Horse Memoir

As a child, horses consumed Halimah Marcus' imagination. When she wasn't around horses she was pretending to be one, cantering on two legs, hands poised to hold invisible reigns. To her classmates, girls like Halimah were known as "horse girls," weird and overzealous. Decades later, when memes about "horse girl energy" began appearing across social media, Halimah reluctantly recognized herself. The stereotypical horse girl is also white, thin, rich, and straight, a daughter of privilege. Yet so many riders don't fit this narrow, damaging ideal.

The Horse Adjutant is the Nazi wartime story of a 12-year-old Jewish boy named Leon Schagrin from a world steeped in Jewish mysticism, to a slave worker in a Nazi workcamp. His story, spoken in the first person, will place you in his shoes, so you will never forget the Nazi Holocaust.

The Horse Lover weaves together Day's recollections of his cowboy 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.

When asked in an interview what he most liked about rodeo, three-time world champion saddle-bronc rider “Cody” Bill Smith said simply, “Horses that buck.” Smith redefined the image of America’s iconic cowboy. Determined as a boy to escape a miner’s life in Montana, he fantasized a life in rodeo and went on to earn thirteen trips to the national finals, becoming one of the greatest of all riders.

One extraordinary night, Esta dreamed of a mysterious gray mare named Lava Lady, who spoke to her so rapidly that she was difficult to understand. When Esta woke, she was unable to shake the name Lava Lady, and wondered whether there were horses in “real life” by that name.

Stable Weight is a story of resilience, empowerment, and the transformative power of the human-animal bond, revealing how even the most sensitive soul can ditch being a good girl for becoming an independent woman.

The dramatic true story of two brothers living parallel lives on either side of the US-Mexico border - and how their lives converged in a major criminal conspiracy.

Henry Lee III - whose nickname, "Light-Horse," came from his legendary exploits with mounted troops and skill in the saddle - was a dashing cavalry commander and hero of America's War for Independence. By now most Americans have forgotten about Light-Horse Harry Lee, the father of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, but this new biography reveals he may be one of the most fascinating figures in our nation's history. A daring military commander, Lee was also an early American statesman whose passionate argument in favor of national unity helped ratify the Constitution.

Christine Hemp's debut work of nonfiction, Wild Ride Home, is a brilliant memoir, looping themes of finding love and losing love, of going away and coming home, of the wretched course of Alzheimer's, of cancer, of lost pregnancies, of fly fishing and horsemanship, of second chances, and, ultimately, of the triumph of love and family—all told within the framework of the training of a little white horse named Buddy. Wild Ride Home invites the listener into the close Hemp family, which believes beauty and humor outshine the most devastating circumstances.

At age nine, as Susanna sat on a horse for the first time, an unbreakable bond was forged. It set the stage for a lifelong odyssey for this determined girl and her devotion to her equine companions. From lush Brazilian rainforests to serene Swedish farms, from thrilling British derby banks to the picturesque wine hills of France, this is a story that spans continents, careers, and crossroads. From driven Olympians to bold bullfighters, from kind horsemanship trainers to daring jumpers, each character who crossed her path shone a light on who she yearned to be.

Ever learn a life lesson the hard way as a kid? Had an unforgettable experience that still makes you chuckle? Wish you could share those memories with the world? In this hilarious and heartwarming collection of tales, Chris Williams does just that, inviting you into his remembered childhood on the Kansas plains.

Gen. Larry Spencer, USAF (Ret.) was born and raised on the Horseshoe—a tough inner-city street in southeast Washington D.C. The Horseshoe was a hard neighborhood where fights were common, and the school systems were second-rate. The expectations of living in an all-Black neighborhood were to be good at sports while shunning academic prowess. That environment resulted in poor self-esteem and a bleak outlook for the future. Quite by chance, Spencer enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he continued to struggle with the racial turmoil of the 1970s.

It is a captivating book. Each horse has come into Diane’s life in a different way. Each came to teach a lesson or bring a message. Horses may be without speech, but they are not without a voice. Life can get complicated, but its truths are often very simple. Her horses are loved no matter who they are or where they are in life. God loves each of us too, individually and completely. We are all “keepers” in his sight. We each carry a spark of God’s heart with an important message to be shared with the world. We can and do make a difference in other’s lives.

Thoroughbred racing was one of the first major sports in early America. Horse racing thrived because it was a high-status sport that attracted the interest of both old and new money. It grew because spectators enjoyed the pageantry, the exciting races, and, most of all, the gambling. In The Sport of Kings and the Kings of Crime, author Steven Riess fills a long-neglected gap in sports history, offering a richly detailed and fascinating chronicle of thoroughbred racing's heyday.

In Golden Sheaves, Black Horses, Archer has recorded the beauty of the west of England and the villagers living in the area during the last decades of the 19th Century. Archer explained his decision to write about these stubborn and strong characters by saying: "I felt it would be such a pity if, when these characters died, their sayings, customs, ways of life, how they dressed, should vanish with them." Thanks to Fred Archer's powers of observation and memory, and above all his truthful turn of phrase, they never will.

Pale Horse is the remarkable never-before-told true story of an army aviation task force during combat in the Afghan War, told by the commanding officer who was there. Set in the very valleys where the attacks of 9/11 were conceived and where 10 Medals of Honor have been earned since that fateful day the war began, the narrative races from ferocious firefights and bravery in battle to the quiet moments where the courageous men and women of Task Force Pale Horse catch their breath before they take to the skies again.

Turn Left at the Trojan Horse has been described as On the Road meets Eat, Pray, Love because it goes well beyond a road trip. More than just a funny and profound narrative of Brad Herzog's cross-country trek toward a college reunion in Ithaca (New York) and more than another reimagining of Odysseus's ancient journey (he visits places like Troy, OR... Iliad, MT... Apollo, PA...), it is a memoir exploring the parameters of a heroic existence - by chronicling the lives of people in America's oft-ignored spaces, by examining the universal truths embedded in ancient myths, and by undertaking a fair bit of self-evaluation.

Henry Lee learnt to ride before he was five, joined Washington's Army at nineteen, and was appointed Captain of the Fifth Troop of Virginia Dragoons at twenty. At twenty-two, Colonel Lee took command of a mixed cavalry and infantry unit known as "Lee's Legion"—the finest offensive team in the Continental Army. Nicknamed "Light-Horse Harry" for his raids on British supply wagons, the young Virginian quickly earned a reputation for horsemanship and distinguished himself as one of the most skilled and courageous cavalry officers of the American Revolution.

Corey White was a golden child. He knew this because his father would hit his mother and his sisters but not him. And his mother adored him so much she let him drop out of primary school. After losing his father to jail and his mother to heroin, though, he became a target for cruelty and dysfunction in foster homes. A scholarship to a prestigious boarding school lifted him out of foster care and awakened a love of learning and reading for him, but this was soon overwhelmed by a crushing depression and drug addiction.

The rescue of the last diving horse in America and the inspiring story of how horse and animal rescuer were each profoundly transformed by the other—from the award-winning animal rescuer of retired racing greyhounds and author of the best-selling Adopting the Racing Greyhound.