Horse & Rider Gear

Reviews

Disappointing. Reading the book was more like being stuck in a long conversation with a know-it-all egomaniac who "knows what they know and that's it". I know now what to do for zippy and zingo, but as for every other horse in the world I will have to read an different book. The author missed the mark.. There is some good information , but nothing really insightful that isn't already in every other book. The author spends too much time referring to her own horse and that seems to be where all her experience lies, just with her own 2 horses. I am not really interested in zippy and zinger or whoever, I am interested in MY horse and I am trying to find specific information to understand why he is behaving in a certain way and how I can see his point of view and act accordingly. There is a whole wasted chapter on training. Training a horse is much more complex than what can be explained in only one chapter and definitely wasn't the next step here. Training is an entire book in itself and what was taught here in no way prepares you to train your horse. The author identifies some behavior problems but doesn't really offer any good solutions to manage them or help you get inside your horses head. She list many problems and states probable causes such as boredom and poor training however she doesn't really provide many solutions. I wasn't the one who trained him so now what, kill the horse and start over? If he's bored am i supposed to put on a friggin puppet show or what?

As a person who has loved, worked with, trained, ridden, lived with horses for over 50 years I wanted to like this book. Unfortunately I did not find it useful. In fact, I am afraid that novice horsemen will use this book as a baseline for equestrian behavior. I found her knowledge limited to personal experience, maybe she needs to get around or to read some research. I question her observations and interpretations of those observations. There are many issues in this book that I could take exception to but I will just talk about one. To suggest that a horse does not learn and their behavior is only rote or instinctual is very misleading. I've watched horses remove their halters, untie their leads, open gates, open snaps to get to the feed-room, and direct me to issues that they thought I should see such as empty water or feed barrels. Perhaps the author just has dumb horses but I suspect not. I hope that any novice horseman will expand their reading to other books as well so that they can get a more rounded view of equestrian behavior.

We bought this book for our eight year old granddaughter, who is beginning to really get into horses. Her parents report that this book will be an invaluable resource to return to time and again for answers to questions about getting comfortable with horses. That's what we were hoping, so success!

Cherry Hill is a wonderfully clear writer, putting you at ease as you go through her book on horse behavior. As a non-horse person (lifelong city life), but a writer of westerns, she has helped me to write confidently about horses in my own stories. I have read other books where the pictures were better than the writing. Cherry's writing is just as good as the many great pictures in the book. You cannot go wrong with this book. I will be hunting for her other books on horses, too, now that I know what a good writer she is. Kathleen Pacheco Elizabeth, NJ KPacheco2@AOL.com

Good information, solid, sensible, down to earth,excellent drawings and photos. A little short, lots of additional information required before one engages the practice. It is an excellent primer on the subject, but should be preliminary to purchasing a horse and beginning such a lifestyle change.