In Pursuit of Discovery

This is not a training manual. It is a journey into the unseen.

It has been 13 years since my last book. For more than a decade, the words of Herd Wired lived scattered across notebooks, loose pages, and case studies collected from wild herds and private evaluations around the world. With the encouragement of my wife, Daphne, who urged me not to let those observations and philosophies be lost to time, I began the daunting task of pulling it all together.

Now, I can finally share the result: Herd Wired: In Pursuit of Discovery.

This book is not just another release. It is my heart on paper. A legacy piece born from years of field notes, emotional reflections, and the constant search to understand the unseen world of the horse. It began as a question: How do I take this massive puzzle and shape it into something that makes sense? My answer was to blend colorful storytelling with a field companion style, creating something with depth, yet also room to pause and reflect along the trail.

The Journey of Making the Book

The process took 14 months of relentless effort. I dug through boxes of scribbled notes and old files, sorting fragments of thought, rediscovering moments in the field, and reliving the discoveries that slowly shaped my philosophy into theory and, eventually, into practical application. Each piece, each memory, became another stone in the trail.

Excerpt from the Introduction:

"This is not a training manual. This is a raw, honest, and deeply personal journey into the unseen—into the interior world of the horse and the intricate emotional maps that shape how they think, feel, and connect."

The Visuals: Capturing Nostalgia

But the words alone didn’t feel enough. I wanted Herd Wired to carry a sense of nostalgia, the kind of field companion you’d tuck under your arm and return to again and again. Together, Daphne and I decided to render many of the photos from my fieldwork into pencil sketches, giving the book a timeless and emotive feel.

These sketches are not simply illustrations of the text. They are vistas along the trail, pauses in the journey where you can look up, breathe, and take in the wider view.

Walking the Trail, Not Turning the Page

One thing you’ll notice when you open Herd Wired is that there are no “Chapters.” Instead, the book unfolds in Trail Markers.

That choice was intentional. This was never meant to be read like a traditional manual or textbook. It’s designed to feel like a journey with stops along the way, places to pause, reflect, and then continue when you’re ready. The images carry their own story, one that complements the words and deepens the thoughts shared.

The Trail Markers serve as waypoints, guiding you through the terrain of philosophy, field notes, and applied insight. They don’t just mark progress in the book, they mirror the way discovery happens in real life: one step, one realization, one trail marker at a time.

The People Who Made It Possible

This journey wasn’t mine alone. Daphne’s unwavering support and her “you need to do this” encouragement, paired with her creative direction, shaped not only the look but the spirit of the book. Juliet Murphy, our editor, carried the words forward with care and clarity—I absolutely needed her sharp eye to keep me on task and on target. And Amy Mellinger, our booking agent, with her business development and strategic guidance, is helping us position this work to reach the world through her boutique firm, Phoenix Strategic Consulting.

To each of them, and to every early supporter who believed in this project, I owe a deep debt of gratitude.

Excerpt from the Author’s Note:

"I didn’t write this book to change your mind or endear you to my way of thinking. My intention is to share what I’ve learned so far, an invitation for your curiosity to look a little deeper, by providing a lexicon of understanding for that which is felt but not always seen."

Why We Chose Our Own Path

One of the most important decisions we made was to launch this book under our own boutique imprint: Beyond The Hoof Bookworks. This step gave us the freedom to protect the integrity of the voice, the format, and the vision—while opening the door to future works, two of which are already in motion: my Connected Horse Series and The Caregiver’s Handbook: A Journey of Love, Pain and Compassion. Not to mention Daphne’s own children’s book projects.

Planting the Flag

For me, this isn’t just a book. It is a deeply personal journey, a record of lessons written across the landscape of my life. I never intended to write Herd Wired, but now I realize it had been writing itself throughout the years and it may just be the most important work I will ever put into the world.

In a way, I suppose you could say that I’m planting my flag; an effort to leave behind something others can find in front of them, to help deepen understanding. This is me saying: here it is, for whoever wishes to walk this trail with me, as we work together to bridge the gap between the natural herd dynamic and the domesticated world.

Excerpt from Trail Marker One:

"At the very core of the horse’s psyche is a wiring for mutual dependency, an invisible thread that binds the herd together… Before a horse is an athlete, a partner, or even a student, it is first and always a sentient being. A creature of feeling, not just motion."

An Invitation

If this journey speaks to you, I invite you to visit Beyond the Hoof Bookworks | Sensory Soundness where you can order a copy of Herd Wired—and, if you wish, request a signed edition.

Thank you for being part of this pursuit of discovery. My hope is that the trail we’ve walked to create this book enriches the one you’re walking now.

~ Kerry