No comments about Obsessed.

No comments about Picking Winners at the Harness Races.

No comments about The Story of Tattersalls.

No comments about The Grand National.

3 comments about All the Kings' Horses.

1. This is a delightfull book about the good and bad times of Mary King and her horses. It is written from the heart and you will laugh and cry. Annie's views and stories are wonderfull. She deserves, and gets, alot of credit for being a top groom. A must read for any eventer.



2. This book has been a pleasure to read. I may be a bit bias as Mary is my Sister, but all in all the book captures the fun and entheusiasm Mary releases to everyone she meets.



3. Mary King's equestrian eventing career has garnered four team gold medals at World and European Championships and the title of British Champion a record four times. She has also represented Britain at the last three Olympic Games. This book was published in 1997, and so the Sidney and Athens Olympic Games are not included.
   
   This is a very frank look at the world of one-day and three-day eventing, a great book for horse-crazy teens as Mary King had to earn the right to participate. Her parents did not buy her way in. She began her career on the local vicar's pony, and then served as another rider's 'head horse girl,' shoveling her way to an eventing career, as it were.
   
   The initial chapter after the introduction, "The Early Horses," is actually very depressing as all of Mary King's early eventing horses had to be put down because of navicular disease or tendon problems. I almost stopped reading.
   
   The rider had her share of injuries, too, including a concussion and a broken neck (2001). She also took several spills while she was pregnant with her daughter Emily, but luckily nothing came of them. Mary King is one dedicated rider!
   
   Her head horse girl, Annie Collings, also participated in the writing of this book and it is almost exclusively about the horses that made Mary King's equestrian triumphs possible. The 'stable notes' text boxes list the horses' 'personal details' ("16.3hh bay gelding, with big distinctive blaze"), 'main achievements' ("Team gold European Championships 1991"), 'characteristics' ("Tall, dark and handsome; sensitive and a real gentleman"), 'likes' ("rubbing his head, usually on Annie"), and 'dislikes' ("men; staying away from home; cows; big dogs").
   
   There are lots of color photographs of Mary, Annie, and the horses, one of my favorites being of Apple rolling around in his stall shavings with a big, horsey grin on his mug.
   
   Note: King Solomon III, who is described in this book as Mary's up-and-coming even horse actually took her to the 2003 European Championships (they came in fifth). You can check out this rider's continuing career at: www.olympics.org.uk/teamgb/biogs_athens.asp?AthleteID=549.

No comments about Horse Racing: A Comprehensive Guide to the Racecourses of the United Kingdom and the Major Leisure Attractions Around Them (Family Leisure Guide).

No comments about From Aintree to York.

No comments about The Grand National: Anybody's Race (A Quartet Original).

No comments about Horse Racing (Family Leisure Guides).

No comments about Classic Lines.