Forward motion

the long version

In Forward Motion Menino traces the unique and lengthy history of the fellowship between humans and horses, using the Olympic equestrian sports as a narrative backdrop. She focuses on three leading American riders: Anne Kursinski, one of a handful of trainers who dominate the high-rolling, touch-and-go realm of show jumping (and who qualified for the Olympic team as this book was going to press); Keith Taylor, young and daring, hurdling financial obstacles in order to. Participate in combined training at the international level; and Lendon Gray, an iconoclastic perfectionist and enthusiastic performer who believes that dressage is the way to fulfillment for any person on any horse. Menino directs her penetrating eye at their horses with equal interest: the urbane show jumper Eros, who calculates the way people work and the way rails roll; Play Me Right, a catlike old campaigner whose definition of pleasure is speed; his young. Stablemate Faktor, who reluctantly gives up clowning for tests of endurance; and the feisty little Last Scene, who learns how to make the right moves with enough vehemence to score against bigger competitors. Forward Motion reopens our long-standing relation with horses, asking what it takes to succeed in this joint athletic venture, what makes horses tick, and what draws the trainers to a shared life with these enigmatic animals. It is both a fascinating account of. World-class riding and a moving investigation of the interaction between people and horses.