Description
As a world-class equestrian and Olympic contender, Annemarie Zimmer lived for the thrill of flight atop a strong, graceful animal. Then, at eighteen, a tragic accident destroyed her riding career and Harry, the beautiful horse she cherished.
Now, twenty years later, Annemarie is coming home to her dying father's New Hampshire horse farm. Jobless and abandoned, she is bringing her troubled teenage daughter to this place of pain and memory, where ghosts of an unresolved youth still haunt the fields and stables—and where hope lives in the eyes of the handsome, gentle veterinarian Annemarie loved as a girl . . . and in the seductive allure of a trainer with a magic touch.
But everything will change yet again with one glimpse of a white striped gelding startlingly similar to the one Annemarie lost in another lifetime. And an obsession is born that could shatter her fragile world.
Reviews
Riding into my heart
RIDING LESSONS has to be just about the best novel I've ever had the fortune to read. It has all the aspects of good-quality literature: First is the fact that it is a story about a real-type person, and not just a glamorized success story of "How it Took Me 2 Seconds to Get A Gold Medal". Annemarie, the main character, is insecure in herself instead of just being bold and blazing past everyone and everything in her way to achieve great victories.
Next is the fact that author Sara Gruen makes you feel the emotions of Annemarie. You feel melancholy when she is faced with another heartbreak, share her excitement when she thinks she's made a new discovery, and experience her confusion as she attempts to decide what's best to do.
Last, the entire tone of the novel doesn't fall into the characteristic mold of most popular novels today (most of which I find dull and uninteresting), like Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events. This is one of the very few books I have read and wholly enjoyed. I like it enough that I've read it about five times, and I have never read any book over three times over. So all I have to say to all you folks at Amazon.com: BUY THIS BOOK!
Beautiful story of broken families and broken dreams
AnneMarie Zimmer was a contender, destined for the high circuits of horse jumping, with her precious Highland Harry. But when Harry breaks a leg on a jump and sends AnneMarie to the hospital, paralyzed with a broken neck, her dreams, and her family's dreams, are shattered.
Years later, Annemarie is recovered, married with a 15 year old daughter, and has never ridden a horse since the death of Harry. Then her life falls apart again, one-two-three. One, she loses her job. Two, her daughter is failing school and her husband announces he's leaving her for a mistress. Three, Annemarie discovers her vital father has advanced ALS. Broken and in shock, Annemarie returns with Eva, her daughter, to the farm where she was raised to see and help care for her father.
With Eva out of control at fifteen (getting piercings, tattoos, smoking, wanting to date, running away, etc), her father deteriorated to barely functional in a wheelchair, and her husband shacked up with a much younger woman, Annemarie loses control of her life. She takes over management of the stables and discovers her mother (Mutti) was right when she said Annemarie couldn't handle the responsibility.
But in the midst of the chaos of her life comes a ragged horse saved by veterinarian and old boyfriend Dan, a liver colored brindle as rare as Annemarie's beloved Harry. Annemarie adopts the recalcitrant horse, rescued from a slaughter pen, and begins to work with him. But when she finds out the one-eyed horse is none other than Harry's brother Highland Hurrah, pronounced dead by former owner to collect a cool million-plus in insurance, she fears that Hurrah may be taken away from her.
Sara Gruen is a talent to be reckoned with. Not only are her characters fully fleshed and unique, but they breathe with the life she has put into them. You'll feel like they are your own friends or neighbors, someone you know intimately. Annemarie is a person you can relate to, making mistake after mistake but always finding a way to deal with the problems, even if her resolutions are late at times. Eva is far from a perfect child, making her own mistakes and showing herself to be her mother's daughter.
'Riding Lessons' is a story of human triumph and defeat, of mistakes made and corrected, of real life slapping you across the face when you least expect it. The pains of losses are balanced by family, friends, and personal drive to become something before life passes swiftly by. Not to mention, the love of the great, beautiful beasts we call horses. When love overcomes tragedy, there are tears and smiles and sighs to experience. 'Riding Lessons' give us all of that and more.
I highly recommend picking up Sara Gruen's other book, 'Water For Elephants', especially if you liked riding lessons. 'Water For Elephants' has even more maturity in Gruen's writing, but this first book is an amazing accomplishment for a novice writer. I highly recommend 'Riding Lessons'. Enjoy!
Flawed but a good read
I like a main character that isn't perfect, but at times I lost patience with this main character whose flaws were so many and so persistent that at times I wanted to throw down the book and scream "get some therapy people!" The plot was engaging however and I ultimately would say it was a good escape read.
The horse details were confusing because some were very accurate, especially the physical descriptions of what a horse feels like, but some were so off. This author seemed to not know the difference between Grand Prix show jumping and eventing. This really bugged me. Also, the idea that any 16 year old would compete at Rolex (FEI 4star) is preposterous, given the number of years it takes to qualify at that level, she would have started eventing at what, age 8??? Like other reviewers I liked the fact that it didn't end with the typical "win of the big competition against all odds". I was also relieved that the author didn't have the main character spring in the saddle after a 20 year absence and take up where she left off. I spent one year out of the saddle and after my first time back I was walking like Ozzie Osbourne for four days....
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