Random House Harmony Books
To Publish Joe Camp's The Soul of a Horse
April 29, 2008

Joe Camp's New Book is a Love Story to His Horses - A Journey of Discovery
About How Accepted Traditional Horse Care Has Disabled the Domestic Horse's Genetic Ability to Keep Himself Healthy and Happy

Valley Center, CA - The Harmony Books imprint of Random House, the country's largest publisher, has purchased the rights to Joe Camp's new book, The Soul of a Horse. Shaye Areheart, publisher of Harmony Books and the Shaye Areheart imprint of the Crown Group at Random House said after reading Camp's book, "I will never look at horses the same way again. It's a wonderfully personal and emotional book. We're very excited to have the worldwide rights."

Joe Camp showed us the heart and soul of a dog when he created Benji. Now, in this engaging, emotional, and often humorous story, he deftly lures us into the heart and soul of a horse, unlocking the mystery of a majestic creature who has survived on earth, without assistance , for fifty-five million years.

Camp is writer, director, and producer of all the Benji movies and television programs, including Benji Off the Leash , released in 2004. Camp has also written three published novels, several children's books, and the inspirational non-fiction book Benji & Me about his struggles against the system to get the original Benji movie off the ground.

When asked about the switch from dogs to horses, Camp said, " We've only had horses for a couple of years, and in the beginning, we were just trying to learn how to take care of them. We were asking a lot of questions, but getting a lot of answers that didn't seem to make any sense. At one point my wife Kathleen said, 'This is either truly amazing or we're certifiably nuts,' because, what we were finding was that virtually nobody was doing what was best for the horse. That's when it became what I call our astonishing journey of discovery, and I started keeping a journal. We call it Marley & Me with a message.

"For example, we had no idea that horses living in the wild, on average, live twice as long as their domestic counterpart. And we haven't found many others who know that either. Or that the domestic horse has no business wearing metal horseshoes, or being cooped up in a tiny stall, or wearing blankets, or eating from a trough at table-height, all of which are damaging his health and are slowly killing him.

"We were told it was impossible to truly have a relationship with a horse, but we discovered that simply isn't true. You can, and it doesn't come from domination. It comes by giving the horse the choice of whether to be with you or not, the choice to make you, in effect, a herd member, and a leader. And once that happens, everything changes. And we also discovered that the lessons these horses have taught us are fantastic lessons for life among humans as well.

"We have taken this majestic animal who has survived on our planet for more than fifty million years, fully capable of keeping himself in the best of health and condition, and stripped him of his genetic ability to do so."

The Camps like to think of The Soul of a Horse as a love story to their horses. They have seven, all living pretty close to how nature intended them to live.

Monty Roberts, renowned horse trainer and author of the New York Times Bestseller The Man Who Listens to Horses, said, "Imagine how inadequate it makes me feel to realize how recently Joe came into horses. The man is a natural when it comes to understanding how animals tick and a genius at telling us their story. The Soul of a Horse is a must read for those who love animals of any species."

Ms. Areheart said, "The parallel journeys of a fabled herd in the wild and two people thrust into the enigmatic world of horses are charmingly blended into a riveting journey of discovery. Join Joe and Kathleen as they navigate the unexpected, uncharted, often politically incorrect territory and Joe discovers that the powerful lessons they have learned from horses are equally relevant when dealing with human beings."

"We couldn't be happier to be working with Harmony Books at Random House," Camp said. "And we're very excited about working with Ms Areheart. When she believes in a book, stand out of her way. Nobody works harder."

The publishing date is April 29, 2008.

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