Harmonious Horsemanship

by Sue Dyson, Sue Palmer

All too often, pain in ridden horses is labelled as 'bad' behaviour. The apparently ‘sound’ horse is 'naughty', 'lazy', 'difficult', 'explosive', 'spooky', 'nappy', and more. These labels are wrong. Pain impacts all aspects of a horse's performance, including its partnership with the rider, and its potential to progress. It does not always create lameness. Relieving pain can lead to greater potential, a deeper partnership, and improved performance. In ‘ Harmonious Use of the Ridden Horse Ethogram to Optimise Potential, Partnership and Performance ', Sue Dyson and Sue Palmer share their professional knowledge and experience. You will learn how to use a checklist of 24 behaviours to check for musculoskeletal pain in ridden horses. The book includes a gripping mix of research studies, contributions from industry experts, and real-life case studies. Only by first recognising pain can we then address it through accurate assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. This book, full of practical tools and backed by solid robust science, teaches you how to use ridden behaviour to recognise the subtle signs of pain, even in horses that appear to be sound. It is for anyone who cares about the horse, whether you are an interested amateur owner or an experienced equestrian professional. Together, we can make the world a better place for horses.

272 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2023

Reviews

[Lauren Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Great book for all horse owners and lovers to read and contemplate. The treatment of the horse is so very important and helps build our relationship with the horse.

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very expensive book. I wanted the book because I wanted the Ethogram or list of what to look for when deciding if the horse is in pain. It delivered that and more. It was full of excellent pictures and various topics were on different coloured paper. The authors, Sue Dyson and Sue Palmer gave case studies. If you are a British rider the book gave details on the many professional organizations one could contact with help in pin pointing horses' pain. The authors also spoke about rider skill, weight and build. They also realistically address the cost of diagnosis and treatment. The main point and one that is not done in my part of Canada is to have the horse ridden when diagnosing trouble such as behavior or is the horse lame. Details are given as to, how long to ride for the vet, the gaits and the patterns to be ridden during the veterinary examination. In some cases they would have the owner ride the horse and then have a professional ride the horse.