Book Review: Empowered Horses

The subtitle of this book reads “Learning Their Way Through Independence, Self-Confidence and Creative Play”. So, let’s cut to the chase and talk about what this book is. After that, I can tell you what I think.

“This astounding new book challenges the “rules” of horsemanship in way you have never seen before! You’ll discover how to preserve your horse’s independence in a “human’s world” by becoming more passive, receptive, and accepting, giving your horse the physical and emotional “space” to take an unbelievably active role in your interactions—both work and play. With your support, your horse will develop games and exercises that naturally balance and collect his body, as if by magic. In addition, he will enthusiastically “work with” and “carry” you— “inviting” you along for the ride of your life. The key to this dramatic reconsideration of the human-horse relationship is how inner balance finds outer expression in the body. Whether human or horse, feelings, posture, and movement are inextricably linked. With the ability to “tap into” this language—as explained in the pages of this book—you can leave behind the demands, commands, and cues you once relied on, and instead discover an unbelievable realm of sophisticated and mutually beneficial symbiosis.” So, that’s the sales pitch description of what this book is all about. What it doesn’t tell you is that it is also full of some very beautiful photography and some really lovely and engaging insights and quotes. One of the oldest is the ancient Bedouin legend about the creation of the horse which tells how Allah took a handful of the south wind, breathed into it and created the horse. “You I have created without compare. All the treasures of the world lie between your eyes. Virtue is braided into the hair of your forelock. I have given you the power to fly without wings and triumph without Sword ...” Empowered Horses is part training manual, part charming read. It’s a book equally to be taken out and read during a relaxing afternoon on the couch, as it is a source of information for building a deeper connection with your horses. Empowered Horses is for those who want more than just endless circle work and transitions. It’s for those who want to train with their horses and run with the herd. As it points out on one page, horses do not actually need humans or human contact. So, this book is really about us learning the horses language and being accepted by them rather than the other way around. I think this book is as much about Empowering Humans as it is about Empowered Horses. You can follow its path to a far richer and deeply rewarding relationship with your horse. If you choose. {sidebar id=3}This book is for horse people stepping onto the path for the first time. And it is for horse people who have done everything and trained everything and have everything.