Bolender's Guide to Mastering Mountain and Extreme Trail Riding

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iUniverse, Apr 20, 2012 - Sports & Recreation - 232 pages

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.

 

Contents

The Ideal Trail Horse
1
The Proper Equipment
9
Into the Horses Mind
15
Earning and Building Trust
31
Basic Trail Riding Skills
41
Training for the Trail
55
General Approach to Trail Obstacles
67
Poles and Logs
79
Water
131
Gates
145
Bridges and TeeterTotter
155
Brush
171
Campsites Fires and Fog
179
Animals People and Machinery
185
Judging Mountain Trail and Extreme Trail
193
Conclusion
201

Rocks
97
Stepups Stepdowns and Washouts
107
Trenches
123
About the Author
203
Copyright

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About the author (2012)

Mark Bolender is an expert in Extreme Trail, Mountain Trail, and Competitive Trail riding and has won three National Grand Championships. Bolender has designed Mountain Trail and Extreme Trail courses across the United States, Canada, and Europe. He lives in Washington State where he owns and operates Bolender Horse Park.

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