Horses: their breeding, care, and training

by Heather Smith Thomas

559 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Heather Smith Thomas grew up on a ranch near Salmon, Idaho. She is the author of 20 books and thousands of articles on animal health care. She began writing stories for children’s magazines while still in high school and wrote articles for horse and farm publications to help pay her way through college. She wrote her first book, "A Horse in Your Life: A Guide for the New Owner," during the summer between her sophomore and junior year of college. She and her husband Lynn Thomas have been raising beef cattle and a few horses on their ranch in central Idaho since 1967. Most of her books and articles deal with horse or cattle health care, breeding, or handling. Her goal has been to learn all she can about the care of horses and cattle, and to share this with her readers. One of her books, however, discusses an entirely different subject. "Beyond the Flames" tells about her daughter’s severe burn injury and how this changed their lives.

Reviews

[Dark-Draco · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I feel in the mood to pick up a book like this, I have to admit to not reading every single word. So many 'how-to-look-after-horses' type books tend to fall into two categories - those for the complete beginner who hasn't a clue (which are rather too basic for someone who has had horses since they were 10!) or veterinary manuals (which are too boring or incomprehensible to read). But the author of this book admits this happens and states that she is attempting to write something in between, for the experience horse owner who just wants a bit of a brush up on their knowledge base - and this book certainly fulfils that wish.

From the first paragraph, I was hooked on the author's style. Simple, easy to read and full of her own anecdotes to illustrate different points. There was added interest for me in being based on the American style of keeping horses (the author apologises for her 'small' farm of 200 odd acres!), and for being written back in the 1970's. There were a couple of chapters I skipped through a bit as they were a bit too in depth on stuff I know, but most of it I read as set out. The illustrations made me smile, as they weren't always the best, and the photos were fascinating images of the author's ranch.

Overall, a good read that I'm glad I took the time to try.