Hazel Southam - My Year With a Horse: Feeling the fear but doing it anyway

An interesting exploration of how people come to understand a relationship with horses. Ms Southam seems to have an impressive understanding of the nature of these peaceful four-legged creatures. I am impressed with her intellectual approach to better understanding her relationship with these animals that she obviously admires. All too often, we humans tend to apply the human attributes of force and demand when communication and compromise is far more effective. Ms Southam seems to clearly understand the flight animal.

Monty Roberts, the real horse whisperer

A moving and lovely book, My Year with a Horse isnt just about the relationship between humans and horses, its actually about the most important relationship we have in our life, our relationship with ourselves. I know nothing about horses, but I enjoyed reading this honest and open account, a charming story.

Rev Kate Bottley, Gogglebox

I commend this book, which really showcases how horses can change peoples lives. However, this story is not only about a great steed; I admire Hazel for her courage in turning a previous fear into what is sure to be a life-long passion. Her journey is something we can all learn from.

Clark Glasgow, show-jumper

This is a beautiful, funny, inspiring and sometimes heart-breaking book about falling in love with a horse. Its also one of the best books about being a human that Ive read in a very long time. Hazel Southam is a determined, compassionate journalist who cares deeply about other people, and it shows. Her account of a year learning to ride and getting to know a massive horse called Duke is also a story about trying to make a living, overcoming illness and having to cope with the dementia and decline of parents you love so much it hurts. Youll want to laugh, youll want to cry and by the end of this wise, wonderful book, youll want to go out and dare to do something different like getting on a horse that scares you stiff just to insist, with Hazel, that life may be bumpy but theres still joy to be found in the saddle.

Cole Moreton, journalist and author of Is God Still an Englishman?

A life-enhancing and beautifully told story of learning to ride in the English countryside, in-between travelling around the world as a foreign correspondent. Hazel is a journalist who, through her love of her horse Duke, learns to confront fear as she reports faithfully from the front line, and at the same time meets deep-rooted caring commitments in her family at home. Then she must deal with her own illness. This is about faith, hope, and the conviction, as she herself concludes, that anything is possible with love.

Ruth Gledhill, Contributing Editor, Christian Today

I read this book in one sitting! Hazel writes with real feeling about love and loss. The harrowing decisions she has to make regarding her father and the tenderness she expresses towards her mother are deeply moving. Her description of the countryside when out hacking on her beloved Duke are wonderfully lyrical. This is a compassionate story about relationships, love, and loss.

Eleanor Stewart, author of Kicking the Habit and A Voyage Round my Mother

The decisions Hazel Southam makes about her fathers care leave her feeling duplicitous and selfish; the brave face she puts on for her mother and friends makes her feel like a phoney; her demanding and precarious employment as a freelance journalist leaves her shell-shocked and exhausted. Then, just when you think her plate cannot take on another spoonful, she is hit with a life-threatening illness. Yes, this is a memoir about a horse, but it is also a tender ode to Southams parents, as well as a case study about the resilience of the human (and equine) spirit. With humour and affection, Southam shows how a year fraught with emotional pain and physical illness can still be onsidered a good year.

Jane Christmas, author of And Then There Were Nuns

Text copyright 2016 Hazel Southam
This edition copyright 2016 Lion Hudson

The right of Hazel Southam to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Lion Books
an imprint of
Lion Hudson plc
Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road,
Oxford OX2 8DR, England
www.lionhudson.com/lion

ISBN 978 0 7459 6849 0
e-ISBN 978 0 7459 6850 6

First edition 2016

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Cover image copyright Evgeny555/istock; Lion Hudson

For Duke, with heartfelt thanks