Rating: 
Summary: A book more about wealthy people than thoroughbreds.
Review: My sister gave our father this book while he was recuperating from surgery. I felt very sorry that he wasn't making use of it, so I picked it up to read. It took all my energy to make it to the last page. My family has raced and bred thoroughbred horses in Kentucky and elsewhere for over thirty years. This would never be the kind of book I would give a novice who wants to learn more about the thoroughbred world. The author spends more time retelling his elbow-rubbing adventures with the rich and famous of the Bluegrass than he does helping the reader understand the work, science, and fortitude that go into breeding a champion. Most of his lessons about breeding seem to be afterthoughts in-between gossip over a paddock fence. I'm not sure why it was more important to give every last physical detail about a vet than it was to describe what physical traits make a winning racehorse, and future moneymaker in the breeding shed. If you'd like to learn more about the social elite of the racing world, make sure to pick up this book. If you want to learn about beautiful creatures that can cause you more excitement, heartbreak and joy than any other member of the sporting world, then pass this book by.
Rating: 
Summary: Sex & money...
Review: Of course this book talks about horse sex (with the exception of a randy conversation between a vet and his helper regarding their prowess with their lips) and the kind of money that "normal" horse people, even breeders, fantasize about. That said, I have recommended it to all my horsey friends, some of my ... friends, and to my single wealthy friend. Not just for thoroughbred enthusiasts, the TB bloodlines and the history behind the Jockey Club stud book formation touches on Arabian, Quarter horse, Standardbred, Sport horses, Paints and Apps as well. Well written & entertaining and poignantly relevant with the recent passing of Seattle Slew. Like other horse lovers, I was appalled about his spinal surgery and assumed his owners' were greedy, this book showed me a different side.
Rating: 
Summary: good book that...
Review: reads pretty quick. a nice interlude into the breeding industry, with some cool info.
Rating:
Summary: A Book about horse breed for the rest of us
Review: Stud is a book written for the rest of us. Those people who feel that there are better ways to spend 100,000 than on letting a mare have a good time with a handsome horse. It manages to make the world of those who DO spend that kind of money seem very real and very intriguing indeed. Conley crosses the country from the elite of the business in Kentucky to the up and comers in California down to the struggling breeders in New Mexico. And he makes it all so fun to read. There are great portraits of the families and the farmers who try their hands at winning the most expensive 30 seconds in sport. From the office to the breeding shed to the graveyards of the great sires nothing is left uncovered "Stud". Best of all the author makes it enjoyable for those of us who are not a part of the horsey set.
Rating:
Summary: A Book about horse breed for the rest of us
Review: Stud is a book written for the rest of us. Those people who feel that there are better ways to spend 100,000 than on letting a mare have a good time with a handsome horse. It manages to make the world of those who DO spend that kind of money seem very real and very intriguing indeed. Conley crosses the country from the elite of the business in Kentucky to the up and comers in California down to the struggling breeders in New Mexico. And he makes it all so fun to read. There are great portraits of the families and the farmers who try their hands at winning the most expensive 30 seconds in sport. From the office to the breeding shed to the graveyards of the great sires nothing is left uncovered "Stud". Best of all the author makes it enjoyable for those of us who are not a part of the horsey set.
Rating:
Summary: When We Get Behind (Barn) Doors
Review: Stud is a great book for all thoroughbred enthusiasts or anyone just looking for several good laughs. Mr. Conley is obviously not a horseman and this fact actually makes the book better. His reactions to learning about, seeing and hearing the breeding process are informative and often comical. His descriptions of Earl the teaser stallion and Jughead, the old mare that young stallions visit to learn the, uhh, ropes of breeding females made me laugh out loud. Of course, my wife then made me read her what I thought was so funny and she immediately declared me a weirdo. The profiles of Storm Cat and Seattle Slew and the people who take care of them (can you say pamper with a capital P?) were outstanding. Mr. Conley covers, oops, bad word, I mean discusses several other lesser known horses and the contrast between these animals and the Kentucky royalty is very interesting (in the breeding world, "cover" refers to the stallion's physical breeding of the mare). Women and older folks may be pleased and surprised by Mr. Conley's revelation that the the horse breeding industry actually places a premium on the contributions of females and seniors. The author spends a little too much time discussing the history of horses and people and a group of semi-wild Shetland ponies and their social dynamics. Yawn. This and the lack of photos cause me to rate the book a 4. The remainder of the book is definitely a 5.
