Learning to Care for a Horse

Beginning Pet Care with American Humane

by Felicia Lowenstein

Lots of people like horses. If you have decided that a horse is the right pet for you and your family, then this is the book for you. Learn about different types of horses. Read about where to get a horse, what to have before you bring your new pet home, and more! American Humane helps you chose a pet horse.

48 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2010

Reviews

[Pasta Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read that explains some of the important aspects of horse ownership in a way young readers can understand. It had some good information in it, and covered important topics. The pages that explain how much money horses cost could have been seen as discouraging, but it really shows how much of a commitment horses are. How high-cost they are NEEDS to be explained, and the way they explained it will make people take it seriously. I also appreciate the explanation of how important proper boots and a helmet are. I’ve even read books that say helmets are “silly”, especially when referring to western riding. However, in this book, there is no if’s, ands, or buts about helmets. It says you should always wear one, which is 100% true, no matter what you’re doing.
That being said, there were some small details that put me off a bit. A “body brush” was described as having stiff bristles. Body brushes are actually quite soft. They’re often referred to as “soft brushes”. I don’t really understand how a random fact like this could be twisted around wrong. The book would have been fine without this information, but they added wrong information instead of leaving it out.
There was also a small grammatical error. “You horse” was used in a sentence under a picture. It didn’t put me off too much, it happens, but it seems a bit silly that it slipped past the editors.
Overall, though, I did enjoy this book. It had good information, and is a good FIRST read for horses. Of course, people will need to read a lot more than this to actually be ready to care for a horse, but it outlines the general care and keeping of horses quite well.

[Robyn Reece · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twin Text: Horses
Learning to Care for a Horse by Felicia Lowenstein Niven.

1. A Cowgirl and Her Horse, by Jean Ekman Adams, 2011.

2. Year after year, horses prove to be a popular theme with my students. Elementary students, consistently request “horse books”, We needed to update our children’s nonfiction so I spent a good amount of time looking for great nonfiction selections to purchase. Growing up on a ranch, I know a thing or two about horses, so I was very selective in which book I picked to order. For the nonfiction text, I have long been a fan of the Clarence and Smokey series by Adams. Those were the only books I could read to my little cowboys over and over and over. This one has the same adorable, bright illustrations and features Fern, Clarence’s sister. She shares about the responsibilities involved with horse ownership. Learning to Care for a Horse discusses the aspects of ownership (similar to what Fern experienced) using real life pictures and a load of information about caring for a horse. While the idea of owning a horse can be a romantic one, this nonfiction selection will help students gain wider perspective about the reality of ownership.

3. Text structure in this book is includes a descriptions, centered heading in red on each page, with a full page text description. The print is not overwhelming and is easy to read. It also contains colorful, real horse pictures, with captions, text boxes that contain additional information, and blue “fast facts” inserts. There is a problem and solution sections, as well as a very thorough glossary, index and additional references. Strategy applications used would be webbing, to help students compare the two texts (horse care, supplies, responsibilities, food). Younger students (K-2) would web as a large group before reading the books. Older students (3-6) would work in pairs and small groups. I would also activate prior knowledge to see what information my students already have about horses. If they happen to know a lot, then we could focus on specific kinds of horses that they may be interested and study those in greater depth and details. The RAN strategy would be great because it would showcase new learning, especially with those students who did have prior knowledge about horses, and what they were able to add as a result of the texts.


4. (2011, Spring). Hornbook. http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=9...