Maeve Birch Home

Welcome to the author website of Maeve Birch, horse listener and avid accomplice in spreading the word about horse-led ways of being with horses.

When I started this journey several years ago, I had no idea that I would be writing a book or contributing in any meaningful way to the horse world. Horses crept into my life around a full time job and pre-existing hobbies. They slowly consumed all my spare time, as horses are known to do for those who fall in love with these majestic creatures. I was fortunate enough to start my horse obsession in adulthood. Had I fallen into the equestrian world as a child I might have been directed into a completely different relationship with horses. Only recently has mainstream horse training become less about telling the horse its job and more focused on listening to what a horse has to say about things.

Trainers are beginning to use positive reinforcement, take note of horse facial expressions as stress indicators, and use holistic therapies to bring horses back to themselves physically, mentally and emotionally after a traumatic event. As humans embrace mental health therapy and trauma healing in their own lives, they naturally become curious about how other beings experience trauma. How does a horse recover from an accident? What does it mean to a horse when they lose a herd member? Why does a horse become shut down or defensive? What does that look like? Can a horse’s day to day environment and interactions with humans influence their mental health?

In the past decade many people in the horse world have begun to listen more intently to horses. Listening closely to the horse changes everything. People change their whole careers after discovering how horses respond to a human genuinely trying to understand their point of view, needs and wants, and allowing them a voice in the conversation. A current of change is crackling and humming at the edges of the equestrian world. This book is part of that movement.

I am not a horse trainer. I humbly offer my own perspective after observing domestic horses, listening to their voices, and allowing horse opinions into my interactions with various herd members. I have grown as a result of my experiences. In my first book I hope you will join me on a journey to the boundary where human and equine meet. Come, and stand in a field with horses.

Coming soon to Amazon Kindle and SmashWords:
Standing in a Field With Horses by Maeve Birch