Wild Herd Whispering has arrived!

Busy sweeping up a seemingly endless supply of acorns to stop the ponies eating them yesterday, an email alert announced that my new book Wild Herd Whispering had arrived at my pubishers, Halsgrove! I'd only been expecting an advance copy so this was great news.

After a quick reorganisation of our planned work for the day, Nick and I jumped in the truck and headed to Halsgrove's offices in Wellington to pick up some copies of the book. My first sighting of it was in the foyer display and even though this is my third book and I know it inside out and have seen the running sheets, there's always a jolt when you set eyes on the book itself. Finally, it's real.

Halsgrove's efficient warehouse manager, Les, had already separated our copies from the main delivery, along with some cardboard T's and bubblewrap and we were soon on our way home again. I am hugely grateful to the Halsgrove team for the work they do - from helping me to polish the initial concept, through to their fantastic design and editing, and getting the book to the printers. Then their marketing, publicity, sales and distribution team swings into action and when you realise the extent of that, on a national - and international - level, this is when you truly appreciate having the help of a publisher. The enthusiasm from the Halsgrove team for this project is incredibly encouraging and heartening and I can't wait to get this book out there.

In Wild Herd Whispering , the amazing Exmoor ponies have the opportunity to reveal insights into how they think and feel - through a series of interwoven real-life stories and my aim with this book is to help give them - and ponies generally - a voice. They've shaped this book with their adventures, actions and responses - and I feel like their messenger.

I had always envisaged Wild Herd Whispering as completing this trilogy and it's been the most involved to write - this book has literally been burning inside me. The charismatic characters from my first two books, Monsieur Chapeau and stallion Bear, find their lives entwined and evolving alongside the free-living herds of Exmoor National Park. Once again, it's an emotional roller-coaster as we share their experiences and get to understand them better.

The equestrian world is changing - for the better - with more and more people laying aside their whips, restrictive, painful tack and punishment-based training methods - and taking a long, hard look at the way they interact with horses and ponies. It takes a degree of courage and management of ego for an experienced horse person to say, 'Hold on, I can do this better.' And when you start listening to the animals themselves, you realise that sometimes, they are treated more like captives who are there simply to do our bidding - with all kinds of equipment designed to enforce that will. But there's more - much more - in the relationships we can build with horses and ponies, if we start asking rather than telling, and give them a chance to express how they feel. Walking through that door is not easy because for some, it's easier to issue orders than it is to achieve a willing partnership. But striving for willing partnership brings a whole new level of satisfaction and fulfilment - to horses and ponies and people. It's a good road to be on and many people are choosing to travel that way.

Five years ago was not the time to write Wild Herd Whispering . However, with the growing popularity of open pasture/shelter systems; equines allowed to live in sociable groups and herds; more people choosing bitless and barefoot; the laying aside of whips and violent handling; the walking away from punishment-based training methods; and the emergence of trust-based liberty activities - now Wild Herd Whispering has its place and perhaps the collective voice of these Exmoor ponies will be heard and listened to. We'll see.

So here it is - Wild Herd Whispering . I hope you enjoy it.