Mark Rashid Audiobooks

Mark Rashid is an American horse trainer, clinician and author from Estes Park, Colorado, working within the western riding tradition. His philosophy is built on understanding the horse’s point of view and solving difficult problems through communication rather than force. Where much traditional training assumes a dominant rider and a submissive horse, Rashid frames the relationship as a partnership in which the horse willingly takes direction – and his methods have been used across every discipline, from dressage and eventing to endurance, reining and cutting.

Although he is often grouped with the natural horsemanship movement, Rashid has publicly expressed discomfort with that label, both for himself and for horsemanship generally. He is also a practitioner of Yoshinkan aikido and applies its principles to the art of riding – a crossover that gives his teaching its distinctive calm. His books include Considering the Horse, Horses Never Lie and Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse, and in 2022 he and his wife, Crissi McDonald, presented at The Journey On Podcast Summit in San Antonio, Texas.

Rashid’s writing works beautifully in audio because it is essentially storytelling with a purpose: lessons drawn from real horses and real problems, delivered without jargon or bravado. Horsemanship Through Life is the natural entry point in our catalogue, extending his thinking beyond the arena, while Nature in Horsemanship brings in the aikido principles that underpin his approach to harmony between horse and rider. A Good Horse Is Never a Bad Color rounds out the set.

For UK listeners – riders or not – these are quietly wise books about patience, attention and working with another creature rather than against it.