Anyone have a favorite book on horse care? I’m hoping to find a one stop shop with information on corner cases, like routines in a stable, how to tell if a horse is sick, what to do if they get loose without a bridle, how to train an old wild horse, how to train a young horse, what to do with bad tempered horses... all that stuff.
https://www.thesprucepets.com/training-your-horse-1886992 https://www.thesprucepets.com/horse-behavior-and-training-4162066 https://www.thesprucepets.com/keeping-your-horses-safe-indoors-1886926 https://equusmagazine.com/management/what-to-do-when-your-horse-gets-loose-8634 http://www.cowgirldiary.com/training-older-horses https://eclectic-horseman.com/signs-of-sickness-how-to-read-your-horses-behavior/ https://www.horse.com/content/health/signs-of-horse-illness/ I know that it isn't a book, but hey I did my best under the circumstances. Have fun writing about Equus ferus caballus.
Horses for Dummies seems to cover the basics. For the more specific questions, the Web might be your best bet, or even better, knowledgable horse people; there are a few right here. There are probably as many different answers to your questions as there are horse-people, though.
This covers the basics: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Horse-Manual-Colin-Vogel/dp/0756671604 Got it as a Christmas gift a few years back. Didn't teach me a whole lot of new things, but there's useful stuff in there. Although, if you're interested in training horses, you'd be looking for more advanced stuff. I've been around horses all my life and still don't know how to train a young horse.
I have a favourite book on the care of horfef but I suspect things have changed in the 25o years since it was published... The cure for colic, for example, involves taking a live cat, cleaving it down the chine, and applying it as a poultice. I think my horsey friends would frown at such behaviour. They are nearly as fond of their cats as they are their horses.
There are as many schools of thought about horse care/behaviour/training as there are about ways to write fiction, and the proponents of the various camps are just as combative about insisting their way is the Right Way. So... read up, for sure, but beware! The more detail you give, the more likely there will be horse-people who object to whatever you say.
TEMPLATE I pursued my regular routine in the stable and I could tell the horse was sick, he was all sweaty and loose without his bridle. That old wild horse who would be difficult to train, even more difficult than the training of my young horse in the paddock alongside, and such a bad tempered horse that Anthony. Spend a morning on the internet, sprinkle two or three 'facts.' Nobody will ever notice. A month later add another 'fact' and gradually self-belief will build and build until you have 'spent a lifetime' with horses. Easy.
Horse books, I have a whole shelf of them. Here are a couple suggestions: John Lyons' Bringing up Baby Simple exercises for training a young or unhandled horse. Short with a lot of pictures. A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color by Mark Rashid A hilarious book about retraining problem horses. Also includes some horse care and things not to do. My copy is falling apart. The Book of Horses and Horse Care by Judith Draper A straight forward book with a lot of info about horse care and the different breeds and colors. Trail Riding By Rhonda Hart Poe Covers everything you need to know about horses not going around in circles in a ring. It has training, health care, what to pack, poisonous plants, etc.
