HORSE STORIES FROM PHAROH'S WAY

A lifelong horse breeder and trainer reflects on an adventuresome life in this essay collection.

The nine stories in Mueller’s book are populated with notable people she’s encountered throughout out her four-decade career showing horses “up and down the Valley of Virginia.” (Some names and some details have changed.) She considers herself blessed to have raised so many impressive Arabian horses in an industry that she characterizes as prone to fraud and profiteering scams. She elaborates on this theme in her opening essay, set in the 1980s, which offers details of a pyramid scheme that hit dangerously close to home. Despite being raised by a mother who didn’t particularly care for the presence of horses, Mueller writes, she never outgrew her love of the animals that she had as an adolescent; she would go on to became recognized as a breeder who was “interested in the horses and not just the money to be made from them.” In two of the more compelling essays, she shares the story of the mysterious and dramatic life and tragic death of longtime friend and fellow horse enthusiast Marilyn and also presents a novella-length tale of coming-of-age of Tim, a natural-born horse trainer and rider. Within the collection, there are several intimate recollections of events at the author’s Pharoh’s Way horse farm in Virginia’s Rockbridge County, alongside exuberant discussions of her acquisition of purebred mares to “complement” the Pharoh bloodline. Other tales draw from her successful years of training and breeding horses, judging competitions, and teaching equine management classes at a local community college. Mueller also shares her sadness at the loss of stallion Pharoh, which she owned for 25 years. The author’s passion for equestrian pursuits is clear throughout, and she effectively conveys it through her affable, conversational storytelling. In the book’s closing pages, Mueller contributes her own short poem, “My Eden,” in which she expresses gratitude for the longevity of her livelihood and cherishes the “paradise in the running of the horses.” Hippophiles and equestrians alike are likely to enjoy this earnest volume.

A delightfully enthusiastic tribute to the heartfelt care of horses.