Customer Reviews

Living with Horsepower!: Personally Empowering Life Lessons Learned from Horses

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
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Rebekah Ferran Witter's Living with HorsePower!: personally empowering life lessons learned from the horse, reflects the depth of Witter's investment in horses and her skill in analyzing the human-horse bond. Witter elegantly blends direct quotations from her interviews with many well-known figures in the horse industry with her own synthetic and interpretive narration. The interviewees are horsepeople from all disciplines of riding, from western pleasure to dressage, cutting to cross-country, pleasure and trail to endurance. Living with HorsePower! should attract readers from the professional horse world as well as anyone who has ever enjoyed riding or has felt the mesmerizing power of horses. Witter sets her narrative in personal terms, making her presentation accessible to all readers. Included are excellent sets of photographs of the interviewees. Well organized chapters touch on topics such as species-specific behaviors of the horse, equine intelligence, methods used by humans to understand and communicate with these oft used and misused creatures, and the psychological benefits that can result from working with horses. Living with HorsePower! is not only enjoyable reading for the horselover, but can be an instructive read for friends and partners who are unable to fathom the attraction to horses, providing insight into just what constitues the attachment to equine partners in work, play and imagination.

A couple notes or warnings about the text. The interview selections are included in italics directly into Witter's narration. This caused no problem with the continuity of the read, in fact it was one of the appealing uniquenesses of the text, but I imagine this format might be bothersome to some readers. The other note is that this is not a "how to" book, nor a scientific text, although it does include short but excellent analyses of central training and behavioral theories.

Yeah, I thought I did. Being a copetetive showjumper can give you a "big head", but after reading LIVING WITH HORSEPOWER, I saw the horse in a new light. Witter's interviews with top horseman that everyone admires taught me that horses do have feelings,they love you, and they can put you in your place quickly. Reguardless of the size of the animal, and there more commonly spoken about "stupidity", I have come to realize through this book that horses can reason. I swear I can disagree with any scientist that horses CAN do these things. LIVING WITH HORSEPOWER, has truly taught me to think like a horse, and has made me become a better horsewoman. I would like to now thank Rebekah Ferran Witter for this new "life".

Ms. Witter seems to have captured all that is truly equine, and then some. Being a "Saddlebred" person, I was thrilled with Ms. Witter's interviews with Tom Moore and Mrs. Crabtree who today are the icons of the Saddlebred world.

I could relate to every chapter in this book from horse communication, to detective work, to the chapter on loss. This book is a MUST have for anyone who rides or has horses in their lives! A fantastic read...A fine job!

As an occasional weekend horseback rider, I picked up Ms. Witter's book on a whim; out of desperation to read something new and different from the typical riding-lesson books. I was pleasantly surprised by the insight and discussion Ms. Witter has sparked about why we humans are "horse crazy," but more than that, I was touched by the deeply personal stories these people shared with the reader about the profound effect horses have had in their lives. This is a beautifully written, easy to follow (if you can't follow this one, you must have a below average reading level) wonderful account of the teachings of the horse. An animal lovers must read!

Rebekah Witter has carefully woven the myriad styles of outstanding horse trainers into one book. This is a must for any serious horse lover's library and is a reminder there are many ways to lead a horse to water.

I just finished reading HorsePower, and it is one of the most insightful, creative and intuitive books on the horse-human relationship since Monty Robert's The Man Who Listens to Horses. This is an excellent addition to any animal lover's library. An easy read for the kids, it's full of wonderful anecdotes from people in the horse biz, including one of the last interviews with Roy Rogers. Wonderful! Thank you Rebekah Ferran Witter for sharing this with all of us horse lovers!

This is the best book I have read in years It has so many good stories I cant rave enough about it. The only thing missing is an artical about my favorite horse of all times FURY I think the movie industry did him an injustice by his treatment after he was no longer usefull. Had it not been for Toni Ringo Helfer of The Gentle Jungle he wouldnt have been rescued and brought back to health I thank her with all my heart

This is a wonderful book that I, as a horse lover, enjoyed immensely. But I would encourage anyone to read it to learn about the wonders of horses and the people who work with and respect them. I truely believe this book will open peoples minds up to why some people (the lucky ones) are crazy for horses.

No one before has captured so successfully what we horse lovers experience from the special relationship we have with horses. Witter has shared the candid comments of a full spectrum of horse people, from Olympic champions to western wranglers to backyard horse owners. Each chapter draws the reader deeper into that special relationship and the impacts on our lives. The whole time I was reading I had to balance 'I can't put it down' with 'I don't want it to end'. This makes a great read for horse lovers and for people who just love life.

Growing up as an avid horse and animal lover, I fully related to the lessons shared in this book. I feel that I am more aware, and have a better understanding for the wonderful horse. I highly recommend this book for horse lovers all around.