Living With Horsepower!: Personally Empowering Life Lessons Learned from the Horse
Author: Rebekah Ferran Witter
List Price: $24.95
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ISBN: 1570761213
Publisher: Trafalgar Square (November, 1998)
Sales Rank: 109,116
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 4 out of 5
A sophisticated yet personal look at the human-horse bond
Rebekah Ferran Witter's Living with HorsePower!: personally empowering life lessons learned from the horse, reflects the depth of Witter's investment in horses and her skill in analyzing the human-horse bond. Witter elegantly blends direct quotations from her interviews with many well-known figures in the horse industry with her own synthetic and interpretive narration. The interviewees are horsepeople from all disciplines of riding, from western pleasure to dressage, cutting to cross-country, pleasure and trail to endurance. Living with HorsePower! should attract readers from the professional horse world as well as anyone who has ever enjoyed riding or has felt the mesmerizing power of horses. Witter sets her narrative in personal terms, making her presentation accessible to all readers. Included are excellent sets of photographs of the interviewees. Well organized chapters touch on topics such as species-specific behaviors of the horse, equine intelligence, methods used by humans to understand and communicate with these oft used and misused creatures, and the psychological benefits that can result from working with horses. Living with HorsePower! is not only enjoyable reading for the horselover, but can be an instructive read for friends and partners who are unable to fathom the attraction to horses, providing insight into just what constitues the attachment to equine partners in work, play and imagination.A couple notes or warnings about the text. The interview selections are included in italics directly into Witter's narration. This caused no problem with the continuity of the read, in fact it was one of the appealing uniquenesses of the text, but I imagine this format might be bothersome to some readers. The other note is that this is not a "how to" book, nor a scientific text, although it does include short but excellent analyses of central training and behavioral theories.
Rating: 5 out of 5
A pleasant surprise
As an occasional weekend horseback rider, I picked up Ms. Witter's book on a whim; out of desperation to read something new and different from the typical riding-lesson books. I was pleasantly surprised by the insight and discussion Ms. Witter has sparked about why we humans are "horse crazy," but more than that, I was touched by the deeply personal stories these people shared with the reader about the profound effect horses have had in their lives. This is a beautifully written, easy to follow (if you can't follow this one, you must have a below average reading level) wonderful account of the teachings of the horse. An animal lovers must read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
living with horsepower
This is the best book I have read in years It has so many good stories I cant rave enough about it. The only thing missing is an artical about my favorite horse of all times FURY I think the movie industry did him an injustice by his treatment after he was no longer usefull. Had it not been for Toni Ringo Helfer of The Gentle Jungle he wouldnt have been rescued and brought back to health I thank her with all my heart
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