This book is a general guide to understanding horse behavior, how the horse learns and how horse handlers can adjust their behavior to avoid creating anxiety in the horse. The author begins by providing an overview of the evolution of the horse and the consequences of domestication. She goes on to provide a very detailed description of normal equine behavior and its impact on husbandry and training. This is followed by the causes of abnormal and undesirable behavior in the stable, handling and when being ridden. The author links difficulties arising from the management of horses today with the natural behavior of the horse and recommends therapeutic, as well as training, methods for horses exhibiting behavioral problems.

The central theme of this book is prevention or cure of undesirable behavior through understanding making this book useful to anyone who routinely works with horses, and is concerned with equine wellbeing.