The Forgotten Horses

Stromberg's subjects are the “crooked, lame, ordinary, old, blind, uncontrollable, disrespectful” horses he has found in sanctuaries spread across the United States. They are abandoned pets, racing horses too old to run, candidates for Canadian or Mexican slaughterhouses or brood mares past their prime. Such animals might seem unlikely subjects for a lavish coffee-table book, and despite the sense of mission and urgency that informs this project, the final work is only partially successful. Just as Stromberg's prose tends to slip into clichés about urbanized culture's need for a connection to the wilderness or society's “mantra of disposability,” his photographs often bathe his subjects in a yellow-gold light that becomes both repetitive and trivializing despite his high intentions. His horses look their best when they look their worst; in those photographs that emphasize their age and neglect, the issue—not the aesthetics—takes center stage. An appendix that lists 18 rescue services and sanctuaries reinforces the activist message of Stromberg's work. 200 color photos. (Nov.)