Book Review - Concise Guide to Respitory Disease in the Horse

I recently finished reading the Concise Guide to Respiratory Disease in the Horse by David W. Ramey. The description of the book is as follows "This book introduces the reader to the anatomy of the horse's respiratory tract and discusses the diagnostic methods and treatments usually used today. "

 

I didn't see any reviews on the book but I didn't dig. It's a decent book and a handy one to have if you have a horse with a respiratory disease. The first half of the book discussed the general anatomy of the horses airways, etc. It was fascinating how Mr. Ramey initially described the anatomy of the airways (he used the analogy of the reader being a particle traveling through a horse's airways.)

 

The second half of the book focused on major respiratory diseases including strangles, heaves, and bleeding. (I originally purchased the book because we have a mare with heaves and I wanted to learn more.)  The second half of the book was a bit more focused and didn't use any analogies. Much of what was discussed in the second half (focusing on different respiratory diseases) was fairly high-level information. It gave the basics on what it was, symptoms, possible treatment options, etc. but no getting into the nitty-gritty of that particular respiratory disease.

 

I am glad that I have the book in my library although disappointed that the book was as short as it was (only 90 pages). Respiratory diseases could cover much more. The book was written like Mr. Ramey was talking directly to me, no text book terminology to bore you to sleep. He also didn't act as though he was a vet. He provided the facts in an easy to read method.