Meredith Hill (2)

I received a copy of this book free via LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for a review.

I'm a long-time horse owner and rider and I'm always interested in learning about how I can better manage, communicate with and understand the equines in my life. This is a solid entry for an horsey home library. Much of the guidance could be boiled down to: stop, look, and listen, document and reflect, and when in doubt, get help. This is true of many situations, not just horse-related ones. It's written in a straight-forward, reassuring manner. It's not a how-to guide with pictures, but it offers a well-thought out approach to reading a horse, determining what the reaction you're seeing is, and what the next steps might be. (A list of resources for those who are wanting more in-depth information is included at the end.) There are no pictures, but the author excels at drawing a clear portrait with words. The real life snippets tucked in as examples are entertaining and instructive. From behavior to vocabulary to common training tools and philosophies, this is a sound, sane introduction that emphasizes patience, observation and thinking things through, as well as seeking professional assistance if and where appropriate.

I would recommend this for novice horse owners, young riders, and generally any horse-involved person who is wanting some guidance and/or reassurance in their horse-handling. I quite enjoyed it.… (more)

The author is an experienced horse trainer and owner, who combines her knowledge of horses with sound advice to help the people training their fuzzy friends. I believe some of what was discussed in this book would also help some in dog-training and even in someday child-rearing since she likens horses to toddlers in their personalities, temperaments, and viewpoints. I appreciated the direction to take things back to the horse's perspective for reasons why it is behaving the way it is. I learned that horses' tails are an important way to express body language and that chocolate is toxic to them. This book had a rather nostalgic feel for me since I went through a deep horse phase around the age of 10 or so.… (more)