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Discovering The Work: How a stroke allowed me to discover a more symbiotic way of working with horses
In 1994, when Kathleen Lindley Beckham was a mere 28 years old, a serious stroke derailed her equestrian career. As a happy and successful trainer of jumping horses, Kathleen had never questioned conventional methods of training horses. But after the stroke, she realized that if she were to continue working with horses, she would have to dig deep into herself, and discover more symbiotic ways of working with horses.
Discovering The Work
chronicles the profound changes in Kathleen's thoughts and deeds as she begins to see the world more from the horse's point of view. Kathleen takes the reader with her as she questions her most basic beliefs about horses and humbly re-learns the most basic of equestrian skills.
Kathleen’s writing is thoughtful, to-the-point and entertaining. She is known by her dedicated readers for “describing the indescribable” and for breaking complex topics and ideas into manageable pieces. The topics she covers in Discovering the Work will resonate with horse people everywhere, and will give the reader inspiration to renew their relationships with their horses.
Kathleen’s writing is thoughtful, to-the-point and entertaining. She is known by her dedicated readers for “describing the indescribable” and for breaking complex topics and ideas into manageable pieces. The topics she covers in Discovering the Work will resonate with horse people everywhere, and will give the reader inspiration to renew their relationships with their horses.
130 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 7, 2023
I came across Kathleen Lindley Beckham's book quite by accident while searching for other horse books. I read her book blurb and thought it would be an interesting read. Beckham suffered a stroke when she was quite young but didn't let that stop her from pursuing her dream of being a professional horsewoman.
Each chapter tackles a different bit of wisdom she's learned along the way from handling horses, like If We Quit, We Can't Help, The Long Walk, On Being A Good Student, and my favorite, Doing Our Time. The book is nicely written and offers her no-nonsense but relatable horse knowledge for the beginner to advanced rider (we can always learn something new). Her work can also be applied to life, not just around horses.
Valuable insights and a great read.
Each chapter tackles a different bit of wisdom she's learned along the way from handling horses, like If We Quit, We Can't Help, The Long Walk, On Being A Good Student, and my favorite, Doing Our Time. The book is nicely written and offers her no-nonsense but relatable horse knowledge for the beginner to advanced rider (we can always learn something new). Her work can also be applied to life, not just around horses.
Valuable insights and a great read.
February 19, 2024
Kathleen spoke to me
She has studied under all the horsemen I have followed throughout my journey the past few decades learning ‘Natural Horsemanship’. I really loved how she explained things though. Some authors just speak to you in words you ‘just get’. Her journey was not an easy one with the disability she endured so early in life. It’s tough enough to work with these magnificent creatures without a disability but her resilience and drive to never give up was truly inspiring. I will definitely recommend this to friends.
She has studied under all the horsemen I have followed throughout my journey the past few decades learning ‘Natural Horsemanship’. I really loved how she explained things though. Some authors just speak to you in words you ‘just get’. Her journey was not an easy one with the disability she endured so early in life. It’s tough enough to work with these magnificent creatures without a disability but her resilience and drive to never give up was truly inspiring. I will definitely recommend this to friends.
February 17, 2025
Every horse lover should read this book!
This is NOT a "how to" training manual. It doesn't offer specific steps to teach specific skills to your horse. Instead, it is a source of ideas and inspiration, anything "attitude adjustment guide," a touchstone on the way to better horsemanship. I'm glad I read it, and if you love horses, I think you should read it, too.
This is NOT a "how to" training manual. It doesn't offer specific steps to teach specific skills to your horse. Instead, it is a source of ideas and inspiration, anything "attitude adjustment guide," a touchstone on the way to better horsemanship. I'm glad I read it, and if you love horses, I think you should read it, too.
January 9, 2026
Excellent read, a very easy flow to the book .
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews