When we were first starting with horses barely five years ago we dove deeply into the training books and DVDs of several of the top clinicians in the United States. We owned virtually everything ever written or videoed by Monty Roberts, Clinton Anderson, and the Parellis and we were bouncing back and forth from one to the other testing what worked best with our horses. But I was secretly longing for a compressed, congealed, shuffled together guide to the basics. Not only what works best, but why. And what is most important right from the beginning. I wanted to bypass the multi-levels and two-year regimens of one small step after another and encircle the heart and soul of what we really needed to know about the horse and what he needed to know about us before racing off to the trail. To stop spending the hours of hunting and pecking to find this answer and that answer which logic dictated could be important in relationship and leadership building. To find the quickest, safest, soundest route to self-sufficiency and to trusting myself to figure things out. As mentioned, a guide to the basics. Now, at last, we have one. Two actually. They were written for you so they’re yours. Two books of the good stuff crammed with everything we have learned about relationship and leadership (ground work). And why it all works, why five years later our herd of eight are happy healthy horses who love and respect their human leaders. This book, along with Why Relationship First Works can change your relationship with your horse and teach you to trust yourself to trust yourself. But please read Why Relationship First Works first. It made such an absolute difference for us to establish relationship first, then confirm it with true leadership.