The Mind of the Horse

by R.H. Smythe

A veterinary surgeon, Smythe describes a horses instincts, learning capabilities and shows how to improve your horsemanship through a better understanding of equine mental processes. Takes a controversial and fresh look at the horse.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals

123 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1965

Reviews

[MomToKippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agh, I hate giving a book about my beloved horses 3 stars but still. The title and description lead you to believe this is primarily a horse psychology book. I was interested in seeing if I would gain any further insights on horse behavior. Unfortunately the majority of the book is devoted to physiology and evolution which is interesting of course but not what I thought it would be focused on. The author primarily discusses the senses of the horse - sight, hearing, smell, tactile sense - again all interesting and of course these things all relate to how the horse reacts to the world and its human partners. This book was written in 1965 which should have little bearing on the topic I thought. The writing is fairly dry as well. So overall a good quick read but there are probably better books on this topic.