The New York Times bestselling author of Chosen by a Horse explains how caring for an animal taught her to care for herself. One day, at the age of thirty-one, Susan Richards realized that she was an alcoholic. She wrote it down in her journal, struck by the fact that it had taken nine years of waking up hung-over to name her illness. What had changed? Susan had a new horse, a spirited Morgan named Georgia, and, as she says: "It had something to do with Georgia. It had something to do with making a commitment as enormous as caring for a horse that might live as my companion for the next forty years. It had something to do with love." Every day begins with a morning ride. Every day Susan lives a little more and thinks about her mistakes a little less. Every day she learns a little more from Georgia, the kind of horse who doesn't go in for indecision, who doesn't apologize for her opinions, and who isn't afraid to be herself. In Georgia, Susan finds something to draw her back to herself, but also something to keep her steady and focused, to teach her about stepping carefully in unknown territory, to help her learn again about balance. This is a memoir about the power of animals to carry us through the toughest times of our lives-about the importance of constancy, the beauty of quiet, steadfast love, the way loving a good (and sometimes bad!) animal can keep you going. It's a wonderful story for Susan's (and Georgia's) fans, and for anyone who has ever loved an animal enough to keep on living.
"This is not only a horse story but a 'drunkalogue' in which the alcoholic tells what drinking was like, what happened to cause her to stop, and what recovery is like now. Animal lovers and recovering alcoholics will be inspired by this story."
Library Journal
"Reading this book was like having an unflinchingly honest talk with a close friend about her struggle for meaning and hope after a devastating relationship and descent into alcoholism. It took a horse to give Susan the strength to change. When no human could have reached her injured soul, Susan Richards found healing in the form of her horse, who had no judgments of her and offered the profound l
Stacey O'Brien, author of Wesley the Owl
"Can a book be both looking glass and richly colored animal portrait? In Saddled, Susan Richards performs dual literary magic by giving us the history of a horsewoman retrieving her life from the bottom of the wine glass, and a mirror in which the sensitive reader will see herself again and again. Except that most of us could never duplicate Richards's emotional courage-not to mention delightful h
Melissa Pierson, author of Dark Horses and Black Beauties
