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The Eighty-Dollar Champion

Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation

Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

November 1958, New York. Into the rarefied atmosphere of wealth and tradition at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden comes the most unlikely of horses—a drab white former plow horse named Snowman—and his rider, Harry de Leyer. They were the longest of all longshots—and 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 Harry's 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 circuit—so 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 Harry's 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.

Reminiscent of the inspiring, against-the-odds success story that made Seabiscuit a bestseller, The Eighty-Dollar Champion tells of the dramatic and inspiring rise to stardom of an unlikely duo, based on the insight and recollections of the "Flying Dutchman" himself. Their story captured the heart of Cold War–era America—a story of unstoppable hope, inconceivable dreams, and the chance to have it all. Elizabeth Letts's message is simple: Never give up, even when the obstacles seem sky-high. There is something extraordinary in all of us.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      In 1956, Dutch immigrant Harry de Leyer arrived late to a New Holland, Pennsylvania, horse auction, seeking a workhorse. Only eight "reject" horses remained, loaded on a trailer bound for the slaughterhouse. Eighty-dollars later, a big grey gelding with "something special in his eyes," deemed "Snowman," began the winning bond between Harry and horse. Bronson Pinchot uses his smooth baritone to capture the heart and soul of this Cinderella story. His interpretation of de Leyer's Dutch accent secures Harry's matter-of-fact character. Pinchot balances his delivery as Snowman goes from roughed-up plow horse to "representing the little guy" when he becomes the underdog champion at the National Horse Show in 1958. H.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 9, 2011
      Letts (Quality of Care) raises expectations in her newest book by claiming national inspiration in the subtitle. Snowman was a plow horse bought off the slaughter truck for $80 by Danish immigrant Harry de Leyer. Snowman's appearance masked superior jumping talents, and de Leyer took him to the top of the "expensive.... equestrian world was one of the last bastions of the upper-class elite." The events occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s; however, Letts doesn't quite establish the context, and it's not clear how a horse provided inspiration for workers "starved for dreams" amid "terrifying fears of nuclear age tensions." Diversions such as the decline of the American horse population offer little insight, and nonequestrians will occasionally be puzzled by the lingo, particularly with respect to equine anatomy. Still, Letts is a solid prose stylist; her vivid descriptions of staid Long Island with its "gentle meadows ringed by dogwood trees" provide virtual tours, but it is de Leyer's realization of the American dream that is the real story. Photos.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This seems an opportune time for Letts's classic horse biography to be rereleased as an audiobook. Arthur Morey's delivery brings this history, much more than a horse story, to life. His narration is smoothly conversational--whether he's recounting the history of immigrant horse master Harry de Layer and Snowman, the old plow horse he trained to become the champion jumper that charmed the world, or he's giving context with a look at the history of horses as workers and athletes. Morey weaves the threads of Harry's life, Snowball's transformation under Harry's care, and the role of the horse in America's history into a unique tapestry that gives the listener an appreciation for the belief in a dream and the hard work that can bring it to life. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

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