Book Review: The Eighty-Dollar Champion

I was lucky enough to win an ARC of the book below over on LibraryThing courtesy of the Early Reviewer's group. I've collected a number of titles this way - it's a fun program, if you're interested in getting your hands on new titles before or just as they're published. But sometimes it's a mixed blessing - even when I'm careful to request only those books that look appealing, sometimes there's a real dud in the bunch. Not this time, thankfully!

The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse that Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts

ARC reviewed.

I grew up on Walter Farley and C.M Montgomery's horse stories, reading about throwing your heart over the fence so your horse would follow; about the look of eagles. In Snowman's story, I found a return to that feeling.

A true rescue, purchased for $80 off the back of a kill buyer's truck, Snowman found a home with an immigrant Dutchman and his family. Over the next several years the big white horse and his adopted family leaped to heights and fame, stealing the hearts of an American public ripe for a humble hero of the people. For horseman Henry de Leyer, dubbed the "Flying Dutchman" by the press, the big dirty grey horse dubbed Snowman by the de Leyer children would provide the chance to live out a dream. In return, his jumping days past, the gelding was allowed to live out his life in comfort - a far cry from the violent end he was bound for so many years before.

In spite of the typos (ARC copy), this is a charming, heartwarming story only occasionally rendered pedantic by the shoehorning in of some relevant but slightly distracting block of big-picture history. If you're a horse-lover, or know one, this rags-to-riches story of the small-town horse and his family making good on the national stage is a lovely one.


Published by Ballantine Books, it will be available on August 23rd, 2011.

BOOK REVIEW: The Moral Lives of Animals

Book reviews used to be a regular Friday feature here - I've sort of gotten out of the habit lately, but when Blue Dot Literary offered me the opportunity to read and review a new book, I thought sure, why not? Although not necessarily in my usual genre, I found myself reading closely and... well, rather than rambling on, here's my review from LibraryThing:


The Moral Lives of Animals by Dale Peterson, New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2011. (9781596914247)

As much or more about the morality of humans and our nature as it is about the creatures we share the earth with, Peterson's book covers some interesting territory. Drawing on classic literature (Moby Dick appears frequently) and philosophy, and citing research and theory from well-known scientists, psychologists and anthropologists, Peterson argues convincingly that animals are not just mindful beings. Some are far more, exhibiting characteristics and taking action in ways that show higher intelligence, communication and empathy. If occasionally pedantic, it's also stuffed with personal vignettes and accounts of animal actions drawn from multiple case studies and observations by animal behaviorists. It's obvious Peterson has done a lot of research - the footnotes are a dead giveaway, if nothing else - but the book has a friendly tone. (I didn't find myself getting bogged down in academia, which given that it's a hefty 350+ pages, wouldn't have been a shock.)

While Peterson makes no claim to offering the final word on whether animals actually do lead moral lives, his book is certainly thought-provoking and very readable - do animals make moral choices? Read, observe, and draw your own conclusions.

It's chatty, friendly and presents some intriguing information. Peterson focuses mainly on whales, primates and elephants, but a few other mammals make appearances, as well - although sadly, equines fail to make the list. I'm still processing, and I want to re-read a few sections, but honestly? I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Pre-Friday Book Review: Going, Gone

Going, Gone by Laura Crum
I've been checking the mailbox hoping to spot an envelope from the publisher since sometime in February. It arrived - on a Monday, of course - and I then had to wait the rest of the week to get home so I could read it.

Doubly nifty, it was free! I didn't have to wait and try to track down a copy at Barnes and Noble or Amazon or via interlibrary loan. (Thanks to Mrs. Mom for the head's up!)

In order not to be biased, I've been purposefully skipping other bloggers' reviews, so when I cracked the book this weekend I was flying blind with only Gail McCarthy's previous adventures as a yardstick.

In a nutshell, Gail's family horse-camping trip runs headlong into a murder investigation. Her ex-boyfriend Lonny Peterson is the prime suspect in the death of his new girlfriend. Gail's childhood friend Bret Boncantini, now a local deputy, provides some helpful, hands-off, police advice, but fears for his job if he provides any overt assistance. If Gail doesn't help, Lonny may just find himself on the wrong side of a set of bars for a very long time.

As I said, I was really looking forward to reading the latest in Gail McCarthy's continuing adventures. Previous books have provided informative, suspenseful, and entertaining peeks into the horse industry through the eyes of an equine practitioner.

Well, everyone's entitled to an off book occasionally, and unfortunately, this one limps rather heavily when it comes to carrying through on the blurb's promised excitement. Going, Gone just doesn't stack up to the preceding volumes.

