McCoy In The FRame

THE phrase a picture paints a thousand words is highly appropriate in the case of McCoy In The Frame, the 170-photograph publication from ace snapper Edward Whitaker. With access to the public and private McCoy, he has been present for most of the highs and lows of a truly remarkable career and here is a snapshot of that amazing 20 years.

The tenacity and competitiveness of McCoy is captured in so many of the pictures in this 160-page volume and it has to be a book that will sell and sell. Since receiving it and going through it, I have found myself drawn to pick it up time and time again. Each time that I do, I seem to find something new, the sure sign of a brilliant photographer at work. The attention to detail displayed by McCoy is reflected too in the professionalism and eye of Whitaker. No two pictures seem to be alike and this is the quality that sets Whitaker and a handful of others apart from the rest.

A photographer’s dream, Whitaker and the book’s designers have collaborated magnificently on this occasion to produce an outstanding work. It will be on everyone’s Christmas shopping list this year.

McCoy In The Frame

By Edward Whitaker

Published by Racing Post Books www.racingpost.com

Price: £20

GALLOPING THROUGH LIFE

Galloping Through Life charts the life and times of Major Hugh Dawney. The colourful polo player died in 2012 and this almost 300-page memoir is a fitting tribute to the man. The book charts his childhood in Ireland, his time at Eton and Sandhurst, his cavalry career, his time as an amateur rider in point-to-points and under rules, and his time as a showjumper. However, he will be best remembered for his polo exploits along with his first cousins, the Marquis of Waterford and Lord Patrick Beresford, and his close friendship with Major Ronald Ferguson. He played and taught polo in India, East Africa, Cyprus, South America, Central America, Hawaii and Palm Beach in Florida. His greatest achievement was the residential Whitfield Court Polo School in Co Waterford where people from all over the world came to learn his revolutionary polo playing techniques. He also published two previous volumes which depict his greatest love, namely Polo Vision and Playmaker Polo. Not surprisingly he was a technical advisor to Jilly Cooper’s Polo, an international best seller. His legacy lives on today through his second son Sebastian, himself a professional polo player.

Galloping Through Life

By Major Hugh Dawney

Published by Somerville Press www.somervillepress.com

Price: €17.99

IF HORSES COULD TALK

JILLY Cooper described it as mesmerising. The word is apt and yet hardly does the book justice. This is a book for admirers of his work, but is also a book about a life that could have turned out so bad, but it has resulted in triumph for the subject.

Gary Witheford is a name that has become synonymous with problem horses. He is a horse whisperer and more. The man who is trusted by many of the sports’ leading figures, he achieved a certain fame as the man who started (he does not like the term broke) Sea The Stars. In the course of this book, told in his own words but with the assistance and commentary of Brough Scott, we learn a huge amount about his work, the famous cases he has helped with, and how he does it.

However, this is also the story of a young boy abused by twin brothers who has been left mentally scarred by the experience, and some of his family’s subsequent reaction to the abusers. The fact that Gary came through this horrendous experience, and a number of other bad life experiences, shows what the man is made of. This is not an easy read – but it is a must read.

If Horses Could Talk

By Gary Witheford, with Brough Scott

Published by Racing Post Books www.racingpost.com

Price: £20

A SURE THING

The year 2014 will be a milestone for Eric Ward. The Irishman is well-known to many within the racing and breeding worlds as he has played a number of roles in the industry and gained worldwide experience and reputation. He has turned his hand to writing a novel (or two) and the first one published has already garnered some encouraging reviews.

Set in the time of the Irish Celtic Tiger, A Sure Thing is a fast moving tale of an Irish stud farm manager with an airline-owning brother who falls in with the wrong type of man in America and ends up paying the price for his unwitting involvement in the drugs trade.

The characters and plot are well constructed and the pace of the narrative is fast and leaves you wanting to read more.

With up to date settings and a brilliant twist at the end, the story is well told and bodes well for the author’s second and soon to be published novel and sets him up for a career as a novelist. This is a perfect Christmas gift for anyone interested in the world of breeding and who enjoys a thriller.

A Sure Thing

By E.H.Ward

Published by Tirgearr Publishing

www.tirgearrpublishing.com

Price: $16.99