Great Gift Ideas from The Equiery’s 2011 Library, continued from page 21


jumper world, the horse and livestock auctions, the mounted police, and fi nally to the Mary- land Hunt Cup. Author Anne Hambleton wrote this story from the perspective of the horse, much like Black Beauty, which human- izes Raja and creates an emotional connection between the horse and the reader. You will fi nd yourself rooting for him as you read every page. Glencoe resident Cappy Jackson, professional photographer, lifelong horsewoman and USPC graduate “A,” is responsible for the stunning cover photo. - Emily Stangroom, Classifi ed Ads


RIDER & HORSE: BACK TO BACK


by Susanne von Dietze & Isabelle von Neumann-Cosel Trafalgar Square Books T is lovely DVD and


book set are a great gift for any rider to get a better un- derstanding of the anatomy of the back of both horse and rider. T ere is some great information on diff erent body types and how to maximize the performance of horse and rider. T ere is also lots of information on dealing with back pain and improving fl exibility, stability and dexter- ity. Tons of beautiful photos and most of the DVD footage were taken and fi lmed at First Choice Farm in Woodbine, the home of dres- sage trainer Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel, who is the sister and cousin of the authors. I highly recommend it for any library! - Carolyn Del Grosso, Bookkeeping


THE BARNS OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND


by J. Carlton Sharp J. Carlton Sharp


Like many horse people,


we love barns…old barns, new barns, salvaged barns, converted barns. We are proud of our Maryland ru- ral heritage, and proud of the unique nature of South- ern Maryland barns in particular. With great excitement, we opened this book, expecting to see a plethora of large photos…a coff ee table book! Unfortunately, the book ap- parently lacked a bibliographic designer, who would have undoubtedly enlarged the barn photos and tightened up the text (reducing the point size, using a more space-conscious font, tightening up the leading and the kerning in order to allow more space for larger photos). T eoretically, the book is about “T e Barns


of Southern Maryland.” But is it really? At one point we are looking at photos of barns in Western Maryland…now Ohio… T en the book is digressing onto the subject of the nu- clear power plant at Calvert Cliff s. Why are we talking about 235 sunken ships at the bottom 106 | THE EQUIERY | DECEMBER 2011


of Mallows Bay…did the wood from the ships get reused to build barns? Editing and fact checking likewise appear to be missing from the production of this book (see equiery.com for a fuller explanation). Clearly author J. Carlton Sharp loves his sub-


jects. And while exactly what his subject for this book is may be unclear, it is clear he loves all the subjects upon which he touches…history (all history, not just Southern Maryland), barns (all barns, not just Southern Maryland barns), and the interplay of agriculture and commerce with government and bureaucracy. Maybe the book just needs a title change so that the reader can accept that the content of the book is going to ramble and digress, simi- lar to the way a conversation amongst amiable companions sitting on the front porch on a hot summer day might ramble and digress. And in this way, the book is quite enjoyable. It is clear that this book is a labor of love, and one feels like an ogre for casting a critical eye upon something which clearly gave the creator such joy and pleasure. Perhaps we could change the title of the book


to “An Amiable Ramble T rough Maryland,” with the subtitle, “History & Contemporary Rural Culture & Economics, with an emphasis on Southern Maryland.” - Crystal B. Kimball, Publisher


THE EIGHTY-DOLLAR CHAMPION


by Elizabeth Letts Ballantine Books T e Eighty-Dollar Champi-


on is the perfect Disneyesque story, and it’s all true! Harry de Leyer literally pulled Snowman off a truck bound for the slaughter plant from the New Holland auction and paid $80 for the former plow horse, which included the cost to deliver the horse to de Leyer’s Long Island farm. Snowman was as diff erent from the top jumpers of his time as a horse could be. Harry used him as a beginner lesson horse, and he practically served as his children’s per- sonal babysitter, taking them swimming three and four in tandem in Long Island Sound, and still Harry and Snowman won the top classes at the National, Washington, and other shows, against horses bred and trained specifi cally for jumping. Fans of show jumping will recall many of the names that appear in the book–Sinjon, Ksar d’Esprit, Frank Chapot, Kathy Kusner and oth- ers, as well as the shows that create the backdrop such as Devon, Washington, Harrisburg and the National. Elizabeth Letts weaves Harry’s per- sonal history with the social history of the late 1950s in a way that is both fascinating and pre- scient for our own times. Print media in the ‘50s was terrifi ed of the upstart new medium televi-


sion and desperate for ways to keep their readers. Snowman’s story provided entertainment for the masses through both sources. Just as Harry and Snowman rode the wave of


the new man competing in the sport formerly re- served for the rich, the horse shows also changed with the times. T e National, long a bastion of the horse show circuit and the New York social circuit, is no longer recognizable, but in 1958, a little upstart show called the Washington Inter- national Horse Show arrived on the scene, and 53 years later, is still going strong. As much as I enjoyed the book, I have to give


Letts and her copy editor a couple of dings. Hors- es have CONFORMATION, it’s their form, they don’t go through religious confi rmation cer- emonies, and nouns are declined, not verbs. T ese are easy fi xes for future editions. I also found it funny that as much as she writes about how horse shows were the bastion of the rich, she references Harry’s role models, who all tended to be self- made horse show men like himself. Letts’ prose shines in the competition se-


quences, as the reader soars over every fence with Harry and Snowman. Even if you know how the competitions end, you will fi nd your- self holding your breath, waiting to fi nd out if all the jumps stay up! - Tracy McKenna, Ad Manager


THE MAJESTY OF THE HORSE


by Tamsin Pickeral Barron’s Educational Series T e Majesty of the Horse


is simply a stunning book. When I fi rst saw the cover, I thought it was yet another breed book with your stan- dard conformation shot photos of the most com- mon breeds we all know and love. Or worse, photos of the horses in some silly romantic style where you can’t even really get a sense of what the horse is. T at is not this book! Instead, the reader is graced with fabulous images by award-winning photographer Astrid Harrisson that not only show off the basic char- acteristics of the breed, but give the reader a true sense of the feeling and essence of that breed. Hard to explain, I know, so just go out, get this book and see for yourself. Once you are done fl ipping through the pho-


tos, or like I did, studying each photograph wondering how Harrisson managed to capture the shot, settle into reading the text by Tamsin Pickeral. You won’t be disappointed. T e text is a rich history of each breed instead of a bland list of characteristics. One will learn about the legendary origins of the Assateague and Chin- coteague horses as well as the myths surround- ing the Marwari horses of India. Unfortunately for Pickeral, the photographs really do over- shadow the text but I highly recommend taking


800-244-9580 | www.equiery.com continued...


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