Country Life Diary : Three Years in the Life of a Horse Farm (Revised Edition) [Paperback]

Josh Pons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 1999

This intimate diary provides a rare opportunity to view a Thoroughbred nursery through the eyes of a family as they strive to breed, raise, and train winning racehorses. This updated edition includes an epilogue noting the farm's involvement with racing's superhero, Cigar, who was foaled and raised at Country Life Farm.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Country Life Diary is delightful, informative, amusing, touching, sensitive, perceptive. -- Joe Hirsch, Daily Racing Form

Pons, a third generation breeder, takes the reader on a journey through the intricate life of Country Life Farm, a family breeding facility just outside of Baltimore. From his insightful, descriptive and sometimes disturbing diary entries, the reader becomes immersed in the daily struggles and joys of the many people who depend on the farm and Thoroughbreds for their livelihoods. This book - three years in the life of a Maryland Thoroughbred breeding farm - was first published in 1992. In this 1999 edition, the text has been revised and expanded. The author's wife, Ellen Blackwell Pons, provides the detailed black-and-white illustrations, of which there aren't nearly enough.

Pons has a unique writing style that sounds as if he's talking to a close friend. His entries seem to bring the reader into the actual experiences-from deciding which action to take with a sick foal, to praying for positive ultrasound results, and even whether to cull a young stallion from the farm's roster. If you ever thought about breeding horses and running a farm, this book brings you as close as you'll ever get without actually getting your feet muddy. -- Chronicle of the Horse, October 29, 1999

What makes (Country Life Diary) special is the mixture of his insight - brutally realistic at times, but at other moments, sheer poetry. -- The Baltimore Sun

About the Author

Josh Pons is the third generation of his family to operate Country Life Farm near Bel Air, Maryland. Pons graduated with a degree in English from the University of Virginia. After college, he worked as a writer for The Blood-Horse magazine in Lexington, Kentucky. He later returned to school to earn a law degree from the University of Kentucky. Pons has earned two Eclipse Awards, racing's highest honor, one in 1981 for articles written in The Blood-Horse magazine and the other in 1992 for the first edition of Country Life Diary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 398 pages
• Publisher: Eclipse Press; Revised edition (May 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158150019X
• ISBN-13: 978-1581500196
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,514,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How do you stop a horse from committing suicide?, October 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Country Life Diary : Three Years in the Life of a Horse Farm (Revised Edition) (Paperback)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars wake up, April 19, 2006

By 

Carol J. Burchfield "cjb" (seattle wa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Country Life Diary : Three Years in the Life of a Horse Farm (Revised Edition) (Paperback)

d wayne lukas has taken a personal matter and written a awful review of this book. it is a wonderful book!!! i have spent years on a throughbred farm working side by side with owners and trainers, this book is about the coperation of all the folks that work on the farm., it is true as can be. the book goes way beyond just life on a throughbred farm and adds poetry and wonderful visual of what the farm looks like and how the family works togeather to bring new foals into the world, to hopefully go on to win races and keep the farm in the black. shame on mr lukas.!!!!!!! the book is enchanting!!!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, February 8, 2009

By 

Nom de Plume (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Country Life Diary : Three Years in the Life of a Horse Farm (Revised Edition) (Paperback)

Well done, Mr. Pons! This is an insider's look at the difficulties facing a small thoroughbred farm (and the industry at large) from the vantage point of a breeder. The moments of pure joy and those of frustration and heartbreak are presented with grace and eloquence. The diary format and the hand drawn illustrations give this book a simplicity and clarity that is refreshing. It is a good read, whether a page at a time or in larger blocks.

Country Life Farm has a rich history and I am pleased that as of this writing (Feb. 2009), Mr. Pons and his family are still in the game (more than a decade since the book was published).