My approach to horsemanship consists of working the horse from the inside out. This involves listening to the horse’s intelligence, observing its behavior, thinking and using finesse. It allows the horse to use its brain to figure its way through a dilemma.

When I was asked to review this book, its title told me everything I need to know about it — Horse Brain, Human Brain: The Neuroscience of Horsemanship by Janet L. Jones, PhD.

After the book arrived, I opened it to a randomly selected page to read. This has been a standard practice of mine for decades. If a book catches and holds my attention within a few minutes, then I’m all in. With Horse Brain, Human Brain, it was if “divine forces” were at work.

The first page I saw was Chapter Seven, Pulling the Senses Together. The first sentence of the first paragraph reads, “… Patch ran the Kentucky Derby without a left eye, starting from a post position where all of his competitors were invisible … .” It had my attention! Like Patch, I too am without a left eye. I set this unparalleled book down 3 ½ hours later, looked at its cover and said, “I have to call this author and ask her where she’s been my whole life!”

The single most important asset I have developed during my career has been the ever-evolving, improving and finely tuned skill…