[.ca] Spoken in Whispers: The Autobiography of a Horse Whisperer (ISBN 0684852985)

Very enjoyable reading! Well written and thought provoking:
In this book Nicci Mackay shares her experience of being able to communicate telepathically with primarily horses, but also a few dogs, goats and birds. It starts when she first shares her ability with some fellow horsemen, and then progresses as she gets more and more well known and works with many different animals. Very enjoyable, she doesn't try to "push" her views on the reader to hard. She just shares her experiences. This book is slightly different then The Man Who Listens to Horses by Monty Roberts. Mackay was very much into "psychic" communication with the horses, while Roberts was more into the body language of the horses. I don't doubt that they both incorporated both of these methods, to some degree or other. Personally, I'm still unsure about "psychic communication with animals" but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I also recomend Conversations with Animals by Lydia Hiby.

To believe or not to believe?:
Okay, I'm a skeptic--or at least was. I bought this book to prove to myself that communicating with animals is not real. But before I reached halfway, I was already a believer. It's real, and it's strange. Nicci Mackay actually speaks her thoughts to animals, asking them questions about their behavior, feelings, etc, and receives answers from them. She's not a horse whisperer like Monty Roberts. This woman can carry on a conversation with any horse (although she can't always persuade them to do things for her!) Nicci's writing is beautiful and captivating. Her book is nicely put together chronologically (unlike some autobiographies which keep jumping back and forth). Her stories can be dreadfully depressing or hilariously funny. Some of her experiences are downright eccentric, though not lacking charm. She has a brilliant sense of humor that caught me off guard in situations where I should have contained my laughter. To sum things up, this book is a gem and I will read it many more times. I wholeheartedly urge you to pick a copy for yourself--regardless of whether you are a believer or not. Niccy Mackay, if you read this, please drop me a line as I would like you to talk to my horse. Reader, what are you still doing reading this review? Buy the book!

Can you say "New Agey?":
I do believe that people form strong spiritual bonds with each other and animals too. I also believe we can sense things intuitvely when we're close to someone. HOWEVER, this book is a little wacho and new agey. You know the drill. . . 'We are one with nature" type book. No thanks!!!