Hi, I am looking into raising horses, and I know that it involves a lot of $ and time. I started a forum entitled, "I'm thinking about horses" please add to that if you can! Anyways, what horse books have you found helpful?
Horse Books
- Thread starter Bird_Lover_17
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**I already have both the raising horses and horse riding Dummies books
dbtcowgirl
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Crazy poultry lady is my side gig lol, I own and operate the largest full service equine facility between Denver and Salt Lake. Our farm has been running for over 40 years. I own, breed, raise, train and sell hundreds of horses annually. My very best advice is to get hands on experience, find someone trustworthy and reputable to work with. Starting out offer to feed and clean stalls. Learn to groom and saddle. Take lessons, consider a lease or offer to work horses. Invest the time to learn and your foundation will develop. I have a great internship program here that teaches people a lot. Books are great, I like the Western Horsemans, but nothing beats hands on experience. If you have any questions hit me up, I'm not much when it comes to chickens, but I know my horses.
You can't go wrong with USPC (United States Pony Club) Manuals. They are great for basic, safe horsemanship. 
dbtcowgirl
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Awesome Club! Great advice!You can't go wrong with USPC (United States Pony Club) Manuals. They are great for basic, safe horsemanship.
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Ok... so I didn't realize that I had 3 horse books- I thought I only had 2. They are from my first horse craze when I was 9 lol.
I found the Complete Horse Care Manual to be helpful, it has information on horse care, feeding, health issues, tack, buying a horse, and lots more.
The Encyclopedia Of Horses & Ponies is also great, a lot of breeds in there.
The Encyclopedia Of Horses & Ponies is also great, a lot of breeds in there.
Hands on experience is the best teacher. See if your area has any clinics nearby that might be geared towards people like yourself. Go to local horse shows (when they restart) of varying disciplines and see what sparks your interest - keep an open mind. Also a good way to meet people and observe how they teach, and of course how their 'product' - their students - seem to enjoy their barn, and of course how the horses are tended to. How do they interact, how are the people working for the trainer treated, from the assistant all the way down to the stall cleaner... are things well managed, running on time, how do they treat their fellow trainers?
There are low stress gigs out there - somewhere around me is a barn that has a weekly thing for low key riders of varying experiences just wanting to be around horses. Visit lots of barns, see their physical barns, their turnout facilities - go in all kinds of weather and see what problems they might have with mud, runoff, snow melt, wind ... shade ... fencing ... and so on, if you're considering having horses on your property. Doing the work of feeding, cleaning, watering, grooming will let you know how you feel about all of it. And for some of us, how much work will our physical selves manage if we plan to do it all. In EVERY season, convenient or not. These things will help you decide how to move forward.
I realize none of these things address books to read - but are no/low cost ways to explore your interest. And ... don't forget the fun of budgeting - because (said with great affection) - board and or feeding/bedding/cleaning is like having a high car payment that never ends, requires expensive manicures every 8 weeks, 2 doctor visits for checkups a year - and at any moment can turn into a giant vet bill. Again, said with great affection.
There are low stress gigs out there - somewhere around me is a barn that has a weekly thing for low key riders of varying experiences just wanting to be around horses. Visit lots of barns, see their physical barns, their turnout facilities - go in all kinds of weather and see what problems they might have with mud, runoff, snow melt, wind ... shade ... fencing ... and so on, if you're considering having horses on your property. Doing the work of feeding, cleaning, watering, grooming will let you know how you feel about all of it. And for some of us, how much work will our physical selves manage if we plan to do it all. In EVERY season, convenient or not. These things will help you decide how to move forward.
I realize none of these things address books to read - but are no/low cost ways to explore your interest. And ... don't forget the fun of budgeting - because (said with great affection) - board and or feeding/bedding/cleaning is like having a high car payment that never ends, requires expensive manicures every 8 weeks, 2 doctor visits for checkups a year - and at any moment can turn into a giant vet bill. Again, said with great affection.
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Second all the great advice above. Please do a lot of research before buying a horse. Books are great, but hands-on experience is a real necessity. I can't stress this enough.
We all know people who went out and got chickens or other small animals before having hands-on experience, and often they experienced a lot of failure at first (like dead animals) before modifying their chicken-keeping, with a lot of heartache and expense, to re-make a healthy and safe environment for their animals.
With horses, multiply this 100 times. They are 100 times more expensive to keep, 100 times more work, 100 times more fragile in terms of susceptibility to injury or health problems, 100 times more heartache if something happens to them.
I don't mean to sound like a jerk, and I definitely want to encourage you to have horses! Just spend at least a year getting hands-on experience before you get them. Look up barns in your area - pretty much every barn likes to have people who will do work in exchange for riding. Work at a variety of different barns, too. You will learn so much - and there is so much to learn.
Definitely read the Pony Club Manuals, and compare their quality of horse care to the barn you are working at. You will be able to make educated judgements about what is right or wrong about caring for horses, what shortcuts are OK to take, and what are not.
I wish you lots of luck in your horse journey!
We all know people who went out and got chickens or other small animals before having hands-on experience, and often they experienced a lot of failure at first (like dead animals) before modifying their chicken-keeping, with a lot of heartache and expense, to re-make a healthy and safe environment for their animals.
With horses, multiply this 100 times. They are 100 times more expensive to keep, 100 times more work, 100 times more fragile in terms of susceptibility to injury or health problems, 100 times more heartache if something happens to them.
I don't mean to sound like a jerk, and I definitely want to encourage you to have horses! Just spend at least a year getting hands-on experience before you get them. Look up barns in your area - pretty much every barn likes to have people who will do work in exchange for riding. Work at a variety of different barns, too. You will learn so much - and there is so much to learn.
Definitely read the Pony Club Manuals, and compare their quality of horse care to the barn you are working at. You will be able to make educated judgements about what is right or wrong about caring for horses, what shortcuts are OK to take, and what are not.
I wish you lots of luck in your horse journey!
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