Talking With Horses: A Study of Communication Between Man and Horse

by Henry Blake

Having spent a lifetime working with horses, the original horse whisperer shares his secrets to equine communication in this enlightening guide for riders of all skill levels. Through telepathy and extra-sensory perception, riders will be able to build a special rapport with their horses, ultimately learning to think and move together as one. A revelation to read—and an international bestseller when it was first published—this indispensable companion will change any rider's approach to the training and management of horses.

Genres: Horses

172 pages, Paperback

First published August 23, 1990

Reviews

[Suzanne Thackston · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book probably deserves a three, but as usual I find the 5 star system insufficiently nuanced.
Had I found this when I was a kid I'd have read it with rapt eyes and tried to emulate every single thing. And for its time it really was kind of a ground-breaker.
Mr. Blake is (or was?) a true horseman, of the old school instructor/trainers I grew up with. I find it especially charming that he refers to mares in heat as 'horsing' and talks about smoking a cigarette while calms and breaths with a new and nervous horse.
The ESP thing is actually kind of cool. He and his wife even set up reasonably controlled experiments and had what appear to be reasonably exciting results. They were sensible enough to conclude that there's a combination of experience, observation, subtle cues AND ESP that can't really be teased apart.
It's simply that there are much better and more updated horse communication books available today. Mr. Blake is neat anachronism, but there's not much here that can't be better found elsewhere.
He also has a propensity to veer away from his topic into just telling mildly interesting stories about his own experiences, and in a way that makes it clear he likes to toot his own horn. That bit got pretty old.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the years, I have read a huge amount on animal behaviour, horses in paticular, but this was the first one. Some of the methods and ideas a pretty outdated - we have come a long way in learning about how animals communicate. There are a few contradictions in the book eg warning about anthromorphism, yet classifying the different neighs of a horse with English phrases. There is a lot of experiments into ESP and, although a lot of what the book says is incorrect (ie. a horse that moves right without reins aid doesn't do it because it can read your mind, but because of changes in your body and leg movements), the ones involving horse pairs reacting to stimuli that the other is feeling was interesting and food for thought. It would be wrong to laugh at this book though, as I'm sure a lot of what we think now will be proved incorrect in the future. Still, it is a good, interesting read.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fascinating work. I didn't find every page or even chapter super interesting, but I loved the premise behind it. The author, Henry Blake, a life-long horseman, decided to dedicate his life to studying communication between horses and communication between horses and humans. I absolutely love that he did this, and I absolutely love this book because it in he breaks down his findings in scientific detail for the benefit of readers. He provides advice and insight into his study of horses and communication, and also shares his findings.

I'm not in agreement with all of Blake's practices or findings, and I'm not believing that his conclusions about ESP are accurate, but I'm open to his take and, more than that, I still love that he did these experiments and wrote down all this info so that I could read it too. It's a fascinating study from what feels like a bygone era - the idea that he "[...] has given up all other interests to study horses full-time" is an A+ idea that I fully support.

On a related note, I was saddened to read that Blake suffered a paralyzing injury in a point-to-point race and died soon after. I'm quite thankful he wrote did this research and published his musings though.

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent short book on ways to learn to communicate with horses. I enjoyed reading the various stories of the horses Henry and his family trained, rode and enjoyed. Henry would have worked with thousands of horses over his life.

[Jo-jean Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Henry's observations and lessons, along with his British way of describing horses and their ways of communicating!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this books many years ago, and loved it then. What I particularly love about it now, on the re-read, is the undertaking of scientific exploration by a nonscientist. This has such value for me! Nowadays if you say you want to conduct research, someone will tell you what you should get a PhD in in order to conduct research; the rest of us who don't have doctorates are convinced that we cannot conduct scientific research, it is out of our domain. I say bullshit! You don't have to have any kind of a degree for scientific pursuits; all you need is a brain and the desire to do it.

[PMP · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learnt from this book that when a horse tries to nip you or act up, you should swing your fist at him like you're another horse about to headbutt or bite him. Don't act like just any horse, but the boss horse. Like you're saying, horse to horse, "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get back in your place." Then the actual horse will shrink back and go, "Ok, ok, what's your problem? I didn't mean anything by that."

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decidedly old school and way before Monty Roberts but this guy is a star who never had a horse best him.
He treated his horses like children always putting them in the possition of the right thing being the easiest to do but not hesitating to pull them up if needed.
He saved many a horse from ending up on the meat wagon.

[Rivkah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and how the writer would talk about the history of "horse whispering" and showed how it was really all about horse listening. I highly recommend, even for those who aren't passionate about them, but want to know a bit more about what's going on in their world.

[Darby]

Amazing.

[Babs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concentrates on his experience with esp and mental telepathy with horses as well as his way of handling "difficult" horses.

[Gabrielle]

Praten met paarden (sinterklaas 1977)

[Samanthahpomp · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great book for those who are looking to by or those who have already or how to ride. It teaches you many technics on horses and you being connected.

[Lady Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helped me better understand horses.