In Service to the Horse: Chronicles of a Labor of Love

Behind each winning horse is a groom, the person responsible for every nuance of his care, his health, and his spirit. In Service to the Horse explores a year in the life of three grooms, all working with champion thoroughbreds. The profession is largely dominated by young women, who work for no glory but their love of horses. Nusser tells the story of a stud groom in the most storied stable of Kentucky racehorses, home to the most high strung and dangerous stallions in the world; a show jumping groom struggling to square her desire to compete with the exacting demands of the rider she works for; finally, at the book's heart, Samantha Burton, a groom at the stables of an Olympic gold medalist in the controversial and rarefied sport of Three Day Eventing. In gripping detail, Nusser-a former groom herself-tells the stories of these horses, their owners and riders, and the multibillion-dollar industry of equestrian sport. Through the major competitions that define their year, Nusser interweaves stable lore, horse mythology, animal behavior, and meditations on the precise nature of the intense bond between humans and horses.