Showing posts with label ranch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ranch. Show all posts

Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse Review

Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse
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This is simply a great book, whether you are a horse person or not. In fact, so far I have given it to all my friends and employees, none of which are "horsey", and they all love it! It's hard to put into words what I have learned from it and what I continue to learn each time I read it. (4 times so far) Suffice it to say that it is the best book I've read in the last two years, and maybe longer. However, I must also say if you buy this because you are looking for a horse training book per si, then you will most certainly be disappointed. It isn't a training book in the literal sense. Rather it opens doors to possibilities that are available to us all not just with horses, but more importantly, in our overall daily lives. If you are looking to find better ways to help your horse through understanding and communication, or simply to help improve your life in general, then this one is for you. The lessons to be gleaned from this book are simple but very powerful. Right up there with another one of my favorites, The Tao of Pooh. I HIGHLY recomend this book.

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Internationally renowned horse trainer Mark Rashid pays tribute to the horse that became his teacher.In Mark Rashid's fourth book, Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse, the teacher becomes the student when a nondescript, seven-year-old horse steps into his life. A famous horse trainer, known for listening to horses and working with them in a non-confrontational manner, Mark is faced with odd behavior from this horse, and he must reevaluate everything he understands about horses and about himself, as a trainer and as a person.Beginning with an untimely balk from Buck, who never falters, Mark tried to find out why it happened. Drawing on experiences as far reaching as the Navajo way and Japanese martial arts, Mark begins to piece together the workings of the mind of his horse. That process and the conclusions he reaches are the heart of this very personal story.What he finds challenges him to become a better horse trainer, but it also challenges him to become a better person. His argument that Buck, an everyday horse, has the ability to plan ahead and make choices in a consistent manner will challenge the reader to rethink his or her relationships with animals and way of dealing with life.In separate chapters, Mark describes the six life lessons he learned while working with Buck. Later in the book, he puts these lessons into practice, with topics such as blending, balance, and communication. Throughout the book, a philosophy of dealing with horses and of living life itself emerges.Mark's inimitable storytelling skills illuminate what Buck has to teach. Heart warming but gritty, Life Lessons From a Ranch Horse is not a conventional horse book. But, then again, Buck is not a conventional horse, nor is his owner a conventional horse trainer.

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Lone Star Woman (Signet Eclipse) Review

Lone Star Woman (Signet Eclipse)
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STORY BRIEF:
The Strayhorn family is one of the richest in West Texas. They have a huge cattle ranch. Jude's mother ran off shortly after Jude was born. Jude grew up lonely, a single child. Her dream is to take over the running of the family ranch. She obtained college degrees in agriculture and genetics to prepare her for this. Her father won't give her the job. He claims it a man's work. He wants Jude to get married and make babies. He even arranges a couple of marriage engagements for her which she manages to get out of. Jude teaches at the local school to be able to feel useful.
Brady just inherited a large ranch next to the Strayhorn's from his aunt. It is run-down but livable. Brady is recently divorced. He lost all his money fighting and losing a custody battle for his son. He needs money to build up the ranch, so he gets a job as a ranch hand working for the Strayhorns. Jude's father has demanded that Jude stay away from the ranch hands her entire life, but she's attracted to Brady.
REVIEWER'S OPINION WITH SOME VAGUE SPOILERS:
While reading this book, I felt like I just came back from a nice long vacation in Texas, being on a cattle ranch. It has the feel of real people with regular problems. It's life like. I felt sympathy for Jude. Brady was smart, competent and didn't talk much. I liked both of them, and I enjoyed reading about them. I liked the way Jude helped Brady work on his own ranch. It was interesting how they were attracted to each other but backed off because Brady didn't want to jeopardize his job working on her family's ranch.
I did not like the ending. It was too subtle for me. Brady and Jude had fought and separated. I assumed they were going to get back together, but the author didn't show it. Instead, Brady makes one statement which implies they would get together, but that was all. I wanted to see what would happen with Jude and Brady. I wanted to see and feel a more romantic ending. I felt like the story was chopped off. At the least, I would have liked an epilogue showing them together. I also wanted to know what was going to happen with Brady's son and stepson. The author implies that the boys might be spending more time with Brady or live with him, but it's not told.
This is the author's first romance novel. Her prior books were written under the name Anna Jeffrey and were relationship stories, leaning toward women's fiction. As a human relationships story, I would give "Lone Star Woman" 4 stars. But since it was advertised as a romance novel, I'm giving it 3.5 stars for weak closure at the end. Closure is part of "feel good" for me.
DATA:
Story length: 342 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 15. Setting: current day Texas. Copyright: 2009. Genre: contemporary romance and human relationships fiction.

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