cover image Blessed Are the Foals

Blessed Are the Foals

Phyllis Lose, M. Phyllis Lose. MacMillan Publishing Company, $26 (210pp) ISBN 978-0-02-575230-6

Maintaining that congenital deformities and easy contagion in foals are often the effects of human interventionselective breeding, inbreeding and overcrowded living conditionsveterinarian Lose suggests that nature, therefore, requires human assistance to give the foal a fair chanceat survival. A knowledgeable owner, says Lose, can improve the foal's prospects by paying close attention to the animal's appearance and behavior, because sudden onset of illness in a newborn is not unusual. The key is to assist, not replace, natural processes. For example, she discourages tying off the foal's umbilical cord, which if left to rupture naturally can provide the animal with nourishment and oxygen for half an hour after birth. The volume features careful descriptions of diseases and deformities, as well as clear instructions on when to seek routine or emergency veterinary treatment. Lose provides vaccination schedules, a full section on nutrition, detailed, practical advice on common equine parasites and instructions for husbandry. Lose wrote Blessed Are the Brood Mares, etc. Photos not seen by PW. (July 31)