Maudlin, introspective, and jerky by turns, it trails from a stilted beginning through to an abrupt ending that reads a bit like a replay from an earlier book. This installment lacks the realistic grounding in medicine, animals and characters that I've come to expect. Or perhaps it has too much grounding in reality? There are gaps. Characters just aren't fully fleshed out, and too many of them aren't likable. Too many suspects and the ending is jarringly abrupt.

A bit more in the way of story would have gone a long way toward filling in some of what's lacking. This is definitely NOT the place to start reading this series.

Positives? The critters, as always, are genuine, lovingly portrayed and presented. The riding vignettes, likewise. Gail's relationship with Blue and her son's reaction to all the death are realistic and convincing. Really, as a series of reminiscences, I'd have liked it better. Stringing a murder in there... not so much.

I really wanted to love it. I've been promising to pass it along to my mom and sister (both of whom I've recommended Crum's books to on multiple occasions), but I don't know if I'll do so. I missed Chasing Cans, and on the off chance that it's just the gap in timeline that's causing some of the disconnect I'm going to track it and Moonblind down and compare.

And now I can go read everyone else's opinions and gain a different perspective - LOL!

It's not a Friday, but it's a Book Review

I haven't read a horse-related book in a while (although if you need some YA recommendations, I have a new batch of those...), but someone recommended this one to me and it sounded intriguing.

Actually, what I heard - although in hindsight, I don't think it's what the recommender said - was that this is a true story. While it seems fairly probable that some of the events, particularly the racetrack-related bits, may be based on events that may have happened somewhere to someone, 12 Miles to Paradise is definitely NOT non-fiction. Still...

12 Miles to Paradise: a people story about horses & horseracing by Ted Simendinger

Briefly, this is the story of a race horse that refused to run and what happened next. And it's what happens next, both to a not very fast, but very stubborn Whodathunkit, that kept me turning pages.

Like Ferdinand the bull, who only wanted to smell the flowers and ended up affecting far more lives than he knew, a grey gelding re-dubbed Bonefish changes the course of events for the residents of one whole island and several more people on two different continents.

The premise is absurd, the action is flatly unbelievable... and yet there's a ring to the events surrounding Bonefish particularly that shines 24 carat. (My own family has tales of the backstretch that at first hearing are as oddly unlikely, so who am I to cast doubt.)

In spite of the somewhat rough and ready delivery and a choppy narration (peppered with numerous trivial details and off plot meanderings), it's oddly charming and pleasantly memorable.

Simendinger is a motivational speaker who's written one other book (humorous short stories about people & animals, based on the description). He doesn't claim horse-expertise, and his bio makes no reference to horses at all, so if there are a few gaffs perhaps it's not surprising. Is this the best horse book I've ever read? No. But it's entertaining in an offbeat, oddball way.

My recommendation: don't run right out and buy a copy, but if you happen across it at your local library or swap-shop, give it a chance. You may find yourself smiling.

Not-a-Friday Book Review

What with my weird work schedule and all the driving back and forth, I've sort of lost track of Friday book reviews. Too, I really hadn't read anything horse-related enough to qualify. But one of the to-be-reviewed books on my plate for next year's YARP list qualifies. And thankfully, although I had a few initial doubts, I can actually recommend this one. Maybe not for older teens, but for horse-crazy pre-teens? It wouldn't be a bad stocking stuffer.

Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan

Orphaned early, Maya is one of those poor little rich girls who have almost everything they need except love. Only childhood pictures of her father are permitted. All Maya has left of her mother is a box full of plastic horses and one photo rescued from her grandmother's effort to destroy all traces of her mother and father's life together. But when a stroke claims her grandmother, Maya discovers her mother's family not only isn't a batch of illiterate pig farmers, but actually wants her. In Wyoming she has aunts, uncles, and even a cousin - and there are horses!

Rather better than I expected after a slightly sappy opening. The parts featuring Maya are very readable. The parts featuring Artemisia (the mare) are a bit over the top. The behavior described may be horse behavior, but it's too anthropomorphic for my taste - might be right up the alley of a ten-year-old, though. And Maya's ultimately a likeable, understandable young heroine.

On a one to ten scale? I'd probably give it a 6 or so. It wouldn't stand up to the challenge of Firehorse, Serilda's Star, or the Bonnie books by Pat Johnson, but horse-crazy kids devour pretty much anything featuring a high mane & hoof quotient, and this one will fill the something-new bill nicely.

Oops - my mistake!

