The Hearts of Horses

A Novel

De: Molly Gloss

Narrado por: Renée Raudman

In the winter of 1917, a big-boned young woman shows up at George Bliss's doorstep. She's looking for a job breaking horses, and he hires her on. Many of his regular hands are off fighting the war, and he glimpses, beneath her showy rodeo garb, a shy but strong-willed girl with a serious knowledge of horses.

So begins the irresistible tale of 19-year-old Martha Lessen, a female horse whisperer trying to make a go of it in a man's world. It was thought that the only way to break a horse was to buck the wild out of it, and broken ribs and tough falls just went with the job. But over several long, hard winter months, many of the townsfolk in this remote county of eastern Oregon witness Martha's way of talking in low, sweet tones to horses believed beyond repair---and getting miraculous, almost immediate results---and she thereby earns a place of respect in the community.

Along the way, Martha helps a family save their horses when their wagon slides into a ravine. She gentles a horse for a dying man---a last gift to his young son. She clashes with a hired hand who is abusing horses in unspeakable ways. Soon, despite her best efforts to remain aloof and detached, she comes to feel enveloped by a sense of community and family that she's never had before.

With the elegant sweetness of Plainsong and a pitch-perfect sense of western life reminiscent of Annie Dillard, The Hearts of Horses is a remarkable story about how people and animals make connections and touch each other's lives in the most unexpected and profound ways.

©2007 Molly Gloss (P)2009 Tantor

If you love horses and a little history...

This is a beautiful story that is beautifully narrated. Molly Gloss takes you back to Oregon and the days of WW1 where a young girl, the quintessential horse whisperer, learns about life in a ranching community. The characters are vividly portrayed and the story reminds one of the importance of life and relationships.

Captures the love of horses

If you love horses and can relate to the "gentle-method" of horse breaking, this book effectively draws one into the story. The narrator is soft spoken and captures the spirit of this book. The book is not fast paced or action packed. However, the rythymn and narration draws one into the gentler side of life. I especially liked this book when my days have been hectic. I was drawn into the story and the characters. I looked forward to the book being very soothing and a great way to listen and relax. I would highly recommend if you have worked around horses or if you want to get an indoctrination into the horse culture from someone with good "horse sense!"

Loved it!

Having grown up in central Oregon, I really enjoyed that the setting was so familiar. The history of that area, the hardships and successes back in the day, made the story very interesting.

A book for horse lovers

I thoroughly enjoyed this book... until the end. Great story that was an easy read. The ending didn't tie off the book and felt rushed and uncharacteristic of the people you get to know in the beginning.

GREAT BOOK!!!

This book was great. It captured me from the very beginning and held me right to the end. I hated to turn it off. I love the innocence that Martha Lessons seemed to carry throughout the entire story. I wish I could find more stories like this one. ❤️❤️❤️

Early 20th century piece about a woman being true to herself, amazing

I love this book, it is a straightforward book about a young woman who still wants to be a woman, but wants to be her own kind of woman. She was a tremendous character and I enjoyed her so much. Loving horses all my life I truly understood how much she love them and also why she wanted to make them do what was right so that they had good manners and people would want to be around them. I think it’s one of the truest portrayals of Tough love and Goodcents mixed with humor and life’s pathos that I’ve ever read. It is a wise piece in a world where everyone thinks they have gender identity issues and they are unfortunate. You don’t have to be a homosexual to be a strong woman. You don’t have to be anything to be yourself. To quote a line from an Orphan X novel that says it best, “be yourself, because who else can you be?“. That’s how I see this book. A young woman in a time when women were beginning to really be strong and open about being who they were and not Who everyone else thought they should be. Thank you Miss gloss, the portrayal of the community spirit and the true life way that people live life and interact with each other in the country was phenomenal.

GREAT STORY FOR HORSE LOVERS

What did you love best about The Hearts of Horses?

TIPS ON TRAINING IN THE CONTEXT OF A GOOD STORY

Any additional comments?

AS A HORSE LOVER, I JUST LOVED THE STORY OF A PERSON WHO KNOWS HOW TO TREAT A BELOVED ANIMAL. I APPRECIATED THE STORY, HISTORY, TRAINING INFO . . . . . . LOVED IT ALL!

Fascinating story of woman training horses during WWI

If you’re interested in horses, stories about women, Americana from the “Great War,” or just good historical fiction, this is the book for you. A cross between Jane Smiley and John Steinbeck, this is a hidden gem of American literature.

Okay

The book was entertaining. However, sometimes it seemed to move very slowly and I actually fast forwarded a few times without missing anything.

Nice western "girl loves horses" story

I had originally purchased this book in paperback for my horse-crazy daughter, and then purchased it in Audible format for us to listen to on a road trip.

The narrator did a very nice job with the voices, and read the story with good diction, inflection, and at a good pace.

The story itself was very nice, especially if you like western stories with happy endings. My main quibble with the book is that the author did not appear to do a lot of research on the topic as she made several mistakes with horse/cow information that anybody who has much experience with those species would know wasn't right. But, the characters were very pleasant (although pretty one-dimensional - they are either all good, or all bad), and the story line worked out. The ending felt a little rushed. Not sure if I'll read any more books by this author, maybe the sequel to this one since it is less about horses and cattle.