The Whole Horse Catalog The Complete Guide…
The year was 1975, almost a quarter of a century ago, and catalog sourcebooks were still very much a force in book publishing. To that point, however, no one had compiled one on equestrian products, services, and organizations something that would present the basics of owning, looking after and using horses, together with leads as to where to find more detailed information.
Well, I asked myself, why shouldn’t I put such a book together. After all, I was a writer by profession and a recreational rider by avocation…. why not combine the two.
In those days (and now, too) anyone in search of intelligent feedback on any horse-book idea could do no better than to ask Bill Steinkraus, the United States Equestrian Team mainstay and all-around polymath.
Bill, who had just moved to Simon Schuster as an editor, responded in something of a good news bad news way. The good news was that he found the concept eminently viable. The not-so-good news (or so it seemed to me) was that the project was far too massive for one person — namely, me — to do alone. Fortunately, help was close at hand.
A number of New York book-publishing types who were also avid riders thought the idea was worth getting involved with — and so they did.
Barbara Burn had introduced herself several years earlier as the girl who outfitted the shed in the backyard for the horse my parents never bought me. Barbara, who had edited two of my books, chose the areas of apparel and horse health, the latter as if anticipating her marriage to a veterinarian who, among his other duties, looked after New York Citys Mounted Police horses.
Gail and Werner Rentsch were and are, respectively, a publicist and an artist. They kept horses on their farm in upstate New York, so who better to compile the chapters on stable construction and management and tack (Gail) and to provide the books illustrations and layout (Werner)
Although a stockbroker by profession, David Spector had written several books on horse-related subjects and was active in equestrian organizations. David chose equestrian activities as his area of primary responsibility.
Since I was involved in equestrian tourism, I chose to write the chapter on horseback holidays. I also picked organizations and, even though Id never had the occasion to buy a horse, I knew where to find out about the selection process. So we rolled up our sleeves and set to work.
Fade out 1975…fade in 1997… As you might deduce from the volume you hold in your hands, The Whole Horse Catalog remains very much alive and well. Strong initial response was followed by steady annual sales, to rank the books among the all-time best-selling equestrian titles worldwide.
