The author is a talented writer, able to create vivid impressions of the places in this book- an island of wild horses, a stable in New York, even a convention center- in the reader's mind. She also clearly knows her horses, and is good at explaining the intricacies to a layman like myself. I did enjoy learning from this book.

The format makes it a difficult read. The book alternates between a memoir, from childhood, of the author, and alternating chapters about different aspects of horse-related life that the author experienced as a journalist. Those chapters are the most interesting, and made me wish this book was a compilation of essays in this manner. The autobiographical chapters eventually seem out of place, and slow the momentum of the book.

Ultimately, I recommend this book to other 'horse-crazy' readers, who may find the slower parts of the book worth the stories told in other chapters. For a horse-neutral reader, you may not find enough to keep you invested.

I loved this book! As, I think, will any grown lover of horses. Or any woman who has ever struggled to find her place in the world. Some of my childhood illusions were dashed—discovering Misty of Chincoteague’s real origins—but I also recognized some of my own experiences in these chapters, and learned lessons: about horses, and about life. Mostly well-written, this is a collection of easy-to-read stories of each of the many horses that played important roles in the author’s life. The pace carries you along like a smooth, easy canter. I didn’t want it to end.

There are many people, self included who love animals. Witness the obsession with animal videos on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. In another category are the people who love animals but find an overwhelming affection for a particular animal or breed of animal.
Horse Crazy is Sarah Maslin Nir's aptly named tale of her love of and obsession with horses. At a young age, Sarah fell in "love" with horses. Her need to be with horses led her to become an accomplished equestrian. Even as she grew into adulthood and became a New York reporter, it was the companionship of horses that ranked above friends and family.
Sarah Nir's book is am interesting blend of facts, history, statistics and personal stories of her life with horses, both, real and toy.
After reading this book, you will absolutely believe that Sarah Maslin Nir has a true love of the magnificent equines she has encountered. It was an interesting read that touched upon the humor, the sadness, and the love one experiences when beloved animals are involved. I think that horse lovers will understand this more deeply than someone like me whose only "horseback ride" occurred when I was five. I have the photo of me happily astride a "gigantic" pony being led around a ring at my schools Spring Fair. The photo I have says it all.
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #HorseCrazy

Captured the mindset of a young girl with a passion for horses. This will resonate with all those who grew up with a horse obsession, including myself that got under their skins and never really left them.

Great read! Highly recommended! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought this was a very interesting way for the author to tell her story, through her love of horses and the identity, and friendships that they gave her.

This is a wonderful memoir that takes the reader on the journey with the author and allows the reader to learn along with the author. It was a great reading experience.

A lot of us grew up loving horses and I was excited to get my hands on this book. Although it wasn’t what I expected, the book has merit. The book is part memoir, part nonfiction. I admire the author, Sarah Maslin Nir, a New York Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist, for the time and effort she obviously put into the book.

Each chapter is named after a horse that she experienced in her life. I found some chapters more interesting than others. She has traveled all over the world and her love of horses is evident. There was just something about her style of writing that I couldn’t get into. I had hoped to learn more about horses and their behaviors instead I read a lot about someone that I couldn’t really relate to.

I don’t know if I can recommend this book or not because reading is subjective. One person might love this book and get a lot out of it and someone else might be like me: excited to get ahold of the book but not too excited while actually reading it.

I do appreciate NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for letting me have an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book, as I was definitely one of those horse crazy girls growing up. I tried twice to get into the book, but I just couldn't relate to the author's wealthy background. I do appreciate the opportunity to read and review this title.

Sarah Maslin Nir is a good reporter and writes well for the New York Times. But “Horse Crazy” does not merit a full book treatment. Nir has a story to tell, but comes across as a spoiled rich kid, whose evident love of horses evokes disappointing descriptions and flat emotions. Her tale lacks coherence or any compelling factors. Disappointing.

