PositiveThe Guardian[Raulff’s] book excavates and offers up an extraordinary amount of material on the horse in history, literature, art, cinema and philosophy. Farewell to the Horse consists of a series of linked essays loosely organised under the headings energy, knowledge and pathos … The chapters on equine knowledge are among the best in the book. There were always horse experts, of course – connoisseurs, dealers, handlers, breeders, farriers, blacksmiths, riding instructors and cavalrymen. But Raulff persuades us that, beginning in the 18th century, expertise became more extensive, specialised and systematic, the same thing that was happening in other fields of knowledge … Sometimes this book feels as if it lacks a central thread. The themes threaten to burst at the seams as the author packs his text with detail after detail. Farewell to the Horse is nonetheless easy to like and admire, and Raulff is erudite and engaged.
