Breeding * Care * Facilities

This book is the one-stop shop for horse management information. It covers feeding, fencing, pasture, first aid, barns, handling (adults and foals), genetics, basic medical care, and all sorts of details about breeding.

This is not light reading, but that is due to the sheer amount of information it imparts, and not poor writing. It’s filled with useful diagrams and tables summarizing important information. This is a book I’m going to need to read more than once. And revisit chapters often to refresh my memory. No book is a substitute for hands-on experience, but this one comes close.

This is an excellent book even if you never plan to run a business with horses. It’s a useful reference guide for anyone who owns horses. Even if you board it’s best to know this information so you can safeguard your horse’s wellbeing. Trust me, I’ve been in some unpleasant boarding situations (moldy hay, maggots in the uncleaned feed bin, underfeeding, etc) know your stuff so you can make sure your horse is being cared for properly. There are a wealth of smaller insights shared by the author that are weaved into the text.

The book is broken into three parts: Basic Horsekeeping, Heath Care, and Breeding Horses. In addition to the horse keeping facts you might expect, the Horse Keeping section discusses some training/handling issues, fencing, barns, as well as feed and feed storage. The heath care section is about what you’d expect and quite detailed considering this book has more to it than health. The final section, Breeding Horses, goes through topics like stallion handling and training, teasing mares, types of breeding, safety, pregnancy considerations and risks, genetics, conformation, foal handling, and more. This book packs in a LOT of information. There is also a detailed glossary and index as well as an Appendix of useful organizations and resources.

Final conclusion: I highly recommend this book as reference material. Doubtless, it’ll have things you didn’t know in it. And may give you new ideas for your business to keep it running smoothly.