After a severe horseback riding accident in 2011, journalist and author
Marjorie Simmins finds herself unable to walk. During the slow months of
recovery, Simmins replays a lifetime of memories related to her beloved
horse companions and the adventures they shared. Finally back on her
feet, she makes a bold and surprising decision: she will ride again, in
a discipline that is new for her, and she will even compete in a horse
show--her first in 42 years. Vancouver-raised Simmins decides that 2014,
the Chinese Year of the Horse, is her time for a comeback. Exhilarated
but nervous, the former hunter-jumper of modest ability commits to
full-time training as a Western rider.
Dynamic and lyrical, Year of the Horse shares the heart-lurching highs
and lows of a 55-year-old horsewoman determined to put the pain behind
her and to create the sunniest of futures with new, extraordinary horses
in it. Onboard Winnie, a dazzling quarter horse palomino, she grows
stronger and more capable again. The mare challenges Simmins and pushes
her to the edge of her emotional and physical limits.
Simmins' initially modest goals take fire and she finds the support of a
whole new horse community across Nova Scotia. These individuals welcome
her, with a warmth that reminds her of the vibrant horse community of
Southlands in Vancouver, where she rode in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s.
Year of the Horse is written for every horsewoman or -man who's had a
serious setback and never lost the love of the sport, or the animal.
It's for every person who at some point has had a serious physical or
emotional injury and said, "I can't heal, I can't go forward" and then
did.
