The Eighty-dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse that Inspired a Nation | 
#WinterGamesDailyPhotoChallenge @Roary47
#GingerbreadGems
This is the true story of a horse named Snowman who was saved from slaughter by a Dutch immigrant. He trained him and he become one of top show jumpers in the country and even won at Madison Square Gardens.
A heart warming story about a horse that exceeded everyone‘s expectations and changed a sport. #truestory 🐎🐴
Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope you have a fabulous day! Here are the #Two4Tuesday questions for today. Everyone is welcome to play!
My answers:
1️⃣ I love watching Grand Prix Dressage and 5 star eventing especially the cross country. If you are interested, below is the world record ride of Charlotte Desjardins on Valegrio.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DcDLLxgWa_Y
2️⃣ The tagged book is one of my favorite true stories. A true rags to riches story.
#MayMontage @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#Finance/$Related
Great story even for non-horsey people. This is the true story of Snowman and Henry de Leyer. How Henry rescued him from going to slaughter for $80. They went on to win in the uppermost levels of show jumping against the best horses and riders of the day. Very inspiring!
“He looked deeply into the horse‘s eyes. This horse had his own wisdom, and even though Harry had seen the hurt in his children‘s eyes, he still thought he had made the right decision to pull up yesterday. Take care of your horse and he‘ll take care of you. Harry firmly believed that.” ~ The Eight Dollar Champion by Elizabeth Letts, page 194
#DecemberSong @Eggs
#Fristy the Snowman
Probably not what you were expecting. This is a great story about an unlikely jumper champion. ❤🐎
#DearDecember @Eggs
#Snowman
This is the true story of a horse named Snowman. He was purchased for $80 and went on to win at Madison Square Gardens. Get book for anyone who loves horses!❤🐎
pickI am not a reader of nonfiction; what I‘ve tried to read in the past has been dry and difficult to get into. But, I‘ve been looking to add a little into my reading and this recommendation from my mom was a good place to start. I loved it! The author told the story in a way that makes you fall in love with Snowman, Harry and his family, while still enjoying paragraphs about the history of the time & place without getting bored. 👇🏻continued
#runningandjumping #anditsaugust @RealLifeReading
I gave my mom The Eighty Dollar Champion for Christmas a couple years ago, thinking she'd find the story interesting. She turned to her partner and said "oh, look Jim, someone wrote a book about Harry!" Apparently she knows the trainer and the horse, so she'd heard the story once or twice before. The horse world is a small world after all.
pickI love The Eighty Dollar Champion. I loved reading about the histories of the different horse shows as well as the support of Harry de Leyer's wife and kids. Reading about the journey of an ex-plow horse and his Dutch immigrant owner as they create an amazing bond and work their way to the top of the show jumping circuit is an amazing story. I couldn't put the book down. I would definitely read this book again.
pickA charming nonfiction read about an underdog horse: once doomed for slaughter, Snowman is purchased for $80 by Dutch immigrant Harry de Leyer and becomes a nation's pet. Touted as an inspirational Cinderella story, this novel doesn't disappoint. Read it for the historical context on a period that gets skimmed over a bit (1950s) & the feel-good vibes that buzz with each turned page. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is my kind of #nonfiction: informative, familiar (language), and peppered with interesting notes to build historical context. I read Seabiscuit in HS and it quickly became my favorite NF read. Since I was a runner (& I absolutely worshipped horses), my dad and I made a habit of watching the Seabiscuit movie (& Hidalgo) before big races. This story has a similar feel to it & brings back great father-daughter bonding memories. ☺️
#SeptPhotoChallenge - Number in the Title (2 of 2). Here are my eBooks. I also have Ready Player One and 1776 on audio. If you haven't read Once, it is amazing. Yes, I hated 50 Shades. If you loved it, be proud. I discovered it was the gateway drug to reading for my struggling freshmen college girls in their 20s just like Harry Potter was for kids. I read 13 Reasons with 8th graders who loved it. 4 HWW taught me email 1st thing hijacks your day!
