March 11, 2013
This memoir by BBC sports broadcaster and former equestrian Balding, first published in the U.K. in 2012, rollicks along like one of her beloved horses. Those horses (and some dogs) are the animals of the title; her “other family” consists of her father, top horse trainer Ian Balding, mother Emma, brother Andrew, and “formidable” grandmother, Priscilla Hastings. Despite the fact that her family isn’t always the most affectionate, and her recollections of purging to make weight for horse races, this isn’t a memoir about hardships, but one in which Balding’s love of her animals and life shine through. The early chapters are filled with stories of favorite ponies and childhood hijinks, such as the time she almost spilled milk on the visiting Queen Elizabeth. Balding advances from riding ponies to eventing and flat races, culminating in her winning of the amateur title, Champion Lady Rider, in 1990. A short epilogue covers her post-racing life, including presenting for the BBC, and her relationship with her civic partner, Alice. This memoir is all British and all about horses, so readers who don’t understand the stone as a unit of measure or know a canter from a trot may be lost. Readers who stick with this through the last furlong, though, will find a book full of heart.
March 1, 2013
A BBC broadcaster's captivating chronicle of her childhood dogs and horses. The daughter of the queen's racehorse trainer Ian Balding, the author knew the friendship and protection of animals before she felt the same in humans. Indeed, her well-connected parents were too busy running the stables, involving the daily exercise and care of some 80 thoroughbred horses, racers and jumpers, an equine obsession that soon rubbed off on her and her brother, Andrew. In discrete chapters named for the particular animal in question, Balding depicts the notables, such as her first friend and protector Candy, her mother's cherished boxer, and the starter horse the children were given by the queen herself. There was her father's fearsome "lurcher" dog, a scruffy combination of a sight hound and terrier, favorite of the Romany Gypsy for its intelligence and way with horses; the first horse she showed, a pure-white Welsh Mountain pony called Volcano; and the "Heinz 57" horse she adored and first helped her prove her riding mettle. Balding became an intrepid racer and champion jumper, even winning an Austin Rover Mini and besting the royal princess at one point. Yet the fairy-tale setting and English banter also convey some deep insecurity about Balding's parental indifference, verging on negligence, as the children suffered numerous falls and broken bones, and resentment simmered as her brother was given free rein and encouragement while she, the girl and tomboy no less, was not. An irresistible look at the horsey mores of the landed English.
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December 1, 2012
This just in: noted British sports presenter/journalist Balding's father trained championship horses for the queen, so Balding grew up surrounded by more than 100 classy equines and a pack of dogs--her true family, because to her parents she was decidedly second place. Here she recounts what she learned from her animal kin. A No. 1 best seller in Britain, perhaps partly because Balding is high profile there, but certainly animal lovers and Anglophiles here will be charmed.
Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.