The Horse Lover is Day’s personal history of the sanctuary’s vast enterprise, with its surprises and pleasures and its plentiful dangers, frustrations, and heartbreak. Day’s deep connection with the animals in his care is clear from the outset, as is his maverick philosophy of horse-whispering, with which he trained fifteen hundred wild horses. The Horse Lover weaves together Day’s recollections of his cowboying adventures astride some of his best horses, all of which taught him indispensable lessons about loyalty, perseverance, and hope. This heartfelt memoir reveals the Herculean task of balancing the requirements of the government with the needs of wild horses. (summary and pic from goodreads.com)
My Review: I loved this book. And yes, I am biased because I love horses. But it wasn’t just about the horses. I mean, sure, there were plenty of horses and all (it is about a wild mustang ranch after all), but it was a really great look at ranch life and politics in the ranching business as well.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got this book. The
author, Alan, is Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s brother, so I expected that he
would be intelligent and well-spoken, but since he’s a cowboy, I wasn’t sure
what the actual writing would be like. Well, it turns out it was great. Not
only was the book very well-written, but I loved his insight and conversational
style. It made the book really
accessible. He had a way of telling the story and bringing to life the events
of the past that really made it interesting. The author is a kind person, very
insightful to both humans and animals, and he conveyed that well in his
writing. It really is great that way.
I read this book quickly. I’m never sure what to expect
with memoirs, sometimes they are a long slog and in the end it’s been months
and months, much like living the person’s life in real time. I read this in
just a few days, picking it up whenever I got a chance. It really was
captivating and interesting.
Although I had quite a bit of exposure to horses when I
was growing up, I didn’t live on a ranch. We had a couple of acres with our
house and arena and we had show horses, so I was actually not familiar with
this type of ranch life. I found it fascinating and I loved hearing about Mr.
Day’s experiences and knowledge about the horses and the ranch. One thing I
really liked about the book is that he didn’t skip over the difficult things.
Ranch life isn’t easy for the cowboys or the animals, and when working with
wild mustangs, it’s even different because no one has much experience with them
to start out with. Mr. Day was a pioneer in working with the mustangs and I
enjoyed hearing about his successes as well as the times he had to learn something
the hard way. He is an honest, hard-working man, and one who I feel privileged
to have learned from in this book.
The Horse Lover
is not just for horse lovers. Anyone who loves memoirs or
reading about nature or animals would especially enjoy it. It really has
something for everyone.
My rating: 5 stars
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