Book Review - Merryland by Josh Pons

One of the joys of writing about horse racing after years of being a fan, is that there is so much to learn about the business. Sure, I can talk my way around a mean exactor and explain the racing form to my friends, but what do I really know about horses before they hit the post-parade, and where do they go when the race is over?

In short poetic bursts, Josh Pons novel Merryland details the circle of life of a thoroughbred from a foal, to the track and back to the barn as a stallion or broodmare - at least for the lucky ones that make it that far. Spanning from Winter 2005 to Fall 2006, Pons delivers a staccato diary of existence on the Country Life at Merryland Farm. At first, Merryland is difficult to digest, as the reader must deal with injuries, setbacks, bad luck, and even more injuries as the book meanders at a snail's pace towards the racetrack.

Odd medical conditions like , "intussusception of intestines", "uterine torsion" and"arytenoid chondritis" confound the reader as a never ending series of hurdles leap in front of Pons and his partners in the industry. However, it's not long before Pons wins the reader over with his care for his horses and the snippets of his family and personal life. All at once, Pons struggle to get his horses to the track becomes the driving force that keeps the reader turning the page. All delusions of the fairy tale life of horse ownership are shattered and instead one comes to enjoy the peaks in the chaotic struggle of raising a horse.

Interspersed throughout the novel are stories of Pons' father, song lyrics and racetrack wisdom which stock the book with must-read-again anecdotes. Whether it's chasing down the hidden meaning of the Elvis Costello lyrics, "She's filing her nails, while they're dragging the lake..." that describe the stare of a horse so fixated on the approaching blacksmith, or if it's to simply re-visit the poetically put, "Thirds are like singles in baseball. Enough of them, you stay in the game..." that could so easily have been lifted from a W.P. Kinsella novel - Merryland is a novel that stays with you long after you've endtabled it and turned out the light.

Eventually horses like Spectacular Malibu and Wahoo Moon do hit the track and with great success, but the struggle for both the farm and the reader to reach the winner's circle make the wait worth it. The book itself works as a metaphor for the life of a horseman. Pons ongoing mantra of, "do what's right for the horse", becomes the message that speaks loudest after reading. In a novel filled with heartbreak, injury and death, it's the humanity of the writer that puts the reader's worries at ease.

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You can follow this link to the actual Country Life Farm and even read a snippet from Pon's preceding novel Country Life Diary here.