Sarah Maslin Nir is an investigative metro reporter for The New York Times. But she”™s also on her way to becoming something of a “horse media mogul,” and small wonder.
An equestrian and author of the well-received memoir “Horse Crazy: The Story of a Woman and a World in Love With an Animal” ”“ about how horses helped her challenged younger self navigate New York City and other tales of equine enthusiasts ”“ Nir has decided that “horsey grownups shouldn”™t have all the fun.” After all, she fell in love with all things equestrian when she was a child, as many children do.
Now she”™s telling horse tales for the 8- to 14-year-old set in the new series “Once Upon a Horse” (Abrams/Cameron Kids), whose first book, “The Flying Horse” (163 pages, $17) just debuted.
With charming, postage stamp-size black-and-white illustrations by artist Laylie Frazier, “The Flying Horse” alternates the engaging stories of Sarah, a dyslexic, horse-loving seventh grader in Manhattan, and Trendsetter (Trendy), a bay Dutch Warmblood gelding born in Luttelgeest, the Netherlands, with a crooked right front hoof, who comes to New York City aboard a Boeing 747. Sarah and Trendy seem made for each other. But can they overcome their obstacles together, in and out of the ring, to learn to be themselves and thus truly fly?
Nir never intended to write a novel. “Never,” she said. “I never had it in mind. I write (nonfiction) every day. ”˜Horse Crazy”™ was the logical extension of that.”
But Cameron Kids editorial director Amy Novesky found her on Instagram after reading “Horse Crazy,” and the “Once Upon a Horse” series was born, with each planned book fictionalizing a chapter in “Horse Crazy.” Trendy is one of Mir”™s real-life horses, a 23-year-old retiree who remains her “best friend” as well as a muse. He really did fly in the belly of a Boeing (with a passport and stamps to prove it.) But a Warmblood, with a heavier build, would not have been admitted to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, home of the dancing, prancing Lippizaners, as Trendy is in the novel, Mir writes in the Author”™s Note to the book.
The second book in the series, “The Jockey and Her Horse,” tells the story of the first female Black jockey, Cheryl White (1953-2019), who was breaking barriers aboard the horse Jetolara when she was just 17 years old. “It”™s the intersection of social justice and horses,” Nir said of two subjects she is passionate about. (Her 2016 investigation into the exploitative, racist practices of New York City”™s nail salons, “Unvarnished,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting https://www.wagmag.com/jumping-into-journalism/ that resulted in changes to the industry.) Written with White”™s brother, Raymond White Jr., “The Jockey and Her Horse” will be out this fall and has already spawned a cottage industry. Breyer, which makes models of horses, is creating a doll of Cheryl White and Jetolara ”“ a first in the company”™s 74-year history ”“ to be sold with the book, which has been optioned as a documentary and a feature film, both in progress. (The novel will also be available as a stand-alone.)
The third book in the series will be “The Star Horse,” about a horse that goes to Hollywood. But the media works are just one aspect of Nir”™s horse business. With two friends, she owns Once Upon a Pony, buying and selling ponies. She also owns Green Fields LLC, breeding high quality Palomino Sport Horses. “It”™s hard to find that quality and color,” she said of the Palomino”™s blond coat. Besides Trendsetter, she has four other horses ”“ Falkor, or At Last, an 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding whom she rides in competition; Brightside, a 5-year-old Palomino Zangerscheide (Belgian Sport Horse), a gelding; Sommerdai, a 14-year-old Scottish Sport Horse, a Palomino mare; and Starlet, a 5-year-old Welsh pony, a filly. This spring, she will use semen collected from Brightside before he was gelded to impregnate Sommerdai.
Among those who have purchased horses from Nir is former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, now the owner of Halcyon, a Belgian Warmblood gelding. Whatever money she makes, Nir plows it back into her riding career. She competes in the amateur owners hunters category, which judges the form of horse and rider as they complete an obstacle course ”“ as opposed to jumper events, which are based on speed and accuracy.
