Summer Reading

Have you given any thought to which book(s) you plan to read this summer? Reading a book, in terms of the time you invest in doing so, is a commitment. I know, I know, it seems we never have enough time left in a day to accomplish all that we set out to do and now, I am suggesting that you add a book to it? Well, summer reading, for me, is all about finding that one really good book, you know, that one book that you can't stop thinking about, long after you finish reading it? In some cases, this can also be the book that changes your life and therefore, well worth the time you sink into the task. 

Perhaps you have received the email blast, which directed you to the website or maybe, someone you were speaking with, mentioned the book. In the prologue of The Matrilines of the Egyptian Arabian Horse, a massive two-volume set, Dr. William Hudson writes, 

"This book is written specifically for people who are new to Egyptian Arab horse breeding; it is written for beginners. There has been no attempt to sanitize or simplify the subject; it is not neat and it is not orderly. It is complicated." 

Dr. Hudson sets out on a literary journey, weaving together the latest developments in equine genetic science with the vast history, art and culture of the Arabian horse.  Intrigued by the private mtDNA study that Dr. Hudson had been engaged in for so many years; I was expecting a book that focused on the results of the study and how the results will impact Egyptian Arabian horse breeding. However, the book that I got is so much more than that! The book is amazing and at times, overwhelming. It's not a book about pedigrees, in the same sense that books like The Pyramid Society's Stud Book for Straight Egyptian Arabian Horses Worldwide is; although at times, you will need to know and understand Arabian horse pedigrees and programs, to understand the extent of the material that Dr. Hudson presents to the reader. For example, one of the driving factors for Dr. Hudson's mtDNA study was the mare Yamama, who for many years was classified as Kuhaylan Jellabi, only to discover through mtDNA (and a more thorough study of the journal entries of Lady Anne Blunt), that the mare was Saqlawi, tracing to Ghazieh and not to Jellabiet Feysul as previously believed to be. While the mtDNA study confirms the reliability of the EAO Stud Book records; the incorrect strain classification for Yamama does cast doubt on all Egyptian Arabian horses, which this book sets out to change.  It is definitely the type of book that deserves more than one reading, simply because of the volume of information it contains, on a wide variety of topics. I enjoyed the book very much and I am sure that you will feel the same way too and possibly, you will find yourself, like I was, wishing that this book had existed 25 years ago.

An email exchange with Andrew Steen resulted in an opportunity to purchase this wonderful book, Concerning Oriental Horses and Those Originating From Oriental Strains, written by Count Waclaw Rzewuski, circa 1821. Translated by James E. Luck and annotated by Andrew K. Steen, this glorious edition, encased within a real leather slipcase, was published by Tales of the Breed, 2015. I am intrigued by Count Rzewuski, aka "The Polish Bedouin", despite the fact that there isn't much written about him or his horses. The scant recognition paid to Count Rzewuski is a topic that appears early in the book. Andrew Steen writes, 

"Rzewuski's travels there were a full 38 years before William Gifford Palgrave's camel-trek to the Persian Gulf and 39 years prior to Carlo Guarmini's horse-buying expedition to the oasis cities of Hail and Taima. Moreover, he ventured into many of the same unexplored hinterlands over three decades before Captain Richard Burton arrived to Mecca in 1853 and a half century before Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and Lady Anne Blunt's famous 1879 Pilgrimage to Nejd."

There is so much information packed into the 350 pages that make this book, everything from a history of the Count to the qualities found in true Bedouin bred Arabian horses. The annotations made by Andrew Steen, bring much clarity and depth to the work, which helps to broaden and further explain the meaning of many statements made by Count Rzewuski. The annotations help to make the words of the Count come alive. There are many surprises within the book but imagine if you will, the surprise to read that the horses of Nejd, could be tall horses; 16 and even 17 hand horses were not uncommon. This runs in contrary to what the other desert travelers have said about the Nejdi horse being small in stature.

"It is a great error to believe that desert Arab horses should generally be small."

writes Count Rzewuski in a chapter devoted to the size of the Nejdi Kuhaylan horse. The Count makes many interesting comments like this. I think this will be one of the books that I mentioned in the beginning of the blog, that is, a book which inspires much thought and therefore, remains on your mind, long after you finish reading it.

I just finished reading this book, written by the same author who gave us The Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect Horse, both of which I also read and enjoyed. Imagine that you are in your early sixties, you become so ill that you are hospitalized, you have no money and the doctor gives you somewhere between 2 and 4 years to live. What would you do? Annie Wilkins, the "HER" in the title buys an unpapered Morgan horse, Tarzan, and together with her dog, Depeche Toi, sets out on horseback, determined to ride from Maine to California.

"When she was a girl, Annie remembered, every year, without fail, at some point her mother would stare through a frost-spattered window with a hungry look in her eye. 'You know, we should just quit this place,' she would say. 'Hitch a horse up to a buggy and head west. Out to California. I would love to see that Pacific Ocean at least once in my life."

There are so many things that I still want to accomplish in my life. Things that are really important to me (and have been for a long time). Now that I am older, I feel like the best part of my life is behind me and with it, are all my dreams, wishes and goals.  I feel as if I have waited too long and the opportunity to achieve many of these things has passed. Somehow, someone was listening and "drop-kicked" this book right into my life. 

This is a true story, set in the mid 1950's and for me, it is one of those books that have the power to force you into action and thereby, change your life. With so much stacked against her, Annie Wilkins was a deeply courageous woman.  She called herself, "the last of the saddle tramps" and a "tramp of fate". And her very  powerful example will inspire many people, including myself, to push ourselves a little more out of our comfort zone and hopefully, like Annie, become the best version of ourselves. Like The Matrilines of the Egyptian Arabian Horse by Dr. William Hudson and Concerning Oriental Horses by Count Waclaw Rzewuski, as translated by James E. Luck and Annotated by Andrew K. Steen, it is also a great book that you will enjoy reading this summer.

Happy reading!!!!