Inspired by the Henry Taylor poem of the same name, Flying Change is the true story of a man changing strides and leaving the comforts and security of middle-age life to reenter the hazardous and highly competitive world of steeplechasing. After a yourthful career begun under the tutelage of his father, legendary steeplechase jockey A.P. Paddy Smithwick, he gave up riding to become a newspaper editor, a Chesapeake Bay waterman, a teacher of English and literature, and a father. But the one-time jockey could not leave the sport he so loved. At forty-six, he pushed himself back into shape for competitive racing and set about trying to find a horse to ride in the most challenging of timer races, the Maryland Hunt Cup.
From the rolling hills of Maryland horse country, Smithwick issues a movingly written call to those of us trapped in increasingly sedentary, digital lives to get up and go outdoors and let the senses play, to feel a cold rain on your shoulders and sit in front of a warm fire, to smell hay and grass and live in the beauty of spring dawns and brilliant autumn sunsets.
Inspired by the Henry Taylor poem of the same name, Flying Change is the true story of a man changing strides and leaving the comforts and security of middle-age life to reenter the hazardous and highly competitive world of steeplechasing. After a yourthful career begun under the tutelage of his father, legendary steeplechase jockey A.P. Paddy Smithwick, he gave up riding to become a newspaper editor, a Chesapeake Bay waterman, a teacher of English and literature, and a father. But the one-time jockey could not leave the sport he so loved. At forty-six, he pushed himself back into shape for competitive racing and set about trying to find a horse to ride in the most challenging of timer races, the Maryland Hunt Cup.
From the rolling hills of Maryland horse country, Smithwick issues a movingly written call to those of us trapped in increasingly sedentary, digital lives to get up and go outdoors and let the senses play, to feel a cold rain on your shoulders and sit in front of a warm fire, to smell hay and grass and live in the beauty of spring dawns and brilliant autumn sunsets.
Flying Change: A Year of Racing and Family and Steeplechasing
360Flying Change: A Year of Racing and Family and Steeplechasing
360Hardcover(1st Edition)
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780982304945 |
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Publisher: | Chesapeake Book Company |
Publication date: | 11/15/2012 |
Edition description: | 1st Edition |
Pages: | 360 |
Product dimensions: | 6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d) |