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Forking Off!: ‘Yer daft broom...!’ Diary of a Yorkshire stable hand
‘A must-read for anyone who loves horses, but it also stands alone as a lovely memoir, and a funny, honest, revealing insight into the reality of rural life - and of 'forking off' in mid-life.’ Emma Clayton – Leisure and Lifestyle Editor, Telegraph & Argus
154 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 30, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 5, 2020
Well.written
If you love the world of horses and competitive riding this is your book, interesting and truthful experience about working as a groom at a well known stable. She loves her horses , dogs , elderly parents, and other critters. Over descriptive on some chapters , to this reader at least. Because I'm not much for the details of riding . The book has a tail to tell and does it well.
If you love the world of horses and competitive riding this is your book, interesting and truthful experience about working as a groom at a well known stable. She loves her horses , dogs , elderly parents, and other critters. Over descriptive on some chapters , to this reader at least. Because I'm not much for the details of riding . The book has a tail to tell and does it well.
March 11, 2021
I could not put this book down, it’s such an honest book- real heart on sleeve stuff- the author has really written this from the heart. I also really enjoyed the poetry featured in between each chapter which is also written by her. This is a must read, not necessarily horsey types!
October 6, 2018
Very good description of life at stables when you are up against it, quite moving in parts
January 18, 2022
False advertising.
The cute cartoon on the front cover gives the impression that this will be a young woman's madcap adventures with horses. And the book IS structured around the months that the author spent working in a large equine boarding facility in Yorkshire, although it reads less like madcap adventures than dangerous drudgery. I enjoy a wide range of books about people doing things I have no interest in doing myself, but i found this one unsatisfactory and disturbing.
I'd never own a horse. They look lovely running in a field or pulling a beer wagon in a parade. But OWNING them? Fine for wealthy folks who can afford stable hands and huge vet bills. Insane for the rest of us. I'm tired of reading books by people who are in desperate financial messes, but who won't consider parting with their horses. Being passionate about something doesn't make money magically appear.
Running through the saga of life at the horse stables are hints about the author - a 60-year-old woman with health problems, money problems, and a marriage that looks very dicey from where I'm sitting. She and her partner seem astonished at having arrived at old age and at being laid off from their jobs as newspaper reporters. Why? Age is inevitable if you live long enough and newspapers have been going under for two decades or more. They have debts, no savings, chronic health problems, and horses.
Owning horses is the most expensive hobby in the world and these two can't afford it. By the end of the book, both are working again - she at a job that she dislikes and which is unhealthy for her and he in a new career in elder-care. A "loan" from her parents is a temporary bail-out, but what if one of them can't work? What if her partner decides he doesn't like this job, either, and leaves her with bills she can't pay alone? It's never too late to stop drifting and come up with a plan, but a viable plan may not include all the activities and people you want it in your life. Hard times call for hard choices.
Maybe horse lovers would find this book fascinating. I just kept wishing that this excellent writer would stop talking about horses and tell us about herself. And not just wistful, throw-away lines, but some real information. She makes vague references to her childhood and talks about her ageing parents. She makes an off-hand reference to once having a little blonde girl and to her parents' home being a refuge for her when she was a single parent, but that's it. Is her daughter dead? Estranged? Her partner has a daughter in collage, but we don't get any background on him, either. How can you get involved in a memoir if the author resolutely hides from you? I found myself searching for clues like a detective trying to solve a crime. I guess I expect an author to do some of the work.
I was also disturbed by her harping on her terrible looks and her failures as a person. She says she pulled away from her family because she had "nothing to offer." If your family doesn't love you for yourself, ditch them. If they do, stop worrying about it. As to looks, there are two clear pictures of her and she looks like a casually attractive woman in her late 30's or early 40's. She has lovely skin and teeth and looks much younger than her actual age. She looks happy and confident. Yet she portrays herself as a depressed, depressing booze-hound. Where is the woman in those pictures?
I suspect an editor or early reader asked the same question. Toward the end of the book she says that there are excellent reasons for her lack of self-confidence, but that's as far as she goes. Why hint at things and then leave the reader wondering? Tell the whole story or leave it out.
I sense that the author wants to tell her story, but is afraid to. She should come out from behind those damned horses and write a real memoir. This book is a waste of her intelligence and talent.
The cute cartoon on the front cover gives the impression that this will be a young woman's madcap adventures with horses. And the book IS structured around the months that the author spent working in a large equine boarding facility in Yorkshire, although it reads less like madcap adventures than dangerous drudgery. I enjoy a wide range of books about people doing things I have no interest in doing myself, but i found this one unsatisfactory and disturbing.
I'd never own a horse. They look lovely running in a field or pulling a beer wagon in a parade. But OWNING them? Fine for wealthy folks who can afford stable hands and huge vet bills. Insane for the rest of us. I'm tired of reading books by people who are in desperate financial messes, but who won't consider parting with their horses. Being passionate about something doesn't make money magically appear.
Running through the saga of life at the horse stables are hints about the author - a 60-year-old woman with health problems, money problems, and a marriage that looks very dicey from where I'm sitting. She and her partner seem astonished at having arrived at old age and at being laid off from their jobs as newspaper reporters. Why? Age is inevitable if you live long enough and newspapers have been going under for two decades or more. They have debts, no savings, chronic health problems, and horses.
Owning horses is the most expensive hobby in the world and these two can't afford it. By the end of the book, both are working again - she at a job that she dislikes and which is unhealthy for her and he in a new career in elder-care. A "loan" from her parents is a temporary bail-out, but what if one of them can't work? What if her partner decides he doesn't like this job, either, and leaves her with bills she can't pay alone? It's never too late to stop drifting and come up with a plan, but a viable plan may not include all the activities and people you want it in your life. Hard times call for hard choices.
Maybe horse lovers would find this book fascinating. I just kept wishing that this excellent writer would stop talking about horses and tell us about herself. And not just wistful, throw-away lines, but some real information. She makes vague references to her childhood and talks about her ageing parents. She makes an off-hand reference to once having a little blonde girl and to her parents' home being a refuge for her when she was a single parent, but that's it. Is her daughter dead? Estranged? Her partner has a daughter in collage, but we don't get any background on him, either. How can you get involved in a memoir if the author resolutely hides from you? I found myself searching for clues like a detective trying to solve a crime. I guess I expect an author to do some of the work.
I was also disturbed by her harping on her terrible looks and her failures as a person. She says she pulled away from her family because she had "nothing to offer." If your family doesn't love you for yourself, ditch them. If they do, stop worrying about it. As to looks, there are two clear pictures of her and she looks like a casually attractive woman in her late 30's or early 40's. She has lovely skin and teeth and looks much younger than her actual age. She looks happy and confident. Yet she portrays herself as a depressed, depressing booze-hound. Where is the woman in those pictures?
I suspect an editor or early reader asked the same question. Toward the end of the book she says that there are excellent reasons for her lack of self-confidence, but that's as far as she goes. Why hint at things and then leave the reader wondering? Tell the whole story or leave it out.
I sense that the author wants to tell her story, but is afraid to. She should come out from behind those damned horses and write a real memoir. This book is a waste of her intelligence and talent.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews