|
| 
| Author: Joe Camp
Publisher: Harmony
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.88
You Save: $10.07 (40%)
New (34) Used (11) from $14.88
Avg. Customer Rating:  41 reviews
Sales Rank: 3959
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.8 x 6.8 x 1.2
ISBN: 0307406857
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.1
EAN: 9780307406859
ASIN: 0307406857
Publication Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW
|
| Customer Reviews:
 A beautiful rendering of the deep relationship we can have these wonderful, mysterious wild creatures. July 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As my husband and I are only now, in our baby boomer retirement, getting to know our two recently adopted horses, Joe and Charlie, the enthusiasm and wonder with which Joe writes reflects our own experience. Every day is a new lesson learned, joint and muscle pain earned, tears shed and laughter every day. We have found, and continue to find, that our new friends can be as difficult, loving, trying, understanding, forgiving and intelligent as any human one can be, if not more. We thought that we could only bond with our dogs, but these two have shown us that this bond comes from a different place, a place which Joe has put into the words we didn't think we could express.
Dr. Jan Missed the Point July 4, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was not going to write a review of our own book, kinda silly to do that and certainly not helpful to others. However, Dr. Jan's review is deeply troubling. It's not clear to me if she actually read the book. To say The Soul of a Horse is shallow, ego driven, religious zealotry cannot be farther from the mark. Joe describes his first humbling experience in the round pen with Cash as if the reader is actually there, watching the spider crawl across his new boot barn boot (this from a reader email), and the tears streaming down Joe's face when Cash makes the decision to "Join-Up" with him have been shared by many a reader.
When I called her to offer her a refund of the purchase price of the book, she said that was not necessary. I was clear, I thought, in my discussion with her that we were very sorry that she was so disappointed with the book and merely wanted to offer to reimburse her for what was obviously a waste of money to her.
The resources section contains volumes that show we do not espouse that only one way, one clinician, is to be followed, but rather the book is replete with examples of our culling through the vast amount of information, and mis-information to provide the reader with a framework to boldly embark on their OWN journey. Your own journey may be with horses, with teenagers, with employees, students, or any other type of relationship that you want to go to the next level. A level that deepens when you look at the relationship from the other side of the lead rope.
So, for people pondering whether to embark on the journey of The Soul of a Horse, I hope you will read the other 33 glowing reviews :).
Follow Your Deams and Find Your Passion July 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Years on the ground or under saddle do not a horseman make. It is the depth of understanding through passion that translates to feel and feel to knowledge. Joe Camp's passion for both horse and human pours from his heart and through his pen.
Regardless of your experience with horses ~ love `em, own `em, would love to own `em ~ Soul of a Horse speaks to the heart of those who always wanted a relationship with a horse but did not know it was possible. It speaks to the heart of others who believed there must be a better way, a natural way to care for horses but lacked the knowledge or courage to buck the set of assumptions that go unchallenged. (Accepted practices that harm horses and endanger humans.) Still others are taken by how the lessons from the herd easily translate to better human relationships.
Joe Camp's ability to weave a captivatingly beautiful fictional story, together with his self-effacing personal experience is refreshing and delightful.
You Can't Please Everyone July 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is disappointing to me to see Dr. Jan B. Newman, who is supposedly an educated person, so totally miss what Mr. Camp's book, "The Soul of a Horse," has to offer. Every reader will get out of a book only what he or she wants to. That Dr. Newman chose to get so little out of an otherwise excellent and meaningful book is not the fault of the author, or the book. The sad thing here is that such a negative review, actually more of an attack, could cause others who might benefit greatly from this excellent volume to miss concepts, ideas, and resources, that could be at least helpful, and possibly life altering for them and their horses.
Dr. Newman using the example that some of his horses want into the barn instead of preferring the open pasture, is totally meaningless. Those horses may have been barn sour for many years, and so conditioned to the barn that they are uncomfortable any other place. We have all seen horses like that. I can say that all of my horses greatly prefer the open pasture, but that sure doesn't imply all horses do. As Dr. Newman stated, horses are individuals, and there are all kinds of dispositions. Certainly few techniques will work the same way for every horse out there, nor will they work in the same time frame for all horses, but I don't think this book says that either. What it does do is provide a window into a very special relationship that Mr. Camp was able to establish with his horse, Cash, and how that relationship developed. Any statements Mr. Camp makes regarding barefoot horses and natural horse care are all verifiable in the literature. He has simply brought it all together in a beautifully written volume that was a great pleasure for me to read, and will be for most horse owners. That he also provides a listing of excellent resources is just icing on the cake.