Alert reader Summer Girl commented regarding yesterday's Friday Book Review of Billy Collin's Nine Horses. The horses on the cover are apparently NOT dead. She informs me the shots were compiled from works by the photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Hmmm... Well, couldn't prove it by me. The cover art for the book was designed by Barbara M. Bachman, according to the front matter, but if the original images are part of Muybridge's work, I stand corrected.

They look less than lively. But the possiblity that they were alive and kicking, at least at the time the photographs were taken, is certainly more pleasant than the alternative!

Do be sure to check out the link to Eadweard Muybridge, by the way. He's evidently responsible for developing a motion picture technique that answered "the galloping question."

Friday Book Review: so, it's poetry.

Do you know many people who sit down and read poetry? I don't. At least not that I know of, although they must be out there, because lots of it seems to get published. It just isn't usually on my list of things to read.

But I ran across mention of this week's book, and the title (and the comments) were intriguing, so I tracked down a copy. After I read it? Well, I'll let you read the review...

Nine Horses by Billy Collins

I picked up Nine Horses on a whim ( I liked the title, and as I said, the comments I read were promising). The cover has horse heads on it. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell from the picture I saw, that the horse pictured is, well... dead. That was the first surprise.

Although it's not at all horse-related in the sense the title suggests, I enjoyed it very much. After the dead horse on the cover discovery, that was the second.

Collins' poems are lyric and accessible at the same time. He muses on every day matters -- 3 AM wakefulness, love and domesticity, or the simple act of watching the scenery click by on a train trip -- and makes them experiences worthy of remembering.

I'm not usually a poetry reader, so this isn't a particularly literary review, but today I've been more watchful for the beauty in the everyday. I'll look for Collins' name in the future if a poetic mood strikes me, and I'm adding Nine Horses to my "books to purchase" list.

Even if it does have a dead horse on the cover.

What's in story for coming weeks? Well, one of the beautiful things about working is a library is that occasionally I run across nifty titles that might otherwise escape my notice. For instance, this week I found The Secret Life of Cowboys and a old book of compiled (purportedly non-fiction, but we'll see) tales of long riders and endurance challenges. The best part? They're now mine, as the library already has copies and no one else wanted them. :)

Friday Book Review - when the best man isn't

I'll readily admit it - I read a lot of fluff. I like to be entertained :) This week's entertainment I picked up at a yard sale for $.75, and I think it was definitely work the expense.

The Best Man by Maggie Osborne

Cattle baron Joe Roark carved his ranch out of the Texas dirt the hard way, and he's not plannig to pass it on to anyone who can't, or won't do the same. But four wives and three useless daughters later, he's pretty sure he's doomed to die without a male heir to take over where he left off, and he writes his will accordingly. The conditions are simple: if his three daughters, with nine hands to help them, can't trail 2000 head of cattle to Abilene, Kansas then his latest wife, Lola, gets it all.

For three pampered, polished, petted women who've never so much as picked up a dirty dish, the trail has one or two challenges in store.

With only two weeks to learn ride, shoot, rope, and in one case, cook, the situation looks pretty grim. Add in the fact that the only trail boss who'll sign on is an ex-drunk, and that one of the sisters is in a wheelchair and "hopeless" covers it well. But all isn't lost, and as Lester, Frederick and Alexander (dad really wanted a boy) learn to work together, the odds may not be quite as long as they seem.

I was actually expecting something fairly shallow - but Osborne did her research. Her heroines aren't in for an easy time of it. There's plenty of dirt, determination, and a lot of challenges to overcome. And romance, of course.

Not technically a horse story, but I like a well-done western - a steady diet of Louis L'amour, Zane Grey and Luke Short will do that to you - and this one's not bad at all.

Friday Book Review: Rodeo history international

First, an apology - I haven't managed to read anything blog-wise this week, so I'll have lots to catch up on this weekend, I'm sure. Still haven't added an internet connection at the apartment, and cribbing from the neighbor's really weak one is very spotty. Must do something about that soon!

So this week's book caught my eye at work, and I just couldn't resist spending an hour or so with it. What do you get when you combine a rodeo crazy cowboy, WWII, and a bunch of very confused German livestock? Entertainment, evidently.

Third Army Cowboys by Jack Lloyd

Stationed in Germany at the end of WWII, a then nineteen year-old, PFC Jack Lloyd was occupying himself working in a hospital dispensary when he heard that some boys in a Texas unit were throwing a rodeo as a send-off for their major. Unable to get leave, he went AWOL in order to ride. The rodeo's a success, but the going-AWOL, not-so much.

Fortunately, Jack's rodeo experience and the entertainment value of the rodeo saves his butt and Jack ends up tasked with putting on rodeos across Germany as part of the Third Army Special Service.

