Hi, I play flute(grade 7), clarinet(grade 5) and piano(grade 4), but i thought it might be a good idea to start playing a brass instrument so i chose french horn. I want to teach myself so i wondered what books and make/model to choose?

A very good and famous educator once said (and always printed out for the parents of his students), "Anyone can learn any instrument. But, if you pick a double reed or the french horn you MUST get private lessons."

That said any student model yamaha, holton, jupiter, should work well.
Books?
1. There is the "Breeze Easy" method which is good or "Standard of Excellence". One or the other not both.
2.Once you get going then I would suggest the Pottag/Hovey Bk 1 and bk 2.
3. I also like the Rubank Method series. There is a begining, intermiediate, and then advance 1 and advance 2. You can do this along with the Pottag/Hovey books.
4. Then when you get good do the Kopprasch books and start the Maxime-Alphonse series.

I agree with John about the need for an instructor for French horn. I had a student come to me for her first private lesson after being in a band program for 1 1/2 years. She had no idea what note she was playing when she blew that horn. She had memorized the fingerings for quite a few scales, but when she attempted to play them, nothing resembling a scale emerged from her bell. Poor kid! The only way to teach her what note she was playing was to show her how to orient herself playing an open C major triad C-E-G-E-C then find the "starting pitch" from there. Once she caught on, she was thrilled and progressed very rapidly. She's now a very fine high school horn player, but I often wonder what would have happened had she not come for that first lesson.

I also had a similar experience with an adult student who picked up the horn on his own. He's also playing very well now.

Valerie Wells
The Balanced Embouchure Method
http://BEbabe.wordpress.com
http://www.BEforHorn.blogspot.com
http://ComfyHornStrap.blogspot.com