Rating:
Summary: When We Get Behind (Barn) Doors
Review: Stud is a great book for all thoroughbred enthusiasts or anyone just looking for several good laughs. Mr. Conley is obviously not a horseman and this fact actually makes the book better. His reactions to learning about, seeing and hearing the breeding process are informative and often comical. His descriptions of Earl the teaser stallion and Jughead, the old mare that young stallions visit to learn the, uhh, ropes of breeding females made me laugh out loud. Of course, my wife then made me read her what I thought was so funny and she immediately declared me a weirdo. The profiles of Storm Cat and Seattle Slew and the people who take care of them (can you say pamper with a capital P?) were outstanding. Mr. Conley covers, oops, bad word, I mean discusses several other lesser known horses and the contrast between these animals and the Kentucky royalty is very interesting (in the breeding world, "cover" refers to the stallion's physical breeding of the mare). Women and older folks may be pleased and surprised by Mr. Conley's revelation that the the horse breeding industry actually places a premium on the contributions of females and seniors. The author spends a little too much time discussing the history of horses and people and a group of semi-wild Shetland ponies and their social dynamics. Yawn. This and the lack of photos cause me to rate the book a 4. The remainder of the book is definitely a 5.
Rating:
Summary: Sex, Money and Humor
Review: The only thing missing from this book is actual passion. The author is fascinated by the millions of dollars top Thoroughbred stallion Storm Cat has generated via, well, generation. Storm Cat is the lens he uses to examine the exchange of vast quantities of money at auctions, breeding farms and the race track. He applies it to large and small parts of the horse breeding and racing industry and relates some very funny stories along the way. The book is amusing and well-written- perfect for the casual inquirer or a horse lover who isn't expecting too much in the way of technical or in-depth equine information. It reads well on a story-telling level for any reader. This wouldn't be on a list of recommendations for serious breeding advice, but I would recommend it as casual, funny and well-written narrowly focused reading. I enjoyed it a lot but as an equine enthusiast I never felt that at any point there was anything more than intellectual curiosity on the part of the author- no driving interest in the subject particularly, no passion for the Thoroughbred or for horses. Even the interviewed horse people came off as being surprisingly passionless about the subject of their lives. As most equestrians know, involvement with horses takes a great deal of passion. There are otherwise too many drawbacks to a life with horses. Highly recommended in spite of this- perhaps because of this the book is more accessible to the non-horsey reader.
Rating:
Summary: Sex, Money and Humor
Review: The only thing missing from this book is actual passion. The author is fascinated by the millions of dollars top Thoroughbred stallion Storm Cat has generated via, well, generation. Storm Cat is the lens he uses to examine the exchange of vast quantities of money at auctions, breeding farms and the race track. He applies it to large and small parts of the horse breeding and racing industry and relates some very funny stories along the way. The book is amusing and well-written- perfect for the casual inquirer or a horse lover who isn't expecting too much in the way of technical or in-depth equine information. It reads well on a story-telling level for any reader. This wouldn't be on a list of recommendations for serious breeding advice, but I would recommend it as casual, funny and well-written narrowly focused reading. I enjoyed it a lot but as an equine enthusiast I never felt that at any point there was anything more than intellectual curiosity on the part of the author- no driving interest in the subject particularly, no passion for the Thoroughbred or for horses. Even the interviewed horse people came off as being surprisingly passionless about the subject of their lives. As most equestrians know, involvement with horses takes a great deal of passion. There are otherwise too many drawbacks to a life with horses. Highly recommended in spite of this- perhaps because of this the book is more accessible to the non-horsey reader.
Rating:
Summary: good book that...
Review: The text on the back cover of this book says it all: "The most expensive thirty seconds in sports." You will need a lot of pocket change plus a very good mare before you book a cover from Storm Cat, the Thoroughbred stallion with the world's most expensive stud fee---$500,000 per mare through 2004. And there's no `payable when the foal stands and nurses' clause in his contract, either. "Stud" is a two-year labor of love by "New Yorker" staff writer, Kevin Conley who became intrigued by the amount of money that a Thoroughbred stallion could earn after retiring from the racetrack. This is an exuberant, stylishly-written book that will tell you everything you wanted to know about what goes on in the breeding shed, but were afraid to ask. I also learned some things I didn't know I wanted to know, like the diameter of a certain stallion's testicles---this is a book for horse-lovers who have already been through sex education class. The author spends some time at the Keeneland sales in Lexington, Kentucky, where the `Doobie Brothers' (four sheiks from the royal family of Dubai) duke it out with the `boys' (Ireland's Coolmore Stud) for the most expensive yearlings in the sale (often Storm Cat progeny). Conley doesn't neglect the smaller breeders who make a profit by buying and breeding inexpensive mares with good blood-lines, and then selling their yearlings and two-year-olds for a profit. (There was a story in a recent "Thoroughbred Times" about a filly "who clearly did not have enough pedigree to shoot for the stars," yet was sold for $1.9 million at Barretts March sale because she showed that she could run.) Finally, Conley details the differences between a `natural' cover (Thoroughbreds), artificial insemination (A.I.) techniques (Standardbreds), and pasture breeding (semi-feral Shetland ponies). Speaking for myself, I wouldn't exactly use the word `natural' after reading that it usually takes five or six people plus a stallion, plus a twitched and hobbled mare to complete the breeding process. Thoroughbred folks tend to be very conservative and have already rejected A.I. even though it is a safer, cheaper, and healthier method of getting mares in foal.
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