The Foaling Primer: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising a Healthy Foal

The Foaling Primer captures the foaling experience in amazing, up-close photographs taken by horse photographer Bob Langrish. The friendly, informative text guides you through the first year of a foal’s life with detailed descriptions and instructions on birth, care, handling, training, and weaning. Perfect for novice horse owners, first-time farmers, 4-H and Pony Club members, and anyone who is fascinated by horses and their lives, this introductory handbook provides everything one needs to know to be successful with a foal. The chapters are divided along critical points in a foal’s developmental timeline: the first 24 hours, the early weeks, one to three months, four to six months, weaning time, and approaching the yearling mark. There are how-to boxes for such tasks as bottle-feeding, introducing a foal to grooming, and practicing rope leading; “to-do” lists for each stage of a foal’s development; charts of what’s normal and what’s not (with clear guidance on when to call a vet); lists of supplies and equipment needed; definitions of key words and terms; and forms to use for accurate record keeping. The pages of this hard-working guide are sure to be dog-eared by the time a foal reaches the one-year mark, as readers will refer to it again and again for reassurance, guidance, and complete, dependable information.