Horses for Dummies Description:

Horses for Dummies review:
4 stars (Horses for Dummies) - This is a great book. I liked the content and was able to get good advice on riding and taking care of my horse. It had been some time since I had ridden a horse and the review was very good for me. This book is great for beginners or advanced riders.
4 stars (BACK IN THE SADDLE...FOR THE FIRST TIME!) - HORSES FOR DUMMIES does an excellent job of introducing the horse lover to the ins and outs of horses and horse ownership. The book paints a fairly accurate picture of all that is involved in getting started, covering the gamut of gadgets and tack necessary, a variety of veterinary issues, housing, feeding, training...you name it. A good, sound preliminary overview.



The one drawback to the book is that the authors go way overboard with trying to help the reader assess whether horse ownership is a realistic option. It seemed to me that they had perhaps seen some severe situations where people bought horses that really shouldn't have and they then vented their frustrations into this book. As a result they, in some cases, use a sledgehammer to swat the horse fly when a fly swatter would suffice. If taken too literally the book would be titled YOU DON'T REALLY WANT TO HAVE HORSES, DO YOU? and drive everyone except diehard cowboys away from even considering owning horses. Yes, owning horses is a big responsibility but I have only heard of a few extremely rare cases where horses truly suffered as the result of unprepared owners.



However, I see this as a minor thing. Read the book for the great information that it imparts and don't let the stump speeches about whether you are ready to own a horse by the authors get in the way.



THE HORSEMAN
5 stars (Very Informative) - Having been around horses most of my life, but never owning one, this book was a great help! I purchased it along with "The Whole Horse Catalog." Both books were on the same "page", if you will, regarding very important aspects of owning a horse, such as feeding, shoeing, grooming, and most important, what to look for when purchasing a horse. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for answers to serious horse ownership questions.