Going Steady is a book that will have a permanent place on my bedside table. This book has a series of ‘stand alone’ chapters that deal with horses: owning a horse, rescuing a horse, riding a horse, living with multiple horses, and the subtitle is : “More Relationship Advice from Your Horse”. Practical issues such as Anna Blake’s advice about always wearing a helmet, dealing with a spooking horse, riding the elusive half halt and most importantly calming signals.
Calming signals. This is something I had never heard of before I encountered Anna Blake. These are signals from the horse. Not signals from the human. Here is how Anna describes them.
Calming signals are subtle body messages that horses use to let us know they feel anxiety or conflict, that they are no threat and we don’t need to act aggressively . The signal demonstrates desired behavior from us at the same time. He might look away, stretching his head down as a way of asking us to relax and go slow. Just to be clear calming signals are the language horses use to calm us. We tend to be too loud and bossy.
Anna Blake
Calming signals are also described as a message to us to let us know the horse knows we are there. We usually respond by letting them know we are an “unpredictable warlike species.”. But our bravado does not fool the horse. They know what we really are. We are merely little creatures who want to feel safe.
There is much wisdom in this book that comes from Anna’s many years with horses both riding them, observing them and taking care of them. I have already been inspired to write a blog post about riding the suspension of disbelief. The little voice of disbelief tells us we are not good enough, our horse is not good enough and we don’t deserve what we want. Anna advises that we must simply “tell our inner demons to just shut up”. I read this just before I was going to a competition. I told them to shut up. I gave myself a break from the problems and my efforts to make it better. Suspension of disbelief. And guess what? It worked.
If you are a horse rider, horse owner, horse rescuer, horse lover, horse dreamer, this book is for you. It will have a permanent place on my bedside table because when I feel like it I will just reach out, and flip it open, letting the horse gods pick where the pages fall open, and then I will read. I am certain that each time I read parts of this book, some new light will be shone on whatever it is I am going through, with my riding, and my horse.
Yes! I absolutely love this book. I mentioned it in one of my own blog posts as one of my favorite “riding reference resources” (say that fast, three times). It is an excellent read with so many great insights into the horse-human relationship.
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Good Christmas gift idea for someone who loves horses.
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Yes it would be Cheryl. Also Horse Prayers is another book by Anne Blake that would make a lovely gift. Thanks for commenting!
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It sounds like a great book for horse lovers. Thanks!
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You are welcome thanks for taking the time to comment.
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The cover photo alone makes me want to read the book!
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It is a very good read I assure you. Thanks for commenting.
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Thank you! Have a great week! Happy Thanksgiving!!
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I think all performers/sportspeople have to learn to deal with those voices and find a way of dealing with them…it’s sounds simple but its really hard to do. I think dogs do those calming signals too…yawning.
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They do. I worked with an obedience trainer with the first Schnauzer we had. We lived in the city and I felt it was important to train myself and the dog with some of the city and city park situations. One time the little dog yawned and the trainer said. “Let’s take a break. She is yawning and that means its time for a break from training.”
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That’s funny!
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Lovely read for you;)
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I could find the audio book. However, your summary makes it sound very beneficial. We can all benefit from relationship advice from our animal companions,,,horses, dogs, and others.
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Yes, they have much to tell us I think. Thanks for commenting.
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good one
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What a beautiful post!! I’m going to order this book and have it on my night stand to read and read again and again. I Love Anna’s wisdom and how she has shed light on the horses calming signals which I’ve never thought about or heard of until finding Anna. What a WONDERFUL tribute to her, thank you for sharing! ♥️🐎🐴♥️
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It is my pleasure to share this Diana
I’m sure you will enjoy the book.
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