My Animals and Other Family
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4.5 • 448 Ratings
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
My Animals and Other Family by Clare Balding is a funny, brave, tender story of self-discovery
'I had spent most of my childhood thinking I was a dog, and suspect I had aged in dog years.'
Clare Balding grew up in a rather unusual household. Her father a champion trainer, she shared her life with more than 100 thoroughbred racehorses, mares, foals and ponies, as well as an ever-present pack of boxers and lurchers. As a toddler she would happily ride the legendary Mill Reef and take breakfast with the Queen.
She and her younger brother came very low down the pecking order. Left to their own devices, they had to learn life's toughest lessons through the animals, and through their adventures in the stables and the idyllic Hampshire Downs. From the protective Candy to the pot-bellied Valkyrie and the frisky Hattie, each horse and each dog had their own character and their own special part to play.
The running family joke was that "women ain't people". Clare had to prove them wrong, to make her voice heard - but first she had to make sure she had something to say.
'Moving, funny and larger than life' Michael Morpurgo
'Magical, enchanting, riotously eccentric' Daily Mail
'Funny and unexpectedly wise. Balding has lots of good stories to tell. It is impossible not to admire her honesty Mail on Sunday
'The reading equivalent of snuggling by the fire with a labrador' The Guardian
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This memoir by BBC sports broadcaster and former equestrian Balding, first published in the U.K. in 2012, rollicks along like one of her beloved horses. Those horses (and some dogs) are the animals of the title; her "other family" consists of her father, top horse trainer Ian Balding, mother Emma, brother Andrew, and "formidable" grandmother, Priscilla Hastings. Despite the fact that her family isn't always the most affectionate, and her recollections of purging to make weight for horse races, this isn't a memoir about hardships, but one in which Balding's love of her animals and life shine through. The early chapters are filled with stories of favorite ponies and childhood hijinks, such as the time she almost spilled milk on the visiting Queen Elizabeth. Balding advances from riding ponies to eventing and flat races, culminating in her winning of the amateur title, Champion Lady Rider, in 1990. A short epilogue covers her post-racing life, including presenting for the BBC, and her relationship with her civic partner, Alice. This memoir is all British and all about horses, so readers who don't understand the stone as a unit of measure or know a canter from a trot may be lost. Readers who stick with this through the last furlong, though, will find a book full of heart.
Customer Reviews
My animals and other family
This is a wonderful book, a beautifully evocative and well written tale of a child growing up in an environment where horses and dogs reigned supreme,and where the human players were very often mere second fiddlers to the animals who seem to have shaped and moulded so much of the author's character and personality.
The strength of the relationship's which the author has with the animals who have shared her life is captured very well, and the description of her life growing up in a busy professional racing yard is both engaging and informative.
Clare Balding is a well respected television professional who brings an authoritative air to her work in front of the television camera;she does not spend very much time talking about her working life, however,preferring to concentrate on the first 20-odd years or so, when the main focus was animals, particularly horses, ponies and dogs, and the aim was to ride whenever she could, win as often as she could, keep her parents and her formidable grand-mother at arms length, and make sure that she kept her younger brother on the tightest of reigns.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has spent their childhood primarily out-doors and who has a love of animals. Clare Balding brings the world of the thoroughbred racehorse and the hacking pony, the boxer, the lurcher and goodness knows how many other breeds of dog, to vivid, colourful life. I look forward to the second volume......
My Animals.....
Lovely......I know nothing about horses, I downloaded the sample because I like Clare on TV. I didn't think I would enjoy it.....I loved it
The book is witty, amusing and sometimes moving, just brilliant.
My animals & other family
Nice easy reading. If you love animals, especially horses you'll enjoy Clare's story