Legs") - Softening - Getting Leads - A Fix for Cross-Firing (aka "Cross-Cantering") - Hips, Get Behind the Shoulders (And Stay Put) - Hips-in (aka "Haunches-in" or "Travers") - Neck Reining How-To SECTION II, TEACHING YOU, THE THEORY BEHIND THE PRACTICE - The First Thing I Do - Each Time You Mount Up, Do This - How to Pick Up Your Reins Like a Pro - Training Magic: Release on the Thought - What You're Feeling For - Reins Tell Direction, Legs Tell Speed - Talking Horse - See Yourself Leading When Riding - Perfect the First Time - Six Easy Ways to Improve Your Training - Rider Checklists - Diagnosing Problems Books by This Author Meet the Author: Keith Hosman "If I had a dollar for every email I get asking "what to do" to make a riding horse out of the mare Uncle Emo just traded for the old RV—or how to retrain a horse that's grown rusty—or some version on either theme, I'd be the world's first gazillionaire. With the publication of this book then, I'm hoping to grab that distinction."

You have wanted a horse for years, but didn't have a place to keep it. Now you have the land and you want to buy a horse or maybe you have already bought the horse, you just don't know anything about training a horse. You don't know where to start and you don't want to hire a trainer because you want to be a big part of the training. You are wondering if you have to go to school to learn to train a horse or do you learn from watching videos or even by just reading a book. Will a book tell you everything you need to know? For that matter will a video give you all the ins and outs of training a horse? You know a little about riding, but those horses were already trained. You have never even been around an untrained horse. How hard can it be? You love animals and you love horses and horseback riding. You have plenty of room for a horse now. You talked to a trainer about training a horse, but he won't let you be there while he is training the horse. You really want to be in on the training. So the only solution you can think of is to train the horse yourself. You have to learn but you can do it. It shouldn't be that hard. You will have to do some reading up on the subject, maybe even several books and there are probably videos too you can watch. So that is it you are going to find you a horse to buy. You about how much a horse will cost you. You know about how much it will cost to feed them for a year. Of course they need shots and checking out with a vet. You have even thought of that and know how much that will cost. When you called that vet to ask for advice, he said he would go with you to help you pick out the horse, so that you will get the right horse for you. The only cost will be the cost of checking out the horse. He should be able to tell me if the horse is in good health before I buy it. Don't want to buy a horse that is going to run up a ton of money in vet charges. This will work out well. Of course there is still the matter of training a horse. Training Your Own Horse... You can learn how to teach your horse to back up, load on a trailer and how to be a good riding horse. If you have the time and the patience, you can train your own horse to be a good riding horse. The key to training your horse is to understanding how horses think. How are you going to learn how horses think? Horses can't tell you what they think anymore that a dog or cat can tell you what they think. I don't have to hire a horse whisperer do I? So where do you find all of this information.

If you are reading this book, you are either looking to buy a horse or maybe you have already acquired a horse. Either way the will need to be trained. Whether you do it yourself or hire a trainer to train the horse for you. You already know the cost of purchasing a horse can range from about $1000 to $20,000. You may have estimated the cost of feeding, shoeing, and health care to run you about $2,000 per year. That $2,000 per year is if you have property in the country and will keep the horse with you. If you are planning on boarding your horse, then you can expect an additional $2,000 to $3,000 per year. Assuming you are planning on riding your horse an average of 350 hours per year, you will want to include in all those expenses the cost of your health insurance and possible time off from work. Since you are asking yourself, “Why?” I will explain. There are thousands of people each year that receive injuries from horseback riding. Twenty-five percent of those injuries happen to children who are 16 years of age and younger. Many of the head injuries lead to brain injury. The brain injuries can cause serious damages that have a lifelong effect. Unfortunately we are not talking about injuries caused riding rodeos. The majority of these mishaps occur during recreational riding. Eighty percent of the fatal accidents occur at normal horse speeds and are not caused because the horse bucked or reared up. As it turns out you are safer riding a motorcycle than you are on the back of a horse. Researchers tell us that motorcyclists average 7,000 hours of riding time per serious accident, while horseback riders can expect an accident to happen for every 350 hours of riding time. The best method of stopping injury accidents is education. A properly trained horse is less likely to misbehave, and he will be a much safer animal to ride if he has been taught not to behave in a way that will cause a serious injuries. These actions will include biting, kicking, or running away with a rider. A well-trained horse will be much more patient with the odd habits of the untrained person. Riding on the back of an untrained horse is like driving a car that does not have any brakes. You can take them out for a test run, but you may come back dead. Even though the horse’s intentions are good, if he doesn’t have experience, you are riding around with a creature that weighs over a thousand pounds and likes to do whatever he wants. As an investment, horses are more of a liability. The horse has the potential of hurting someone and his resale value is next to nothing. If you have an untrained horse, he can be dangerous. You probably didn’t buy him just to put him out to pasture and get fat and lazy. Just remember training your horse makes your horse more accessible to you as well as being useful and safer to be around. If you don’t seem to have enough time to train a horse, you can hire a trainer. Depending on the training the horse needs, training can take anywhere from two months to a year to be trained. The end results you will have a horse that is well trained. However you will still be untrained unless you are already an experienced rider and just don’t have the time to train your own horse. If you are not an experienced rider, you are not allowed to participate in the training of your horse. This means you will have to find training for yourself. For a whole lot less money than you will pay for a trainer, you can train a horse on your own. You will both be learning at the same time. Of course the horse will not be rideable for a portion of that time, but you will learn some things before you get on the back of that horse. Here are some tips for the novice horseback rider. If this is the first time your have owned a horse, it would be a good idea to pay a professional trainer to help you choose the right horse for you pay out the money for a horse. You will always want to supervise children when they are around horses. Make sure the children are not in the line of fire should the horse decide to kick. If you have children, you will want them to know all about horse safety.When you are looking for a saddle to purchase, make sure to purchase a saddle that has release catches to ensure a fallen rider will not be dragged by the horse because of a foot caught in the stirrups. Make sure you invest in an equestrian helmet that meets the ASTM standards. Do not allow a horse to nibble or “kiss” you, not even a young horse. This can turn into biting and is very hard to stop. Do not wear any loose fitting clothes. It may catch on tack, branches or fences. Never sneak up on a horse from behind.

An eye-opening game-changer of a book that sheds new light on how horses learn, think, perceive, and perform, and explains how to work with the horse’s brain instead of against it. 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. Horsemanship of every kind depends on mutual interaction between equine and human brains. When we understand the function of both, we can learn to communicate with horses on their terms instead of ours. By meeting horses halfway, we achieve many goals. We improve performance. We save valuable training time. We develop much deeper bonds with our horses. We handle them with insight and kindness instead of force or command. We comprehend their misbehavior in ways that allow solutions. We reduce the human mistakes we often make while working with them. Instead of working against the horse’s brain, expecting him to function in unnatural and counterproductive ways, this book provides the information needed to ride with the horse’s brain. Each principle is applied to real everyday issues in the arena or on the trail, often illustrated with true stories from the author’s horse training experience. Horse Brain, Human Brain offers revolutionary ideas that should be considered by anyone who works with horses.