The best how-to book on horses you'll ever buy

There are a lot of reference books on horses on the market — just check your local Barnes & Noble, and you'll probably find a couple dozen at least. I've bought several and you probably have to, but I usually find that they're not as helpful as I would like — certainly not always worth spending the money to own them.

Stable Smarts, on the other hand, has got to be the most useful little horse book I have ever read. It has sections on pretty much everything you need to know about keeping and caring for horses.

Rather than just giving the basic rundown on horses, as most basic horse books do, this book is full of tips and tricks — really ingenious things. For instance, it explains how to compost manure, how to make things like saddle racks from odd household items, how to build and repair fences, tips on first aid for horses, and the uses of basic household items such as mineral oil and Vaseline.

This isn't the kind of book you have to read through from beginning to end, so I've been flipping through it randomly. Even though I thought I'd read it all at least once, I keep coming across new little nuggets of information. I can't say enough how invaluable this book is!