This informative guide focuses on the day-to-day interaction between owners and their horses, and covers various topics of basic husbandry, such as handling, grooming, housing, and stable vices. Understanding Basic Horse Care also discusses in detail the major body systems, ailments, and diseases that affect them, as well as treatment options.

HANDLING AND UNDERSTANDING THE HORSE sets out to cover all the things you need to know about horse care. This vital guide will help you avoid needless cost, anxiety and heartache by teaching you how to form a relationship with your horse based on trust and harmony.

This covers the basics of hoof care and horseshoeing. Topics range from simple cleaning to trimming and shoeing the foot to dealing with hoof injuries and complex lameness problems. It also described how to achieve healthy hooves through proper nutrition, conscientious care, and proper used of the horse.

A good personality is the single most desirable quality in a horse, yet it is much harder to assess than conformation or gait. Describing the four basic equine personality types — social, fearful, aloof, and challenging — and their various combinations, Yvonne Barteau shows you how to recognize distinct behavior patterns that can indicate any horse’s personality. Stressing the importance of compatibility between rider and horse, Barteau helps you achieve equestrian success through finding a horse whose personality best matches your individual riding style.

It is no secret that speed, stamina, jumping ability, and athletic prowess depend on the horse’s physical ability to perform. However, the world has seen many ‘great’ athletic bodies, human and horse, fail to reach their true potential, while others, perhaps thought to be less great in form and function, reach the pinnacle of their sport or discipline. In the world of human athletes, we might claim hard work, ‘grit’, or ‘heart’ as the force greater than muscle that propels them to the top. But the horse doesn’t have performance goals in the way we do, so what is it that motivates one racehorse to leave the rest of the field behind to cross the finish line first?In these pages, Kerry explains how it is possible - initially by using an Emotional Conformation Profile - to determine if a horse has what it takes inside him to make what he has on the outside great. Can your racing prospect handle distance? Does your event horse have the ‘finish’ to clear that last enormous cross-country obstacle when his legs are tired? Is your horse capable of maintaining focus in the face of large crowds and multiple distractions? More importantly, he tells you how to develop specific training protocols towards given goals, thus enabling a horse to perform at his very best.

In this fascinating best seller, Cherry Hill explores the way horses think and how it affects their behavior. Explaining why certain smells and sounds appeal to your horse’s sensibility and what sets off his sudden movements, Hill stresses how recognizing the thought processes behind your horse’s actions can help you communicate effectively and develop a trusting relationship based on mutual respect.