Book Report 4 - Animals in Translation

Here's another of the books that had an impact on how we think about our animals - especially our horses. It's "Animals in Translation" by Temple Grandin.

She's a professor at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. She's also functionally autistic. The subtitle of the book is "Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior."

Over time she discovered that people with autism can often think the way animals think and see the way animals see.

She has used these learnings in her work with various animal enterprises that 'process' animals so that the work is done in the most humane way possible.

The two key things that I took away from this book that changed my relationship with my horse are: (1) People are verbal and animals are visual. That sounds obvious, but her descriptions and experiences make that statement a profound one in our understanding of animals. (2) People see "the big picture" and animals see details. We tend to take in details and our brain functions correlate them into a generalized view of what we're seeing. In so doing, we often 'miss' details as they are merged together. Animals, on the other hand, see only details and their brain functions cause them to focus on each detail as each detail may be a matter of life or death. A butterfly which to us is a part of a beautiful scenery as we ride is a sudden movement to my horse who may be convinced it is a sudden attack.

The book is an easy read even though she is repetitive in places. It was also a fascinating read with some learnings if you can apply what she says to your experiences.

Today is August 6 and if today is your Birthday then you share your day with: Jon Benet Ramsey (child murdered in Colorado), Geri Estelle Halliwell (Ginger Spice in "The Spice Girls" singing group), M. Night Shyamalan (director - "The Sixth Sense"), David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs center - former Navy academy graduate), Michelle Yeoh (actress - "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), Andy Warhol (pop artist - "15 minutes of fame"), Robert Mitchum (actor - "GI Joe"), Lucille Ball (comedian - "I Love Lucy"), Clara Bow (silent movie actress - "Wings"), Hoot Gibson (cowboy actor), and Alfred Lloyd Tennyson (English poet laureate).