Book Reviews

Chosen by a Horse, by Susan Richards, is a touching true story about a broken horse who can still love and trust, and a broken woman who can’t–and how one helps the other.

Susan Richards lost her parents at a very early age and was passed from one unwelcoming hand to the next during her childhood. As a young adult, she numbed the pain with alcohol and made foolish decisions under its influence. One day, after an all-nighter with a friend–and after they’d lost an entire day sleeping off the booze–the two joined AA, with wonderful results. But without the artificial courage found in a bottle, Susan lost her ability to function.

When she adopted Lay Me Down, a half-starved bay, from the SPCA, she began her painful, bittersweet path to healing.

I loved this book for so many reasons, one of which is the way Susan talks of Lay Me Down. She “anthropomorphizes,” as she puts it, and so do I whenever I talk about critters. Giving animals human-like qualities isn’t all that difficult: animals have personalities and emotions similar to humans. They show jealousy, anger, sorrow, grief, joy, loyalty. Each individual animal is unique. Just as I can tell the difference in my cats’ voices, Susan could tell the difference in her horses’ voices. As I know how each cat will respond to company coming, Susan knew how her own horses would respond to the addition of Lay Me Down to the herd. Whenever someone tells me a critter is “just an animal,” I come inches away from losing my temper. Animals, especially pets, are special; they balance life.

Of course, another reason I liked Susan’s book is because through it she taught me more about horses than I’d ever learn through personal experience, not being one of the priviledged few who can look out my window and watch them graze. How awful to admit that I know so little about horses when they’re a big part of many of my books. Of course, I’ve ridden before and I do tend to gravitate toward horse people–when I can find them–but I don’t know some of the most basic things about them. For instance, I still forget what “roan” means. Is that not embarrassing?

I recommend highly Susan’s book for any horse lover, whether an owner or not.

This page has the following sub pages.

• Elvis Takes a Back Seat-Leanna Ellis
• If she can do it . . .
• Protect and Defend–Vince Flynn
• A Bend in the Road-Nicholas Sparks
• Francine Rivers
• Playing for Pizza–John Grisham
• For Better or For Worse-Diann Hunt
• A Clearing in the Wild–Jane Kirkpatrick
• A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23–Phillip Keller
• A Gathering of Spies–John Altman
• My Name is Russell Fink, by Michael Snyder
• Dead Heat, by Joel C. Rosenberg
• When Skylarks Fall, by John Robinson
• Riven, by Jerry Jenkins
• Stand-In Groom, by Kaye Dacus
• Terry Blackstocks 2-in-1: The Listener/The Gifted
• The Lucky One, by Nicholas Sparks