Who was Kenny Nordstrom? I have rarely laughed so hard as I did in that scene where Aspercell bolts! It was a masterpiece!
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Kenny trained hunters and jumpers on the west coast when I knew him. Super guy. Brought along some very nice horses and riders. He is pretty much retired now and spends tons of time out on his boat.
[QUOTE=Janet;4902697]
I believe the author was actually a horse show judge.[/QUOTE]
Steward, not judge. And the book is MUCh better than the Disney-fied movie.
What does Disney have against mothers, anyway? If it’s movie about a parent and child, it’s always a widower. The culmination of dad’s wild ride on Aspercel - taking out the greenhouse full of orchids - had a POINT (besides the huge jump) in the book: Dad’s WIFE was going to take the plants to a big flower show. The daughter’s original teacher was MALE, sort of a GM type who assumed people had the basics and only put on the polish.
In the book, his secretary, a barrel racer, improved the daughter’s riding by putting in the basics and even - as in the movie - having her run the barrels bareback. Can you see a hunter teacher using THAT as a teaching method? It seems so out-of-context in the movie and is only there because it was in the book. It makes little sense in the movie’s context.
There was even a hinted-at romance with the secretary that both dad and secretary backed away from. Eventually, GM-type and secretary team together as instructors - her putting the basics on the riders, him polishing them to show.
GAAAK!
[QUOTE=carolprudm;4894491]
The book is even better
http://www.amazon.com/HORSE-GRAY-FLANNEL-SUIT-HATCH/dp/B000CPS4EM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275098310&sr=1-1[/QUOTE]
On Amazon they offer 3 used paperbacks from $49.27 !!! Are you kidding me?
Mass Market has one at $18.00. Think I’ll wait a while ! :yes:
[QUOTE=MHM;4902667]
Wasn’t Snowman owned and ridden by Harry DeLeyer? 
[/QUOTE]
Yes, and he was a flea bitten grey. My family had a summer home down the road from Harry and I used to take lessons from him. A LONNNGGG time ago…
I have to find the book in a library or some more economical place
