How to Think Like A Horse: The Essential Handbook for Understanding Why Horses Do What They Do Author: Cherry Hill | Language: English | ISBN:
B005HN0VQS | Format: EPUB
How to Think Like A Horse: The Essential Handbook for Understanding Why Horses Do What They Do Description
Horse trainer and instructor Cherry Hill believes that every human/horse relationship benefits from a greater human understanding of what motivates horses, how they experience the world, what makes them happy, and what worries them. Journey through the equine mind with Hill as she explores what makes a horse tick. How do his basic needs dictate his behavior and mood? What touches and tastes appeal to his senses? How does his “flight or fight” instinct dictate his response to sudden movements? If horses are treated respectfully with methods they understand, everyone involved — animal and human — will be happier, safer, and more productive.
- File Size: 7727 KB
- Print Length: 192 pages
- Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (June 30, 2011)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B005HN0VQS
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,585 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #38
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Animal Husbandry - #38
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Agricultural Sciences > Animal Husbandry - #66
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Animal Care & Pets > Horses
- #38
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Animal Husbandry - #38
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Agricultural Sciences > Animal Husbandry - #66
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Animal Care & Pets > Horses
Cherry Hill has produced yet another trade paperback which is very difficult to summarize or critique due to the inherent contradictions that appear throughout, and the absence of a clear thesis or theme for the work. Ostensibly, the book purports to describe the horse's mental world and cognitive functions. But the title seems at odds with the thrust of the content; and in fact, there is very little empirical information as to exactly "why" horses do what they do (she admits to a reliance on anecdotal 'evidence' drawn exclusively from her own experiences; indeed, the bibliography lists only her own publications). The title leads one to believe that Hill is going to translate the equine view of the world into terms that humans can understand and use to communicate with their equine partners. However, the central tenet upon which Hill bases her description is that horses function in accordance with an exclusively behavioralist model (a la` B. F. Skinner, a modality outdated and at present rejected by most of the professional psychological community). She states in Chapter 9, "Learning," that "horses are not ranked highly as problem solvers," (pg. 127); and again in the same chapter, "as horses learn they don't reason, they react." She is actually describing the horse's mental world as not mental at all, but linear, exclusively instinctive and limited to responses to stimulus presented to them by their environments. First of all, anyone who has watched a horse undo a stall latch, take off a blanket or fly mask, feign fear, or cut corners in a riding arena to save themselves some steps is fully aware of the problem solving ability of even the most lackadaisical horse.
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