And so begins an odd tale of a thrown-together bunch of motley bunch of cowboys from across the United States (and one displaced Frenchman) headed by by the young private with little to no experience in wrangling this sort of project.

You sort of have to read between the lines, as Jack has undoubtedly left a lot of details out, but it's still quite a trip. Just imagining the spectacle from the German perspective - not to mention the poor milk cows and oxen that get shanghaid - albeit briefly - into masquerading as rodeo rough stock...

It's around 125 pages, but it stars cowboys from South Dakota, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kentucky, New Jersey, Texas, and a few other places in between, doing what cowboys mostly do: raising cane and cowboying up. For fans of rodeo and history, it's an interesting read.

The Friday Book Review (returns) - a psychic connection

No, not with the horses. Sorry, if that's what you were hoping for! Maybe another time. :)

Morning Light by Catherine Anderson

Clairvoyant Loni MacEwen is looking for a bit of peace and quiet when she buys an old house in Crystal Falls, Oregon to be closer to her sister. A bad experience has left her shaken and questioning her talent. But the small town seems like just what the doctor ordered. Since childhood Loni has had visions of a handsome cowboy, but although her gift has otherwise been fairly accurate, the man has never materialized - until Crystal Falls, when she bumps into him (literally) in the supermarket.

Quarter horse breeder Clint Harrigan is a no-nonsense, straight shooting kind of guy. So when the pretty brunette from the supermarket appears on his doorstep to inform him that his young son has been lost in the wilderness and only he will be able to save the boy, he's nothing if not skeptical.

A fairly brief lead-in has the pair heading off to participate in search and rescue operations for an orphaned boy lost in the Oregon wilderness. Expecting nothing horse-related when I picked the book up, I was pleasantly surprise to find myself reading what appears to be a fairly well-researched amount of information on horse-packing.

The horses have eminintly impractical names (at least I wouldn't want to be hollering them in!), but the actual details of practical care and handling are well-written and realistic.

Neatnik, environmentally conscious Loni's interactions with practical-minded, bachelor Clint are entertaining, and the story has enough suspense to it to keep the pages turning. All in all, this was a pleasant surprise.

I wasn't expecting this to be my book of the week - in fact, I haven't been reading much at all lately as busy as everything has been. But since there were horses and I actually managed to finish it....

Hopefully life will dial back a bit soon and I'll have more time to get some pages turned without feeling like I'm neglecting something or someone!

Friday Book Review:

Well, how's this for timely - this week's book review will actually happen on Friday!

In honor of the fact that I've actually gotten out for at least one ride, today's book is about the a western horse's life, the people, country, and critters that he encounters. I read it for the first time as a kid, and acquired an ex-library copy. I was happy to discover that the enjoyment I remembered hadn't waned just because I'd grown up a bit, and it's still just as much a pleasure to read it again today.

Smoky the Cow Horse by Will James

To my way of thinking there's something wrong, or missing, with any person who has't got a soft spot in their heart for an animal of some kind....

Truer words? I've certainly found the sentiment James expresses in the foreword to be accurate enough. And the course of the book as well, even if the events are fictional.

Born on the open way out west, Smoky, as he's dubbed first, lives the good life with all the other little colts, encountering plenty of adventure in the form of porcupines and coyotes and life in general. Of course, eventually every childhood comes to an end, and Smoky's rounded up and saddle broke.

If not all the methods used to break Smoky to saddle are quite as common today, it's still an education. And the progress of Smoky's life from then on goes to show how quickly things can, and do, change. Told most often from the horse's point of view, Smoky nevertheless remains a horse not a human in horsehide.

If the writing is plain and the grammar might have given a few of my English teachers fits, the story at the heart doesn't falter. In fact, written in strictly newscaster English, this wouldn't have been the same story at all.

Although there are bright moments, Smoky doesn't have an easy life of it, and even though there's a happy ending, it could easily enough have ended another way. In a world were horses were transportation, entertainment and livelihood, there was slim chance of a horse spending its last days peacefully grazing, fat and happy. Lucky for Smoky, fate (and the author) intervened on his behalf.

If you happen to run across a copy, the early hardcopy editions have both black and white and color illustrations by the author, and they're as much a treat as the story itself. James wrote a variety of books, some fiction, some not, and I highly reccommend trying one or two on for size if you haven't already.

Not-quite-Friday Book Review: something from up north

Once again, I've missed Friday. But since I slacked last week, I suppose I'd better not this week.

We get Canada's weather down here in SD quite a bit, so what's more appropriate than a book from up there?

