Rating: 
Summary: Another Version of "There's a Fox in the Spinney"
Review: Korda Stewart has written a book that is certainly interesting in spots, especially when he describes his wild ride in hunt country.But overall I consider it a bland and a not too interesting autobiography of two self-indulgent horse enthusiasts who forsake spouses for each other and a life of riding around. For example, he builds up the rationale for why he and his new significant other chucked all to build a new life. But after building up their growing enthusiam for each other all he can write is that they pulled off each other's boots when passion finally overtook them. A publishing guru such as Stewart should certainly know that better-selling books will tell more and give readers more insight into the characters, not just descriptive narratives. He has fun describing a fellow rider who ignores his long-suffering wife while he rides horses in the park and consorts with a secret mistress who keeps duplicate copies of his favorite horse magazines at her place. But Stewart never clearly explains why he ignored and then abandoned his own wife and subjected his child to presumed trauma of joint custody while he set out to win his fashion-model and trophy wife to be. I think it would be interesting to know why his previous marriage was so empty that he sought solace in horses in the first place. Even Frank McCourt somewhat revealed his failings with his higher-social-class Episcopalian wife in 'Tis. Otherwise we have a book about people indulging in horses but that reduces them to a somewhat "Seinfeld" characterization of shallow egocentricity, which the Kordas are not. Korda and his wife clearly care about their horse family. And the book does indicate a couple can apparently build a stable relationship through a strong mutual interest. (Though some horsey circles are somewhat known for infidelities and swapping mates to try and improve their social position or better fund their horse habit.) And horses are an addiction, as Korda reveals whether intentionally or not. Also important is that Korda's book is certainly an original work but it seems hauntingly familiar to anyone who has read the earlier "There's a Fox in the Spinney: Memories of fox-hunting, racing and publishing" by Stuart Rose. Published in 1967, this book also tells of horse adventures experienced by Rose. If Rose abandoned a wife to pursue it, we never know, but he does talk about a daughter being allowed to ride a horse at an older age than Korda's son because Rose believes horses can be a danger. Like Korda, Rose is somewhat discreet about his personal life, but then that was almost 40 years ago when the culture was different. And Korda's industry has been a factor in changing the innocence of those earlier days. Between the two, I enjoyed Rose's work more. Korda is to be commended for being an accomplished writer with several works published. This indicates he has a following and certainly his book is not a bad work. In my opinion, Horse People lacks a transcending quality one finds in biographies written by James Squire, Lauren Hillenbrand and Monty Roberts. But those books are aimed at a more mature and discriminating audience. If Korda deliberately wrote a book for, say juvenile girls, then he has succeeded. But I am not motivated to join his followers and seek out other titles he has written. If they are like this one, I feel I would be disappointed again.
Rating: 
Summary: Best horse book ever! And I've read them all!
Review: Michael Korda captures the mystique and grace of horses and their relationship with humans like none other. As a lifelong rider, I found that Mr. Korda somehow put into words the difficult-to-describe emotions that horses evoke in people. This book had the rare ability to make me laugh and cry in the same chapter. I highly recommend this book, and it is not just for horse people!
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.
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.
Rating:
Summary: Don't end
Review: Probably the highest praise a book can receive is the reader's wish that it not end. And so it was with this wonderful story about a man and his history with horses. The author writes in a conversational, over the fence tone with no pretense and no nervous limits when it comes to discussing everything from his divorce, his Middleburg foxhunting experience,the "wasp circles" of the riding set to the prejudices of landed gentry. He shares insights into the riding loves (horses of course) of a former president, and into the wilder part of the Virginia hunt country known as Rappahannock. Inbetween describing his personal experience on the back of various mounts he shares his reflections on the role of the horse in defining social status and the definition of a gentleman. Names such as Winston Churchill,Steinkraus and Larry McMurtry pop up with Korda's witty anecdotes about their relationship to the horse world. He takes us inside the hard to define world of private training barns, so that we can experience society within. Horses themselves are central to his writing and Korda speaks of them in a way that respects their individuality without over projection. There is almost no area of the horse world that he does not touch upon with his articulate, poignant observations. The book is truly a tribute to the horse, the human horse bond, and most especially to his wife who must feel her husband's pride in her achievements. She is so lucky as are we to have this book to add to our library of good five stars. There was not one boring page or character I would have left out. Thank you Mr. Korda for many evenings of wonderful reading. I was so sorry to finish it...waiting for the next one, please hurry!
