Just finished reading “Core Conditioning for Horses” all the way through. I watched Simon Cocozza’s sessions at Equine Affaire, Inc. a few years ago and was really hooked. I’m now incorporating the knowledge and exercises I’ve learned from this book regularly into my lesson program and my own riding. The result is seeing a HUGE difference in my horses – they’re happier and bend-ier than ever! The next step is seeing how the “yoga-inspired” aspect will work in increasing the body awareness of my students. You can find out more at https://www.viscontecocozza.com/
I listened to Horsemanship Through Life: A Trainer’s Guide to Better Living and Better Riding by Mark Rashid on Audible for about the last month. I’ve read Considering the Horse previously, so thought I could get away with listening instead of reading – I was wrong. There were moments I had to keep stopping and rewinding to catch some pearl of wisdom. I’m not going to go into a full book review here, but I will say that this is a great read to help you understand the correlation between self-improvement and better horsemanship. I personally appreciated Rashid’s discussion of the respect Aikido practitioners have for their dojo. I think that the stable should be treated with the same reverence. You can find more here – and, FYI, it is a free listen on Audible!
