Hannah Jenkins

I cannot recommend this highly enough. Applied Equine Psychology isn’t just a book. It’s lifetimes of lessons, learning and reflective practice. It blends psychology, science and feel so that we can understand what really matters to the individuals we are working with. Life is messy. Interactions and situations are usually very complicated and we may never understand exactly ‘why’ a behaviour is happening. What matters is that we focus on how we can help, how to navigate complexity, and how *it depends* is actually the real answer to helping humans work with horses. This book demonstrates the foundations and fresh approach needed to support not only the horse and client, but importantly you as a practitioner. If you've ever been told: - you ask too many questions - you’re too soft or gentle and need to be 'firmer' - that horses don’t think or feel ‘like that’ - that you should ignore or override your gut feelings - that the situation isn’t ’that complicated’ - that you must face a situation head on - or if something doesn't quite feel right even though what you're doing is backed by science - or you feel under pressure to have 'the answer' or 'solution'... ...then this book is for you. The horse world will tell you to hit them harder, get on with it, do more or ‘don’t let them get away with it’. Our gut feelings about being kind are overruled and our thoughtful questions and reflections are met with answers that typically do more harm than good. For so long I believed I wasn’t good enough to understand animal behaviour, let alone help horses and humans. Everything I watched or was told simply didn’t feel right to me, until finding the wonderful group of people that are the Equine Behaviour Affiliation. These inspiring individuals have taught me that we should listen to our gut feelings because they are there for a reason. They gave me the confidence to know that the best way to help horses, humans and any animal for that matter - is to simply to start by listening. That feeling safe in the world is one of the most important things for all of us. Working with animals, humans and for yourself can be - a lot. It can feel overwhelming. But this book will give you a narrative that makes sense, show you a framework to help navigate it all and let you know that you are not alone. If there was ever a book to move conversations and applied practice forwards - then this is it. Thank you to the authors who had the courage to introduce this to the world. It's better for it.