Billy and Blaze

 There is a stable near my house, and almost every day walking my dog I meet children riding ponies. We say 'hello' to each other and smile. The kids are so happy and proud and I go on thinking about this young boy, Billy, his brave pony Blaze, his dog , Rex and their creator Clarence William Anderson.(and David Cassidy of course)

C.W. Anderson (1891-1971) dedicated his life to horses. He wrote 36 books on horses with his own illustrations, among them 11 books for children. His artwork, drawings, lithographs and engravings hung in many museums and galleries. He was a very known and respected judge of show-jumpers. A great figure in the horse world. He wrote his first book about Billy's adventures in 1936, and I'm sure David Cassidy read them when he was a kid. David started riding ponies when he was 7.

'I remember staying home with the mumps and seeing this racing movie 'The Homestretch'( the film from 1947 about rival thoroughbred horse breeders , author's note) I love the racing scenes and begged my mum and my grandparents to take me to the races ' /October 17, 2002 Daily Racing Forum/

Horses..David Cassidy was happy with them, all his life, it was a real passion which brought him happiness and achievements, but also many, many problems, financial and personal alike.

Garry C.Contessa, famous horse trainer, and very close David Cassidy's friend : 'When you hung up with David Cassidy you never talked about music. You never talked about albums, about The Partridge Family. The conversation would be hours of pedigrees and mares. He was a walking pedigree textbook and racing encyclopedia.' /www.throughbreddailynews.com  November 20, 2017/

7 Anderson's stories read by David Cassidy were published in 1983. They are just magical in his interpretation. I can imagine him while recording, smiling but also sad, thinking about his childhood, about his first pony and about his father. David's voice..I can listen to him for hours. He had great diction..you can hear every word so clearly, and it's obvious that he enjoyed reading those stories very much.

If you have some time, just find a comfortable armchair, close your eyes and start listening :

'Billy was a little boy who loved horses more than anything else in the world..'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLi1YI1ORno&t=17s