Gift ideas -- choicest new books for the holidays; A prestigious display of horses; A World of Horses, by Anne Charlish, with foreword by Alwin Schockemohle. New York: Franklin Watts Inc. 384 pp. $35.

Here's an oversize volume horse lovers will delight in adding to their shelves or sharing with other horse enthusiasts.

The book combines some 400 lavish photos and illustrations of horses all over the world in a variety of settings, from grazing in fields of brightly colored flowers to competing in rugged sports. The text includes sections about the history and evolution of the horse; its place in culture and in the arts; the development of the many breeds; and the numerous ways in which horses are used for work and recreation today. Introductions to each section are provided by world-renowned horse people from Britain and Europe, Olympic gold medalist Hans Gunter Winkler among them.