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Old
Friends: Visits with My Favorite Thoroughbreds
By Barbara D. Livingston
A
ForeWord Magazine "Book of the Year" Finalist.
Pub
Date: September 2002. In Old Friends,
two-time Eclipse Award-winning photographer Barbara D.
Livingston combines her photos and essays to share her
passion for aging Thoroughbreds, horses that once commanded
center stage but often become almost invisible with time,
except to those who love them.
Through her words, Livingston recounts their storied pasts,
their present surroundings, and the people in their lives
who see beyond their swayed backs, arthritic legs, and
graying coats. Through her lens, Livingston finds the
spark that momentarily clears their eyes and rekindles
the fire of youth or just stirs the embers of their glory
days.
Livingston has traveled the country photographing these
horses and learning not only their race records and success
in the breeding shed, but also the details of life out
of the spotlight and their struggles with aging bodies.
She shows through her words and photos the strong dignity
and beauty these horses retain in the twilight of their
lives, even when patches of hair are missing, teeth are
ground useless, and their ability to rise in the morning
is questionable.
She shares the stories of the grooms, former exercise
riders, and owners who still lavish love and care on these
animals, ensuring their retirement years are spent in
well-deserved tranquility. The stories of friendship also
include those among horses. Livingston understands the
significance of the herd in a horse’s life and the
value of a glimpse of a mare to an aging stallion.
Old Friends is a heartfelt tribute to the
life of a Thoroughbred beyond the racetrack and breeding
shed, the season of life that, perhaps, is the most overlooked.
Among
the more than 90 "Old Friends" profiled are
Seattle Slew, Affirmed, John Henry, Spectacular Bid, Genuine
Risk, Gato Del Sol, Halo, Cozzene, Bargain Day, Flatterer,
Deputy Minister, Deputed Testamony, Raja Baba, and Dr.
Patches.
Praise
for Barbara Livingston and Old Friends:
"I
can’t begin to convey the exquisite and lyrical touch
Livingston employs as both photographer and writer. If
you buy no other horse book this year, make sure this
finds a place on your bookshelf."
-- Hallie McEvoy, Horseman's Yankee
Pedlar
****
"This
book is recommended to all fans of racing. Livingston
gives every fan an excellent look back over the last thirty
years of racing and a great tribute to the horses she
featured, the champions of the past who will never be
forgotten and those lesser known horses who are still
loved by those who knew them."
-- Cindy Pierson Dulay, Horse-races.net
****
“Photographer
Barbara Livingston is blessed with the extraordinary ability
to reach inside her subjects and capture the very texture
of their personalities. The result is a quietly beautiful,
resonant, wistful book, the sweetest of pleasures.”
-- SEABISCUIT author Laura Hillenbrand
****
“Barbara catches a spark in the eye of these older
horses that reminds us of the days when their strides
were long and they were filled with determination.”
-- Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone
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Hardcover
10.5 x 8
224 pages
Product #B11-1064
List Price: $29.95
ISBN 1-58150-083-1
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