Horsewatching

As a zoologist and a lifelong student of animal behavior, Desmond Morris approaches the horse world in an unusual way, dealing with topics often ignored in equine literature. In addition to examining details of behavior, Dr Morris considers such questions as why horseshoes bring good luck, why we don’t eat horses, why jockeys are allowed to whip their mounts and why we call a bad dream a nightmare. And for punters everywhere, he applies his zoological mind to the all-important question of why some horses run faster than others.

Desmond Morris, an accomplished artist, TV presenter, film maker and writer, was born in 1928. Educated at Birmingham and Oxford universities, he became the Curator of Mammals at London Zoo in 1959, a post he held for eight years. In 1967 he published The Naked Ape which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and has changed the way we view our own species forever. Morris's books have been published in over thirty-six countries.