Stable Smarts by Heather Smith Thomas

I picked up this book on impulse the other day, when I saw it at Barnes & Noble: Stable Smarts, by Heather Smith Thomas.

The book is a really useful collection of all kinds of horse advice, from building fences and taking care of leather, to treating wounds and warding away flies. Honestly, of all the horse books I owned and have read, this one is probably the only one that was actually worth spending the money on. I'm even considering buying another one to keep at the barn — they ought to make a really durable (i.e. spiral bound and laminated covers) edition just for that purpose, since at the barn is where most people's copies will probably be kept!

Please also check out the more in-depth review of this book on my horse blog!

What Horses Say by Anna Clemence Mews and Julie Dicker

I got interested in learning more about horse communication after reading several stories that mentioned it in Angel Horses. Partly because of the connection I seemed to have with my horse (a rescue) and his mother (who was euthanized in front of me that day) from the very beginning, I decided to look up more information on the subject.

What Horses Say is one of several books on horse communication that I got out from the library. The book is written by Anna Clemence Mews and a horse communicator, Julie Dicker. There were some really fantastic stories about how horse communication has helped Julie's clients' horses, but I was a little disappointed in the lack of insight in how to actually communicate with horses.

If you read this book, I would suggest reading it primarily for the stories, and only secondarily for information about horse communication. It's more of a "See how great horse communication is" memoir than a how-to on how to do it. Even so, the stories are wonderful and the advice — to be patient and listen to your horses — is sound, whether you're "listening" telepathically or simply paying attention to body language!

Angel Horses by Allen and Linda Anderson

At this point I start forgetting again which book I read next, but I'm pretty sure it was Angel Horses by Allen and Linda Anderson. At any rate, I read it somewhere around this point.

Anyway, I heard about this book several months ago, when a fellow writer sent me information on the Andersons' next anthology writing contest. Their previous books are listed on their website. I remember making a note of the Angel Horses book, but I forgot about it (and the contest) until I saw the book at Tattered Cover a few weeks ago.

Seeing the book reminded me not only that I was interested in reading it, but also that I wanted to enter the writing contest. The book is technically "research" as it demonstrates what they like to see in submissions, but it was also a learning experience in other ways. For instance, I learned that I am not the only one who has felt like they communicated wordlessly with a horse — and that there is actually a whole industry for horse communication and animal communication.

Wish me luck in the writing contest!

A Girl and Five Brave Horses by Sonora Carver

Every once in a while, a book comes along that really tests your resolve to read it. That's the way it was with this book.

A Girl and Five Brave Horses is technically the basis for the Disney movie Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, which is loosely based on the life of Sonora Webster Carver. Unfortunately, the book is out of print, and has been for a very long time — as far as I can tell, the first edition (in 1961) was also the last edition printed. Even many libraries don't have it; I had to order it through an interlibrary loan.

Since the book is hard to find, yet has attracted a bit of a cult following, its value is phenomenal — Amazon's current price of $498.50 being the cheapest I've seen it, and that's for an ex-library copy (which usually devalues a book considerably.) Being a book collector and a horse lover, I would love to own a copy — but being a writer, I needed to find a cheaper (read: free) way of reading it, which is why I settled for checking it out for the library.

I don't really expect that anyone is going to buy a five hundred dollar book, but I'll include the Amazon link anyway, in case anyone wants to look into the book a little more.

Basically, A Girl and Five Brave Horses is the autobiography or memoir of Sonora Webster Carver, one of the most famous (if not the most famous) of the horse diving girls in the 1920s, 1930s, and into the 1940s. Sonora wasn't any ordinary diving girl, though: She was blinded in 1931 after she hit the water with her eyes open, yet she continued diving for 11 more years afterward.

As is typical for Hollywood and Disney, the story as it is told in Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken is very romanticized. Sonora wasn't a runaway; her mother actually suggested she join the diving act in 1923, when she was 19. She and Al didn't have some kind of whirlwind romance; they had been working alongside one another for six years before they married, and even then he had to talk her into it.

One thing the movie did manage to do justice to was Sonora's bravery and spirit. She really was that determined to continue diving after she was blinded. She never wanted to be treated any differently, and as a result, she dove blind for five years before a reporter finally found out.

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken is a wonderful movie, a (somewhat) true-life Disney fairy tale. However, for anyone who is truly interested in Sonora Carver or her experiences diving horses, I suggest getting your hands on A Girl and Five Brave Horses any way you can.

Other Resources:

* Yahoo diving horses group, an effort to get A Girl and Five Brave Horses republished

* Sonora Webster Carver on Wikipedia

* The Diving Horses of Atlantic City, by Susan MacDonald: descriptions, eye-witness quotes, and pictures

* Article by Mike Cox about Doc Carver (Sonora's father-in-law), the diving horse show, and Sonora

* YouTube video "Last Days of the Steel Pier" — the video of the diving horse, and the two pictures that follow it, are of Red Lips, Sonora's favorite horse; the color picture is of Sonora, and I'm assuming it's her riding Red Lips in both the video and the photograph that follows

* Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of interviews with Allen "Boo" Pergament, a historian and friend of Sonora's, about the Atlantic City Steel Pier

The Man Who Listens to Horses by Monty Roberts

My current goal is to learn as much as possible about horse training methods and theories -- in about a month, we are moving my horse from the inlaws' place in the country in order to have him nearby. I am very excited, as it has been difficult not to be able to see Panama very often this past year. I want to start working with him, as he has had little to no training, but I need to find out how to start.< The Man Who Listens to Horses is, as it turns out, a great place to start. I've known that I don't want to use any harsh training methods, and Monty Roberts is living proof that I don't have to. His book is very detailed in describing the body language of horses, which he calls "Equus," and how he uses it in order to train them.

Of course, since the book is also told in the style of a memoir, there are plenty to hold one's attention, too. The stories of his childhood, his abusive father, and his early encounters with horses are fascinating. In fact, I stayed up past my bedtime last night because I was so engrossed in the book. :o)

If you are a horse person and have not yet read this book, I highly recommend it. The insights Monty offers are quite valuable for someone who wants to train their horses in a way that fosters a respectful relationship for both parties. And even if you think "gentling" horses instead of breaking them is hokey, you may still find Monty's personal experiences intriguing.