I picked up this book because I know very little about horses yet my plan is to someday volunteer with an Equine Therapy organization to work with people with disabilities and Veteran's with PTSD. Horses are incredible, sensitive animals and I am so glad I found this book because it gave me good insights into body language and vocalizations and other horse behavior. For example, never approach a horse from the front (or rear) because of its small blindspots -- better to approach from the side. Also, upon greeting to show you are friendly, "groom" horse by sniffing its nose and kneading its mane by holding your fingers like they are teeth. Of course Morris also warns us to be prepared to get groomed back and so your clothes may be ruined. I also liked reading the chapters on feeding horses and giving birth -- humans often interfere with the process by cutting the cord and wiping off the foal with the blanket -- both of these interfere with the natural bonding that needs to take place between the mare and the foal. There were some interesting factoids on racing, etc. but the best part for me was the behavioral information. I remember reading his book "Cat Watching" years ago and it was helpful in identifying the moods and temperament of my cat.

Horsewatching is a book that I really looked forward to reading. I was planning to review the book on NetGalley. But it is really a struggle to read it with the writing across the written words - "For Review Purposes Only". I did read the Introduction until I got annoyed. Then I skimmed the rest of the introduction.

I did read the first chapter - What Does a Horse Signal with Its Ears? This chapter is informative and would be helpful to most horse owners. I am very interested in learning about how horses interact with the world and with us. If you review the Table of Contents, the rest of the book would be informative too.

This will be a great book for anyone that really wants to know and understand horses. My review would have been a lot more positive if I could have finished the book. But it is impossible for me to enjoy reading the review copy.

This book was originally published in 1988/1989/2015. The number of pages seems to be the same. So not sure how this new release is different.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I am a horse owner for 23 years so there was a lot in this book I already knew but I also learned some too.
This is definitely geared more towards someone who has some horse experience and not someone brand new to horses.
The downfall of this book is the negativity towards racing. I am a harness race horse trainer so I love racing and I think the industry gets a bad reputation from people who do not know much about it.
So this book was ok for me. I prefer facts over opinions and when it comes to the racing industry getting into opinions causes some problems.

Available April 11, 2023

As a horse crazy girl who grew up reading anything and everything she could find on horses, not to mention contributed to horse focused magazines as an adult, I was psyched to get this book. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting but, well, this wasn't it. It isn't that there isn't an abundance of information, but perhaps in the way that it's presented. Even the b/w drawings mentioned on the cover weren't quite what I was expecting.

Rather than cartoon or simple drawings, they are old engraving/drawings of horses at rest and moving. This was my first hint that this book probably isn't intended for casual readers. Instead, while the topics, listed as questions as simple as how horses show expression and even the meanings of the horseshoe as a symbol, the answers frequently delved into history and background, making for tougher reading for those looking for quicker bites of info. That is in itself not a fault, but I wasn't expecting the depth it'd dive into. Some of it was fascinating. Other times I found my eyes glazing over. As I said, not what I went into the book expecting, so it obviously influenced my reaction.

Despite my reaction, if you have an interest into delving more into detail about certain aspects of horse history and nature, you may find this book totally fascinating. Just beware, there's definitely negativity toward racing, albeit some interesting tidbits did grab my attention such as the why of the shape of the traditional jockey cap and, for that matter, the likely origin of the word jockey itself. Thus, the fault may be my own.

Bottom line, this book was a mixed bag for me, partly because of the info I came to the book with, partly because it seemed to zoom from horse behavior to racing without much transition. It also ends rather abruptly, too, no wrap-up, unless my review copy was lacking some pages. I do thank #NetGalley and #RowmanAndLittlefield for allowing me to spend some time revisiting my horse crazy girl days. I even learned a few things. 3.5rounded to 4 stars.