The Phantom Roan by Stephen Holt

Great old-fashioned Western-style coming of age novel. A young cowboy sets off to fulfill his dream of becoming a vet. Hitchhiking across Canada, he rescues a mangy, injured, outlaw roan with a nasty attitude. Against the advice of his new employer, he nurses the horse back to health, and befriends him. A side story covers the issue of mange management and the government-required cattle dousing that many ranchers attempted to avoid.

The main action kicks in when the outlaw roan's former owner, a rodeo livestock promoter, reclaims the horse with plans to return him to his former career as a vicious outlaw bucking horse. Very exciting stuff.

Growing up, for some reason I always thought this story was set out west somewhere like South Dakota or Montana. Which I suppose isn't so odd - there are a lot of similarities between Canada's "west" and ours. In any case, this was one of my favorite books - and after reading it I spent lots of trips scanning the ditches and creek bottoms we'd drive past for mysterious horse shapes that I could rescue.

The closest I ever came to a "road rescue" - other than returning a the down the road neighbor's escapees occasionally - was on one trip up to visit my folks. Driving along in the pitch black night, somewhere in WI I rounded a corner to see the taillights in front of me light up and something that was not a deer scampering across the road.

It was a burro. I pulled over, chased him back through the farm gate and, since it was two in the morning, closed the gate and stuck a note to it explaining why.

Of course, when I came back by a week later I discovered that the fence attached to the gate I'd shut was decorative, and only ran for about a 1/4 mile. It was open on both ends. But the burro was okay.

Friday Book Review: a second from Ireland

It's late, but it's still Friday :)

I was chatting with my sister last night, and she reminded me of this one - one of the first books by this particular author that I read. She's come a long way, and so have her characters....

Irish Thoroughbred by Nora Roberts

If you like your heroes strong and dominating, and your heroines spunky but feminine, Travis and Adelia may be right up your barn aisle. Adelia, orphaned at a young age, comes to America to live with her uncle after her elderly aunt dies. A natural with animals, but especially horses, she's thrilled to find herself assisting Paddy with his duties on a Maryland Thoroughbred farm. Until that is, she runs smack into the farm's owner Travis Grant.

When hard-headed object meets imovable rock... sparks fly, of course. Add in some Kentucky Derby excitement and a cast that includes plenty of interesting two-legged and four-legged characters, and you have a good, if a bit dated, romance - #81 from Silhouette, if you can believe it.

Something less fluffy's on tap for next week, but this has been a good fluff week.

Now I have to go water the cat - at least she's informing me from the general direction of the bathtub that she's ready for her bedtime drink. And there's thunder, so I suppose I should unplug the computer....

Friday Book Review: happy memories

How many of us as little girls poured over horse books? I know I did. Sitting in the book-lined living room last night exchanging stories and news with my folks, I was pleased to see a few old childhood friends still had their places. I pulled one out to leaf through, and ended up spending an hour or so last night catching up. I even found the beginnings of a school report on Clydesdales tucked between the pages - sadly, my handwriting hasn't improved since what I'm guessing was 3rd grade!

Album of Horses by Marguerite Henry (Illustrated by Wesley Dennis)

There are plenty of horse encyclopedias out there with beautiful pictures that will inform you in somewhat sterile prose about the horse breed of your choice. This isn't an encyclopedia. Nor is it exhaustive, but it has a charm all its own. Each of the 24 equine types represented is given roughly four pages of space. From exotic Arabians and sturdy Morgans, wiry polo ponies and massive Clydesdales, to the lowly burros and recalcitrant mules, Henry treats each with reverence and sometimes humor. And better still, with story. The American Saddle Horse (five gaited horses - anyone know, is this still what they're called, or are they now Saddlebreds?) is a real tear-jerker.

And the illustrations! Henry opted, instead of photos, to decorate her text with lovely full color, full page renderings by Wesley Dennis. Whether head shots or action, they're a huge part of what makes the book so memorable. And the charming little pencil drawings scattered about each page's margins are entertainment of themselves. You can almost picture Dennis browsing through Henry's manuscript, sketching in trotters and foxes and buffalo as the urge struck him. At least that's how I see like to envision it.

It may not be encyclopedic, but it's still a marvelous window to the horse world - and to the past. I'm not sure that Suffolk Punches still dot the hills of Suffolk County, or that teams of Clydesdales are still commonly seen pulling heavy loads in the Midwest and on the plains of Canada, but some of the equine varieties featured are certainly still going strong, and they all have their own proponents. Now if only everyone would still treat their horses with such care, and select their breeding partners so meticulously! as Henry credits the Arab chieftains with doing.

I spent many an hour as a kid with Henry's books - not just this one. Curled up with Misty of Chincoteague, or Brighty of the Grand Canyon - racing with King of the Wind - it was good to find it still here on the shelf, and to know that my uncle likely enjoyed it just as much when he was young - it's enscribed to him as a gift, Christmas of 1959.

