Relaxed & Forward by Anna Blake

Relaxed & Forward by Anna Blake

Do you still watch those old horse movies that you've seen a dozen times, just for the scenes of the horse galloping in slow motion? Do you hold your breath just a bit? Do you get something in your eye?

We've been besotted with horses since they had three toes. From the popular Relaxed and Forward blog comes training advice combining the everyday fundamentals of dressage with mutual listening skills. Blake writes with a profound respect for horses and an articulate voice for humans, blending equal parts inspiration and un-common sense. It's serious training communicated with humor and lightness, because horses like us when we laugh.

Most riders want to build a better relationship with their horse. These short essays are geared as much toward attitude as technique, and include topics ranging from reading calming signals from your horse to using breath as your best communication tool. Blake's writing uses clear descriptions, storytelling, and humor to inspire meaningful, positive communication. Less correction and more direction. Horses are honest; they answer us in kind. If we want a better response, a more fluid conversation and relationship with a horse, we have to be the ones to change first. The other word for that is leadership.

By the author of Stable Relation, A Memoir of One Woman's Spirited Journey Home, by Way of the Barn.

Excitement and delight surge through me every time I see Anna Blake's name as an author. Her writing is filled with deep understanding and heart connection, seasoned with a lively dash of humor. Reading her work is like giving myself a gift.one I can open again and again. --Kim Walnes, winning USET Three Day Eventer, Riding Instructor/Trainer, and Life Coach.

Anna Blake was born in the North Dakota county of Cavalier in 1954. She lives on Infinity Farm in Colorado's flat, windy, treeless prairie as a writer/blogger, dressage trainer, and horse advocate. Horses, llamas, goats, dogs, cats, and Edgar Rice Burro are among the animals in the herd. Because he's the loudest, he got the job. Over the previous 35 years, I worked as a self-employed goldsmith, exhibiting my one-of-a-kind artwork in galleries across the country.

I boarded and trained two horses at a farm just south of town, and my Denver studio and gallery were shared with generations of good dogs. My successful, yet uncommon blog (www.annablakeblog.com) chronicles life on my farm and horse training from a unique perspective, confirming my hilarious and inspirational approach to animal understanding, training, and love. I'm now putting five years of weekly posts into two books: RELAXED AND FORWARD is a compilation of stories about my family herd here at Infinity Farm, and BARN DANCE is a collection of training information your horse wants you to have. The book will be released in late 2016.