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A Force-Free Approach to Horse Training that Builds Trust Between Horse and Rider
Secrets of the Horse is a groundbreaking guide for anyone seeking a deeper, more compassionate connection with their horse. Shelby Dennis challenges outdated training methods and misconceptions, offering a fresh, science-backed approach that prioritizes mutual understanding and trust between horse and rider. This book calls for an overhaul of modern horse training, a shift from domination and force to empathy, patience, and partnership.
Dennis explores the intersections between neurodivergence and interspecies communication, revealing how understanding these dynamics has transformed the way she interacts with horses. She also provides invaluable insights into the subtleties of horse body language, calming signals, displacement behaviors, and stress cues — tools that empower riders to recognize when a horse is overwhelmed or uncomfortable. With practical advice and thought-provoking ideas, Dennis offers an innovative new road map for the next generation of horse enthusiasts.
Secrets of the Horse is a groundbreaking guide for anyone seeking a deeper, more compassionate connection with their horse. Shelby Dennis challenges outdated training methods and misconceptions, offering a fresh, science-backed approach that prioritizes mutual understanding and trust between horse and rider. This book calls for an overhaul of modern horse training, a shift from domination and force to empathy, patience, and partnership.
Dennis explores the intersections between neurodivergence and interspecies communication, revealing how understanding these dynamics has transformed the way she interacts with horses. She also provides invaluable insights into the subtleties of horse body language, calming signals, displacement behaviors, and stress cues — tools that empower riders to recognize when a horse is overwhelmed or uncomfortable. With practical advice and thought-provoking ideas, Dennis offers an innovative new road map for the next generation of horse enthusiasts.
Price: $19.95
Pages: 208
Publisher: New World Library
Imprint: New World Library
Publication Date:
28 April 2026
Trim Size: 8.50 X 5.50 in
ISBN: 9781608689736
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
PETS / Horses, Equine Management, NATURE / Animals / Horses, SPORTS & RECREATION / Animal Sports / Equestrian, SELF-HELP / Emotions, Riding, showjumping & horsemanship, Ethology & animal behaviour
“Secrets of the Horse gives horses their voice back and shows us how much we’ve been missing. Shelby Dennis uses science, lived experience, and uncompromising respect for horses as thinking, feeling individuals to illuminate what horses have been communicating all along. This book doesn’t just offer better techniques. It asks better questions — the kind that will permanently change how you show up for the animals in your care.”
— Zak George, author of Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution
“Secrets of the Horse is both a thoughtful critique of outdated dominance-based horsemanship and an honest account of personal growth. Shelby Dennis weaves her own experience and willingness to question long-held assumptions into a broader call for more ethical, compassionate training practices. By placing horse behavior in the context of natural instincts, emotional processing, and the nervous system, she encourages readers to move beyond control and toward true understanding. This perspective aligns closely with what modern science continues to reveal about how horses learn, regulate, and form relationships, and it marks an important step forward for anyone committed to welfare-centered horsemanship.”
— Dr. Stephen Peters, equine neuroscientist, author of Horse Brain Science, and coauthor of Evidence-Based Horsemanship
“Drawing on experiences familiar to many who grew up in competitive horse culture, Secrets of the Horse traces the difficult but necessary work of reexamining practice through a welfare and ethology lens. It is a brave, clear-headed contribution that will benefit both horses and those who value them for who they really are.”
— Cristina Wilkins, editor of Horses and People
“The ironic part of this fantastic book is that none of the information Shelby shares is actually a secret. All the information is well known, corroborated by vast volumes of data and experience. Some of the science she shares is already almost a century old, yet the horse world still struggles to understand it. Shelby, however, does not. She understands it and she can teach it!”
— Lockie Phillips, founder of Emotional Horsemanship, horse trainer, international clinician, instructor, coach, and author
— Zak George, author of Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution
“Secrets of the Horse is both a thoughtful critique of outdated dominance-based horsemanship and an honest account of personal growth. Shelby Dennis weaves her own experience and willingness to question long-held assumptions into a broader call for more ethical, compassionate training practices. By placing horse behavior in the context of natural instincts, emotional processing, and the nervous system, she encourages readers to move beyond control and toward true understanding. This perspective aligns closely with what modern science continues to reveal about how horses learn, regulate, and form relationships, and it marks an important step forward for anyone committed to welfare-centered horsemanship.”
— Dr. Stephen Peters, equine neuroscientist, author of Horse Brain Science, and coauthor of Evidence-Based Horsemanship
“Drawing on experiences familiar to many who grew up in competitive horse culture, Secrets of the Horse traces the difficult but necessary work of reexamining practice through a welfare and ethology lens. It is a brave, clear-headed contribution that will benefit both horses and those who value them for who they really are.”
— Cristina Wilkins, editor of Horses and People
“The ironic part of this fantastic book is that none of the information Shelby shares is actually a secret. All the information is well known, corroborated by vast volumes of data and experience. Some of the science she shares is already almost a century old, yet the horse world still struggles to understand it. Shelby, however, does not. She understands it and she can teach it!”
— Lockie Phillips, founder of Emotional Horsemanship, horse trainer, international clinician, instructor, coach, and author
Shelby Dennis is an IAABC certified equine behavior consultant, horse trainer, and social media influencer popular among equestrians worldwide. She lives in British Columbia, Canada.
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