It”™s a multifaceted career that she could only dream of as a child. Nir grew up in Manhattan, the daughter of two high-powered parents. Her father was the child psychiatrist Yehuda Nir, M.D., a Holocaust survivor who specialized in treating PTSD and seriously ill children. (He changed the family”™s German name, Gruenfeld, meaning “green field,” to Nir, its Hebrew equivalent.) Her mother, psychologist Bonnie Maslin, helped pioneer the idea of the TV therapist, appearing on “Oprah” in its first year. Together, Nir”™s parents wrote books. For the hyperkinetic, lonely, young Nir ”“ who struggled with spelling and school in general and made what she writes were “poor decisions” ”“ horses offered a sense of belonging and an identity, just as they did for her immigrant father, who liked to remind her that Ralph Lauren, creator of the eponymous, equine-inspired brand, was really Ralphie Lifshitz of the Bronx.
Graduating from Columbia University and its Graduate School of Journalism, Nir broke into The Times by becoming its indefatigable party reporter, supplementing her freelance pieces with restaurant work. Two years later, she was a full-time staffer, with the globe as her beat. Now a metro reporter, she was among the first on the scene in the early days of Covid in New Rochelle, catching the virus herself.
Nir continues her day job as she develops the business side of an expensive passion that is not without risks. A show-jumping vocation or avocation can cost anywhere from five to six figures a year. (A stall alone in Wellington, Florida, the winter capital of the U.S. equestrian world, can average $10,000 a month, Nir said.) It”™s a lot of money to place on the backs of these slender-legged, high-strung beauties. “It”™s a living thing,” Nir said of a horse. “It”™s not like a house you can flip.”
Despite this passion, “horses are not my favorite animals. I love all animals,” added the vegetarian, who doesn”™t even kill bugs.
So it”™s no surprise that she recently celebrated a milestone birthday with friends in South Africa on safari, which today is all about conservation of wildlife.
“Although I wrote a book called ”˜Horse Crazy,”™ I am in fact just plain animal crazy,” she said. “I love them all. So traveling to South Africa on safari was incredible. At one point we were on horseback through the bush, and a man walked by and said, ”˜Did you see the 40-foot python?”™ Let me tell you, you learn what the word ”˜gallop”™ really means after that.”
Horsing around in Westfair country
According to a study by Lawn Love, https://lawnlove.com/blog/best-states-horse-lovers/
New York state ranks fifth as the best state for horse lovers, behind California, Texas, Florida and Kentucky. (Connecticut ranks 28th.) New York scored particularly well in equestrian activities, equine access and equine care.
Certainly, northern Westchester has long been horse country. The Spring Horse Shows return to Old Salem Farm in North Salem May 9 through 21, https://westfaironline.com/exclusives/the-old-salem-farm-spring-horse-shows-are-back/?mc_cid=3e4840d0a8&mc_eid=c560bd665c with a welcome weekend May 6 and 7.
Meanwhile, Chroma Fine Art Gallery in Katonah salutes the horse in “Untamed” (April 18 through May 14), with drawings by Rachel White, paintings by Jen Badalamenti and 12 sculptures by Robert Spinazzola, whose work has been influenced by his upbringing in the Motor City, Detroit. ”¯All the pieces ”“ three life-size horse heads, three freestanding pieces and six wall hangings ”“ were fabricated using discarded and recycled car and tool parts. This is the first time that he has exhibited all of his horse-related sculptures since the 1980s in Manhattan.”¯
The opening reception is 4 to 8 p.m. April 22. The gallery is at 194 Katonah Ave. For more, call 914-301-3197 or visit here. https://chromafineartgallery.com/
Fairfield County is no slouch when it comes to horses. Greenwich Polo Club returns June 4 with the East Coast Bronze Cup. https://www.greenwichpoloclub.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt6bp6I6O_gIVZfTjBx11Ww7YEAAYASAAEgKZzvD_BwE
But we”™d also like to draw your attention to The Serenity Project in Darien. Founded by executive director Ruth Nicodemus, a former hunter-jumper who runs a show barn there, The Serenity Project is designed to help people with psychological problems heal by working with horses. For more, visit here. https://www.theserenityprojectct.org/
Follow Sarah Maslin Nir on Instagram @OnceUponAHorse.
