Women are deeply attracted to one animal above all others: the horse. The majority of horse owners in Britain are women. This book explores the fascination and romance that these majestic animals hold for girls and women, a fact evident in every pony and horse club in the Western Hemisphere. Melissa Holbrook Pierson writes about the obsession with tackle and boots, the willingness to get dirty, to live with manure and hay, to polish leather until it shines. She remembers the enthusiasm with which young girls read detailed treatises on equine behaviour. She recalls the burgeoning collections of combs, brushes and hats.
The book is also a fine piece of writing about the horse and its extraordinary and tragic history of domestication by humans. For thousands of yeas, until the close of World War II, horses died by the million in military encounters and harsh agricultural work. The author reminds us that it has been less than a century since commerce, travel and war relied on the muscle and bones of horses. She has written book in praise of a powerful and gentle creature.
