Bolender's Guide to Mastering Mountain and Extreme Trail Riding

Book excerpt: Good horsemanship is not about domination, but leadership and having the horse volunteer for a partnership with the handler. That summarizes the focus of trainer and author Mark Bolender. In Bolenders Guide to Mastering Mountain and Extreme Trail Riding, he spells out his philosophy and training regimen that works to build mutual trust between a horse and rider. Bolenders training methoddeveloped to incorporate the horses natural instinctsis appropriate for riders of any skill level, from those who want to ride for pleasure to those who seek more advanced techniques for Mountain and Extreme Trail competition. Bolender, the worlds most winning competitor in Mountain and Extreme Trail, combines old-style philosophies with new insight into the horses world. In this guide, he provides an array of informationselecting an ideal trail horse, acquiring the proper equipment, earning and building trust, and handling obstaclessuch as poles and logs, rocks, trenches, water, gates, bridges, campsites, ?re, other animals, and people. Instructive and informative, the guide breaks down Bolenders techniques into easy-to-digest pieces. It provides a fascinating journey into the horses mind and how its instincts can be used to develop good horsemanship.