Mildred Mastin Pace

Fun kids book, about a horse I'd never heard of before. Exterminator/Old Bones is presented as a magical being - he understands the race better than his jockeys do, he's not bothered by any of the things that bother horses (traveling, people running up to him), etc. Oh, and he recognizes everyone he's ever interacted with - and every interaction was a happy one. No mention of his previous owner after he starts winning, either. It's a very simplified story, but a good one; I enjoyed reading show more it and will probably reread. I'll keep an eye out for more books by this author, too. show less

This is an old favorite that I loved when I was 8 or so. My battered old paperback edition & another both gave up the ghost when my kids read them, so I've been without for years. Can't recall the last time I read it myself or to/with one of the kids. Then I won an Ebay auction & the seller couldn't find the book she sold me, so let me choose another from her offerings. I found this, an old hard back lacking the dust cover.

It was a very quick & easy read with quite a few excellent charcoal show more sketches by [a:Wesley Dennis|441088|Wesley Dennis|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-e89fc14c32a41c0eb4298dfafe929b65.png]. (He is best known for his sketches in [a:Marguerite Henry|10652|Marguerite Henry|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1200683797p2/10652.jpg]'s books such as [b:King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian|423156|King of the Wind The Story of the Godolphin Arabian|Marguerite Henry|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1329982839s/423156.jpg|2236675].)

Pace tells the tale of Exterminator (aka 'Old Bones') one of the best race horses of the early 1900's. He won the 1918 Kentucky Derby which is only for 3 year olds at 30-1 odds since he only raced twice as a 2 year old &, unsurprisingly, didn't do well.

If you don't know anything about Thoroughbreds or racing, the impact of some of the facts surrounding this upset will probably escape you. He was born 30May1915, so was a late foal & grew to 17h. 2 year old horses, especially the big ones, often have soundness issues racing because they have a lot of growing left to do. They're like very young teens & racing is very hard on them. Also, being a late foal meant he was racing against others that were months older - a big difference at that age - since all TB's have Jan 1 as their birthday for racing purposes.

Anyway, he was a dark horse & went on to be one of the best. Unfortunately, he was a gelding, so kept racing until he broke down at the age of 9, in his 100th race. He won over $250,000 over his career. For more details & spoilers, Wikipedia has a short article on him here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exterminator_(horse)

Pace does anthropomorphize & cutsey up the story a bit, but she pretty much has all the facts right, at least the Wikipedia page & the book are fairly close. It was a great read, although I'm not much for the cutsey treatment.

He was a great horse that is still remembered fondly by those who love horse racing. In May of this year (2013) Eliza McGraw did a piece on him for the New York Times Horse Racing Blog & this book is one of her fond memories of him.
http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/exterminator-a-long-shot-to-remember...

He even has a Facebook fan page.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Bones-the-Wonder-HorseExterminatorWorlds-Fast...

I guess that says it all. If you get a chance, take an hour or so & read this book. You won't regret it. If you need an excuse, buy it for a kid since it's perfect bed time reading material.

Warning: May cause horse craziness, a very expensive habit.
;-)

Additional note: I gave 'Old Bones' to my boss to read. He's very into horse racing & also liked the book. He said the differences in racing really made an impression. He's about the last person anyone would think of to like a kids book, too. I could tell he didn't really want to read it, but he said once he started, he blew right through it & didn't want to put it down. I doubt any book has received higher praise than that. show less

A sweet kids book that tells the true story of Exterminator. Exterminator was a Thoroughbred born in 1915. He was a rather gangly looking horse and no one really thought much of him. However, one trainer did eventually see him run and thought he had potential. This is Exterminator's rags to riches story.

The story has been simplified for children and some details are changed to highlight the drama of his life, but it rings true in spirit.

While suitable for any child that loves horses, it is show more really geared towards the younger side of those reading chapter books. Man O War, who ran at the same time as Exterminator, has a wonderful book written about him by Walter Farley, but if that book is above the reading level of your child, this would be excellent to tide the child over. show less

The story of Exterminator, one of the most famous Thoroughbred race horses of all time - it may not be the Cinderella story made out to be here, but it does make a good book. Unprepossessing as a youngster, the gelding came out of nowhere to win the Derby by a length. He went on to win multiple stakes races, and dominated the racing world for several years in the 19-teens and twenties, even setting a couple of world records. His career was shadowed, however, by another racing great, Man O' show more War, although the two horses never raced against one another.

Unlike many high strung and anxious Thoroughbreds, 'Old Bones' as he was familiarly known, was placid and laid back when not racing, and traveled easily, which may help account for some of his racing success. Accompanied by his favorite stable pony, Peanuts, Old Bones lived to the grand old age of 30 (very old for a large horse breed), and his birthday was celebrated every year with the local children and plenty of carrot cake -- at least that's how the story goes.

Old Bones was one of my favorite horse books growing up, and remains a treasured afternoon read. I once baked a carrot cake for my own pony in his honor, and loved the fact that this horse story had a happy ending. show less