Snowman, the Horse that Inspired a Nation

By Elizabeth Letts  336 pages (includes notes, bibliography and index), 2012 Ballantine Books.

Much in the fashion of Secretariat and Seabiscuit, The Eighty Dollar Champion is a well documented historical non-fiction novel, this one written by an equestrienne.

I had originally read the original children’s book many years ago, Snowman by Rutherford Montgomery published in 1962.  So while I was familiar with the story, this adult version tells the comprehensive tale of the symbiotic relationship between a horse and a man with extensive detail of […]

Just a Barn Cat: Celebrating Our Feline Friends

His name was Jester.  Actually it was Chester when I got him, but he quickly earned the name Jester.

His perfect black and white markings, and his entertaining personality made me think of a court jester.

He came with the farm.  I didn’t want him, had too many cats already.  But the seller had to leave him behind.  He had come with the place when she bought it, and with her divorce, just one more thing she could not deal with.   She smoothed over my objections,  “He […]

Ode to My Barn Swallows: A Celebration of Nature

I had the most joyous of experiences last night, as I was cleaning stalls. 

The barn swallows were putting on a show above the paddocks and pasture as the sun was setting.  There must have been over fifty of them, swooping and soaring as they put on a show, it seemed, just for me.  I found myself laughing out loud and clapping.  I had to reach for the fence to keep my balance as my head tipped back to watch their wild flight.

Oh, how I love […]