Rating:
Summary: A trip down memory lane
Review: Reading this book was like paging through an old scrapbook. It brought back a lot of fond memories. I used to know all of those horse people. Sure, my first riding instructor was a woman in the midwest, not a man in New York, but they were the same character. I never went on a fox hunt in Virginia, but I used to ride at a hunt club in the midwest, and it's all pretty much the same. And while I agree with some of the complaints about this book (yes, it really does need a little editorial "tightening-up"), I got more than enough pleasure from it to be willing to forgive its faults. I have to admit that I also enjoyed Korda's good-natured eye-rolling over the many foibles of the horsey set. I laughed out loud at his comment about the social ramifications of wearing a hunt cap with the bow turned down vs one with the bow turned up. I recall being lectured on that point of etiquette as a child, when I turned up with the "wrong" one. I see from the other reviews that there were a few non-horse people that enjoyed this book. I have to admit that I was surprised to see that. I'm part of an informal book-sharing circle, but I hadn't planned to pass this book along to anyone who isn't a horse person. For me, a big part of the appeal of this book was the comfortable familiarity of the subject matter. Absent that, I'm not sure I would have gotten much out of it.
Rating: 
Summary: repetitive and self-indulgent, avoid
Review: The title of this book should have been: A Horse Person, Scenes from my Wife's Life. It centers around his second wife, Margaret, and her increasing involvement in 3 day eventing. While the eventing world certainly could be a great subject for a book, Korda's approach is basically to heap praise on his wife and her immediate circle of small-time riders and trainers in upstate New York. I can only guess that Korda's position as an editor at Simon & Shuster was the only reason it got published and well-reviewed. His position may also explain the poor editing choices. His text is incredibly repetitive, with the same phrases about his wife, the cavalry, and statistics about horses found throughout the book. The structure serves only to lead the reader on, as does the dust-jacket and most reviews I have seen. The first 75 pages or so are funny, with a personal account of fox-hunting and riding in New York city, at once self-deprecating and insightful, that I hoped would set the tone for the remainder of the text. After he met Margaret however, the whole thing goes in a downward-spiral for 200+ pages. It does perk up toward the end with his account of prisoners who take care of horses. Even this however, is short-sighted. While he condemns the owners of feed-lots who slaugter horses for food as "killers" he never proposes alternate solutions for the problems of excess supplies of thoroughbred horses. And who is he to off-handedly dismiss the cultural practices of countries who do choose to eat horse meat. If you are looking for a book that mingles a personal narrative with the world of horses, I would suggest Elizabeth Mitchell's Three Strides Before the Wire. Horse People is definetly not a book for horse people, who will be annoyed, or those casually interested in the word of equestrian sports, who won't learn much.
Rating:
Summary: Horse People and Non-Horse People
Review: There are horse people and the rest of the folks. I can see how the latter would be picky-picky about "repetitiveness" and "poor editing." For the rest of us, however, this is THE book on the relationship between people and their horses. Someone said the only thing dumber thn a horse is the person who pays its feed bills. With three horses in the back yard, that makes me pretty stupid, I guess. When someone asks me why I enjoy spending an hour each morning picking up poop, I find it hard to explain. I could just refer them to Mr. Korda's book, but they probably wouldn't understand it, either. If you love horses, even if you don't own any, buy this book. If you don't love horses, you might not like it.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: What else but amazing can be said? Beautifully written and enjoyable from cover to cover. How anyone can say that he is self-absorbed is beyond me because he's even bashful of his superior riding talents. He also never says he is indifferent, he just expresses that he is not as enthusiastic as his wife but still loves riding a horses. Perfect.
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