Country Life Diary : Three Years in the Life of a Horse Farm (Revised Edition)
Country Life Diaryis delightful, informative, amusing, touching, sensitive, perceptive.  --Joe Hirsch,Daily Racing FormPons, a third generation breeder, takes the reader on a journey through the intricate life of Country Life Farm, a family breeding facility just outside of Baltimore. From his insightful, descriptive and sometimes disturbing diary entries, the reader becomes immersed in the daily struggles and joys of the many people who depend on the farm and Thoroughbreds for their livelihoods.  This book - three years in the life of a Maryland Thoroughbred breeding farm - was first published in 1992. In this 1999 edition, the text has been revised and expanded. The author's wife, Ellen Blackwell Pons, provides the detailed black-and-white illustrations, of which there aren't nearly enough.Pons has a unique writing style that sounds as if he's talking to a close friend. His entries seem to bring the reader into the actual experiences-from deciding which action to take with a sick foal, to praying for positive ultrasound results, and even whether to cull a young stallion from the farm's roster.  If you ever thought about breeding horses and running a farm, this book brings you as close as you'll ever get without actually getting your feet muddy.   --Chronicle of the Horse, October 29, 1999What makes (Country Life Diary) special is the mixture of his insight - brutally realistic at times, but at other moments, sheer poetry.  --The Baltimore Sun