Book Description
A collection of 365 quotes that provide daily inspiration for better communication with your horse presented in a perpetual calendar format.

From the Inside Flap
When author Cheryl Kimball became interested in horses after a decade hiatus, she had no idea she would stumble upon a way of working with horses that would consume her thoughts. In the years since, she has accumulated four horses and attended dozens of clinics to learn about how to be more aware in both her handling and riding in order to refine her relationships with her horses. Over time, everything she read or heard seemed to relate back to horses. Mindful Horsemanship is a perpetual calendar of thought-provoking quotes that Cheryl has collected over the years in her quest for better horsemanship. Quotes are drawn from sources ranging from practicing horsemen and horsewomen, to psychiatrists such as Viktor Frankl, sports figures like Tiger Woods, characters in novels, and even jokes and word puzzles. The author accompanies each quote with thoughts on how the quote relates to working with horses, including anecdotes from her own horse life as well as insights gleaned from horse clinics around the country. None are intended to be prescriptive, but instead to provide jumping off points for each reader to come up with her or his own thoughts on how the quote might apply to horsemanship and how it might better the reader’s own understanding of and ability to be aware, to be mindful, to be in the moment. Horses are masters at mindfulness, experiencing their lives one moment at a time. They have a lot to teach humans if we are only willing to explore their world on their terms and expand our own awareness to better understand these gracious animals. Keep Mindful Horesmanship by your bedside or next to the place where you have your morning coffee for a daily dose of inspiration.

About the Author
Cheryl Kimball is a longtime student of natural horsemanship and contributor to publications such as Western Horseman, The Trail Less Traveled, and the Equine Journal. The author of The Everything Horse Book (Adams Media), she writes and works with her four horses on her farm in Middleton, New Hampshire.

Excerpted from Mindful Horsemanship: Increasing Your Awareness One Day at a Time by Cheryl Kimball. Copyright © 2002. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
January 1 "Mindful Practice, in its purest sense, is simply this: be aware of what is, what is here in the moment."--Charles T. Tart, Living the Mindful Life Mindfulness doesn't seem to be innate for humans. I guess it is our ability to self-analyze and project into the future that interferes with our ability to be totally in the present. It may be a lifelong process, but if we can start with being mindful while we are riding and working with our horses, we may find a head start on being mindful in the rest of our lives and we certainly will find working with our horses will be greatly affected. March 31 "You have freedom when you're easy in your harness." --Robert Frost, poet We are all confined in some way or another--a job, a routine, a house, even our clothes are a certain amount of confinement. In order for us to have horses, they too have many levels of confinement--a stall, a paddock, a bridle, a halter. Even in a 300-acre pasture horses eventually come to fences! However, if a horse is "easy in its harness", if you pay attention to the horse's mental soundness, the horse can be free within that confinement. When a horse feels mentally free, he seems not nearly as concerned with the physical. I believe the mentally free horse enjoys lounging in a box stall once in a while if he's not confined to it 21 hours a day. August 20 "When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves." --William A. Ward Having attended numerous clinics by many different clinicians over the years, I have found that the clinicians who are most appealing to me are those who really know how to pick out the best in their students and build on that. At the same time, they are almost magically able to blend in helping the student with their worst problems, but always keeping things positive. For instance, say a rider has "bad hands," always bumping the horse's mouth and sending mixed messages through the reins. Instead of yelling a the student to fix their hands, the clinician might pick one thing about the student's riding that is smooth and build on that until, by the end of the clinic, the student has come to understand that smoothness needs to go straight through their hands to the reins. By focusing on the positive stuff to build on, the student never had to feel dumb or get defensive (sounds like good horse-handling tecniques too!). October 25 "Those who master others have force. Those who master themselves have strength." --Lao-tzu, Chinese Philosopher Working with horses seems be be around 90% working on yourself and your attitude and approach and ability, and 10% working on the horse.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A collection of 365 quotes that provide daily inspiration for better communication with your horse presented in a perpetual calendar format.

SYNOPSIS

When author Cheryl Kimball became interested in horses after a decade hiatus, she had no idea she would stumble upon a way of working with horses that would consume her thoughts. In the years since, she has accumulated four horses and attended dozens of clinics to learn about how to be more aware in both her handling and riding in order to refine her relationships with her horses.

Over time, everything she read or heard seemed to relate back to horses. Mindful Horsemanship is a perpetual calendar of thought-provoking quotes that Cheryl has collected over the years in her quest for better horsemanship. Quotes are drawn from sources ranging from practicing horsemen and horsewomen, to psychiatrists such as Viktor Frankl, sports figures like Tiger Woods, characters in novels, and even jokes and word puzzles.

The author accompanies each quote with thoughts on how the quote relates to working with horses, including anecdotes from her own horse life as well as insights gleaned from horse clinics around the country. None are intended to be prescriptive, but instead to provide jumping off points for each reader to come up with her or his own thoughts on how the quote might apply to horsemanship and how it might better the reader's own understanding of and ability to be aware, to be mindful, to be in the moment. Horses are masters at mindfulness, experiencing their lives one moment at a time. They have a lot to teach humans if we are only willing to explore their world on their terms and expand our own awareness to better understand these gracious animals.

Keep Mindful Horsemanship by your bedside or next to the place where you have your morning coffee for a daily dose of inspiration.

FROM THE CRITICS

Charles T. Tart - Living the Mindful Life

Mindful Practice, in its purest sense, is simply this: be aware of what is, what is here in the moment.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Lao-tzu, Chinese Philosopher
Those who master others have force. Those who master themselves have strength. — Lao Tzu