Horse Crazy by Sarah Maslin Nir is the book many of us horse crazy girls could have written about our own horse experiences. I enjoyed it very much. Part memoir, part nonfiction about various horses, horse breeds, and stories of other horse owners, this is a great book for all readers who admit to being “horse crazy.”

The truly “horse crazy” are no doubt acquainted with Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry; Nir has gone to the root of the story that was highly romanticized in the book. For readers of the book, they might be surprised by the reality of the story.

She has visited the museum of the black cowboy in Texas and trainer Monty Roberts in California. She even has a chapter about Breyer horses. In a trip to India, she fell in love with the Marwari horse, brought illegally to America by Francesca Kelly, a wealthy London socialite whose love for an Indian nobleman shaped her life’s mission: to rescue an endangered Indian breed of horse.

Sarah Maslin Nir, an accomplished equestrienne, is a staff reporter for The New York Times. Nir was a Finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for “Unvarnished,” a controversial investigation into New York City’s nail salon industry.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 10, 2020.

I’d like to thank Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

An excellent read which, even though it has each chapter named after a horse and details Nir's feelings of survivor guilt and difficulty fitting in to the horsey world as the daughter of a man who escaped the Holocaust in childhood, is not a traumatic read. Mainly Americans' relationship to horses, from plastic models to massive work horses, is examined in clear-eyed detail alongside her own experiences with the animals.

Review on Shiny New Books and my blog to come.

I really enjoyed Maslin Nir's recount of her life around horses! I connected with so much of her narrative as I too am horse crazy. It's also important to note, horse crazy people always think their horse lives are important and entertaining enough to fill a novel, but that doesn't mean they should. Maslin Nir, however, did a wonderful job relaying her tales, relating them to the general awe that is felt by those who work with the creatures, and connecting with the readers who may not understand all things horses.

For Horse Lovers and Those Who Want to Be

I have been around horses most of my life so this book resonated with my experiences. I loved it. The writing is excellent, but the stories are even better. The author has bonded with horses from when she was very small and her parents tried to curb her energy with riding lessons. She tells her stories with wit and does a great job of introducing the horses with all the interesting personality quirks.

The book is separated into chapters each one designated by the name of a horse that Nir knew and how it changed her life in delightful ways. I loved the opening story about her trials learning to ride on a horse named Guernsey. The tale of a huge horse and a little girl is very entertaining.

One of my favorite stories was about a black couple, Gorge and Ann Blair who gave black kids from the inner city a chance to be with horses. Besides stories, the book gives information about many aspects of the horse business from show horses to rodeo roping.

If you want to know more about horses, this is a good place to start. You can learn a lot and the stories will make you want to go out and meet some horses.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

Horse Crazy is the horse book of horse books, full of adventure, obsession, nasty falls, and dissections of how horses and human culture intersect. It ranges widely across breeds and experiences, including a grumpy Belgian Police horse, Misty of Chincoteague, who has become the emblem of horse girls everywhere, a few curly eared Indian Marwaris who now graze on pastures in Martha’s Vineyard and many others.

This book was basically written just for me, as a lifelong horse girl and reporter, but I could make a strong case that anyone would enjoy. I am huge fan of Sarah Maslin Nir’s work in the NYT; her series Unvarnished, on the high cost of cheap manicures, is one of my favorite pieces of journalism of all time. Maslin Nir marries her journalistic acuity with her passion for horses and the result is a fabulous read of horses that feel real enough to step off the page. She is a rare combination of brilliant reporter and writer and it shines in every part of this book. Netgalley provided an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I can’t tell if I hated the book or if I was just in a really sour mood the entire time I was reading it.

On paper, I should love everything about this book. It’s nonfiction. About horses. By a New York Times Journalist. While it is charming and contains a mixture of light-hearted, childhood memories and adult struggles to keep you engaged as you flip through each page.

