Ride Smart: Improve Your Horsemanship Skills on the Ground and in the Saddle

by Craig Cameron

Book Overview

Under one title, Craig Cameron brings together a thorough look at horses and their nature and good, solid horsemanship skills that suit both novice and experienced riders. The book is divided into sections, each dealing with a different aspect of horsemanship. The first delves into the psychological and physical realities of horses as a species and how man can best understand them to develop a positive, partnering relationship with them. Other sections...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 091164766X
• ISBN13: 9780911647662
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Western Horseman Book
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.2" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

Great Book

I recently recived my Ride Smart book in the mail. Its my first proper training + horsemanship book....And i absolutely LOVED IT!!! The book it-self was great condition and WOW the photography in it are great! very big and good quality! I loved this book it has everything in it from how horses lived in the wild, behaviour, instincs, breeding, how to read horses, bare back riding, tack, selecting the right horse, ground work, leading, longe line, first ride to advanced movements such as rollbacks and spins and float loading and HEAPS more!! Each chapter has "A Better Way" and true stories. This book is one in a million! i would defintaly reconmend it to any person who is wanting to improve their relationship with there horse!

Ride Smart

This is a great book that will help improve the horsemanship skills of anyone willing to spend a little time and effort. The text is plain and simple . . . its more like having a conversation with Craig than reading a school book! The ample illustrations really help with understanding the concepts and techniques the author has developed. I'm very happy that I have my copy.

The best

If you own and work horses, this book is a must and at a great price.

Wonderful read.

I've learned a lot from this great book. The user comment made before mine is an excellent review. Big beautiful pictures, clear understandable information, and plently of down-to-earth lessons. Craig has taught me unforgetable things on my relationship with any horse I come to know and work with. GREAT BOOK.

Beneficial for Anyone

This review comes from a novice rider. I have been taking weekly lessons for a little over a year -- in English riding. Thus, I think it says something for this book that I read it cover to cover and thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it is western focused. The book begins by teaching you about horse psychology, horseman psychology, and equipement, then offers advice on selecting a horse, followed by several chapters of advice on riding. After this, about half way through the book, it begins to teach training methods, and chapter by chapter carries you from first putting a halter on the horse all the way through advanced maneuvers and trailer loading. Each chapter contains many sidebars with extra hints and tips, explanations of the purpose of some of the techniques, and personal anecdotes that reinforce the lessons and demonstrate the importance of them. If a picture truly is worth a thousand words, then this book contains several extra volumes withing its pages. It is filled with large, color, quality pictures that clearly show the author himself doing the things he teaches. Craig Cameron teaches natural horsemanship. You won't find advice on striking your horse in this book. One of his mottos is to make "the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard," not painful. When I do venture into western riding, I will be much better prepared for it by having read this book. I highly recommend it to riders of any discipline, at any level of training. Even if you never ride western and never train a horse of your own, you will benefit from reading this book.