A Book Worth Reading

I’ve been reading The Eighty-Dollar Champion, Elizabeth Letts. Its a true story about a man, Harry de Leyer who saved a plow horse he later named Snowman from a kill van. He used for lessons but when he sold Snowman, Snowman jumped over paddock fences to come back to Harry. Harry then trained Snowman to become a jumper and together they took on the best teams in the United States. This book has two underlying messages that I believe are relevant in the present trying times. 

     One is to believe that interior qualities can be more important than the exterior ones. In horseback riding, when showing you want a horse that looks beautiful so that they give a better overall package. At the same time though, you need a horse that has the ability and inner strength to do what you ask of him/her. Today I believe people relay too much on these exterior qualities so the inner qualities don't have the chance to be seen. With Snowman, many people saw an old, run-down, grey plow horse with scars and a disproportioned body. What made Harry a great horseman was that he could see past the unflattering exterior to see a horse that had to heart and drive to be great. Harry was able to put those "generic" qualities aside and by doing so he could see what was really important. This is what allowed Harry to turn this ordinary horse into a champion.

     The second lesson is that people tend to look at the glass half-empty, so they give up. When in a situation that can go in two different directions, people only see the bad side. This prevents them seeing the possibilities, and therefore they can't turn the situation around for the better. Harry saw potential, harnessed it and molded Snowman into what he needed him to be. If you have a positive outlook on the situation you are able to see what has to be done to get to where you want to go, which is what Harry did. "Sometimes a man can forget the most important lesson of all: big dreams are often best accomplished when you do what you can with the materials you have at hand."(97)

            I research consumer reviews on the book to see if other people thought the same way I did about it. I looked at two sources. One was the Facebook page for the book. Posts are things like “Harry gave him a second chance at life, but also be loved by the world. Things like this don’t happen anymore.”(Seaman, Karen) Others were so touched by the book that they are going to see Snowman’s gravesite. Everyone agrees that the book is an inspirational story of second chances and how we can overcome obstacles. The second source was Amazon reviews. These reviews also shared the same praise for the book. Reviews praised the bond between animals and humans, and what they can accomplish together, and hope.

Who Am I

    My name is Deborah Jane Weinstein, which already tells you one thing about me. I'm Jewish. All my relatives have been from as far back as my family can remember. More about my family, that is made up of my older sister, Jen and my two twin brothers, Mike and Jon. Both my parents are doctors but oddly none of us want to be one. Sorry mom and dad. I have lived in Brookline, Massachusetts my whole life so Virginia was a change. When I was applying to schools I decided to take a year off after high school graduation from Brookline High School so that I could gain more animal experience. So yes I am 20 years old. During my year off I worked at the camp that my horseback riding barn runs during the summer and worked as an intern at the New England Wildlife Center. It was an amazing experience because I had the opportunity to help treat and rehabilitate all types of species of wild animals such as sea gulls, raccoons, foxes, skunks, squirrels and owls. Only down side was that I had to get rabies vaccinated, but I figured it was a small price to pay.
     I have two pet peeves, mess and people looking over my shoulder while playing computer games. Why my second one is a pet-peeve I don't know, it just is. Mess I just can't deal with period. My mom always says, "Deb, you should be one of those people that gets paid to organize celebrities' closets." I also have three passions in life. The first and most important is my horse Petey which you can see by my facebook because most of my pictures involve him. He is amazing and has been in my life for 2 years, and fun fact...he is Irish. The second is helping animals. I am a pre-vet major because I want to make a difference in the life of any animals I can.  The third is horseback riding. I have been doing it for ten years and I don't plan to stop anytime soon.
      Some last things about me, you can tell from facebook. A lot of my pictures are random, since me and two of my closest friends back home just go into her backyard and take pictures to kill time. My pictures also tell you I have recently become obsessed with My Horse. know, it's lame. I went to Hokie camp, and was part of the winning Yellow Tribe. The last thing is that during the summer I spent most of my time at horse shows, competing in jumping classes. Petey, the dark brown horse with a white spot on his face and I guess live on the road. My favorite restaurant is Burtucci's, which is where I am eating in the pictures where I am with a large group of people that usually take up two tables. That is me, in a nutshell!