Horse Speak: The Equine-Human Translation Guide

Full of information. Easy read. Nicely made. Beautiful pictures. Book has been a real asset on my journey to learn more about the equine world. I'm at the MS level (mucking stalls), so it can only go up from here lol! 🐎 FYI Book is for evening class offered at Harford Community College regarding Communication With Horses happening right now. Fantastic group of people running/participating in it. Please check it out!!!

I bought this to try to understand my sensitive and nervous horse better. While I had established that I was ‘the boss,’ she still was extremely unsure of herself and her fears made it difficult and often frustrating to work with her. I read through the book and felt such relief that I could now understand what she was trying to tell me, and that I could listen and respond rather than just ignoring her concerns and demanding obedience. I worked through the beginning exercises on our first day and was rewarded with a horse that was more relaxed than at any time since I’ve had her. I felt the beginnings of trust and rapport for the first time. She was also surprised and interested that I could now speak better horse. All the other horses at the barn I ‘talked to’ responded to the greeting ritual the same way, so it is definitely a universal language - fun and useful! Wish this type of information was part of learning to ride - it was all pretty new information to me. The book is clear and concise, with many useful pictures. It’s the owner’s manual horses should come with!

A lifelong owner and lover of horses, I had this book recommended to me by an equine therapy non-profit in Wisconsin which uses the book as an important teaching tool for its PTSD veterans and other emotionally challenged folks. It never occurred to me that humans could "read" the physical communications that our horses are sending us. When I read this amazing book, I realized that there are two sides to any conversation, that horses have their needs and wants and fears, and that they are expressing themselves constantly to other horses and us, if we are smart enough to "listen." This book provides readers/horse lovers with an amazing entree into their world, giving us the enormous gift of being able to "hear" what our horses are telling us, and being able to respond to them in their own language. This is not a "training" manual in the old sense of the word. It is a loving, perceptive explanation of the ways in which we can "hear" our horses and respond to them in ways that enrich our relationship in deeply meaningful ways.

What you see is changed by how you see it. Great book.

Interesting and informative

I enjoyed the clarity of Gretchen's instructions. This book provides a perfect place to start a real connection with your horse. One comment I would include is to be aware of your horses personality when beginning training and go at a speed that is safe for you.

I have watched horse people do most of the things in this book over the past several years in my role as a photographer. I have watched people do it wrong a lot as well, and I went to my favorite barn to see how well it actually reflected reality. I was most pleasantly surprised to be able to interact with some of my favorite horses in a way that I never had any clue about before. Discussing the methods produced in this book with some of the owners reveals that they just did them because they seem to work, or that they had seen others use them to good effect, or had been taught to do it as a matter of their education about horses. Watching good trainers at work was magic to me, and often still is, but now when I watch I have a better idea of what is going on with the horse. This was an eye opening experience for me, and I recommend the book for anyone who spends time with horses and who wants to find a deeper understanding and relationship with the marvelous animals.

I’ve been leaving my house every weekday by 6am to go to my horse trainer. That’s where my pony, Han Solo, has lived for the past 5 months so he could get the training he desperately needed. After the first couple of months, Han was ready. Then it was my turn to get training on becoming a more confident rider. I’ve come a long way, but there are still a few holes in my training. Like, I haven’t been able to steer Han properly when we trot. And I flop all over the saddle like a sack of potatoes when I post. Because we’re not speaking the same language. It’s like we’re not on the same page. Then I started reading Horse Speak: The Equine-Human Translation Guide. It’s been life-changing honestly. Horses have a very quiet language. But when you pay attention, they are speaking volumes. It’s just that humans are looking for horses to speak like we do. They don’t do that. Back to this morning… I got up at 4:00am to go to my trainer’s…BEFORE he came out to work with my pony. See, Han is hard to catch. And I wanted to spend time alone with him (without my trainer) to test out my new horsie lingo. The sun was just peeking over the mountains when I arrived. I slipped into Han’s enormous pen and walked over to him. He didn’t run away. But he didn't invite me in either. He just stood there, eyeing me. So I tried some of the “language patterns” I’ve been learning from the book. I did the 3 breath greeting horses use with each other. Suddenly Han snapped his head around, and looked at me with the most surprised look ever. It wasn't wild-eyed. Just like, "Whoa. That's my language." And we connected…hard. Once I saddled him up, he did everything I asked him to do. The trot was smooth like butter…and so was my posting. We were finally in sync. (This photo shows Han with “airplane ears” which means he’s calm and relaxed.) I believe it’s because he appreciated that I was trying to understand him. All I know is it got results.

A great read and provides some great insight into non verbal communication techniques with horses.

Ich bin so froh, dass ich über dieses Buch gestolpert bin. Es war ein Literaturhinweis aus dem Buch "Das Kleingedruckte zwischen Mensch und Pferd". Ebenfalls sehr lesenswert für Menschen, die sich tiefer in die Mysterien hineinbewegen möchten. Horse Speak hat mir gezeigt, dass ich instinktiv einiges richtig gemacht habe und das erklärt, weshalb meine Stute so mit mir umgeht, wie sie es tut. Denn sie erwartet inzwischen von mir, dass ich mit ihr spreche und auch auf sie höre. Für viele Pferdemenschen ein undenkbarer Zustand. Doch ich kann nur sagen, wenn ich ihre Meldungen achte geht zwischen uns alles gut und das ist enorm erfüllend. Langsam lerne ich mehr darüber, was und wie sie etwas sagt und ganz langsam lerne ich auch die Ruhe und Geduld zu haben, meine Antworten gut zu überlegen. Sharon Wilsie hat hier ein wundervolles Buch geschaffen, das seinesgleichen sucht! Und ich habe wirklich viele Pferdebücher und Trainer angeschaut... Dieses Buch ist absolut empfehlenswert für alle, die einen tieferen und gleichberechtigten Umgang mit ihrem Pferd suchen und sich immer wieder unsicher sind, was jetzt eigentlich in der Kommunikation schief gelaufen ist.

I am a new rider and this book was an excellent introduction to help me understand how to interact with horses. Very valuable. Easy to follow along, there is a LOT of information but I take what is most interesting to me and remember that. Little by little I'll learn more.

写真付きで分かりやすいし、読んでいて納得した事もあり面白かったです。

Todavía voy por la mitad pues voy poco a poco asimilando conceptos y haciendo los ejercicios con mi caballo (y con otros en el club hípico) pero ya he obtenido resultados muy interesantes. La relación con mi caballo ha mejorado mucho. Está más tranquilo, contento y comunicativo. Muy recomendable para quien quiera entender el comportamiento de los caballos. El otro día mi sobrina y yo vimos a un caballo empujando con el hocico a una cabra que vive en su establo. Mi sobrina pensó que estaba jugando pero gracias al libro pude identificar como le decía un par de veces a la cabra que se alejara (con buenos modales y de buen rollo) pero como la cabra no obedecía, la tercera vez se lo dijo enfadado apuntando al "jumping point" y la cabra dio un salto y se alejó. Estaba pisoteando la manta del caballo que se había escurrido al suelo y a él no le hacía gracia como la cabra trataba su manta. Fue sorprendente ver como el caballo empujaba en algunos de los puntos descritos en el libro y comprender lo que quería decir.