Body Language of Horses (Hardcover)

Not only does the book stray from it's purported topic, but the information that IS given about equine body language is so basic and obvious that any true horseperson would already know it, and any aspiring horseperson could learn it all in a matter of a few weeks spent around the creatures. Of course a nervous horse will work up a sweat, a bored horse will get mouthy, and a horse that is irritated by a fly will swish its tail and twitch its skin. There are really only two forseeable uses, in my mind, for this book. The first is as a reference for those who know next to nothing about horses and wish to learn. The second, a slightly different version of the first, is as a guide to non-equestrian racegoers in order to pick winning horses on which to place their bets (and this is not surefire or guaranteed in any way, since pre-race behavior is only one of many factors that determines the outcome of a race).

The book is also considerably old, and a bit dated. It was written and first published in 1980, more than two decades ago. While the basic behavior of horses hasn't changed in that time, much else in the horse world has, including attitudes toward the care and training of horses. There are now many more effecting training methods than those presented here, and one passage in the book even alarmed me. Though they pronounce it a "dubious last resort," the authors nevertheless included the following method for "[teaching] manners to a resistant horse":

". . . dramatic effects are obtained by striking the animal over the poll bone with a fragile wine bottle filled with a slush of sand and warm water. When the bottle breaks and the warm, moist substance dribbles down its head, the savage horse becomes a trembling wreck. A gestured threat to repeat the treatment is usually enough to terminate subsequent misbehavior" (pg. 49).

While this is the only place in the book where the authors propose such blatantly inappropriate methods, I nevertheless cannot give a vote of confidence to anyone that would condone striking an animal with a wine bottle to elicit compliance. In addition, the authors make a great many generalizations about equine behavior and do not allow much leeway for differences in personality. As any person who spends much time around horses knows, one can be vastly different from the next. I said earlier that this book had two conceivable uses, but even for those I would not recommend purchasing this book. There are other books out there on the behavior and training of horses that are more current, more accurate, and more effective.