Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Catch Rides: An oldie but a goodie (novel)

When I was in high school I read this novel about a jumper rider from Virginia, Annie Gordon,  whose meteoric rise in the show jumping ranks is curtailed by a nervous breakdown of sorts. We meet her as she is riding cow ponies, problem horses, and  catch rides at small time shows out west.

The novel is Catch Rides for Sara McAcauly. I don't know how my 49 year-old self would feel re-reading this book, but I loved it then, and my 16 year-old self found a great role model in the main character Annie Gordon. We were nothing alike, but I learned about resilience and toughness from this fictional character. You know how some people sort of stick in your head?  I think I even wrote the author, and I still have a copy. Any of you read it, by any chance? There are copies on Amazon.com :-).


4 comments:

  1. Indeed, I have my very own copy.

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  2. Sounds like my life. Minus the whole show jumping thing.

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  3. Ah, a new one. Another book to consider for recovery time. Thanks.

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  4. Ooooh, that sounds like a good one! My most favorite horse book EVER is called "The Show Gypsies," and was written in 1975 by Leigh Brown, who happened to be a friend of my then-trainer. So I have an autographed copy. I actually have a pretty large collection of horse books, and am planning to write about that on my own blog soon.

    I just finished reading "The Perfect Distance," by Kim Ablon Whitney (YA but fine for A), and thoroughly enjoyed it. A very realistic depiction of life in a hunter barn and riding Big Eq with a top trainer!

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