Josh Pons

Keeneland Library's Lecture Series returns with presentations by Maryland horseman and journalist Josh Pons, and NBC's Emmy Award-winning commentator Tom Hammond, the repository said in a release Thursday morning. Pons, author of the newly-released Letters from Country Life: Adolphe Pons, Man o' War, and the Founding of Maryland's Oldest Thoroughbred Farm, will speak Aug. 29. Hammond's presentation over his new autobiography entitled Races, Games, and Olympic Dreams: A Sportscaster's Life is set for Sept. 24. Both programs will be held at Keeneland Library from 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET. Each presentation will...

Five open seats on the Board of Directors for the Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA) have been filled, with four of the positions filled by returning members and one by a new member. Returning to the board are veterinarian Brooke Bowman, DVM; owner-breeder Michael Horning; Country Life Farm and Merryland Farm co-owner Josh Pons; and Northview Stallion Station's general manager David Wade. Trainer Phil Schoenthal is joining the MHBA Board for the first time. The five elected will serve for the next three years and will join current directors William...

by Josh Pons Andrew MacNamara Pons, who managed his family's Country Life Farm in Maryland during the 1970s, died on Tuesday evening, Jan. 2, following complications from cardiac arrest five days earlier. He was 70 years old. Born in Baltimore on May 31, 1953, he was the oldest son of Joseph and Mary Jo Pons. He grew up working with horses at Country Life, the oldest Thoroughbred farm in the state, established in 1933 by Pons' grandfather, Adolphe. Fresh out of high school, Pons began work as an assistant for...

The Maryland Horse Library and Education Center will hold a duplicate book sale May 17 and May 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Reisterstown. A large collection of classics, many out-of-print, as well as newer offerings will be available for purchase. Local authors will be on hand at designated times throughout the day Wednesday to sign their books, with new copies available for sale. Josh Pons, Eclipse Award-winning writer of "Country Life Diary" and "Merryland" about the Pons family's farms in Harford and Baltimore Counties, as well as...

The Maryland Horse Breeders Association and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association will host a Tesio Talk and continental breakfast in the International Room at Laurel Park on Federico Tesio S. day, Apr. 15. The "Talking Tesio" event begins at 10:30 a.m. and will feature a continental breakfast followed by a panel discussion with industry leaders about Tesio's influence on the breed. Speakers include Country Life Farm's Josh Pons, J. William Boniface, the owner of Bonita Farm, and Ned Moore, owner of Corner Farm in Clark County, Virginia, bloodstock agent, and...

Located in the heart of historic Reisterstown, Md., just down the road from Sagamore Farm, Hall of Fame steeplechase trainer Jack Fisher's Kingfisher Farm, and GreenMount Farm, the birthplace of 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter), sits the newly opened Maryland Horse Library and Education Center. The one-of-a-kind facility, honoring the robust history of horses in Maryland and serving as a hub for educating the next generation, is housed in the Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA)'s building. The stately brick structure with large, white columns, was originally built...

The Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation has awarded $65,000 in grants to nine organizations. In 2022, to fund scholarships and education, $10,000 was awarded to the Belmont Child Care Association, Inc., $5,000 to Amplify Horse Racing, $12,000 to Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, $10,000 to the Maryland Horse Foundation, $4,000 to the MidAtlantic Horse Rescue, $5,000 to the Retired Race Horse Project, $4,000 to the TAKE2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program, $10,000 to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, and $5,000 to Wilson College. TERF primarily aims to support students in pursuit...

The Maryland Horse Foundation has announced the launch of the Maryland Horse Library and Education Center Capital Campaign, which will honor the history of horses in the state and serve as a hub for learning and collaboration. "The way [into the horse industry] is through learning, so that's the most exciting aspect of this project," said Josh Pons, co-chair of the Capital Campaign and president of the Maryland Horse Foundation. "There's someone out there who has a passion for the game but just doesn't know how to get started, and...

Country Life Diary By Josh Pons I have just started re-reading my personally signed copy of Country Life Diary, a day-by-day account of three years in the life of a family-run Thoroughbred stud in Maryland, USA. Although over 30 years have passed since Josh Pons wrote the first chapter of a diary that was published every month for three straight years, the daily happenings of a working Thoroughbred farm are still the same every day around the world. The arrival and prospect of making a new stallion, covering the first...