It’s part fun-facts and quick tales about a jet-setting reporter, but also part memoir--about a child, then adolescent, then young woman who struggles to feel a sense of belonging.

It reads as if she took a list of her favorite horses, every horse-related article she ever wrote, and therapy notes and tried to jam them into something that might sell. She needs to figure out who she is writing to. Is she writing this book as an emotional history for her family to herself? Is she writing this book TO horse people or AS a horse person?

My biggest issue is tone. I do NOT mean the author is insincere in her writing or that she actually feels nonchalant about her wealth. But it READS like this, which is it is so frustrating. Her writing is strong and her attention to detail is there.

I will not discredit the author’s hardships and emotions. To be the only person in your entire family obsessed with horses is not easy and neither is growing up being called “the horse girl.”

Details like living on the Upper Eastside, attending a private school, having a somewhat famous father, rich elder brothers, and rubbing shoulders with the aristocracy of equestrians does not meld with the imagined poverty and forced conscientiousness.

<i>Poor me—my parents were not wealthy, but I grew up with a lifestyle 99.999% of the world will never know. You have no idea how awful it was when my parents did not “get” that I was in love with horses—so bad--they paid for everything or helped me work them off. My mother BOUGHT me my dream horse, finally.</i>

And further tone-deaf— <i>No need to remind the reader how cruel fox hunting is. I am a proud vegetarian. Anyways, so I went fox-hunting….yadayadayada.</i>

I do feel for anyone who loses a parent. When someone references she’s “mastered” riding, she is reminded that her father said true happiness can only come from mastery. She feels a deeper connection with his memory as she learns more about herself.

Oh, my horse girl heart! This book is the ultimate love letter to a life long love obsession with horses. Aptly named, Sarah Maslin Nir writes a beautiful book that tells the tale of her life and the horses that shaped it. She explores the magic of the human and horse connection while taking us through her various equine experiences.

I adored the fact that Nir named each chapter after a horse that had an impact on her life. This is a tribute to the horses that make up who we are as horse girls. Even though Nir and I had different backgrounds (I've never even been to Manhattan), I was able to widely relate this book, because, well, horses...

Through Nir's musings of a life spent in the pursuit of horses, she is able to provide history and information about much of the equine world. She seamlessly wove her life story in as well. I felt a connection with Nir throughout this book, bonded by our connection to all things equine. I appreciated Nir's honest and straight-forward story-telling, at times these stories were humorous, while other times sad or heartwarming.

This book is for anyone that, much like Nir and myself, have spent our lives revolving around horses. But also, for anyone that has ever found themselves to be an outsider or just enjoy reading a deep investigation about why the world is so drawn to the horse.

I found this to be an insightfully written memoir that also detailed some very interesting facts and information regarding horses which was all completely new to me. The author explores her life with horses, how they have impacted her and helped her through difficult life experiences so for this, it was an interesting coming of age story. The author also includes various people from the horse world whose lives are completely revolved around horses. I found the trainer who was referred to as the man who listens to horses very fascinating. I enjoyed how the author took me into a world that was completely new and foreign to me and helped shine a light on the inner world of horses and the people who love them

Horse Crazy,what a book! A girl tells her story about her family and friends and where her love for horses come from. How and why she loves horses so and different kinds,the history of horses.. It's a really great story that when you are finished you will end up loving this girl for her heart,her love for horses and how her life turns out! It started out really good then seem to go on and on and then exciting again till the end! Much research you can tell went into the story by all the information given to you about the horses.. If you love horses or just a animal lover this book is for you! Received from Net Gallery to read and review !

Although I was never as fortunate as Sarah Maslin Nir to own a horse, I could relate to the obsession that creates the book’s framework. Through the wide variety of horses in her life, Nir lets us into not only her life, but the lives of her parents, especially her father, and to an amazingly wide variety of topics. This book is eminently readable and would intrigue non-horse lovers as well. For me, though, it was a wonderful reminder of why I love horses: “because horses.”