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"A Man Walks Into A Barn..." : get it on Kindle, worth it

This book’s on sale on Amazon now - it popped up in my suggestions. I’ve read some of the blog posts that the author wrote for the Chronicle and decided to take a chance ($1.99 when I got it).
I’m really happy with the book! Great writing about the experiences that he and his girls had with horses, from the very first lesson on - which I am sure are the same ones that we all had, as riders ourselves and as parents.
The author has some very keen observations about what’s great about equestrian sports, what’s not so great (and suggestions on how to improve judging, for example), and some interesting statistics on the amount of showing that big eq finalists do.
Worth it!

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Thanks for the reminder. I’ve been meaning to get it. Mine was free due to some sort of Amazon credit garnered, I think, by having some stuff delivered together on a single day of the week.

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I appreciated this book. I read it just after my youngest daughter finished her last junior year. It helped with some of the bitter feelings I had developed about A shows. The book, time, and helping kids starting out at C shows has definitely helped me process the many feelings I had about the the cost of USEF horse shows.

@Limerick, what did you think about the assessment that the author made regarding the # of shows, classes, etc for the Maclay 2nd rounders? I found that to be eye-opening. I also appreciated his observations about judging: get rid of the “consensus” silliness (judges get to discuss the round, then score) and his observation about the real root of judging issues: it’s not the subjectivity, it’s the imprecision of the standard.

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Hilary again, He also wrote a column using the numbers of classes the top kids had competed in. Honestly, I found it depressing. Big Eq is an established, super expensive industry. Unless you are freaky talented and well connected, the average good riding, middle class kid does not stand a chance. I wish all the state Hunter jumper organizations would reevaluate how they can improve their shows and pull kids away from “national dreams.”

As for the judging, I will have to go back and read that section. What did you think?

He is a smart man and very insightful. I actually followed him on Twitter.