Finding one childhood favorite prompted me to try some more books on tape and voila - "The Black Stallion"! I still remember discovering these books. Our neighbors gave me "The Horse Tamer" by Walter Farley for my birthday one year, probably when I was 12 or so, and I loved it. I was a total bookworm (and horse-crazy to boot!) as a kid, so I would lug home armloads of books from the library. Walter Farley could make a horse race last 3 chapters and it was IMPOSSIBLE to put the book down! Once I read one of his books, I was always haunting the library for more. I'm sure that enjoying his books early on paved the way for my love of Dick Francis books as an adult.
I was interested to find that there is a website, www.theblackstallion.com, run by Tim Farley, the author's son. They have used the popularity of the books and movies to promote literacy. They also work with the Arabian Nights dinner show, which features the horse that starred in the Black Stallion movies.
We went to see the Arabian Nights show a while back and it was very entertaining. I particularly remember the Black Stallion because he was absolutely gorgeous and his entire performance was hands off! His trainer used verbal and hand signals while standing at one end of the arena, while this beautiful creature did his moves without halter, saddle, bridle or rider. Very impressive!
Arabian Nights has a blog that features behind the scenes looks at their entertainers and horses. You can find that at www.arabian-nights.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment