HORSE M A N A G E M E N T Edited by John Hickman; Published by Academic Press, London, Orlando (1984); 339 pages; $37.00.

Here is a little book that may surprise you. It is one of the few books on the subject that has real substance with documentation. John Hickman writes in the preface, "This volume is primarily written for veterinary and agricultural students, but as it provides much helpful information it should also prove to be a useful reference book for veterinary surgeons-- and all who keep and breed horses."

The real surprise in the book is the 75 page section on exercise and training written by David Snow. This is actually a concise overview of equine sports medicine at the time of its writing two years ago. Snow covers skeletal muscle, energy source for work, the cardiovascular sys tem, the r e sp i r a to ry system, t h e r m o r e g u l a t i o n (including fluid and electrolyte balance), endocrinology of exercise, and exercise tests and analysis of fitness. Snow includes over seven pages of references.

The book contains a 54 page section on reproduction, written by F.L. Dawson. The material is evenly divided between the male and the female. The following topics are covered regarding the stallion: applied anatomy, physiology of ejaculation, puberty, covering capacity of stallions, seasonal variation, assessment of male fertility, management and utilization of the entire horse, and p a t h o l o g y of the male geni tal ia . Topics und e r "Reproductive function in the female" are: applied a n a t o m y , puber ty , the ovar ian cyc l e - - seasona l va r ia t ion , p regnancy , pa r tu r i t i on , infer t i l i ty , and artificial insemination. Over eight pages of references are included in this section.

The bulk of the book, sandwiched between the sections mentioned above, is on housing, feeding, and care. All of the authors are British and their approach to these subjects are in the British tradition. The chapter on "Foods and Feeding" is especially good, considering the derth of information on the subject. The feeding chapter includes an appendix of specimen rations for horses. These rations are for: maintenance for an adult horse of 450 kg, a 550 kg hunter doing four hours per day fairly hard work, and a 350 kg in-foal mare during pregnancy.

The chapter on shoeing, written by John Hickman, is generally quite basic. Various "surgical" shoes are described for: bone spavin, corns, chronic laminitis, navicular disease, sandcrack, seedy toe, sidebones, and sprained tendon.

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The book should be a useful reference to most equine professionals. It is a bit over-priced, but there are few other books on the subject that provide such good solid material. WE]

A T H I N K E R ' S G U I D E TO U L T R A S O N I C IMAGING By Raymond L. Powis and Wendy J. Powis; Published by Urban & Schwarzenberg, Baltimore (1984); 417 pages; $47.50.

Every veterinarian doing ultrasound work should have a copy of this book. Author Raymond Powis, PhD, not only understands the physical principles of ultrasound as well as anyone, he is very good at explaining physics on a level that can be understood by all.

Powis says the book "is directed to every individual who holds a transducer in hand and must make and interpret the visual results. In terms of difficulty, this book is designed as an intermediate s tep-- midway b e t w e e n a r u d i m e n t a r y t ex t and an a d v a n c e d t r e a t m e n t - - in the continuing educat ion of both sonographer and sonologist. Although each chapter addresses a separate area of interest and can be read alone, each chapter is connected to the others by frequent cross references."

The book may have a special veterinarian flavor from the coaching of Dr. Norman Rantanen. Powis wrote, "We extend personal thanks to Norman Rantanen, DVM, who provided positive criticism for many of the chapters."

The chapters in the book include: Waves and wave analysis, The B-scanner unclothed, Transducers and how they work, The analog scan converter, The digital scan converter, -~ Computers and the sonograph, Real-time systems, Doppler and pulsed-doppler techniques, Effects of tissue on ultrasound, Bioeffects of ultrasound on tissues, Testing B-scanner function, TGC and the sonographer , Interrogat ing gray-scale images with postprocessing, Gray-scale displays and the human eye, Making real time work for you, Artifacts we should know, Elements of image quality and Thinking through the study.

In total, the book is neither a clinical text nor a rigorous science text. It is, instead, a book on building a mental model of ultrasound, a way of thinking, that may eventually give the excellent clinical and physics tests now available added dimension and meaning.

This book can be ordered by credit card with the coupon on page 121 in this issue. WEJ

EQUINE VETERINARY SCIENCE