Ron Reil
 Disappointing-Shallow June 30, 2008
3 out of 9 found this review helpful
[...] I thought,"Great someone has written a book about the soul of a horse, finally!!!The book is biographical of Camp's experience with his horses.
I was deeply disappointed. Unfortunately this book is much more about the ego of Joe Camp than the soul of the horse. He preaches Natural Horsemanship ala Monty Roberts videos, horses are to be out on pasture n a herd, with no shoes, and that is the only way to care for horses. Not only that but, he has the hubris to tells everyone he meets that that is the case.
When people think they have all the answers. They never do. Joe Camp has the fervor and lack of experience, knowledge and discernment of a newly converted religious zealot. This is often not the best attitude whether with horses or people.
Nonetheless this book does offer some advice that many seasoned "I've always done it this way" horsemen could do well to consider. It discusses having a relationship and understanding the conditions a horse is under that may cause them to do what they do. It is important not to accept advice from "experts" just because they have a title or a reputation. He makes important points about tolerating a certain amount of fear and discomfort in our relationships with horses (as we should with people) to learn and grow.
I become concerned because people take this as religion and decide to practice it. They go out in their back yard with a lot of hubris and no sensitivity and humility. Horses have horse power and people can be badly hurt.
I have raised and trained horses for over 20 years and some have competed and won on the "A" jumping circuit and in dressage. I strongly believe my horses are my partners. I have used "natural hosemanship techniques" and have found some to be useful very much depending on the horse and the situation. All horses are different. I have used the join up which I had seen demonstrated many times by qualified experts and looked at DVD's, with most of my horses.It works about 80% of the time. There are other ways to do the same thing. I had one 3 yr old decide he would rather jump out of the 6'high round pen than join up. He won't join up in the round pen but will do anything for a horse cube and constantly follows me around to the point that he is a total pest.(I only use cubes for training and don't carry them with me.) All it takes is a finger to make him do all kinds of maneuvers, but join up..in the round pen..no way. Another mare I had joins one minute and not the next. She is just not the country club type. She has won in the >er 4' jumpers on the A circuit and is a well acknowledged "challenge with enormous talent".
Each horse must be looked at as an individual which is not brought out well in this book. I keep my horses in a herd most of the time. There are major disadvantages to this as well. They become herd bound and don't want to leave the herd, and one has to be very alert when out amongst them. If a horse is facing being kicked or bitten by another horse, alternative to being bittten is to run you down, guess who loses.
There is no perfect way and no free lunch. Joe contends that all horses want to be outside on a mountain side. Mine have their choice. They have 6 acres of mountains and trees, but often they hang out at the barn. They want in the barn at night even if I decided they should stay out. The Spanish Riding School in Vienna keeps their stallions in standing stalls. Clearly these horses perform at very high levels, love performing and they have not had problems with stress ulcers.Painting with a broad brush doesn't do a good job with houses or horses.
Inserted in the book is a contrived story of a horse and an Indian boy who follows Lewis and Clark.
My horses have been my very best teachers;they have amazing souls and are profoundly intuitive.This book didn't help me better commune with them.
I believe Joe's heart is in the right place and his motivation in sharing his adventures is to help horses and people. Hopefully, after he has more experience with his horses, he too will become less zealous and be able to lead us more deeply into both ours and our horses' souls. This is a good book for beginners who may feel they are alone in their horse woes. The most important thing with horses and life is to keep one's mind and heart open.
The reader and Joe would do well to expand their horizons by reading works of classical trainers and riders such as Alois Podhajsky of the Spanish Riding School, Linda Tellington Jones, Reiner Klimke among others even if they will never be doing dresssage or English ridingThe New Basic Training of the Young Horse: From the Education of the Young Foal to the First Competition.The Ultimate Horse Behavior and Training Book: Enlightened and Revolutionary Solutions for the 21st CenturyMy Horses, My TeachersComplete Training of Horse and Rider
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
