Playing with Lukas

Book excerpt: Playing With Lukas is the extraordinary account of Karen Murdock and her horse Lukas. In 2002, when she purchased the nine-year-old chestnut gelding, a former Thoroughbred and now a sorely neglected yard animal, neither had any idea how both their lives were about to be transformed. Using her experience as a neglected child and a psychiatric nurse, employing the traits of patience, appreciation, kindness, compassion, and humor, she formed a deep bond with Lukas and trained him to perform many tricks. Today, he is listed by Yahoo and Google as the "World's Smartest Horse" and is considered one of the top liberty horses in the US. Karen and Lukas share their mission of providing happy futures for former Thoroughbreds. Pet owners and others will see that animals are intelligent and deserve humane treatment and "kind" training. The 83-page book is available for download as an e-book or as a paperback. Upcoming will be a training manual with details of Karen's special methods.