Book Review: Big Book of Hidden Horses

Parents, you should buy this book for your kids, but be forewarned: YOU may not be able to put it down, even if you’re not as “horse crazy” as your child.

The trivia sections are like peanuts–you can’t open just one.

For instance, did you know that five U.S. Presidents have been injured while riding? They are Franklin Pierce in 1847, near Mexico City; U.S. Grant, during the Mexican War, while riding home from a party; Rutherford B. Hayes, at the Battle of Cedar Creek in 1864; Theodore Roosevelt, once in 1879, twice in 1883 and twice in 1885; and Ronald Reagan, after leaving office, at age 78.

Here’s one that’s great ammunition for cocktail parties (and kind of scary, when you think about it):? For 13 years a Thoroughbred gelding named First Flight was the world’s only known source of antitoxin for ALL known strains of botulism. He was retired in 1997 at age 28.

Did you know that contact lenses are available for horses? No, it’s not to keep vain horses from having to wear glasses, but to “bandage” eye injuries or apply topical medications.

Most of you probably know horses can’t vomit, but did you know they have 80 to 100 feet of intestines that are only secured in two places? That’s why they are more at risk of colic and twisted gut than other animals.

Quick, who are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Conquest (War), who rode a white horse; Famine on a black horse; Pestilence on a red horse; and Death on the infamous pale horse.

Some of the trivia is categorized, such as Breed Trivia, Donkey and Mule Trivia, Literary Trivia, Sporting and Racing Trivia and Movie Trivia, but fascinating information is also scattered among the myriad puzzles and quizzes.

This over-sized 160-page paperback can make many a rainy day pass quickly–and it will also make you and your child some kinda horse experts!

The Big Book of Horses by Deborah Eve Rubin is not new, but who cares? It’s a real find, and the information in it is as fresh as the day it was penned. Published in 2006 by Half Halt Press,? it is available from HorseBooksEtc. for $19.95,? plus S&H.

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