About Us
Mark Rashid
Mark Rashid is an internationally known author and horseman known for his ability to understand the horse’s point of view and solve difficult problems with communication rather than force. He began working with horses at age ten, when he met the “old man,” who taught him to work with horses, not against them, and to listen to what the horse is trying to say. Mark’s clinics are structured as one-on-one work with horses and riders and are immensely popular with people around the world.
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When Mark decided to study the martial art of aikido as a way to improve his horsemanship, he brought the same quiet determination to it that he exhibits in his work with horses. After years of practice, he has earned a third degree black belt in Yoshinkan aikido and now teaches the “way of harmony” in the local dojo as well as in his Aikido for Horseman workshops, which are known also by the name of “Aibado.”
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Mark worked full-time on ranches for many years gathering herds, managing stock, and training horses. When time permits, he still enjoys working on ranches near his home in Colorado as well as playing guitar professionally with his friends.
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Mark has been a guest on NPR’s The Horse Show and was featured on the Nature series on PBS. He is the author of fifteen books including his newest, For the Love of the Horse, and such classics as Considering the Horse, Horses Never Lie, Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse, Horsemanship Through Life, Whole Heart, Whole Horse, and Finding The Missed Path, as well as a novel, Out of the Wild. He also has three music CD’s: Song of the Prairie, Making Good Time, and My Western Town, recorded with his good friend Brad Fitch.
Crissi McDonald
On a sunny day not too far away from three years old, a picture was taken of Crissi holding onto the lead rope of a pony. This was the day she found her purpose. Throughout her childhood, she dreamed about, pretended to be, ran around like, wrote about, and drew horses.
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Growing up, she was most motivated when the work she did would earn her time with horses: lessons, mucking stalls in trade for a ride on a friend’s horse, babysitting to earn enough money for lessons, seeking out and finding horses where ever she could. Little did she know that all this time spent doing work would also be teaching her as well. She was certified as an instructor through the CHA when she was twenty and got her first horse at twenty-four years old. Three more followed within two years.
She's had the pleasure to participate in western riding, working cattle, leading trail rides, managing large herds, showing in Hunt Seat Equitation and Dressage, taking jumping lessons, and has spent over thirty years working with many different breeds of horses and people from all over the world, as well as having the opportunity to learn from some of the horse industry's top leaders in our current understanding of humane horse practices.
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Crissi enjoys teaching at clinics with her husband Mark Rashid. She's a certified Masterson Method® equine bodyworker since 2017 and is also an instructor for the Masterson two-day Beyond Horse Massage workshops. Crissi is the author of three books, two about the human/equine bond. Her other book, North to Home, is a fiction novel. Click on the button below to find out more.
Our Assistant Instructors
Interested in learning more about the principles of softness that Mark Rashid teaches? You can choose any of our Assistant Instructors with confidence – we did! There are only eight in the world, and we are proud of not only who they are as horse trainers and teachers, but as people as well.
Legacy Instructors
