Horse Memoir: 5 To Add to Your Reading List

Inspired by Equine Ink’s fabulous post titled Who Else Loved Horse Books?, I started thinking about some of the horse books I’ve enjoyed–particularly horse memoirs. Regular readers of this blog know that I too have written a memoir titled Horses Adored and Men Endured: a Memoir of Falling and Getting Back Up!

I have tried to read as many other titles similar to what I wrote so I could see what to emulate. You might enjoy checking out some of these horse memoirs too. (This post contains affiliate links.)

1. Chosen By A Horse by Susan Richards

Richards’ memoir of how a broken down ex-racehorse rescued via the SPCA healed her broken heart after a failed marriage realistically portrays the bond between a woman and horse. This story has resonated with not just equestrians, but anyone whose heart has been touched by a special pet, as evidenced by its bestseller staying power.

Be prepared to have a Kleenex box handy if you decide to read this one. Her writing style is beautiful and you will really feel like you are there experiencing the ups and downs with Richards. (She also published the books Chosen Forever and Saddled, which I have not yet read. If you have read these, leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.)

2. Stable Relation: A Memoir of One Woman’s Spirited Journey Home by Way of the Barn by Anna Blake

Beloved horse blogger and dressage trainer Anna Blake recounts her midlife journey from the city to the farm as she makes a new life for herself and her fur family on the Colorado prairie. The artist who has been crazy about horses since girlhood shares heartwarming tales of her Corgis, llamas, and Grandfather horse–an Appaloosa who has been mistaken for a Lipizzaner.

(Anna has published two other books in a similar vein. Relaxed and Forward: Relationship Advice From Your Horse and Barn Dance: Nickers, Brays, Bleats, Howls and Quacks: Tales From the Herd.) What’s great about Anna’s writing is you feel like she is right there with you, telling these stories. By the end of the book (or books) you’ll feel like you’ve gained a new friend. (You can read my full book review on Stable Relation here.)

3. Falling for Eli: How I Lost Heart, Then Gained Hope Through the Love of a Singular Horse by Nancy Schulins

Schulins’ infertility memoir details the daily struggle endured as she and her husband live in a stereotypical suburban neighborhood with stay-at-home moms pushing baby strollers up and down the street. After several miscarriages and no success with expensive infertility treatments, Schulins embarks on the journey to horse ownership. Her mommy neighbors throw a “bridle shower” when Nancy brings Eli, a sassy chestnut gelding into her world.

The relationship Nancy and her horse share requires tremendous time and nurturing, yielding immense joy–similar to motherhood. In this book, Eli (the horse–a Thoroughbred) has such a large personality and is definitely a main character I enjoyed getting to know. I also loved Nancy’s writing–she has worked for the Associated Press and at the time of this writing has been nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize. Her horse memoir did not disappoint.

4. Let the Tornado Come by Rita Zoey Chin

I bought this book at an independent bookstore in Chicago because of its appealing cover—what’s not to love about a horse with a blaze and mountains in the background? It was not really what I expected, and some parts were hard to read (family dysfunction), but I loved reading it. The opening lines had me hooked: “Icicles drip from the windows encircling the dressage arena, and as they melt, they grow longer. They are dazzling, glistening in the sun, but right now, each one is a threat.”

There are a lot of non-horsey parts in the book where Chin shares vignettes from her troubled childhood as a runaway. Later in life, she suffers intense panic attacks and fear of driving. I really enjoyed where she started connecting with horses and how that eased some of the pain of her early years. Her story skips around in chronology but it was not confusing at all. I liked the artistry of how the story unfolded.

The OG Horse Memoir Still on my Bookshelf

5. Light Horsekeeping: How to Get a Horse and How to Keep It by Helen Mather

This was one of my favorite horse books. It showed up in my life when I was in elementary school, and I am not really sure how it came to live at my house. Maybe my older sister found it a garage sale? Regardless, it is a treasure! Yes, it’s vintage. And it’s not technically a horse memoir from the point of view of one person, but it is memoirish.

Light Horsekeeping is filled with photos and many pages of handwritten text about the love girls have for horses. It shows pictures of girls in their late 1960s glory (long, straight parted-in-the middle hair and the unmistakable clothes) holding mock horse shows in their back yards, “galloping” over jumps made of picnic table benches and brooms on buckets. It shows girls getting ready for shows by cutting up mattress pads for shipping wraps, trimming whiskers and bridlepaths with scissors, and all the backyardy horse care things many of us horsewomen did back in the day before people had fancy boarding barns and possibly trainers and grooms. If you are of a certain age (Generation X or above) or like vintagey things, I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s a fast read and the pictures are priceless.

Non-Horse Memoirs

Before I close this post, there are a few non-horsey memoirs I have also enjoyed and I’ll just run down the list quickly in case you have diverse reading interests like me.

• A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. This one is about small town life in 1970s Indiana. As a Midwesterner, I could relate to the vibe of this one and thought it was really charming. Like a Garrison Keller show in print.
• Prisoner of Tehran: One Woman’s Story of Survival Inside an Iranian Prison by Marina Nemat (I know, doesn’t sound very uplifting or horsey, but I like stories of real life from other cultures.)
• Funny in Farsi by Faroozi Dumas. This story is about growing up Iranian-American and it really is funny.
• The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride. You need to read this one. It’s phenomenal.

My mom credits my love of horses for making me the avid reader that I am. When I didn’t have a horse, I read all the horse books I could. So my passion for reading and my passion for riding are really intertwined. Do you enjoy reading horse memoirs or any other kind of memoirs? If you have any horse memoir recommendations, make sure to leave a comment.

Please Leave a Comment: What books have you been excited about lately? Do you read horse memoirs or autobiographies? What’s your favorite genre?

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