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Dark Horses And Black Beauties
 
 
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Dark Horses And Black Beauties [Paperback]

Melissa Holbrook Pierson (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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From Publishers Weekly

During her midlife quest to explain the horse-filled frenzy of her childhood, Pierson (The Perfect Vehicle: What Is It About Motorcycles?) interviews the founder of an equine welfare group who expertly classifies the three kinds of women who love horses: "[T]hose who want something out of them, personally or professionally; those who anthropomorphize them; and those who are seeking a higher knowledge about horses and humans and the mysteries of their intersection." The author falls into the last group as she plumbs the depths of both the feminine and the equine, looking closely at how the two intertwine. Although the book freely mixes history, memoir, sociology, psychology and even snippets of poetry, Pierson does follow a clear narrative line. Acknowledging that her love of horses has endured long past childhood, she signs up for riding lessons. As she recalls passages from Black Beauty and describes Breyer model horse competitions from her youth, the author grows into a better horsewoman, remembering riding techniques and recapturing her love for manure's particular smell. As she gets more expert, her meditation on women and horses deepens and ranges more widely, encompassing horse racing, sidesaddle riding, class issues and competition. Pierson's smooth writing style is well suited to her subject, containing bits of breathless enthusiasm one moment and peaceful contemplation the next. Although she doesn't arrive at a definitive answer to why little girls all over the Western world suddenly become horse obsessed, she does provide a host of smaller, personal epiphanies about a woman's need to connect with the natural world, and the empowerment that comes from commanding a larger, more forceful being. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Pierson, whose previous book celebrated motorcycles, was one of those girls who love horses beyond reason, an obsession she explores in a vivifying, mosaiclike inquiry into our ancient and complex relationship with these powerful yet vulnerable beings. The world would be a very different place without the horse, Pierson observes, since they helped us become mobile, farm, build cities, and fight wars, and the number of horses who died in the line of duty is bloodchilling: 52,000 were killed in the Battle of Stalingrad alone, and nearly that many died in the streets of New York in 1916. This sad legacy shadows Pierson's penetrating musings on the beauty and soul of horses; her intriguing and anecdotal exploration of the seemingly biological, perhaps cosmic, connection between women and horses (almost all devoted riders are female); and her frank critiques of today's trendy equine universe. As she considers the enigmatic yet life-enriching nature of interspecies communication, Pierson makes plausible the assertion of many horsewomen that communing with horses is nothing less than a "path to illumination." Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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I WOULDN'T MIND feeling it again, the first time I fell in love. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Take the good with the bad, Sep 7 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Dark Horses And Black Beauties (Hardcover)
While perusing the horse section at my local Borders, it was refreshing to come across a "different" kind of horse book. Here was not a book that would teach me how to ride or care for my horse, but rather enlighten me to the aspects of just why I am the horsey girl I am (although a grown woman these days).

I was sucked in with the first few pages, so I took this book home. Through most of the first third to half of the book, I couldn't believe that someone out there had hit the nail on the head so many times -- the author almostly perfectly described (in my opinion) the forlorn love of the little horse-crazed girl, particularly the kind that can't have one. Like one of the other reviewers, I too was hoping for a trip down nostalgia lane.

However, in comparison to the author, I am a woman that was fortunate to achieve my dream. I have had three horses in my lifetime so far, and I actively compete and live the dream I always had. I believe that the many years this author spent not realizing her dream helped fuel a resentment within her. Not to mention her animal activist views she proceeds to share with the reader in a writing style that suggests that the longer and more poetic the sounding sentence, the more spiritual it will be.

Like many other reviewers, I found the book to be misleading in its intentions, and I don't believe the author quite understands the kind of love that those of us who ride our horses have. I have met her kind before, the type that believe we are disrespecting and abusing horses by riding them for our own pleasure. I know there are all types of horse owners out there, and that all types of abuses are out there, but I'm not one of those types of owners and therefore the darkness of this book's true underlying message saddens me when it's not insulting me.

I'm curious to speculate what this author's views would have been had she gone on to become a loving, doting horse owner earlier in life.

Overall, I'm glad I bought this book. I'm glad I read this book, and for a lot of reasons enjoyed the experience of reading it regardless of the overall feeling it left me with. I would recommend others to just expect to take the good with the bad on this one.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Painful, Jun 14 2002
By 
A. E. Wishard (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Dark Horses And Black Beauties (Hardcover)
A horse owner and lover, I was given this book as a gift. Had it not been a gift I would have happily thrown it in the trash, but I kept reading in order to give the soon-to-be-asked-for book review. This book is dark, very dark. There are a few nice "moments." I kept waiting for the "payoff" for all the darkness and it never came. Overall I found it disturbing and wanted only to expunge it from my memory. There are other books that will be much more enlightening and enjoyable. Buy those.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Voice for Horses, May 18 2004
This review is from: Dark Horses And Black Beauties (Hardcover)
I have read this book several times, when it was first published and again recently. This book is more than a feel good read about the relationship between women and horses. And it's also more than just an animal rights platform. From this book, I've re-established many of my earlier convictions about horses and developed new ones. As a former competitive rider who has been involved in Western performance events and recently taken up dressage, I've taken a hard look at myself and just exactly what I want to accomplish with a life blessed with horses. This book will help anyone figure out the same for themselves. A person who doesn't want to make any changes in the way their horses fit into their life will likely resent the author. But it can be a great inspiring journey for those who choose to take it. For the benefit of the horse and all other creatures, I hope this book reaches as many people as possible. As a last note, the controversial marketing of this book didn't bother this conservative republican non-vegetarian reader one bit.
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