FOR A HORSEMAN'S LIBRARY

New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 821, 22 April 1955, Page 14

FOR A HORSEMAN'S LIBRARY

A YEAR WITH HORSES, sketched and introduced by John Board; Hodder and Stoughton, English price 40/-. EFORE I went to England I was not a great admirer of John Board's ' drawings of horses and ponies; but from ‘the time I went to my first horse show ‘in June, 1953, and opened Horse and | Hound next day to see John Board’s _drawings of the very horses I. had been _ watching I was completely won over. 'In my scrap book I have more cuttings | of his drawings from various showsparticularly Dublin Royal-than. are reproduced in this magnificent book; the _ difference is that my cuttings are small | and black and white, and on newsprint, | whereas the drawings in A Year ‘with Horses are large, sometimes in coloured pastels, and reproduced on a_ very superior heavy paper with ample space and the minimum of printed-words. In this handsomely produced book there are also pages of John Board's "notes."" These he calls his "squiggles," the quick lines he does in 30 seconds or less as the horse goes by, the detail of bridle or bandage, the set of the tail or ears, or the jut of the rider’s chin, cap or boot-the small bits that give character to his finished’ drawings as they appear in newspapers and magazines from The Times down. The book begins with the Coronation pageant, the first page devoted to the late famous Bonaparte, the Queen’s skewbald drum horse who died on the return journey from the Edinburgh Royal visit after the Coronation; and through John Board’s lively drawings it traces the horse-show history of that successful year through shows and hunts and polo matches, races and point-to-point meets, one day events and three day events and finally the Pony Club championships and a page for the hardy Exmoor pony. Any horseman who wants to save up for a good Christmas present for any | other horsemen should order A Year

with Horses.

J.