November 1958: the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Into the rarefied atmosphere of wealth and tradition comes the most unlikely of horses—a drab white former plow horse named Snowman—and his rider, Harry de Leyer. They were the longest of all longshots—and their win was the stuff of legend.
Harry de Leyer first saw the horse he would name Snowman on a bleak winter afternoon between the slats of a rickety truck bound for the slaughterhouse. He recognized the spark in the eye of the beaten-up horse and bought him for eighty dollars. On Harry’s modest farm on Long Island, the horse thrived. But the recent Dutch immigrant and his growing family needed money, and Harry was always on the lookout for the perfect thoroughbred to train for the show-jumping circuit—so he reluctantly sold Snowman to a farm a few miles down the road.
But Snowman had other ideas about what Harry needed. When he turned up back at Harry’s barn, dragging an old tire and a broken fence board, Harry knew that he had misjudged the horse. And so he set about teaching this shaggy, easygoing horse how to fly. One show at a time, against extraordinary odds and some of the most expensive thoroughbreds alive, the pair climbed to the very top of the sport of show jumping.
Here is the dramatic and inspiring rise to stardom of an unlikely duo, based on the insight and recollections of “the Flying Dutchman” himself. Their story captured the heart of Cold War–era America—a story of unstoppable hope, inconceivable dreams, and the chance to have it all. Elizabeth Letts’s message is simple: Never give up, even when the obstacles seem sky-high. There is something extraordinary in all of us.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By blanche
Format:Hardcover
This is a great story and well written. Sadly slaughter of horses in the USA is just legal again and slaughter houses will open in the next month. This is the true story of one such horse loaded for slaughter and rescued at the last minute. This is a great story , and it describes the recarnation of snowman as he enters his second life as a riding school horse and then showjumper It sadly reflects the misconception that lame and very old horses are cast aside, whereas clearly any animal that is no longer of any use is sold to killer buyers and many of them young and talented A very uplifting tale.. of a surviver.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm a sucker for hard-luck underdog equine stories like Seabiscuit and Secretariat, and this is another that's very much in that vein. It's very moving and uplifting in places, and the early chapters about the fate of broken-down horses, aged work horses, racehorses, jumpers, who nobody had a use for anymore was quite upsetting. That Snowman was saved from such a fate would be enough, but the rest of his story is truly extraordinary.
Snowman was a broken-down plow horse, bought by Dutch immigrant Harry de Leyer from a knacker's van full of auction rejects, intended to be a gentle school horse for Harry's riding school. After Harry had sold him to a local doctor when money was tight and the horse showed a talent for jumping by breaking out of his paddock and returning home, he bought him back and began training him up for shows. It was a crazy dream, competing a plow horse against the best and most expensive horses in the country, but it was a dream that came true.
I found this a wonderful book; you really come to care for Harry and Snowman, and I'll confess I found myself in tears at the end when Snowman passes away at a ripe old age, after retiring a champion, a celebrity and an inspiration. The writer, Elizabeth Letts, clearly knows and loves horses, and this is a wonderful read, full of affection and hope.
Snowman was a broken-down plow horse, bought by Dutch immigrant Harry de Leyer from a knacker's van full of auction rejects, intended to be a gentle school horse for Harry's riding school. After Harry had sold him to a local doctor when money was tight and the horse showed a talent for jumping by breaking out of his paddock and returning home, he bought him back and began training him up for shows. It was a crazy dream, competing a plow horse against the best and most expensive horses in the country, but it was a dream that came true.
I found this a wonderful book; you really come to care for Harry and Snowman, and I'll confess I found myself in tears at the end when Snowman passes away at a ripe old age, after retiring a champion, a celebrity and an inspiration. The writer, Elizabeth Letts, clearly knows and loves horses, and this is a wonderful read, full of affection and hope.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The book arrived in super-fast time and in excellent condition.
It was an interesting view of the times and the whole book left you feeling uplifted and glad to be alive.
The first chapter was extremely upsetting with such an eloquent description of the horses travelling on to the slaughterhouse and their awareness of their impending doom.
However, it shows the wasted talent that would have been if this horse had not been taken by someone with the knowledge and sensibility to see further into his character.
We can only hope that in the future their will be no need for such places to exist and that this type of story will become the rule not the exception.
It was an interesting view of the times and the whole book left you feeling uplifted and glad to be alive.
The first chapter was extremely upsetting with such an eloquent description of the horses travelling on to the slaughterhouse and their awareness of their impending doom.
However, it shows the wasted talent that would have been if this horse had not been taken by someone with the knowledge and sensibility to see further into his character.
We can only hope that in the future their will be no need for such places to exist and that this type of story will become the rule not the exception.
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