Merryland: Two Years in the Life of a Racing Stable

by Josh Pons

Third-generation Maryland horseman Josh Pons chronicles the daily adventures, challenges, thrills, and sometimes sadness facing his family's small training stable of Thoroughbred racehorses. Merryland... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 158150182X
• ISBN13: 9781581501827
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Eclipse Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Joy and Heartbreak

This is a wonderfully honest and revealing look at the Thoroughbred Industry from the standpoint of a breeder and owner with deep historical family ties to horse racing. It is a welcome follow-on to Country Life. One cannot help but be impressed by the range of emotions reflected in Pon's diary. One moment flying high with a winner, the next down in the dumps with a an injured animal whose career is over before it ever started. Recommended to anyone interested in horse racing and/or farm life.

Pons family and horses, part 2

Though not really a sequel to Pons' earlier "Country Life Diary" (which was updated slightly with a new edition after Cigar's Horse of the Year campaign), many of the names will be familiar. There are occasional times when I was startled to read a passing reference to some humans and horses who have died since "Country Life Diary" (the vet Peyton, the teaser Popeye). The tone is much the same-- a realist's look at the business of raising racehorses. In this book we don't hear as much about the Pons family (other than the late patriarch, who died as the book was being written). Merryland is a training facility rather than a breeding farm, so there is not as much detail about the stallions. There is some inevitable heartbreak as horses unexpectedly suffer catastrophic injuries. It's not really a criticism to say that I would have liked to hear more about some of the horses portrayed in the first book (and this one). Rather, I enjoyed the author's writing, and this comparatively slim volume left me wanting more!

Poetry In Motion

In his second collection of diary entries originally published in a series for The Blood-Horse magazine, Thoroughbred farm owner Josh Pons discusses the triumphs, tragedies and frustrations within the industry. More like essays, Pons tackles a variety of issues that are bolstered by an array of photographs, like the fading away of farms due to commercial/residential developments, the fragility of the equine athlete and family tragedies, on and off the track. The Thoroughbred is poetry in motion; Pons adds a personal touch for a unique perspective on "The Sport of Kings," from the grass-roots.

For the love of horses

This is an excellent book. I own an extensive library of books dealing with horse racing. I have purchased books dealing with trainers, breeders, jockies and tracks and this book rates up there with the best. You will get a first-hand, honest, emotional view of breeding, delivering and raising horses. You will feel like you are there and experiencing all the beauty and heartbreak with the writer. I only wish he would write more often on this topic. I have read his first book twice and couldn't wait for this, his second. Please Mr. Pons, please write another diary of your life with these amazing fragile creatures. You are truly gifted.