Customer Reviews

True Unity: Willing Communication Between Horse and Human

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Let's agree, first off, on one important thing: riding horses is not the same as riding motorcycles or four-wheelers. Many of the people I know who ride expect to get on a horse--any horse--and control it as they would a machine. Every horse the same. Every signal with the reins nothing more than steering with handle bars. Right?

Wrong! The essence of Dorrance's book, TRUE UNITY, is really quite simple: horses are individuals, complete with personalities as varied as their human counterparts and realizing this fact is the beginning of finding the unity that Dorrance espouses.

TRUE UNITY, like the process of achieving it with a horse, is not easy. It's easily one of the most complex books I have ever read. I found that I had to read and reread sections several times in order to get the gist of Dorrance's lessons. I had to act as if Dorrance was in the room with me, explaining his experiences and I had to listen as carefully as I could and "feel" his ideas. In the end, I found that the content was exceptional and the fact remains that dealing with horses is an exercise in shared feelings between two individuals--the rider and the horse.

Some have noted that this book doesn't follow enough of a lock-step process to handling horses. What they seem to have wanted was an owners manual for horses. Step 1: Find a horse. Step 2: Climb aboard. Step 3: Ride and ride and ride. Step 4: Put horse away. Again, Dorrance makes it clear that this book was never meant to be a set of steps to take with guaranteed results. Those who feel otherwise should stick to machines.

I have to take exception, though, with the editing. The job of an editor, being one myself, is to help communicate the meaning of the writer as concisely and as clearly as possible. Given this fact, Milly Hunt Porter, the editor here falls flat on her face and the readability problems with this book, such as they are, arise, in my opinion, from Ms. Porter's ineptitude as a communicator. It becomes readily apparent that Ms. Porter was nothing more in the process than a glorified secretary, taking down, verbatim, Dorrance's sometimes rambling reminiscences about handling horses. It's apparent that she didn't take time, as she should have, to ask clarifying questions and then communicate her findings to the reader. As my title indicates, I don't blame Dorrance; I blame Porter.

Handle this one with care. If you're expecting a well-written, flowing, easy read you will be sorely disappointed.

For me, now that Tom Dorrance is gone, I wanted, whether clear or not, to read his thoughts about getting into the heads of horses and, in the end, the read was well worth it.

THE HORSEMAN

This is an incredible book that isn't easy to understand and it sure as heck isn't a recipe book. It is a book that you read, adsorb and one day a lightbulb will go off and you will understand what it was that Mr. Dorrance tried to relate. IT IS TRUELY A HORSEMAN'S BOOK. You may not understand it at first but it is absolutely worth the effort you put into it.

This is a wonderful book written by an extremely skilled horseman. The book is hard to read at times because Mr. Dorrance tends to be kind of vague on his techniques. But then, I'm not really sure he had too many "techniques." He just understood horses like few have ever done.

True Unity

"Natural Horsemanship," whatever that term means, begins here. To me, the term means being able to see the world through your horse's eyes. It means understanding equine psychology. It means that you understand and work with the horse's natural instincts. It means being as gentle as possible but as firm as necessary in order to communicate with your horse. The emphasis is on communication - a willing communication - between horse and rider. One of the key concepts of this book is to let it happen rather than trying to make it happen. This means to cause the wrong thing to be difficult and allow the right thing to be easy. It means approaching your horses with empathy, kindness and respect. Practitioners of "Natural Horsemanship" do not use force, fear or intimidation. If this overall philosophy sounds worthwhile, then you owe it to yourself to go right to the original source of the revolution in horsemanship set in motion by Tom Dorrance, Bill Dorrance and Ray Hunt. These are the founding fathers of this movement.

* (That said, I personally believe that there are other practitioners of NH that actually do a better job of explaining the concepts of these giants to the average rider. Among the new breed of NH practitioners, I personally like the approach and teaching methods of Pat Parelli -- who learned directly from Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt, Clinton Anderson, Ken McNabb, Denis Reis and Craig Cameron. And, of course, Buck Brannaman. He has cowboyed and ridden countless miles on the open range with the Dorrance brothers and Ray Hunt. He is perhaps their best student and the one who most closely tries to follow their approach to horsemanship. He is a superb horseman, the best roper in the world and a fine human being as well.)

If you aspire to excellence in your horsemanship, this is a must read. If you are looking for a "how-to" book, this is not it. This is a deeply philosophical book in that it provides a broad, conceptual framework in which to think about and interact with your horse. You cannot speed read or skim this book. In order to "get" Mr. Dorrance's message, you must read it slowly and meditate upon what he is saying.

In this book, he is attempting to do the almost impossible. He is trying to explain the importance of FEEL, TIMING and BALANCE. He can tell you what to strive for, but he can't feel the horse or experience timing and balance for you. You will only know these things when you actually experience them for yourself. The value in this book is in bringing these critical concepts to a conscious level.

In order to get the full benefit of this book, I would highly recommend that you also purchase the two CD set from Margaret Dorrance and listen to them over and over. You can purchase these at [...].


Happy Trails~
Bill

Tom Dorrance's understanding of the horse goes unparalled in the horse world. This book was definitely written with the advanced horseperson in mind. Tom has spent a lifetime trying to understand and better relate to the horse, and the same effort must be utilized to understand and apply the principles in this book. It should be in the collection of anyone who wants to understand our equine partners more intimately and more effectively.

This is the man who started it all. Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman and many others learned from Tom, the horse's lawyer, how to work with the horse and establish a relationship based on trust and respect. It is one book you'll need to read many times. As a teacher of horsemanship, I have read it at least 3 times and still get something new each time. Thank you, Tom for making it possible to help the horse in this way.

This is not a how-to book and Tom Dorrance said up front that it was not. This is the next step in the journey and I can see how it would be a disappointment for those that are looking for the equine version of mapquest to get where Tom's going to go.

He does repeat himself several times, but based on several of the reviews for apparently obvious reasons. The senses are unique to each person based on their backgrounds and their beliefs. The feel between myself and my horse and how we get there is not going to be the same journey as my friend and her horse.

This book was designed for the person who is ready to take their equine relationship to the next level.

True Unity is a wonderful book with an extreme volume of information. I truly enjoyed it and would highly recommended it for anyone who wants to gain a partnership with their horse deeper than "saddle up, bridle up, and get on." In many places it was hard to read and the language used was confusing, but the content makes it all worth it.

Dorrance is a skilled horseman and "whisperer" whose skill at understanding the horses language is certainly a gift. However, the book came across as disjointed and poorly organized, in places very redundant. I was also disappointed by the tendency to attribute results to almost magical abilities: not much "meat" on how to put the training techniques into use.

This book is a disappointment. Tom Dorrance keeps searching for words to explain what seems to be his metaphysical relationship with horses and comes up short. Then, students who have studied with Tom give their version of the Dorrance philosophy and training methods. Midway through, I laid the book down in exasperation. I wanted to help Tom with words as his struggle is so apparent. A truly unique pioneer, a humble man but not a good book.