The current move away from the extensive use of agricultural chemicals and the employment of more traditional methods of farming means that the number of different plant species is on the increase. Along with the nutritional benefits that this brings, there is also a risk that many potentially poisonous species of wild plants may return in greater number, together with those which, although not outright poisons in themselves, may be toxic to some degree. Most horse owners are aware of and can identify plants which are the most common cause of poisoning such as ragwort, yew, laburnum and bracken, but other dangerous species such as cowbane or hemlock are not usually referred to except in specialist literature. This book lists over 50 plants which are commonly regarded as being poisonous in their own right. An illustration and profile of each is given, together with its prevalence, poisonous principle and symptoms.

In this book, Jutta Wiemers describes 100 'smart' games through which you can achieve a perfect partnership with your horse. The games are progressive and range from simple leading and lungeing, through to circus tricks (curtseying, kneeling, lying down or sitting on command, Spanish walk, and even the Hungarian post). Along the way there are other fun-packed games involving balance, sure-footedness, agility and confidence building. All the proposed games are beneficial to the horse - they will keep his body healthy, while his mind is stimulated. The training suggested is sometimes ambitious but always playful, and performed entirely without pressure. Hundreds of illustrations (drawn by the author) clarify the sequence of training steps and detail the required body language of the trainer. Training your horse with these games will open a gate to your horse's soul and change your relationship with him forever. For his part, your horse will become self-confident, happy and very dependable.

In the 1950s - as tractors displaced the use of Highland ponies on our farms - the breed found a new purpose in pony trekking. In this book Heidi Sands captures the essence of Highland ponies, depicting the breed in their natural environment.

For the millions of girls--and the women they grow into--who are mad about horses, who live to ride, who spend more time in stables than stores, who know the difference between a hock and the fetlock, comes a sweet, charming, wise, obsessive celebration of the bond between woman and horse. Written and illustrated by Bonnie Timmons, the award-winning artist whose signature squiggly style was seen every week on NBC's hit show "Caroline in the City" and is featured in places ranging from "The New York Times" to "Fortune 500" advertising campaigns, "Hold Your Horses" is 144 full-color pages of irresistible pleasure and unexpected horse sense.
It starts with First Love, moving quickly to Lessons, including the gallop: a gait so fast your worries can't keep up, and jumping: just throw your heart over first, and, of course, falling-otherwise known as an unscheduled dismount. There are tips on Buying One of These Things, plus the truth about Care and Feeding. (The trick here is knowing how much your horse weighs. Easy, really: 1. Weigh yourself. 2. Weigh yourself holding the horse. 3. Subtract 1 from 2.) And Horsekeeping Truths: A horse knows what you know. He also knows what you don't know. Written out of a lifelong love, "Hold Your Horses" gets to the heart of the passion that horses inspire. Every horsewoman will see herself in its pages.

"Hickman's Farriery" was first published in 1977 and has since been completely revised and updated to bring it into line with the latest developments in this field. The new edition demonstrates how traditional skills can be combined with modern science to benefit the welfare, soundness and performance of the horse. The book begins with a short history of horseshoeing, tracing its origins to pre-Christian times. The authors then move on to explain the underlying structure of the horse's front and hind legs so that farriers can better understand the scientific principles of their craft. The tools used on the foot and at the anvil are described in detail, as are the various types of horseshoe that can be applied. The chapter on shoemaking includes numerous practical exercises, each one illustrated with specially taken step-by-step photographic principles of their craft. Further chapters examine the care of the feet in shod and unshod horses, including youngstock; methods of preventing slipping; and the use of pads. The final chapter looks at injuries caused by shoes and abnormalities of gait, the shoeing of defective feet and surgical shoes.

A New York Times Bestseller! From the racetrack to the battlefield dauntless, fearless, and exemplar of Semper Fi she was Reckless, "pride of the Marines." A Mongolian mare who was bred to be a racehorse, Ah-Chim-Hai, or Flame-of-the-Morning, belonged to a young boy named Kim-Huk-Moon. In order to pay for a prosthetic leg for his sister, Kim made the difficult decision to sell his beloved companion. Lieutenant Eric Pedersen purchased the bodacious mare and renamed her Reckless, for the Recoilless Rifles Platoon, Anti-Tank Division, of the 5th Marines she'd be joining. The four-legged equine braved minefields and hailing shrapnel to deliver ammunition to her division on the frontlines. In one day alone, performing fifty-one trips up and down treacherous terrain, covering a distance of over thirty-five miles, and rescuing wounded comrades-in-arms, Reckless demonstrated her steadfast devotion to the Marines who had become her herd. Despite only measuring about thirteen hands high, this pint-sized equine became an American hero. Reckless was awarded two Purple Hearts for her valor and was officially promoted to staff sergeant twice, a distinction never bestowed upon an animal before or since. Author Robin Hutton has reignited excitement about this nearly forgotten legend, realizing the Sgt. Reckless Memorial Monument at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, completed in July 2013, and now spurring the creation of a second memorial at Camp Pendleton, California, where Reckless lived out the rest of her days. The paperback edition includes a new foreword by General James F. Amos, 35th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. It will appeal to fans of Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit, Elizabeth Letts' The Eighty Dollar Champion, and the feature film War Horse.