Book Review: something other than dragons

I'm attempting to write this with a cat pacing across my keyboard, so any typos this time can be laid at Mabel's feet. Literally.

Anne McCaffrey has been called the grand dame of sci-fi fantasy. If she's not THE grand dame, she's quite arguably one of them. She's probably best known for her dragons (Pern) or perhaps for the Crystal Singer books. But in addition to dragons she also dabbled in romantic suspense and novels, and if you've never run across any, do yourself a favor and look them up. I'll admit, the first time I picked up today's book, many years ago, I was anticipating dragons. What I discovered instead was realistic fiction, probably slightly more realistic than my mother would have appreciated at the time, but I enjoyed it. Enough so that years later I tracked down a paperback copy of my very own.

The Lady by Anne McCaffrey

By the time she's thirteen Catriona Carradynes is aware that all is not exactly well with her mother. The Caradynes are horse folk, bred to the bone for generations back. Catriona's mother is not. For Catriona, there is nothing better than horses, whether riden, breathed in, sketched or written about, they're pretty much all she thinks about. They're also everything her rigidly religious mother doesn't want for her youngest daughter.

Well and good, you may be thinking. It's another story about a teenage girl who loves horses and her overbearing parents.

But it's more than that. McCaffrey winds together emotionally charged strands of story - she doesn't pull back from sensitive issues, covering religion, divorce, abuse, the nature of love and foregiveness and growing up. This is no fairy tale, and the happy ending - okay, there is a happy ending - is hard fought, but well earned.

It's Catriona's story, but it's also the story of the Carradyne family, and a look at an Ireland in transition. (And there are plenty of horses, too.)

The Lady is one of my favorite books. It's not short - 370 pages for the paperback edition - and don't expect an easy read if you tend to get wrapped up in the characters' lives. But it's worth the time you'll invest. At least I think so.

Mabel and I are signing off now. She's decided to sleep across my arm on my lap. My hand is falling asleep, but she's happy. Anyone know any sayings about disturbing sleeping cats?

Not quite Friday Book Review: passive leadership

I was at a library conference in Denver. Surrounded by books & people talking about books & reading and literacy. For two days I'd climbed out of bed and headed eagerly out the door to talk to colleagues, sit attentively in presentations, ask (hopefully) intelligent questions, and just generally soak up the atmosphere. Evenings I'd curl up in bed, do a little channel-surfing and review the conference schedule to see what the next day would bring.

One of the best things about conferences is browsing the vendor booths - they almost all have free chocolate and drawings for nifty prizes, for one thing. But in addition to the goodies, in among all of the technology-related, educational furniture and library system displays are the book vendors.

Oh sure, lots of them are reference books - not exactly light reading, lol! But there are others, as well. And sure enough, I found a few I had to take home with me. Today's book is one of them.

Horses Never Lie by Mark Rashid

This isn't a horse training book. You might call it a philosophical book with horses..., but that isn't exactly right either. What it is is more a series of semi-conversational stories illustrating Rashid's views on horse training, behavior, herd dynamics and what not, and how he came to hold them.

It's interesting. It reads well, and it's thought-provoking. It's also not preachy; not over-bearing or condescending. He doesn't push specific tools, training methods or products as a one-stop solution for any and all problems.

What Rashid does focus on is attitude and communication and thinking about what you're doing and the relationship you're creating with your horse - that it's important to listen, and to feel, and to think about the WHY of the response.

It's intriguing. He doesn't make it sound easy and effortless. He isn't saying your horse will be your friend. But the idea that it's possible to build a partnership based on trust on both sides? It's appealing. And certainly, it seems to work for Rashid.

When I picked the book up to read it again before I started writing this review I popped over and checked out his website. Not a carrot-stick in sight - grin. I've never been to one of Rashid's clinics - I'd be curious to hear from anyone who has.

If nothing else, the man has a way with a story, and I've enjoyed my second trip through Horses never lie.

Friday Book Review: back to basics

So last night I had a horrible realization - after finishing the Francome book, I've read absolutely nothing horse-related all week. That's.... unusual, to say the least.

I could blame it on the 5 "inspirational" (a.k.a Christian/faith-based) romances I have to have read & reviewed by May 1st. They're not exactly my usual cup of tea. I've been madly procrastinating on those ever since I started the first one - the writing was awful, and I kept wanting to fling it at something. Thankfully, the second one was marginally better, and the third is the first one I've actually wanted to pick back up when I set it down. Hopefully numbers 4 & 5 continue in the same direction!

