The Crumb

by Jean Slaughter Doty

A young girl and her pony become involved in the horse show circuit when she gets a job helping out at a nearby stable and riding school.

Genres: Horses, Animals, Childrens

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Jean Slaughter Doty was born in New York. She was married to the cartoonist Roy Doty, and lived in Connecticut with her husband, children and numerous horses, dogs and Siamese cats. Her equine experience was wide: she hunted in England and Ireland, and was well known for breeding Welsh ponies at Rockrimmon farm, as well as Keeshond dogs. She was a show judge at numerous shows, including the National Horse Show at Madison Square Gardens. Almost all of her books are stories about horses for middle readers or young adults.

Reviews

[Mary Pagones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the rare children's books about animals that is even better seen through the eyes of an adult re-reader. The details about horse showing are so spot-on--the footing after a rainstorm, the trainer's bone-tiredness, the shady trainers with armies of fancy ponies, the fact that even some mediocre riders get clients because they get lucky with a talented horse. The personality of the honest Crumb is perfectly realistic and yet is every child's ideal pony, down to his sturdiness and beautiful buckskin coat. And the end is also unsentimental and realistic.

[Amy Raby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a young girl (maybe 10-12?) and was mildly traumatized by it. I appreciate it a lot more as an adult. This short book is deceptively dark. It starts out sweet, a girl hacking her talented but past-his-prime pony around the countryside, but then she stumbles onto something disturbing: a horse being stealthily placed in an out-of-the-way barn and locked in. Later she comes back to find empty syringes where the horse had been.

It turns out that this story is really about a horse-loving girl and a kind, honest show trainer who together fall into the orbit of less scrupulous horse people who are drugging their horses to enhance their performance. Some of the methods described: cutting back a pony's hooves to get it to measure into a class, using bute and/or nerve blocks to mask lameness, drugging a too-high horse to quiet it for a show.

Jean Slaughter Doty is the best writer of horse books I've found thus far; I wish she'd written more. This is a poignant story which delves into the dark side of the horse world and yet never turns preachy or demonizes anyone.

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading The Crumb takes me instantly back to my childhood riding show jumpers. Like Cindy, I mostly rode in local shows, but I had brushes with great horses and ponies and a few thrilling "big shows" under my belt.

This book has a big nostalgia factor for me, but beyond that it is a solid offering and a very honest look at the world of show jumping. Doty writes with her usual ease about all things horse related, the words rolling off the page, the dialog smooth, and her descriptions of horses and horse shows painting a vivid picture for the reader. The main character, Cindy, finds herself transported into the fast paced world of showing ponies when she goes out to find her first real stable job. It's not easy work, but it's rewarding, and she throws herself into it. She doesn't forget her beloved pony, The Crumb, but rather takes him along on the journey. And what a journey it is.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kills me every time. I've reread it frequently since discovering it in my elementary school library, and it never gets easier to read. it's so lovely, so true, and so heart-wrenching.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written horse story with no sugar coating some of the sad things that can happen.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, man. This was brutal. More horses die here than in a Game of Thrones book.

This reads like a first draft of The Monday Horses, which was published two years later. Jean Slaughter Doty, back when she was Jean Slaughter, was heavily into the horse show scene for decades. Like in The Monday Horses, she takes her former sport to task for its cruelty to horses and ponies. She does say that there are good people in the sport .... but that they usually don't win.

Some top show jumpers are mentioned, such as Gem Twist's sire Good Twist, but they never appear. There is a show horse described as an ugly washed out chestnut plow horse who could jump the moon. I think there was such a horse named Pete back in the 1950s (or even earlier.) Wesley Dennis refers to this horse in his introduction to Horse Show.

Our Narrator is a very well written protagonist. Her name is Cindy Blake, which is the name of one of the main characters in the inexplicably popular 1991 - 2005 Thoroughbred series. The Cindy Blake here is not only smarter than the Thoroughbred Cindy, she seems to genuinely love horses more.

This book was published in 1976, so Cindy not being supervised for hours on end may alarm parents of today. But it was perfectly all right in 1976. I was a kid then. Really, it's no big deal to give kids some freedom.

But the main problem with the book is the lack of justice throughout it. The main baddie gets away with it. It was nice that the book was unpredictable, but Jesus.

I am glad I didn't read this as a kid, because I wouldn't have understood Jean Slaughter Doty's main point that horse shows need to change. I'm almost 55 and had a hard enough time with it.

[Toni Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was growing up, I went through a 'wild about' horses phase, as I believe many youngsters do. I had posters and books, and books, and books. This is one of them. I loved reading about Cindy and her adventures in show jumping. It is a very much loved novel by those who have read it. If you have a horse lover or are a horse lover, this is a great read.

[Caryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, engaging story of the horse world, with the equine aspects accurately portrayed. This book is still hard to put down, so many decades after it was penned. Despite revealing some of the darker aspects of the horse industry, the story clearly brings out the joy being around horses brings to people.

[Julie Havener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book great for young and old horse lovers. Took me back to the days showing at the Hunt Club and polo field.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was the epitome of a horse girl as a child. I had hundreds of model horses and a library of horse books. I wasn't interested in fantasy horse books or the happy go lucky tales. I was all about realism. Jean Slaughter Doty's books were my favorites. They had all the real parts of the horse world- from killing horses for insurance fraud to drugging the children's ponies to win their hunter classes. They were dark- but they were real and I loved that. They are books I will always be able to re-read.

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

not sure... heart-rending moments but the end wrapped up too soon and the 'baddie' was known quite early on. Also never felt invested in the main character ... Caroline??? and have LITERALLY just finished it....

[Renata Shura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of the author since childhood, but I have never read this book until now. To say I was blindsided as an understatement. Certainly an impactful read, and I think she got people’s attention with it. I sure wish I had had a pony like the crumb growing up.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Crumb. I did so love that horse.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this book. "His name was Buttercrumb Cake so naturally I called him The Crumb". Terrific story about a girl and her pony that ends poorly.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unexpected bit of heartbreak in otherwise predictable mystery plot, but a good story of the juvenile showjumping world all the same.