Letters from Country Life

Letters from Country Life is a rare treasure, a book that blows the dust from history and makes it breathe with renewed life. Deftly interweaving poetic images with the prose of forgotten letters and records, Josh Pons immerses the reader in his journey through the heritage of spirit, land, and horses left behind by a grandfather he never knew in life. Leading through past and present, twining around magnificent Thoroughbreds and memorable people, it is a journey well worth the sharing.

Josh Pons has a great affection for history and an exceptional gift to bring the past to life through his exquisite storytelling. What do you get when you combine captivating horse tales of Maryland’s oldest Thoroughbred farm with behind-the-scenes stories about racing legends such as August Belmont II and Man o’ War? With Pons at the helm illuminating the legacy established by his grandfather, Adolphe Pons, you get pure magic. From the Gilded Age to World War II, Letters from County Life is an essential read for anyone who enjoys Thoroughbred racing, farm life, horses, and fascinating American history.

Over three decades, I’ve had the good fortune to hear Josh Pons’ stories of breeding and training racehorses, with frequent references to his grandfather, Adolphe. I never met that genial horseman, but now I feel I have, thanks to his grandson’s loving curation of his letters.

A confluence of fortunate elements made this book possible, and enchanting. Individuals of a century past meticulously preserved records of fascinating events and experiences. These were discovered years later by a respectful and knowledgeable family heir, Josh Pons. The treasury thus was entrusted to a horseman and writer with the soul of a poet. All readers are the beneficiaries.

Immersed in years-old letters, telegrams, and clippings in the material-packed garret at his family farm, Maryland’s Country Life, Josh Pons meets those who peopled his grandfather’s world. Then, in Letters from Country Life, he introduces them to us. The details are luxuriant, extraordinary—wormseed oil, carbon copies, blister paint, the Teapot Dome scandal, Packards. He writes about a letter ensuring that jockey Earl Sande received the appropriate tip. Pons’ essays about his finds originally appeared in The Blood-Horse, and reading them in one volume is a special pleasure.

Letters from Country Life is largely about the past, and Pons evokes the dreamy quality of archival research, when those you’re reading about seem to live around you, weaving their own connections and laying out paths to explore. But he also writes beautifully about the Thoroughbred breeding life he inhabits today, when the motto is “adapt or perish.”

Pons uses the timelessness of lives spent with horses to meld past and present, animating both with depth and style. As he writes, it’s always been hard to pose a yearling for pictures. This is a book for anyone who loves horses, history, and a good family story. You are in excellent hands.

From his “garret” of Country Life’s old farmhouse, Josh Pons delves into a trove of private letters belonging to bygone days and beautifully renders a poetic splendor honoring reminiscences of famed horses and famed men. Skillfully weaving historical threads of eras wrought from wars and financial depression with that of the enduring bond of horse racing and breeding, Pons offers a stark and poignant look at our past and a focused lens on what can be. Letters from Country Life is a literary treasure and a tour de force of a love letter.

Imagine having the good fortune to discover a treasure trove of historic documents in your attic, and the talent to turn them into an extraordinary journey into a bygone era. Letters from Country Life is both a vivid personal tale and a recollection of a world that used to be; it is history, journalism, and literature, in one very readable volume. Please believe me about this: You’re going to love this book.

Man O’ War as a foal in a field, halterless. Carry Back, improbably bred from a stud named Saggy and a mare named Joppy. The great Cigar, foaled in a Maryland pasture. In this book, horses like these and the people who devoted their lives to them, as chronicled in the letters of Adolphe Pons, become characters in a vibrant narrative crafted by his grandson. Josh Pons transforms the day-to-day happenings of what it’s like to run a horse farm into a story transcending time and place, connecting all those who love and admire the Thoroughbred racehorse.