Customer Reviews

Stud: Adventures in Breeding

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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 as of 2002. 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 Seattle Slew'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 is a story in last week's "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.

A lively and hilarious overview of a very weird subculture, the Kentucky farms where prize stallions retire to lives of compulsory, micro-managed promiscuity.
Conley is great on the qwirks of pampered horses and humans alike. The book is really less about equine sex (it does answer certain invitable questions) and more about the incredible financial dealings that surround these animals. I was reminded at times of Michael Lewis' "Liars Poker", another great book about money-fueled nuttiness. Not particularly a horse or a financial person myself, but I couldn't put the book down.

I never would have bought a book about thoroughbred breeding on my own, but a friend gave me Stud, and much to my surprise it turned out to be the best non-fiction book I've read in a long time. It fulfilled all the requirements of a "great read." It was interesting, funny and quite moving.

Conley succeeds in giving each horse a distinctive and appealing personality so it's fun to read about these grand and sometimes frightening animals and the life they lead. His descriptions of the fabulous horse farms - big and small - make you want to stop what you're doing and fly to Kentucky or California immediately!

Best of all, he takes you into the very select and rarified world of horse breeding - a world you would never even know existed before reading this book. His portraits of the patrician owners who have been breeding horses for generations as well as the oddball characters who work in the breeding barns is really fascinating and fun.

The book includes a surprising amount of history - which Conley manages to make very fresh and interesting. His observations - whether about British royalty, ancient horse trading or the origins of the first Stud Book - are fascinating, and his writing is as elegant as the horses he admires so much.

This book would make a great birthday or Father's Day gift for someone's special stud.

Expanded from his article about the world's most expensive thoroughbred stud, Kevin Conley's "Stud: Adventures in Breeding" falls squarely in the tradition of great New Yorker prose non-fiction. Like the various collections of the work of his fellow New Yorker author, Joseph Mitchell, Conely's book is funny and fascinating, its language lovely and lively. It's filled with incredible facts (who knew mares had clitorises?) and sneaky-hilarious observations (like the cool but horny horse who resembles Miles Davis).

The book is digressive in structure, using the stories of various thoroughbred studs (from the most expensive to the cut-rate) as springboards to examine other issues connected to horses: ... of a system to monitor the bloodlines of thoroughbreds. In the end, after all the astonishing descriptions of horsing coupling (lots of drugs, rubber gloves, and sexual surrogates), ... the sex act of horses and people deconstructs, and the book offers some fresh--and pretty profound--insights into a subject (sex) which has been done to death over the years.

Conley's book is a nice balance between the colorful people in the horse breeding business and the art and science of breeding itself. It is not intended to be a how-to book, as I believe was expected by another reviewer who didn't give it high marks. Rather, it is an insightful look into a world that most people know nothing about. I am a small time thoroughbred breeder living in New York City, (my brood mare doesn't live in NYC- rent is too high) and if I had a dollar for every person who giggled when I explained the breeding process I would be richer than the blue-grass elite. Now I can just carry a copy of this book with me at all times and simply hand it out to the gigglers to read for themselves because I don't get a dollar for the explanation or for the giggle. So- the book is fun, interesting, and entertaining. Read it and you'll understand what I mean when I say, "His produce led me to purchase a no-guarantee season for my mare who was covered twice before she caught, but unfortunately slipped before she dropped." I recommend the book for racing fans, especially those that are unfamiliar with the long and arduous process of getting a horse to the track.

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.

If it weren't for the "Look Inside" feature of Amazon.com, I would have never bought this book. But, since I did "Look Inside," I'd been dying to get the book, yet didn't want to spend the price. I finally succumbed (er?) to Amazon! I am 100% not disappointed. With over 200 pages, I read this book in about 15 hours off and on. I could not put it down except to sleep and drive (otherwise there'd have been a terrible wreck!).

The author, Kevin Conley, delves into realm of studs' lives. Starting out with (my personal favorite going on 7 years now) Storm Cat, the most successful stud since Mr. Prospector, and probably better! But Mr. Conley doesn't turn this book into a technical look at breeding for scientists and students, he turns it into a semi-humorous book for everyone to read. He talks about those things that you think are said in a stud barn, and they turn out to actually be true! I can't help but giggle and feel a little disgusted at what I giggled at, but then I say, "Hey! I'm not the one who wrote it!" He also goes down the interesting path of how the Thoroughbred actually began, and gives the background of every sire of a particular horse (can't remember his name right now), all the way back from the Arabs.

The one thing that disappoints me is how Mr. Prospector was notoriously left out of this book. He was obviously the sire of the most stakes winners until his death in 1999. Another little quirk I had was when Mr. Conley would refer to Nijinsky II as just Nijinsky. I'm just weird like that, but those two things aren't enough to bring my rating down to 4 stars.

But, if you're into horses, or maybe even if you're even not, this sure did turn out to be a good book to read! I'm very happy that someone could finally come up with a breeding book that doesn't make you look around the room to see if people are looking at the cover.

And for those Storm Cat fans, yes, that's him on the cover.

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.

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.

Conley's smart and funny tale about the high-stakes business of horse breeding brings to life a fascinating industry and all its quirky characters. Meet the insider who keeps a picture of her favorite stud on her desk in lieu of a boyfriend, the breeder who speaks about his horse's privates as if they were his own and the horse therapist who treats sexually frustrated stallions. And come to know the horses in all their neurotic glory: The promising stallion who won't run fast after a vandal chops off his mane and tail, the clueless stud who can't quite figure out how to lose his virginity, the angry mare who splits her date's member in half with one kick. And what about poor Honcho, the stud who faints when he's done? Conley makes all aspects of the industry this engaging (not just the horse sex), with literate observations that show how life in the breeding shed draws as much inspiration from Jane Austen as it does from singles bars. A highly entertaining romp!