It's Not I Who Seek the Horse, the Horse Seeks Me: My Path to an Understanding of Equine Body Language [Hardcover]

Well, this book is worth more than its weight in gold.
I have been around horses most of my life and
have collected many books and videos over the
years and I have to say this book is the
best book ever written on the topic of horsemanship.
This book is not about pressure and release type training
and running your horse around a pen until the point of
exhaustion but rather building a trusting relationship
with your horse. Klaus basically teaches you how to connect
with the horse through body language and having a complete
understanding of a horses true nature. At the same time
Klaus does a wonderful job of reminding us to take a close look at ourselves, our true nature and the energy we carry within. The horse will become more inclined to seek us if we are trustworthy, resonating peace,confidence, and inner strength vs coming from a place of being out of balance or through manipulation and control.

I have learned over the years horses are highly sensitive animals very much in tune to our emotions and over all demeanor.
What we carry inside ourselves no doubt effects
our ability or inability to work with horses successfully.
Klaus totally understands this concept and opens up a whole new world of working with horses in a highly evolved way by connecting with the horse on a very deep level, through presence/awareness and through body language.
The book does a wonderful job of explaining "his very special
way with horses" through colorful illustrations and photographs.
I also highly recommend his "Dancing with Horses" book. Both books are excellent resources for working with horses. "The Horse Seeks Me" book gives more examples of his technique and describes the use of the Magic Circle which I don't recall being mentioned in his other book. Also in this book Klaus shares more of himself and his philosophy behind his words of wisdom, giving you more of the holistic view regarding the mind, body and spirit in reflection to oneself and the connection made with the horse.
I highly recommend both books.
Whether you're a novice just getting into horses or an experienced rider/trainer or anyone in between the information in this book is truly a gift and worth more than its weight in gold.
Kelly R.
Ohio

This is not your run of the mill horse training book. KFH does not tell you how to do lead changes, or how to hold your reins, or post, none of that. It's more about making the connection with your horse by changing what's inside of you. My take is if YOU are confident and grounded, you come across as the leader and the horse relaxes and can be a horse. Which is what he wants!

I have a timid horse who is also very intelligent and I have no doubt that if I can change ME, I can then have a wonderful partnership with my horse. This special one needs something I am not projecting and I have high hopes that this book will have the horse seeking me. (Well, he does seek me, but he's not confident when I ride him, lol!)

It is a book you will have to read and re-read, IMO, to get what is being said. There is a lot about body language that needs to be studied also. KFH is a bit of a philosopher too; but that's a good thing. Some might be turned off when he talks about the world in general, but it is who he is.

I will try to update later this spring after I have tried some of the concepts in this book.

Happy Trails!

Jan 2012 I am adding an update to this review because I had such fanstastic break through with my horse after reading this book and applying what I learned. It didn't happen over night, but little by little we made progress. I had to get to another place within me, and that was a bit difficult. We took lots of walks, might sound funny walking a 16H horse like a dog, but it was time well spent. Walking with purpose, and doing all my interactions with purpose and quiet confidence helped so much. You can't lie to a horse, they pick up on our moods and insecurities. I had to believe before he would believe.

I also would suggest "Dressage for the New Age" by Dominique Barbier. Don't let the term "dressage" keep you from reading this book...as the back cover says: "To achieve the cooperation of one's horse on a mental plane, rather than through the application of physical force alone, should be the goal of every true horseman."

I have read over fifty horse-training books in the last eleven years, and was sure that anything i would find would be a "repeat" of everything else I have read and learned, but this showed me something I had forgotten...If i live a hundred more years, I will never learn all there is to know about a horse!