Spoken in Whispers: The Autobiography of a Horse Whisperer [Hardcover]

Nicci MacKay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1998

Nicci Mackay is a horse whisperer, claiming she can translate what horses say. In this book she tells the story of her life, dedicated to animals, from working in a racing yard to her discovery by the media and travelling all over the world translating on behalf of animals.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Those who loved Robert Redford's recent movie The Horse Whisperer or Nicholas Evans's book of the same name will enjoy Mackay's unabashed, effusive account of her life as a "horse whisperer"?one who claims telepathic communication with horses, an ability to feel their emotions and thoughts. Mackay, a former British jockey who runs her own livery and works professionally as a horse whisperer, diagnosing horses' emotional and physical problems, seems genuine. But all of her enthusiasm and empathy is unlikely to convince skeptics that she can enter into the minds not only of horses but also of dogs, cows, a giraffe and birds ("I just spoke Duck!"). Occasionally even Mackay has her doubts about her telepathy as when she suddenly feels that a parrot patient is communicating to her a need to be "retuned." Still, whether or not one accepts the existence of a God-given gift that Mackay says she's had since childhood, it's impossible to deny her admirable, passionately expressed respect and love for horses and other animals.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

With the release of the film version of The Horse Whisperer, books about the ancient art of communication with horses are becoming very popular among the reading public. As a child, Mackay communicated with all animals and just assumed that everyone had the same gift. It wasn't until she began to work seriously with horses that she discovered that she had a unique talent, and it took her a long time to speak out about what she could "hear" from horses for fear of ridicule from all the expert horse trainers she was working with. The book describes her life of helping horses and their owners after her coming out, and it is full of interesting vignettes of troubled horses and her solutions to their problems. Although few believe in psychic communication with animals, it is clear that Mackay has good animal sense, and she is able to explain her findings to a general audience, which recommends her story to all libraries. Nancy Bent --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Mainstream (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1851589422
• ISBN-13: 978-1851589425
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,034,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable reading! Well written and thought provoking, April 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Spoken in Whispers: The Autobiography of a Horse Whisperer (Paperback)

In this book Nicci Mackay shares her experience of being able to communicate telepathically with primarily horses, but also a few dogs, goats and birds. It starts when she first shares her ability with some fellow horsemen, and then progresses as she gets more and more well known and works with many different animals. Very enjoyable, she doesn't try to "push" her views on the reader to hard. She just shares her experiences. This book is slightly different then The Man Who Listens to Horses by Monty Roberts. Mackay was very much into "psychic" communication with the horses, while Roberts was more into the body language of the horses. I don't doubt that they both incorporated both of these methods, to some degree or other. Personally, I'm still unsure about "psychic communication with animals" but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I also recomend Conversations with Animals by Lydia Hiby.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To believe or not to believe?, April 10, 2002

By 

Duaa Anwar "Dressage rider/ Author" (Cairo, Egypt) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spoken in Whispers: The Autobiography of a Horse Whisperer (Paperback)

Okay, I'm a skeptic--or at least was. I bought this book to prove to myself that communicating with animals is not real. But before I reached halfway, I was already a believer. It's real, and it's strange. Nicci Mackay actually speaks her thoughts to animals, asking them questions about their behavior, feelings, etc, and receives answers from them. She's not a horse whisperer like Monty Roberts. This woman can carry on a conversation with any horse (although she can't always persuade them to do things for her!)

Nicci's writing is beautiful and captivating. Her book is nicely put together chronologically (unlike some autobiographies which keep jumping back and forth). Her stories can be dreadfully depressing or hilariously funny. Some of her experiences are downright eccentric, though not lacking charm. She has a brilliant sense of humor that caught me off guard in situations where I should have contained my laughter.

To sum things up, this book is a gem and I will read it many more times. I wholeheartedly urge you to pick a copy for yourself--regardless of whether you are a believer or not. Niccy Mackay, if you read this, please drop me a line as I would like you to talk to my horse.

Reader, what are you still doing reading this review? Buy the book!

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book, February 10, 2010

By 

Virginia "Vee Jay" (Gosford, Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spoken in Whispers: The Autobiography of a Horse Whisperer (Paperback)

I had been given the suggestion to purchase this particular book due to my current equine bowen therapy training and as I am already outlaying funds in text books I decided to see if I could obtain it within my budget.
Success! After perusing Amazon and checking out the many stores that had the book in stock, I found a preloved book at a store that was one of the very few that were willing to send it to Australia.
I haven't had the opportunity to start reading it yet but I have it on very reliable sources that it is well worth reading and I am looking forward to starting.
I am also extremely happy with the purchase.
The book was definitely in reasonable condition and for the price I could never make a complaint, it was definitely a plus. In this specific situation, I did not hesitate in paying the additional postage costs.
The most disappointing and frustrating conditions to overcome when purchasing a product through this site is the a) availability to post to Australia and b)combatting the relatively high postage costs on top of the purchase price.
Other than these sometime disappointments, I very much enjoy purchasing as the costs (with the higher postage) are often still much lower than I am able to achieve in Australia.
Virginia Ede