Country Life Diary: Three Years in the Life of a Horse Farm

Rating:
Summary: A must for any horse racing fan!
Review: Country Life Diary gives a several year account of life on a thoroughbred horse breeding farm. You share the highs and lows, the tears and smiles of each and every foal that is born and the hopes and dreams of making it to the biggest race - The Kentucky Derby.

Rating:
Summary: What a load!
Review: The reality of Country Life Farm is that Josh Pons spends the bulk of his time belittling employees, griping about horse owners, and bemoaning the miseries of the equine industry in an ever-increasing cycle of meaningless activity. His use of the metaphor is as sloppy as that of his work on the lunge-line, his run-on sentences as exhausting as the round-pen endeavors he whips his Thoroughbreds to accomplish. He is as good a writer as he is a horseman--don't waste your money on this one.

Rating:
Summary: How do you stop a horse from committing suicide?
Review: This thoughtful diary recounts the daily trials and tribulations of raising delicate creatures in a too modern world that cares more about horse power than horse flesh. Although I came to the book as a horse lover, I left with a deep appreciation of the agricultural history of Maryland, the need to fight against suburban sprawl, and the many challenges in the never easy game of Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing. The account of Rollaids, just one of the many horses Josh Pons saves from suicide, provides narrative strength to a book that you can read straight through -- or pick and choose daily entries according to season and mood. Now I use the internet to follow the "family" successes -- of Citidancer, Allen's Prospect and Carnivaly, the author's tempermental princes of speed.