But that would be copping out.

What I'm going to do instead is pull a book off the shelf this morning and work on my riding plan for the afternoon. Hopefully it will be nice enough this afternoon to actually put the plan into action, and I'll let you all know how it went.

Beginning Western Exercises by Cherry Hill

It's a skinny little spiral bound book. The pages aren't even numbered, so I can't tell you exactly how long it isn't, but not over 35 of them. And since open it's only about the size of a half sheet if 8 1/2 x 11" paper, it's certainly not exhaustive.

It covers basics such as the halt, walk, jog & lope, and a brief checklist of what you should feel if each gait is being preformed correctly. The exercises themselves are deceptively simple. Walk-Jog-Walk, for instance, contains the following advice:

Beware of doing this exercise before a horse has learned to move actively forward. A horse must know how to reach well underneath himself with his hind legs before he is collected.

Reading through it for the first time I quickly came to the conclusion that the "Beginning" portion of the title is somewhat misleading! I haven't changed my mind after using it for a while. There's an expectation that the reader will know what terms such as aids, collection, bend, flexion and contact mean, and can apply them correctly. Certainly, that's more than a true beginner will be comfortable with, especially on her own.

Hill does suggest working regularly with an instructor or qualified friend, having someone tape you riding the exercises, riding with mirrors, etc. to help make sure you're doing things right. The book ends with a test and a score sheet which Hill recommends photocopying for repeat performances. A high score means horse & rider are ready to move on to Intermediate Western Exercises.

The 1998 publication date makes it not exactly the newest thing on the market, but it is still in print.

Mainly I use this one in conjunction with another of Hill's books, 101 Arena Exercises which I've reviewed previously. Probably not quite as much as that one, but it's a good check at the beginning of the year to see exactly how much both Sunny and I have lost since the previous year.

Follow up to Friday Book Review

Friday I left you all with Inside Track by John Francome only half reviewed. Well, I can now safely say that I'd definitely recommend it.

Plot synopsis: jockey convicted of drunk driving & manslaughter is paroled, returns home to live with his sister, a racehorse trainer. A cheating husband, double murder, suspicious improvements in racehorse performance, and a family out for revenge all add to the mix.

Although there wasn't much mystery to the mystery - the main villain of the piece is pretty clear from the opening pages - the characters grabbed me, and so did the plot twists. By the time I hit the middle I'd been sucked in completely, and I finished the last 30 pages sitting on the footpad of the elliptical machine, too caught up in the action to put the book down even to shower. I definitely wasn't going to wait until the next morning to finish it!

I think I may have mentioned, the narration jumps from character to character rather than following one point of view. From widely divergent aspects and locations, all the individual stories gradually weave together building toward one grand climax. If a few of the discoveries and revelations seem a bit too fortuitious, well, it is fiction, after all.

Interestingly, I think it would be easy enough for Francome to build a series around several of the characters. The most likely choice is probably the DCI in charge of investigating the double murder that kicks off the book, but she certainly wouldn't be his only option. And this could quite easily be a stand-alone.

A good read, in any case!

Friday Book Review: Three for the road...

Well, almost. I really intended to have three for you this week, but it's turned out to be two and 1/2. This week has been mystery week, among other things, because I needed some escapism - but more on that another post.

I don't know about you all, but I'm a Dick Francis fan. Oh sure, there've been a few of his that I've not been really thrilled with. (Field of Thirteen was sort of a run-of-the-mill IMHO....) But on the whole, he's the probalby the gold standard when it comes to writing horse (racing) mysteries.

Unfortunately, he's not going to be around forever, and besides, I think I've read (and re-read) them all at least a time or two apiece: time to explore some alternatives!

Now Laura Crum's Gail McCarthy series is getting plenty of play elsewhere, and although I really like her books, I've read all of those that are out so far, and while I'll probably read them again, I really wanted something new.

So I took advantage of a few LibraryThing recommendations and culled from the list a couple of titles to start out with. Here's what I came up with:

Stalking Horse by Bill Shoemaker

That's right, that Bill Shoemaker. The veteran jockey turned trainer evidently didn't have enough on his plate, so he's added author to his list of credentials. And you know what? I liked it. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical, but there's talent there.

Plot? ex-jockey Colley Killebrew has made a successful go of it as a part owner of a thriving Las Vegas restaurant. He's even (mostly) over being accused of race-fixing seven years before. So when the race steward who pressed for his disbarment comes to him with a proposition, he's a bit intrigued, but not enough to take the job. It takes the offer of information on his then-girlfriend, the beautiful, scheming Francie Dorn to get his cooperation.

