Books & Articles

Books on horses by Dr. M. Kiley-Worthington

Horse Behaviour in Relation to Management and Training (1983)

Reprinted 1999, translated into German, Italian, French and Dutch (in process), (available from the publisher & author, paper back £10.90). This was the first book on horse behaviour written by a scientist who had studied the behaviour of horses, and outlines the fundamentals of their physiology, perception, social organization, communication, breeding etc.
It also covers how learning works and discusses whether current horse management maximizes their welfare. It has been perhaps the most influential book in the recent change of attitudes concerning horses management and training.

Equine Welfare (1998)

J.A.Allen, (available from the author £10.00 hard back). This book is the first book about a single species which examines all the current arguments concerning animal welfare science, and applies them to whether what we do with our horses and how we keep them complies with maximizing their welfare. It includes a review of whether we should or should not compete in the many ways we do with equines, (combine training, jumping, racing, endurance etc) and covers what are the major welfare questions surrounding less well known subjects such as working donkeys (the most numerous working animal to day), zebras, working horses on the farm and travelling with them.
It examines all the arguments thoroughly from both sides, and concludes that we can do all these things with equines and still provide a life of quality for them, but some things need to change if we are seriously interested in their welfare.

Equine Education (2003)

Whittet books, (available from the publisher hardback £17.50). This book shows how what we know about the being of a horse (covered in Horse Watch) should be put into practice when teaching equines. It covers needs of the horse and how to keep them so these are fulfilled, learning theory, handling young and old, first riding, more advanced riding, jumping, long distance, travelling and living with equines and many more subjects. It is full of simple useful and effective tested methods and ideas.

Horse Watch (2005)

What is it to be a Horse, J. A. Allen large hardback with colour illustrations, (available from publisher @ £25, from author @ £21). This is perhaps the most important book about a single species and how they experience the world that has so far been published. In simple language understandable by any horse lover who can read, it reviews all the current ideas from many disciplines including cognitive science about how we can begin to know what the mental abilities of equines really are, and where they are similar or different from humans so we can begin to understand each individuals point of view. It give a host of examples and much new empirical results of the authors and others recent research. Although this is a controversial subject, the author, uniquely among writers to date, is not only a scientist and scholar, but is a professional instructor, breeder and international competitor. As a result, this book combines all information from scholars as well as from knowledge about horses from those who have daily experiences with them professionally. The message is that there are ways in which we can learn to better understand these animals, but we must be seriously aware of faulty preconceptions.

If you would like to purchase any of these books please email jake@horseridingfrance.com