Horse Crazy: Women and the Horses They Love

I love this book, the stories are very inspiring.

Horse Crazy is a marvelous collection of shorts that helps explain the special relationship women and horses enjoy. In the story Galloping Into Forty, author Kimberley Freeman describes riding on a beach at a full out, hell-bent-for-leather gallop. More than any other passage in the book, this one allowed me to understand the lure of horses--and want to go racing across the sand on a horse. Charlotte Mendel's Mucho Muchacho stands out as well, and if you want to understand why women are loco para caballos, I couldn't recommend this book more. Having little up close and personal experience with horses, I'd never really understood the power--or more accurately, sheer horsepower--they possess. But after reading this collection from dozens of authors and viewpoints, I've finally gotten a glimpse into the majesty and mystique of horses that attracts girls and women of all ages.

In the rush of Christmas shopping, I looked at a copy of "Horse Crazy". I was thinking of a last-minute gift for my school's generous and good-natured receptionist who adores her aging horse. Impulsively, I bought a second copy. Just in case someone showed up at my house with an unexpected gift, I could save face with this book. But instead I left it next to my sofa. Sometimes I am daunted by books. My intention of being absorbed by a 500 page book are often foiled by multiple preemptions. But this book allows me to disappear into well-written, funny and touching stories written by smart, simpatico women. I especially liked "It's Only a Paper Horse" by Stephanie Losee. My favorite image is when she describes her husband trying to please her horse-obsessed daughter's requests for drawings. She says, "Tom's sketching abilities were limited to the creation of a single cartoon fish, which he drew over and over in a vain attempt to be useful." That so resonated with me as a parent, and also made me chuckle. So I highly recommend this book as a fun, touching, well-written book of stories. Even if you don't adore horses.