Homeschooling has afforded the opportunity for our horse-crazy girls to indulge a little extra time on their equine friends, though finishing schoolwork on time is often the incentive for this daily pleasure. What better way to combine their love of horses and their education than a book that teaches about horses using real-life math skills?

Horse Lovers Math, Level 1 is a 172-page, spiral-bound workbook that is geared toward a 4^th- to 5^th-grade math level. Written in Canada, there are versions available for both the metric and imperial systems, though both are mentioned where appropriate. Math concepts range from geometry and pre-algebra to basic thinking skills and story problems. All are phrased in interesting ways to make them practical to horse care and draw the attention of the student. Pages in the workbook make use of many pictures and diagrams and are of a high quality to encourage writing directly on the page.

Not only does Horse Lovers Math integrate mathematical skills into its workbook, but it also includes many interesting horse facts and care tips, as well as giving step-by-step instructions for several hands-on practical projects that the student can make for their horse, such as a knot-tying project to make a hay net or a recipe for horse treats. At the end of each lesson, there are review pages, complete with answers in the back of the book to check the work.

This book was used by my twelve-year-old over the summer, to stay sharp on her math skills while learning more about caring for her pony. Though the math is slightly below her ability, using those math skills in an interesting and practical way made this workbook an excellent fit for her and allowed her to use it independently. Not only did she learn a lot about horse care, including how to measure her pony or determine how much he needs to eat, but she also had a lot of fun doing the workbook activities. In fact, she was so focused on the fun activities and horse care that she barely realized she was honing math skills in the process!

The book shares information about the author’s website where students can expand their horse knowledge or sign up for extra activities through the horse lover’s math club. Currently on the website, the book is selling at $25 for a hard copy. There is also an option to purchase a downloadable version for $12.99 to print out the worksheets at home.

Horse Lovers Math is very thorough and extremely well planned and written. The author’s combined love of horses and teaching is obvious throughout its pages. I highly recommend this book for horse-loving young people to enrich their math curriculum and integrate their learning into a practical setting. Whether they are horse owners or not, children will enjoy the easy layout and fun activities of this book.

-Product review by Erica Beyea, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September 2017