Horses: Fun facts and amazing stories by Dianne Bates

Ill. by Sophie Scahill. Awesome animals 3. Big Sky Publishing, 2016. ISBN 9781925275858
(Age: 8+) Horses. Horsemanship. Horses: Fun facts and amazing stories is a compendium and a celebration of all things horse! Dianne Bates has sourced an amazing array of horse facts, stories, daring rescues, working horses, horses in movies and television and their historical origins. Colourful photographs of the Horse Shepherd / Equine Sanctuary animals highlight the importance of rescuing these animals. Playful horse caricatures drawn by Sophie Scahill add humour to this factual book - there's a horse king perched on a throne and a horse relaxing with his glasses perched on the end of his nose reading a horse story.
These brave animals have led soldiers into battle, supported Spanish conquistadors settling in new lands and moved the Barnum and Bailey Circus across North America. In the early 1900s there were 750 horses used to haul the carriages and animal cages, to help raise the big top and to perform acts. Walers were the horses used by the Australian light horseman in World War 1 to mobilise the cavalry into battle.
Smallest, tallest, biggest, fastest, and oldest horses, there's an array of horse records to pique the interest of many animal fans. Old Billy, an English barge horse, lived until he was 62 years old.
The text is set out in easy to read boxes, some with colourful backgrounds, horse jokes and horse poems - nursery rhymes are also included. Horses: Fun facts and amazing stories is suitable for the capable reader who enjoys reading factual information.
Rhyllis Bignell