book review: healing shine

I ordered the book Healing Shine by Michael Johnson based off the recommendation of another blogger, Cindy over at Life with My Herd. She said it offered insight about horses who are afraid or carry baggage, and talked about trust and relapse. That seemed like stuff I was going through with Shyloh, so I ordered the book and waited for it to arrive.

The author emailed me right after I ordered the book and asked if I would like him to sign the book. . .sure thing! It was pretty cool of him to offer that personal contact. 

On to the book. . .I want to get the cons out of the way. Mostly, they are just a personal preference but it did slow me down a bit when reading the book. Michael Johnson is very wordy. He can take a page to say what it would take me a sentence to say. That is not a bad thing and it may stem from his Oklahoma roots, but it was something that got to me. 

The other thing was that the book was not so much about Shine and whatever issues he had (in fact, we never found out what that was)*, but more so about Michael's transformation from an "old school" type rider/trainer where you make the horse do what you want, to a more sensitive and in tune with the horse type rider/trainer. 

This was a great story where he discusses how we was raised roping cattle with his uncles to all the help he found along the way to how he finally learned to listen to Shine, but it was not what I was expecting from the story. So, like I said, the cons were completely my personal preference and expectations. 

Other than those little things, the book was really good. The best part of the story is Michael's ability to look into himself and acknowledge that he didn't know everything there was to know about horses. When he needed help, he went and got it. He went to several different people throughout the book and they each had a lesson that he carried with him. Michael really opened himself up in a way that many people are unable to do, especially when it comes to admitting they may be wrong about a way that they go about training horses. 

I really admire Michael's dedication to Shine. He had other horses that he could rope off of, it appeared that he could buy another horse if he wanted, but he kept at it with Shine. . . for five years! It took patience, trial and error, but eventually Michael was able to get Shine to trust him and they could rope steer.  Don't get me wrong, Michael had a few "moments" with this horse, but in the end, he stuck it out. This gives me hope for Shy. . .if someone who has been working with horses his whole life takes five years to get a horse to trust him, maybe me, who has not been around horses my whole life can do it too. It just may take twice as long. 

I would recommend this book for anyone interested in a horseman's journey with a difficult horse. As I got closer and closer to the end of the book, I enjoyed it more and I wanted to read more about the successes that Michael had with Shine. Thank you, Cindy for the recommendation!

*I emailed Michael and asked if he ever found out what had happened to Shine. He did.  He was treated badly when his original owner sent him to a trainer and had tied his head to his chest for three days. When he was untied, Shine attacked the trainer. And poor horse had a hard time trusting humans ever since. 

Has anyone had the chance to read GunDiva's book, Tales from the Trail? 

book review: tales from the trail

Fellow blogger, GunDiva, over at Tales from the Trail wrote a book by the same name that describes her experiences as a wrangler on the Colorado mountains. As if I didn't want to visit Colorado enough as it is, this book makes me ache to go there. Although, chances of getting me on a trail that drops sharply on both sides even without a horse would be a miracle (I am terrified of heights and incredibly clumsy, not a good combination), I was able to live some of the rides through her stories. 

The mountain scenery, the trees, the water, rock steps, narrow trails that drop off. . .GunDiva was able to capture all that on the rides she has taken. As beautiful as it is in words and in my mind, I am sure it is that much more breathtaking in person. But along with great outdoors comes wildlife, which has its place in the book, too. You will have to get the book to read about the bears and mountain lions. . .

GunDiva was incredibly honest with how she felt about the other wranglers she worked with as well as the guests she took on rides. I could relate to that because in every job there is always that person or two who just makes everything harder than it needs to be for whatever reason. And working with people now as I do, plus my past jobs in customer services, I know it is not easy to work with everyone. There are some people who are really a joy to work with and others who you can't get rid of fast enough. 

One of my favorite parts of the book was the section on the different horses that she worked with. A couple horses had a special story that was shared, even though the horses were at the livery for a job and had to work, it was nice to see that they were special to somebody. And not just the horses that were easy to like and get along with, but the few that stirred up trouble and no one else liked all that much. 

My absolute favorite was the ending that would have brought a tear to my eye if I was a crier. I am not going to spoil it for anyone, but it was very special. 

I recommend this book for anyone who loves horses. The short stories are easy to read and kept my attention and kept me wanting more. I have already asked her when the next book is coming out. So, get the book, enjoy it, and support a fellow blogger and horse enthusiast! It's available on amazon.com in paperback and Kindle version. 

Also, if you purchase the book during September, GunDiva is giving the proceeds to Denkai Animal Sanctuary to help the livestock that have been affected by the Colorado floods.