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Loading... The Black Stallion's Filly (original 1952; edition 1983)by Walter Farley, John Rowe (Illustrator)
Work InformationThe Black Stallion's Filly by Walter Farley (1952)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I am reviewing this book based on my memory from junior high school, 8th grade. I recall that it was my favorite Walter Farley book I had read yet, and I believe it was the last one that I read. I recall a scene in which the Black Minx is broken of biting: the trainer puts a hot baked potato in his shirt sleeve that she bites, and she burns her mouth, which stops the biting. I always wondered if this would work, or if it was just part of the story. I related to the Minx as one female to another, and cheered her on as she beat all the boys on the track. Now I have to reread it. Farley waxes pretty philosophical in this book about Black Minx, a filly owned by Henry Dailey. There's a lot here about heart, about gameness, about the will to win, and a fair bit about how being up on a horse in the Kentucky Derby will turn a boy into a man. I wonder how all those jockeys who never rode the Derby got to be men? Farley doesn't address that- some things are too deep even for an old horseman to touch. Solid, engaging, and as ever, Farley's race scenes are pulse-poundingly exciting. After reading one of them, I am always a little surprised that I'm not muddier. no reviews | add a review
Henry Dailey buys a spoiled, contrary two-year-old filly, a daughter of the Black, in November, and is determined to have a Kentucky Derby candidate by May. No library descriptions found. |
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Satan has been retired to stud, and a year before the yearlings will be heading for the racetrack looms large in Henry's view. When a daughter from The Black's first crop goes on the auction block, he sets his sights on her, despite her spoiled and erratic background.
I especially liked how both Henry and Alec worked with the filly, trying to undo the lack of proper training she had experienced in her early years, teaching her what a racehorse needs to know. The story is more focused, and I found myself enjoying it as an adult re-read, many years after my initial read. ( )