Customer Reviews

In Service to the Horse: Chronicles of a Labor of Love

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As someone who has groomed for years on the 'A' show circut, a stint at a top QH breeding farm, and now owns a small H/J barn of my own, I can say this book does an excellent job of illustrating the 'real world' of the horse show and breeding scene. Too often riders (and owners) have absolutely no idea how much time and effort are involved in producing and maintaining a top notch operation. This book should be a must read for anyone wanting to go into any form of an equine career. It offers the worker a true perspective on what to expect, while also reminds the owners and managers how hard the grooms work and how they are often motivated. It is also a wonderful 'behind the scenes' look at a level of expertise many equine enthusiasts will never otherwise have the opportunity to share.

I really enjoyed this book, and I recommend it especially to people interested in show jumping and/or eventing. It deepened my respect for David and Karen O'Connor, who are featured throughout. They, and others like them, are all about promoting true horsemanship.

Riders come from all sorts of backgrounds. Many professional riders exchanged barn chores for lessons when they were young. It's not about how expensive your horse is or how much your boots cost; it's about loving horses and riding, and this book conveys that on nearly every page.

I have to confess I didn't learn a whole lot about grooms that I didn't know already (low pay, long hours, bad food, etc.), but that's okay. It was fun to go behind the scenes with them, and I admire them all the more. Nusser does a really good job of giving the reader a "you are there" perspective.

Little, Brown: if you're out there, bring this book to Lexington for Rolex in 2005. About 10,000 copies should be sufficient!

And I didn't. I read the entire book in one sitting! Susan Nusser depicts the lives of these professional horsepeople (and their horses) with humor and sensitivity. Her writing made me feel like I was there with the horses and their handlers. Not only was the book interesting, but it was informative. It makes you think about your own abilities and qualities as a horseperson.

There are so few books out there that give a realistic look at a professional groom's life. If you've ever considered becoming a groom or even going into the pro-horse world, this book is an amazing investment. Nusser gives almost every type of information you could want, including typical pay, benefits, housing, and insights into the personalities and habits of the grooms. It follows three pro grooms: a woman who just wants to learn everything she can, a woman who is wishes she was winning the medals, not grooming the horses, and a man who works for the money. Though it's non-fiction, it's written like a story and you can't help but be draw in. This is one of my top five favorite books - I can't impress on you how much you should buy it.

Follows the grooms in 3 areas of horse sport: eventing (grooms of the O'Connors), show jumping (of Anne Kursinski), and racing (of the breeding stallions at Lane's End). Very interesting, and for the most part not too dumbed down or inaccurate.

The stuff about Parelli got to be very annoying-this was back when the O'Connors were actually fans of him. The author seemed to be a bit too impressed with the man.

Some history of the horse was mixed in, as well as plenty of stuff about each discipline. It was very interesting to see how the horses were treated by each group of grooms. For example, the race horse grooms didn't seem to have a ton of affection for their charges and were very pragmatic. The O'Connor's grooms thought of "their" horses almost as if they were their pets or kids. Also enjoyed seeing the true lives of these people: long days, hard work, little pay, not much time for other people in your life.

Don't recommend this book for young kids: Some bad language, references to drugs and sex. Also some graphic scenes in the breeding shed of Lane's End. But for adults, this is an informative, entertaining read that doesn't make riding and horses out to be glamorous (unlike many horse books today). Nice book for the 99% of horse owners who do their own work, and for those that want to see what goes on in high-caliber equestrian operations. And it really makes you respect these incredibly hard-working people who get relatively little credit for any wins.

What more can you ask of a book? When first I picked out this book, it was with the intention of learning about the world of a professional horse groom. What I did not count on was learning all about that and so very much more. I would not have given the equine sport called Three Day Eventing a second thought before reading this book. This author describes it so brilliantly & colorfully, I could not wait to turn each page to, as they say, "find out what happens next". It is the true account of this groom's daily life in the professional stables of World Olympic Champions David & Karen O'Conner. Many other well-recognized names at the top of the horse world are featured as well, as this skilled writer takes you on an intimate journey few spectators are ever privey to. This honest & intrigueing portrait of life at the top of the equine world is one that no horse enthusiast should miss. However you feel about the sport of Three Day Eventing, this honest & compassionate portrait will engross you page after page. The sheer strength & beauty of the writing made this book a joy to read.

This book left me thinking about grooming and a grooms life for days after I read it. Straight forward, with lovely descriptive passages about the things grooms do and are, it reads easily and quickly--and is over too soon. Nice too, that it parallels three types of grooms: racing, jumper, and three day. Well done.

I came to this book without the background that many of the current reviewers seem to have. I knew very little about eventing and not much more about horses. But I must second many of the positive comments in these reviews. As my introduction to the world of horse grooming, this book was thoroughly, and even surprisingly, entertaining. Nusser does a superb job of bringing everyday activities to life, and she made me care about a group of people whose work I had never stopped to consider before. She also does an excellent job of incorporating historical information, contemporary research, and philosophical inquiry into the text. There is enough information to broaden the readers' (or at least my) perspective, but never enough to detract from the larger thrust of the book. The finely-tuned narrative voice allows Nusser to navigate through these different modes with little disruption, and she provides multiple perspectives on issues (like the ethical treatment of horses) without seeming to force one final point of view on the reader. Beautifully written. Thoroughly enjoyable. I would recommended this book both to people who have an interest in horses/grooming/eventing and to those like me who have become casually curious.

Definitely an insider's view of what goes on behind the scenes ... perhaps a bit more oriented toward eventing than the H/J crowd, but overall these are stories that anyone who has worked as a groom will relate to.

This book will certainly give you an appreciation for the hard work grooms put into caring for "their" horses, as well as the difficulty proffessionals have in finding and keeping gooms. Grooming is often a thankless job (more often than not, unfortunately!), with long hours and hard work, as well as little to no time off, but most people are unaware of this fact, even many horse enthusiasts. It's nice to see the grooms get the attention they deserve, as well as being an enlightening look into the world of professional riding.

My only qualm is that the book reads like a 200 page newspaper article, not like a novel. The writing (especially the tense of the writing), distances the reader from getting into the "story". Nonetheless, it's a worthwhile read for anyone interested in horse care or professional riding. Those with only a casual interest in horses or without any real experience in showing or stable management may want to look elsewhere for a book, but those with a working knowlegde of horse care and terminology will find this an interesting read.