The Eighty Dollar Champion

In a season when I am finding few books that I want to read all the way to the end, The Eighty Dollar Champion by Elizabeth Letts wouldn’t let me go. It’s the wonderfully touching, inspiring story of a plow horse bound for slaughter, who was bought off the kill truck for $80 — and ended up becoming a national jumping champion. His buyer, Harry de Leyer, is a young Dutchman who immigrated with his young wife after World War II and taught riding at an exclusive girls’ school.

When he brought the horse home to be used as a lesson horse, the big flea-bitten gray had seen better days. As he stepped off the truck and stood in the driveway under light snow that hid some of his initial marks of neglect, de Leyer’s 4-year-old daughter exclaimed, “He looks just like a snowman!” Snowman he became, and though it took a few years to discover his hidden talent for jumping, his rise to fame in the late 1950’s came at a time when America desperately needed a hero. Snowman and Harry de Leyer were a team of underdogs, ordinary types who jumped every obstacle in more ways than one. People felt represented by them.

The stories of both horse and man stirred me. They’re powerful testimonies to the power of vision and hope, and I greatly needed the uplift this book provided… even though I found myself tearing up quite frequently while reading. Like most animal books, this one includes a few sad parts. But I found that for the most part it was simply the appeal of Snowman’s quiet, steady, sociable personality, and the strength of the bond between him and the de Leyer family, that moved me. That, and it develops one of my all-time favorite themes: restoration.

For anyone as hungry for inspiration as I am, this is a fabulous read. A friend mentioned it to me back in the winter, and for some reason it didn’t come to mind until last week. I’m so glad it did. I discovered that the library has a copy of the audiobook version, and I’ve put it on hold to share with my daughters.

Here is Elizabeth Letts talking about her book, and sharing some images of Snowman and Harry.