November 1958: the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Into the rarefied atmosphere of wealth and tradition comes the most unlikely of horsesâa drab white former plow horse named Snowmanâand his rider, Harry de Leyer. They were the longest of all longshotsâand their win was the stuff of legend.
Harry de Leyer first saw the horse he would name Snowman on a bleak winter afternoon between the slats of a rickety truck bound for the slaughterhouse. He recognized the spark in the eye of the beaten-up horse and bought him for eighty dollars. On Harryâs modest farm on Long Island, the horse thrived. But the recent Dutch immigrant and his growing family needed money, and Harry was always on the lookout for the perfect thoroughbred to train for the show-jumping circuitâso he reluctantly sold Snowman to a farm a few miles down the road.
But Snowman had other ideas about what Harry needed. When he turned up back at Harryâs barn, dragging an old tire and a broken fence board, Harry knew that he had misjudged the horse. And so he set about teaching this shaggy, easygoing horse how to fly. One show at a time, against extraordinary odds and some of the most expensive thoroughbreds alive, the pair climbed to the very top of the sport of show jumping.
Here is the dramatic and inspiring rise to stardom of an unlikely duo, based on the insight and recollections of âthe Flying Dutchmanâ himself. Their story captured the heart of Cold Warâera Americaâa story of unstoppable hope, inconceivable dreams, and the chance to have it all. Elizabeth Lettsâs message is simple: Never give up, even when the obstacles seem sky-high. There is something extraordinary in all of us.
My Blue-Ribbon Horse - Elizabeth Letts & Kayla Harren
November 1958: the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Into the rarefied atmosphere of wealth and tradition comes the most unlikely of horsesâa drab white former plow horse named Snowmanâand his rider, Harry de Leyer. They were the longest of all longshotsâand their win was the stuff of legend.
Harry de Leyer first saw the horse he would name Snowman on a bleak winter afternoon between the slats of a rickety truck bound for the slaughterhouse. He recognized the spark in the eye of the beaten-up horse and bought him for eighty dollars. On Harryâs modest farm on Long Island, the horse thrived. But the recent Dutch immigrant and his growing family needed money, and Harry was always on the lookout for the perfect thoroughbred to train for the show-jumping circuitâso he reluctantly sold Snowman to a farm a few miles down the road.
But Snowman had other ideas about what Harry needed. When he turned up back at Harryâs barn, dragging an old tire and a broken fence board, Harry knew that he had misjudged the horse. And so he set about teaching this shaggy, easygoing horse how to fly. One show at a time, against extraordinary odds and some of the most expensive thoroughbreds alive, the pair climbed to the very top of the sport of show jumping.
Here is the dramatic and inspiring rise to stardom of an unlikely duo, based on the insight and recollections of âthe Flying Dutchmanâ himself. Their story captured the heart of Cold Warâera Americaâa story of unstoppable hope, inconceivable dreams, and the chance to have it all. Elizabeth Lettsâs message is simple: Never give up, even when the obstacles seem sky-high. There is something extraordinary in all of us.