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Book Review - The Head and not the Heart

Visit  http://www.nataliekreinert.com/  to order this book, PLEASE! Natalie Keller Reinert, aka Union Square, aka an array of amazing blogs, like http://retiredracehorseblog.wordpress.com/ which will also lead you to her other array of social networking accounts. I find them a little dizzying, but I am older than trees.

Natalie's first comment on my blog made me laugh. I'd have to say most of her comments made me laugh. Her writing skills are superlative, and her grasp of horse life laser sharp. Natalie makes me laugh, and cry, and gasp and cheer over her myriad real and fictional equine escapades, which brings me to the book Natalie was whined into sending me to review. I haven't reviewed a book since my short lived stab at University English courses. So, I have no idea what format is acceptable. It's a book about the track. The End:)

All I can say is, I want MORE. Funny, wonderfully accurate, sad, inspiring, honest. I loved it, raced through it, was so sorry to see it end. I kept paging down, but nope, hit the biography blurb, instead. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the ending! Who wouldn't. I just didn't want it to...

Natalie has an uncanny ability to place the reader firmly into her written world, and you feel/smell/taste the sweetness of a horse's every day life. A rider's bruised butt, a cold harsh wind, a throbbing lack of sleep, a kind horse's generous eye...  Sigh. More, Natalie. Thank you so much for letting me read the whole thing!

As a true fan, I will always want more:)
I'll keep the whining to a dull roar. Promise. I'll try, anyway. When you hit my age, you do what you can to get what you want;)

Here's a poem I found. I dedicate it to Natalie and hearts that will always love horses.

The Midnight Steeplechase
The steam of their steeds
Like a mist of the meads,
Veiled the moon in a curtain of cloud.
And the stars so bright
Shuddered in light
As the unhallowed troop in their shadowy shroud,
Galloping, whooping, and yelling aloud,
Fast and unfailing, and furious in flight,
Rattled on like a hailstorm, and vanished in night.
ANON

FlashBack Alert!

One of my favourite tunes..

Howard Jones - No One Is To Blame 1986

You can look at the menu, but you just can't eat
You can feel the cushion, but you can't have a seat
You can dip your foot in the pool, but you can't have a swim
You can feel the punishment, but you can't commit the sin
And you want her, and she wants you....

I remember, in 1984 or so, a teenaged student of mine expressing admiration that I had a tape of Howard Jones, who wrote/sang/published music for a while in the early 80's. Videos were a major thing too, of course I never watched them. Google YouBoob, he's there! Years later, I discovered how weird lookin' he truly was. He started mohawks that my relations are sporting today. Strange.
His music is a haunting reminder of so many pasts lives I've led. Teacher. Trainer. Candlestick-maker.

Sigh. Those days are still so close. He was GREAT to ride horses to, too. Very rhythmic/hypnotic/rollicking. I've mentioned music and horses before, haven't I?
Howard Jones lyrics and GoLightly had a lot in common.
Oh, and my readership has dwindled, as I predicted it would, but it is hard to hold your fingers back from what they've been fulminating on for 40+ years.

Nine Eleven, two thousand and one

Who cannot remember the horror, the shock, the fear, the raw courage shown by the American people.
To The First Responders, still dying today. To all who lost their lives. To the families. The children.
We all remember where we were. We will never forget.