Equine ER: Stories From a Year in the Life of an Equine Veterinary Hospital

Equine ER explores the power of the human-horse connection, through the lens of the esteemed hospital, located in the horse-crazy Bluegrass, birthplace of greats like Man o' War. At the hospital, a core of iconoclastic doctors perform cutting-edge medicine on their four-footed patients, whether it is an experimental drug on a mare dying of pleural pneumonia, or brain surgery on a foal kicked in the head. The book follows the emotional journeys that doctors and owners embark on when a beloved horse becomes ill. It is proof that what horse trainer, poet, and writer Vicki Hearne once said is true: In over 25 years of training, I have never seen an animal who was replaceable.

Customer Reviews:

A Joyful Read

By Jean Pival - July 25, 2009

Equine ER is a highly readable book, which portrays the men and women who devote their lives to preserve the tradition of horse husbandry in the Bluegrass Area of Kentucky. Emphasis throughout is focused on the professionalism of the veterinarians who specialize in the care and treatment of throughbred horses. Even though I have lived in this area for many years, I learned new things about horses and their care.

A horse book that captivated a non-horse person

By Shawn - August 4, 2009

Up until reading this book my only experience with horses were watching this year's Kentucky Derby (hadn't intended to, but ended up at my girlfriend's friend's brother's party for it) and an unexplainable affinity for action movies with medieval horse-back fight scenes. I had no idea what went on behind the scenes of the horse world and never thought twice about it. This book quickly grabbed me and pulled me in, opening up this world for me. It was easy to read with great explanations of terminology that allowed me to keep up with the stories instead of having to google my way through it. The balance of the story telling between the vets, clients and horses was wonderfully done. Some of my favourite parts of the book were in the way the author described horses and people; her use of imagery just amazing!

As a horse neophyte I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.

Couldn't Put It Down

By Kate Monzalle - July 20, 2009

Leslie Guttman had me in the first paragraph of the Prologue and I know next to nothing about horses or anything equine for that matter. I couldn't put the book down, and was so surpised that a book like this could make me cry. The stories were so moving and her description of all the real-life characters were so vivid, I felt I was right along on the ride with her. I learned so much from reading this book, but it left me wanting more . . . Animal Planet should create a show modeled after this book.