THE HOME RUN HORSE: INSIDE AMERICA’S BILLION-DOLLAR RACEHORSE INDUSTRY AND THE HIGH-STAKES DREAMS THAT FUEL IT. Glenye Cain. Daily Racing Form Press. 100 Broadway, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10005. 250 pp. 2004. $24.95.

From starting gate to finish line, this is a “behind-the-scenes” book that really delivers what it promises–an inside look at the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry.

Over the last 200 years horsemen–as breeders, owners and trainers–have transformed a pastime into an industry, an animal into a commodity with the goal of achieving greatness by producing a “home run” horse. While the term is generally thought of in conjunction with baseball, author Glenye Cain uses it to refer to a race horse that is a champion at the track with multi-million dollar earnings and then retires to a breeding farm to make millions more as a sire.

Author Cain is a correspondent for the Daily Racing Form and has long covered the Thoroughbred breeding and auction industry. She’s also the co-author of Champions: The Lives, Times and Past Performances of the 20th Century’s Greatest Thoroughbreds. Her knowledge of the Thoroughbred stems from nearly 20 years in the industry and hands-on experience galloping horses at the track. She is a Princeton University (N.J.) graduate and lives in Lexington, Ky., with her dogs and horses.

Cain’s book follows race horses and their connections from breeding farms to elite auctions and private sales. The goal of producing a “home run” horse usually includes a visit to Louisville in May for the Kentucky Derby. While the yearling sales are a popular venue for horse shopping, Cain notes that “looking for a Derby horse at the [sales] is like recruiting a professional football player out of a class of third-graders.” In 2003 the sales price of the Derby entries ranged from $900,000 to $4,500 dream horses. And the $4,500 3-year-old was one of just 106 registered Thoroughbreds born in Utah in 2000.

Cain describes how developing a home run horse requires a full-sized roster to become profitable?trainers, investors, farm managers and the all-important pedigree or bloodline consultant join the syndicate managers. Still, the odds are daunting, especially since the average race horse earns only $16,000 in his career. Cain notes that one man tried to explain his purchase of a high-end yearling by stating, “There is no logic at all. It’s love. It’s ego. I don’t know why, but you just get stupid.”

The many charts, computer programs, syndication offers and “deals” often over shadow the horse itself. But this well-researched and intelligently written work clearly leaves the reader feeling that the Thoroughbred is much more than a commodity to be used up and then discarded.

The book hits a “bases-loaded” home run with its stories of success and failure. No outs, strikes or errors here–a smoothly written double header meant to be read and shared by anyone who sees the Thoroughbred race horse as an MVP.

Cynthia Curran

FUN WITH PONIES AND HORSES: TRAINING, RIDING GROOMING. Debby Sly. Hylas Publishing. 129 Main Street, Irvington, NY 10533. 128 pp. 2004. $19.95.

Ponies And Horses is a great book for a young equestrian.

Packed with bright, instructive photos, this no-nonsense, easily read book helps to introduce basic horse care and riding to young children, but does it with a sense of fun and adventure.

The book opens with a list of questions that any child should be asked before owning a pony or horse?questions designed to help children determine their level of commitment before making the purchase: Are you willing to get down and dirty to take care of your pony? Do you have the right adult support? Are you dedicated enough?

Then, assuming the child is really ready for a pony, Sly moves on to explain horse body language, what clothing a young rider needs, and basic grooming before heading to the really fun stuff–riding.

Sly delivers her lessons in a jargon-free style and concentrates on imparting the most essential information in the most basic way. Her theme is to “focus on fun,” and that theme is the book’s real strength, its real contribution. She dedicates a whole chapter to fun and games with your pony. She even lays down some ideas for pony parties: How to have relays and races, costume parties where riders and horses get dressed up, and even a step-by-step instructive for creating a knight’s costume for the rider and for the horse.

Each chapter is wonderfully augmented with photos that illustrate every point Sly makes, plus helpful diagrams and quirky cartoons that make you smile.

She reiterates safety in everything but is clever enough to make her safety tips subliminal so they don’t bore the young rider or scare the parent.

This is a very basic book, but that too is a strength. It’s a perfect, fun introduction to the equestrian world for any child who dreams of owning a pony or for one who’s just purchased a pony. Sly makes all those mysterious things that we do with horses very approachable and gives the young reader a confidence-building reference tool.

Nicole Lever

RIDE PENNSYLVANIA HORSE TRAILS–PART II. Carolyn B. Cook. Hit The Trail Publications LLC, P.O. Box 970, Cherryville, PA 18035. www.ridepennsylvania.com. 268 pp. Illus. 2005. $23.95.

Carolyn B. Cook comprehensively described the trails in the eastern half of Pennsylvania in 2003, and now she’s written a parallel book for the western half of the Keystone State.

And riders–both young and old, in Pennsylvania and surrounding states–should thank her. These days, when a drive to anywhere reveals a plethora of new subdivisions, mega malls and roads, it’s a relief and an inspiration to discover that a state in the middle of the crowded North-east Corridor really does have hundreds of thousands of acres of protected land for us to ride through.

As Cook writes in the introduction, “Before I began my quest to locate trails open to equestrians in Pennsylvania, I was under the mistaken impression that Pennsylvania did not have many trails to offer. Fortunately, I was wrong, and I discovered a whole new world of wonderful destinations.”

But, notes Cook throughout, the trick is that equestrian trails don’t appear or remain in place by accident. She writes, ” The last several months have been very encouraging as I spoke with representatives of numerous locations who told me they were developing new trails and/or expanding current ones. Some doors have been closed to us, but new ones have been opened. Nor does it mean the old doors cannot be reopened.

But we need all equine enthusiasts contributing.”

The main difference between this volume and the first is that Cook has included more information on trails (and parking areas) that are suitable to carriage driving too.

But whether you want to ride or drive through Pennsylvania’s parks or wilderness areas, all the information you need is in one of these two volumes: a complete description of the area, directions, contact information, facilities available, and her observations as she and her husband, John, rode along the trails themselves. They even got married in a county park in the middle of their research.

Now if only Cook–or others–would write the same book for the other 49 states.

John Strassburger