Storey's Guide to Raising Horses, 3rd Edition: Breeding, Care, Facilities

by Heather Smith Thomas

[annieb123]

Posted to my blog on release day: Nonstop Reader.

Storey's Guide to Raising Horses is the third edition of the encyclopedic horse guide. Due out 2nd Feb 2021 from Storey, it's 448 pages and will be available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats.

The first edition of this book is one of the very first books (along with several other Storey's guides) I bought when we were still in the 'dreaming and planning' phase of our smallholding. It's still the first book I recommend to people who are interested in horses.

I think it's vitally important (especially when caring for or interacting with other living creatures) to do the very best we can to give them the highest quality life possible. This is a well written, understandable and accessible reference guide which covers pretty much everything to do with horses in a no-nonsense and scientifically sound manner.

A lot of the information may seem basic to people who have grown up with horses, but for people learning from scratch the information is well explained and built up logically in an understandable way. The first section covers all the basics: facilities, feeding, seasonal care, foot care, and handling.

The healthcare section expands on the basics and gives a very good, factual overview over keeping and maintaining healthy stock and covers everyday problems such as infectious and non-infectious disease, toxic plants, gut health (and what to do when your horse insists on being an idiot and eating something that isn't good for him), first aid, skin health and much much more.

The third section is much more advanced and will not have relevance for every reader - but it gives a good overview over what to expect and look for with breeding stock, selection, genetics, keeping a stallion, breeding, foaling, care of foals and young horses.

Like all the Storey's Guides it also includes a number of excellent appendices including a good basic anatomy guide, glossary, and cross referenced index.

With a brief comparison between this new 3rd edition and my 1st edition, I can say the new one is much more colorful and much better illustrated. There seems to be some new content as well. There's enough of an update that I'm seriously considering upgrading my copy of the 1st edition.

Five stars. Solid info for the smallholder or horse-keeper.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.