The Horse and His Rider

In the mid-19th century, a gentleman outsider to the racing and hunting world set down what he had learned from a lifetime in the saddle, and produced something far richer than a mere manual. Francis Bond Head wrote this book not from the perspective of a professional horseman, but from that of a passionate amateur who had paid close attention to the creatures beneath him. The result is a remarkably perceptive study of horse psychology, rider technique, and the peculiar communion between two species that have shaped human history. Head writes about the way a horse thinks, fears, and trusts; about the subtle aids of leg and hand that communicate intent rather than demand obedience; about the difference between breaking a horse and educating one. His observations on temperament, on the metaphysics of the 'good mouth,' on the disasters that befall riders who mistake force for understanding these have the staying power of genuine insight. Though written for a Victorian audience with different assumptions about animals, the book speaks across the centuries to anyone who has felt the responsibility of carrying another creature's trust.