Horse People : Scenes from the Riding Life

Rating:
Summary: Too rich for my blood.
Review: I bought this book based on a glowing review I'd read in the Los Angeles Times. Having grown up in NYC and, like Mr. Korda, ridden at both Claremont Stables in Central Park and Clove Lake Stables on Staten Island, I thought for sure this book would be chock full of places and experiences I could relate to. Boy, was I wrong. Aside from finding out that someone I dated in the early 70's is a friend of Mr. Korda's and is featured prominently in his book (that was pretty neat), I didn't learn much of anything except how the "other half" lives. A more appropriate title for this book would have been "Rich Horse People - Very Rich Horse People". Being a horse owner myself (with a relatively modest income), I had a hard time relating to the endless descriptions of Mr. Korda's wealthy acquaintances and their acres of horse property. He seems to be more interested in the people he's writing about than the relationship between those people and their horses. And what's with the little phrases en francais he tosses in every few pages and the occasional (dare I say it?) racist and condescending references to those less fortunate (i.e. referring to the employers of stable hands as their "betters")? All in all, a very disappointing book for me - so disappointing, in fact, that I quit after page 175 and sold my copy on Ebay. If you're looking for a great horse book, go read Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand or Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley. If you want to learn about rich people and their estates, there's always the A&E channel.

Rating:
Summary: Should have been called "Me and My Beautiful Second Wife"
Review: I found this book to be a bore - written by a man who, once he leaves his wife and child for another married woman, spends the entire book knocking every single person he comes into contact with, save for himself and said second wife. Even his "friends" aren't safe from catty remarks, all of which serve to promote his fabulous second wife, who appears thoughout the book in pictures riding her various horses. Anyone who knows how to ride can clearly see she ain't all that she's cracked up to be according to her doting, emascualted husband. In fact, she hasn't even competed in the "high levels" Korda claims - she competes at very low levels, presumably so she can get lots and lots of ribbons and beat the "snooty little girls that only have horses because their parents pay for it." The text is sloppy - he repeats himself so many times I began to compare his differing descriptions of the same activity to see which was more outlandish. The book makes about as much sense as the piture of his wife, in her underwear, in the pasture, with her horses. It's a little weird, though it does explain why she sticks with him - he must foot the horse bills so she can stick with her true loves! I would suggest that anyone reading this book might not want to take lessons from Mr. Korda - his morals, as well as his skills as a horseman, are much exaggerated.

Rating:
Summary: My love of horses, and life with the horsey set.
Review: Mr. Korda is a witty and self-effacing writer. His horse antics in the shadow of his more dedicated spouse are told well with a keen ability to make the amusement, gravity, danger, embarrassment, or sadness of the situations become vividly alive for the reader. His story of his ride with the Middleburg Hunt, with him billed as "dare devil rider" in spite of his insistence to all to the contrary is hilarious. Numerous examples of his being caught in situations with the horse having the upper hoof are too resonant to be fiction. It is clear that horses have been an important part of his life because the tales told have elements that will resonate with any horse person, regardless of their riding style. His familiarity with a class of society that I am not familiar with was equally interesting and revealing. .I started riding in college in the 1960s in NJ, and excursions to some of the scenes in this book, such as to Millers and Kaufmans were eagerly anticipated and all too infrequent. Having some familiarity with the environment was certainly a plus for me.

For the most part it is a good read, a book artfully written. The major fault I found however - dare I say it since Michael Korda is editor-in-chief of Simon and Schuster - is that there are sections that could have had a bit more editing to avoid repetition. That said I heartily recommend the book to those wishing to immerse themselves in the life of one person who loves horses, and in a finely woven picture of how the horse gradually takes up more space in his life. There are many gems in this delightfully written book.