The Eighty Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse Who Inspired a Nation
By Elizabeth Letts (author), Bronson Pinchot (reader)
Blackstone Audio, ISBN 9781441786449, August 2011
Harry de Leyer was a young Dutch immigrant to the US who came over just after World War II, escaping the devastation of the Netherlands. Before the war, he was a rising young show jumper with a real shot at representing the Netherlands in the Olympics. After the war, he emigrated to the US to start over, hoping to build a career as a horseman despite the losses of the war. Together with his wife Johanna, he carefully, step by step, works his way up from the bottom, working any job with horses that he can get, and saving every penny that can be squeezed out to buy their own land. Within a few years, they own their own small farm, and he’s teaching riding at a girls’ school on Long Island, NY.
In 1956, he went to a horse auction and saw a thin, beaten-up old plow horse being loaded on the truck to go to the slaughterhouse. Though he had clearly had a hard life, the gelding was still basically sound, and something about this horse was too compelling for Harry to walk away. He bought the horse for $80, and named him Snowman.
Snowman turned out to be a horse of wonder.
As he regains a healthy weight and his full strength, Snowman proves to be a gentle, reliable horse who could be trusted with young riders. Harry sells him to a local doctor looking for a safe, reliable mount for his young son—but Snowman doesn’t accept the sale. Snowman keeps turning up in Harry’s yard, morning after morning, despite increasingly determined efforts to keep him contained. He’s doing what most horses won’t do: jumping paddock fences to get out of a paddock well-supplied with food and water, and comfortable shelter.
Harry buys him back, and starts teaching him to jump while carrying a rider. It’s the beginning of an amazing story, as the old plow horse is transformed into a champion show jumper, and the working professional horseman becomes one of the show circuit’s most respected riders and trainers. He did at a time when not just the horse world but the sports world in general was still highly stratified, and professionals were regarded as distinctly inferior and not welcome in the rarified upper levels of competition.
This is a fascinating, compelling, and moving story. Harry, Snowman, and Harry’s family are well worth getting to know.
Highly recommended.
I borrowed this book from a friend
Reviewer Bio:
Lis and Addy
Lis Carey is a librarian with an odd sense of humor, who finds excitement in helping people find the information they need, and in the varied corners of library work–reference, cataloging, circulation, resource development, reader’s advisory. She reads voraciously and enjoys a wide variety of material–including, of course, fiction and non-fiction about dogs and cats. Addy, her Chinese Crested, is always happy to keep her company while reading, and occasionally tries to help write the reviews.
Check out her Blog Lis Carey’s Library for more Book Reviews.
This is a good story and one that is worth reading/listening to when one feel’s bleak. In addition to loving the story about a champion horse being saved from the slaughterhouse, I loved the infusion of post-WW II American history as a backdrop. I did not know what a sorry state the economy was in.
I DO remember reading a very short piece about Snowman when I was a child and his story always stuck with me as being scantily told. This books does a very good job of fleshing out Snowman and Harry’s story.
I’m a new follower from the Mom Monday hop. This sounds like a great book! – Amy
Pretty component of content. I just stumbled upon your site and in accession capital to claim that I
acquire in fact enjoyed account your weblog posts.
Anyway I’ll be subscribing for your augment or even I achievement you get admission to
consistently rapidly.
comprobar estos chicos recently posted..comprobar estos chicos