Now Colley's headed for New Orleans and an undercover operation - if he can block a racetrack scam aimed at taking control of the Magnolia Park track, he'll get what he wants... but to do so he'll have to survive a critical lack of information, a devious ex, the mob, and a little-bitty ol' hurricane. Should be simple, right?

Not bad for a first effort. A few weak moments, and the dialogue was maybe a touch stilted. But I'll definitely track down the subsequent installments to see what Colley gets up to next. Maybe not up to Dick Francis standards yet, but definitely promising.

So that's your domestic, home-grown option. Now for something farther afield - and here's where the 1/2 comes in....

I also picked out a book by John Francome. He's French, an ex-National Hunt Champion jockey, according to his bio, and he has a whole pile of books out, so if I like his book there'll be plenty more to keep me busy.

Inside Track by John Francome

It's early goings yet, as I'm not quite through the first third of the book, but I can already tell Francome's a bit more graphic than either Francis or Shoemaker. Not necessarily more violent, but the perspective in his books shifts between characters, rather than keeping to the steady hero's perspective that both the other two maintain.

Plot? A young, promising jockey takes up with the wrong woman, gets drunk, drives, and kills someone. After a stint in prison, he's back at the track and not sure of his future. Meanwhile, an unidentified someone is reclaiming pots of ill-gotten cash with a bit of murder and arson to cover up the evidence.

The jockey's sister is a horse trainer - slightly struggling - and her father-in-law is, as well, but more established. Question is, are his horses a bit too good at times?

There are quite a few plot threads, and I suspect that the good guys and the bad guys may blur a bit, but that remains to be seen. For now, it's keeping me riveted, even on the exercise machine.

In fairness, I hadn't read a Dick Francis in quite a while. To make sure of a good comparison, I also picked up one of Francis' more recent books.

Under Orders by Dick Francis

Featuring Sid Halley, the one-handed ex-jockey turned investigator (previous outings in Whip Hand, Odds Against, etc.), this was a slightly more loggy Francis than I remembered. A race-fixing scheme and a couple of murders, along with an attack on Halley's new girlfriend liven things up, but lengthy segments on internet gambling weren't all that fun to sweat through. (Yes, this was elliptical fodder, as well-lol!)

I almost had the feeling that a few of the passages had been used previously.... I will, of course, have to read back through a few others to find out if it's only writing style that jogged my memory, or if there is a bit of self-cribbing going on.

If I had to make a choice between the three? I'd still grab Francis, but I'd make it one of the older titles - Bonecrack, Straight or Proof, or even the earlier ones featuring Sid Halley. His later stuff just feels a tiny bit stale....

So there you have it. 2 1/2 mystery reviews to end your week with.

Friday Book Review: Dan Patch (finally!)

I've been working my way through Dan Patch's story for the last month now. (For those of you who don't know my reading habits, that's a long time for a book to last.) It's certainly not that this wasn't a well written book - or that the topic wasn't interesting. It's been a busy month!

Crazy Good: the true story of Dan Patch, the most famous horse in America by Charles Leerhsen

Dan Patch, for those of you who might be unfamiliar, was a Standardbred pacer who turned the harness rading world on its ear.

Born in 1896 in the small town of Oxford, Indiana, the horse that was to become a cultural icon was almost put down immediately due to a crippled rear leg. The offspring of an obscurely bred, lame mare and nasty-tempered stallion with a decent harness racing record, Dan Patch went on to become the first horse to pace a mile in 1:56 seconds. He eventually lowered that record, albeit under slightly dubious circumstances, to 1:55.

Dan Patch paced naturally, no hobbles required. (If you've ever seen a trotter race, and it's rare to find a track still in operation anymore, you'll likely have seen horses race in hobbles & assorted other paraphenalia intended to keep them from breaking gait.) He was something of fluke in other ways, too - traveling exceedingly well, handling crouds with equanimity, and taking almost every publicity event in stride.

The story Leerhsen writes is at once less and more than the simple biography of a great horse. It's a chatty, sometimes catty, account of a horse's life, of the lives and personalities of the men who surrounded him, and also a window into another time.

I picked the book up in the first place because I remember hearing about Dan Patch in Indiana (my grandparents lived for a while in Bloomington) and the name rang a bell from lyrics in the musical The Music Man, as well. I enjoyed reading it, even as long as it took me to get through.

If you're curious and would like to know more, check out the Dan Patch Historical Society or check out a brief bio courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society. If you're intrigued, track down a copy of Crazy Good - simply put, if you've seen or read Seabiscuit and enjoyed it, or read Old Bones, the Wonder Horse and felt likewise, give Crazy Good a shot.