{"product_id":"perfectly-themselves-horses-in-the-human-world","title":"Perfectly Themselves: Horses in the Human World","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eWhen Abby Letteri first encountered free-living horses,\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eshe realised that her whole life she’d been looking at horses without actually seeing them. Wild horses spend their lives building and maintaining social bonds, moving together in synchrony, their communication constant and subtle. In domestication, we isolate them – move them from paddock to stable to yard – separating them from their companions for our convenience, then find them fragile, anxious and difficult to handle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eAn immersive and transporting memoir, \u003ci\u003ePerfectly Themselves \u003c\/i\u003eoffers intimate portraits of horses living freely\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ein the company of their own kind, from Aotearoa to the Outer Hebrides, Iceland and Mongolia. Underpinning Letteri’s research is a question sparked by a 33,000-year-old carved horse that seems alive with vitality and ease: what did we once know about horses that we have forgotten?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003ePart travel narrative, part intellectual inquiry and part personal reckoning, \u003ci\u003ePerfectly Themselves \u003c\/i\u003echallenges long-held assumptions about human–horse relationships, inviting readers into a more compassionate way of seeing them – not as objects of human desire, but as beings perfect in \u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003ethemselves.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e'Endlessly illuminating and stunningly told, this book changes the way we see horses. With descriptive beauty and moral clarity, Abby Letteri sets out new ways of being alongside non-human lives. A profound work.’ —Damien Wilkins\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ms-outlook-mobile-reference-message skipProofing\"\u003e 'An extraordinary book—at once earthy and lyrical, deeply researched, and rich with personal experience. I couldn’t put it down!' —Rebecca Priestley\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ms-outlook-mobile-reference-message skipProofing\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003e‘The gift that Letteri shares in this book is the clear-eyed perspective of someone who has travelled far, studied deeply, and still retains her sense of wonder. A horse-mad girl who never lost her curiosity, never hardened into certainty, and who has created something that gently, but profoundly, has the power to change the world for horses.’ —Bonnie Mealand\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003e‘I am delighted by how Letteri combines the hardened world of science with her own exploration, creating a work that embodies the journey of discovering our horses, and ourselves, all over again.’ —Emily Kieson\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ms-outlook-mobile-reference-message skipProofing\"\u003e‘Perfectly Themselves is a gem. Abby Letteri weaves her own deeply personal journey of discovery to pose questions that matter greatly for equine welfare: who are horses, and what do they need to thrive? It’s this willingness to make herself a part of the study, honest, curious and never claiming more than she knows, that gives this book its special character. The result is a beautifully crafted personal narrative, deeply felt, that explores how we see horse and, in doing so, hopefully, challenges how we treat them.’ —Professor Natalie Waran, OBE\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ms-outlook-mobile-reference-message skipProofing\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ms-outlook-mobile-reference-message skipProofing\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbby Letteri\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of \u003cem\u003edown they forgot: a memoir\u003c\/em\u003e (2021) and her poetry, stories, reviews and essays have appeared in various publications in the United States and New Zealand, including \u003cem\u003eWhat She Wrote: An Anthology of Women’s Voices\u003c\/em\u003e (2020), \u003cem\u003eTurbine\u003c\/em\u003e | \u003cem\u003eKapohau \u003c\/em\u003eand the \u003cem\u003eAotearoa New Zealand Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e. She has written for \u003cem\u003eConcordia International Equestrian Magazine \u003c\/em\u003eand the British Horse Society. \u003cem\u003ePerfectly Themselves \u003c\/em\u003ewas completed as a PhD thesis at the International Institute of Modern Letters.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003eCover art: Julie Greig, \u003cem\u003eWaiting for the Sun, St Bathans \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Te Herenga Waka University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51887004713271,"sku":"9781776923236","price":50.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0928\/5048\/7607\/files\/9781776923236PerfectlyThemselves.jpg?v=1775456417","url":"https:\/\/teherengawakapress.co.nz\/products\/perfectly-themselves-horses-in-the-human-world","provider":"Te Herenga Waka University Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}