Conquerors: The Roots of New World Horsemanship

Rating:
Summary: THE best book about evolution & South American horses
Review: Deb Bennett has produced a very well-researched volume about the evolution of the breeds of horses, with special emphasis on how the horse developed in South America. If you are interested in gaited horses (pacers, amblers, fox-trotters), ancient and old breeds (Akhal-Teke, Hobbies, Amblers, the horses of the Hittites, Etruscans, Scythians, etc), and the development of horsemanship, this book is an excellent addition to your library. The information regarding South American horses is especially welcome.

It is illustrated with clear B&W photos, line drawings, and charts. I might wish that some of the line drawings were accompanied by the original mosaic or painting. Also, some of her conclusions about the horsemanship evolution (particulary the origins of modern english and western saddles) are new to me. While her theses are perfectly clear, I would also have appreciated knowing why previous scholars came to other conclusions. If you read no other book, you wouldn't know there was any disagreement! Foot- or end-notes might have helped here.

I would be very interested in seeing her research on African, Middle Eastern, and Asian horse breeds.

Rating:
Summary: If she could write, this book might be great
Review: It is quite possible that this book has a lot to teach me beneath the stream of consciousness style but it sure is a lot of hard work trying to dig out those old-fashioned subjects, verbs and objects from beneath the flower-power new age sentencing that is perhaps a misguided attempt to bring color to her subject but more likely just linguistic self-indulgence and a lack of willpower to rein in the runaway sentences and lassoo the flyaway metaphors that keep on buzzing out of Pandora's beehive.