Trauma, trust and responsibility between living beings.
«Some wounds can't be seen. But they change everything.»
«Every horse has a story. Every mistake, a weight.» Yet all it takes is to stop, to truly look, and everything that was invisible reveals itself.
The Weight of the Saddle was born along a path made of mistakes, encounters and postponed choices: from watching horses that carry in their minds the mark of human decisions never questioned. A project that tries to look trauma in the eye and to give responsibility back to those who choose.
«At a certain point it became clear that, before being a documentary, this project had to become a book.»
A journey through science, ethology and real stories that questions a deep-rooted belief: that obedience is collaboration, and that silence is consent.
The nature we forget. Reading the horse for what it is: a prey animal, not an opponent to be broken.
How fear is born. The body remembers what the mind can no longer explain.
The wounded mind: how trauma is built when we impose, and the phases through which it heals.
Freedom and responsibility. From Libet's experiment to a being that cannot choose.
The levels of silent dialogue. Listening to what is not said in words.
Loving isn't enough. When love takes the place of listening, every gesture carries a weight.
Swipe through each story's slides, or tap them to view full screen.
«He wasn't saying "I don't want to". He was saying "I can't".»
«A single mistake, at the start, can last forever.»
«Loving isn't enough: you have to stay on his side, always.»
«A horse that has been broken is not a horse that has understood. It's a horse that has stopped resisting.»
Beyond the stories and the science, the book offers a model of the phases of change, inspired by the work of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: a map of what happens, inside us, when a great change comes.
The Weight of the Saddle goes where few look: into the way the human mind decides. Neuroscience, psychology and the philosophy of choice, from Libet's experiment onward, reveal an uncomfortable truth: many of our actions arise before thought, and consciousness comes afterward, looking for an explanation.
We believe we are deciding. Often we are justifying what we have already done.
Freedom is not so much acting as the ability to stop in time.
Choosing for those who cannot choose demands the courage to doubt oneself.
«We think we choose, but the body has already decided. The mind arrives afterward, looking for an explanation.»
Why does he sometimes seem «good», yet inside he is switched off?
Why does a horse stop reacting?
What are we really asking of a horse?
«A horse responds to what we are, not to what we say we are.»
The illustrations of The Weight of the Saddle bear the signature of Fosca Mastrandrea, a naturalistic illustrator. With her line she has portrayed the key moments of the story: the glances, the gestures, the silences that words can only suggest. A special thanks to her: her images don't decorate the book, they run through it.
Illustrations © Fosca Mastrandrea
When human error becomes the horse's trauma.
What stays invisible: the fear that arises when we don't listen.
One moment at a time, at the price of the mistake made.
Giving back dignity and a life free of fear.
To truly love means asking yourself, every time: am I acting for his well-being, or for mine?
An independent documentary, created with passion by Alberto Alessi. «Those who cannot choose pay the price of our decisions.»
Buying the book means taking part in a project: every copy contributes directly and concretely to the making of the documentary, protecting its time, its respect and its narrative independence.
It supports the development phases of the documentary, with no sponsors and no narrative compromises.
It gives the reader the tools to truly understand what they will later see.
People who are not passive spectators, but an active part of the process.
A multifaceted figure: he works in Information Technology and cybersecurity and, alongside technology, cultivates a deep interest in how the human and animal mind works and in the mechanisms that drive behaviour, relationships and decisions. The Weight of the Saddle was born from this meeting of complex systems and empathy.
ContactsBefore The Weight of the Saddle, Alberto Alessi built a path made of research, outreach and events. Some milestones:
A path shared with Marco Pagliai since 2014 and constantly growing.
Promoter and among the organisers of Horse WESP (2024) and Horse XP (2025), "Experience for Wellness", a non-profit conference that funds research and outreach.
«Stories and tools to see the uncomfortable reality». Co-author, with Marco Pagliai (2022).
Formats and podcasts on the human-horse relationship, such as Scienza in scuderia and Horse Training Analysis, L'illusione del cavallo podcast.
A documentary about Ethiopia made with the team of Prof. Elisabetta Palagi, Department of Biology at the Università di Pisa.
Years of events to bring these themes beyond specialist circles.
A multidisciplinary approach that joins training techniques with scientific knowledge, ethology, learning and neuroscience, placing the horse's mental well-being at the centre. Over the years it has always been active in research, training and field events to share its principles.
It grew out of the path shared by Alberto Alessi and Marco Pagliai, a trainer specialised in the rehabilitation of horses with complex issues. It is at their centre that the stories in this book found a listening ear, and a second chance.
«To bring innovation, understanding and consideration of the horse into the equestrian world, so that horses can gain the greatest benefit from it.»
The mission of Addestramento Etologico®The book is the first visible step of a wider path. From here the documentary comes to life, and you'll be able to follow its making step by step: the progress of the work, the backstage, the narrative choices and the encounters with experts and protagonists.
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An independent documentary also grows thanks to those who share their skills, technology and equipment. Thank you to everyone supporting us on the technical side.
The Weight of the Saddle exists thanks to the people who, in different ways, shared their time, experience and presence with me.
I thank Marco Pagliai, with whom I walked for years through observation, discussion and field work, sharing questions, doubts and moments of personal growth.
I thank Roberta Di Re, Beatrice Depasquale, Flaminia Bologna and Nadine De Francesco for sharing their stories and their lives with horses, agreeing to tell even the hardest parts.
I thank the professionals and researchers who over time answered my questions and helped broaden the view and the understanding.
I thank Alice Galotti, researcher and biologist, for her careful review of this book and for the valuable insights that made such a complex world clearer to the reader.
I thank Fosca Mastrandrea, natural history illustrator, for masterfully turning the key points of the book into images.
I thank my wife Laura, for her constant presence, support and patience in sharing every stage of this journey, even when it existed only as a blurred idea.
And I thank you. For your time and for supporting the documentary project. Thank you for being willing to explore our relationship with other living beings from a different point of view. In the end, we are more alike than we think.
Alberto Alessi
