The Eighty-Dollar Champion by Elizabeth Letts

Author:Elizabeth Letts
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780345521101
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-08-23T10:00:00+00:00

Approaching the fence, Snowman is alert and Harry is balanced forward. (illustration credits 14.3)

But this was a tough course. The fences were all above five feet, with big spreads, and the horses were tired. Even veteran Andante had been unable to go clean. And Snowman’s sore leg was more likely to bother him now that he was entering the second round. To jump this raised course without any faults was going to be tough. If Snowman knocked down a pole, the two would be tied, bringing another round of jump-offs with yet higher fences, increasing the risk that one of the worn-out jumpers would take a misstep and crash.

Harry headed toward the first fence at a controlled gallop. Snowman approached, nose outstretched, ears pricked forward, with the same sweet expression he bore when running free in the paddock. Somehow, it was clear that both horse and rider were having fun. Over each fence, everyone in the crowd held their breath, exhaling only when the horse’s hooves thumped on the landing. Harry’s style was unorthodox but fluid. His heels flew into the air, but his weight stayed balanced over the horse. Over each fence, the reins looped loose so that the big horse could have full use of his head. They headed toward the triple bar and cleared it easily.

Down the line to the last fence, the big parallel bars, Harry galloped, reins still loose, doing none of the checking on the reins that most of the riders favored. The horse had no heavy bit, no complicated pulleys or straps. His neck stretched out and his ears pricked forward as he headed toward the last obstacle. The big gray horse took off and soared … and flew over the last fence, with no faults.

The lumbering plow horse and his handsome young rider had just won the championship stakes class. They had beaten Andante, the reigning champion. There was a special sympathy between this man and this horse—a kind of intuition that the crowd sensed. The horse wanted to please the man, and the man wanted to let him do it. This was more than an act of athletic prowess; it was an act of joy.

The judges hunched over their scorecards, their pencils scratching. A few moments later, the announcement came over the PA system: Snowman was the open jumper champion, winner of the stakes class and champion of the show, with the great Andante as reserve. Andante would not be bringing home the perpetual trophy. The trophy would be engraved with the names of a new team: Harry de Leyer and Snowman.

That evening, Harry pinned a tricolor ribbon next to Snowman’s stall. Harriet, Marty, and Chef all gathered around the big gray, and the horse stretched his nose down to receive their pats and praise.

Marie Lafrenz had already captured the moment on her Smith-Corona and sent off a press release. The next morning, Marie’s article ran in the Herald Tribune, under the title “THE CINDERELLA HORSE.” The Sun referred to Snowman as a “refugee from the cannery.

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