The Last Diving Horse in America: Rescuing Gamal and Other Animals--Lessons in Living and Loving
- ISBN-10
- 1101871962
- ISBN-13
- 9781101871966
- Category
- Pets
- Pages
- 288
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2021-10-19
- Publisher
- Pantheon
- Author
- Cynthia A. Branigan
Description
The rescue of the last diving horse in America and the inspiring story of how horse and animal rescuer were each profoundly transformed by the other—from the award-winning animal rescuer of retired racing greyhounds and author of the best-selling Adopting the Racing Greyhound It was the signature of Atlantic City’s Steel Pier in the golden age of “America’s Favorite Playground”: Doc Carver’s High Diving Horses. Beginning in 1929, four times a day, seven days a week, a trained horse wearing only a harness ran up a ramp, a diving girl in a bathing suit and helmet jumped onto its mighty bare back, and together they sailed forty feet through the air, plunging, to thunderous applause, into a ten-foot-deep tank of water. Decades later, after cries of animal abuse and changing times, the act was shuttered, and in May 1980, the last Atlantic City Steel Pier diving horse was placed on the auction block in Indian Mills, New Jersey. The author, who had seen the act as a child and had been haunted by it, was now working with Cleveland Amory, the founding father of the modern animal protection movement, and she was, at the last minute, sent on a rescue mission: bidding for the horse everyone had come to buy, some for the slaughterhouse (they dropped out when the bidding exceeded his weight). The author’s winning bid: $2,600—and Gamal, gleaming-coated, majestic, commanding, was hers; she who knew almost nothing about horses was now the owner of the last diving horse in America. Cynthia Branigan tells the magical, transformative story of how horse and new owner (who is trying to sort out her own life, feeling somewhat lost herself and in need of rescuing) come to know each other, educate each other, and teach each other important lessons of living and loving. She writes of providing a new home for Gamal, a farm with plentiful fields of rich, grazing pasture; of how Gamal, at age twenty-six, blossoms in his new circumstances; and of the special bond that slowly grows and deepens between them, as Gamal tests the author and grows to trust her, and as she grows to rely upon him as friend, confidant, teacher. She writes of her search for Gamal’s past: moved from barn to barn, from barrel racer to rodeo horse, and ending up on the Steel Pier; how his resilience and dignity throughout those years give deep meaning to his life; and how in understanding this, the author is freed from her own past, which had been filled with doubts and fears and darkness. Branigan writes of the history of diving horses and of how rescuing and caring for Gamal led to her saving other animals—burros, llamas, and goats—first as company for Gamal and then finding homes for them all; and, finally, saving a ten-year-old retired greyhound called King—despondent, nearly broken in spirit—who, running free in the fields with Gamal, comes back to his happy self and opens up for the author a whole new surprising but purposeful world. A captivating tale of the power of animals and the love that can heal the heart and restore the soul.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
The Everything Horse Book: Buying, riding, and caring for your equine companion
By Karen Leigh DavisSome horse facilities are set up in the business of buying and selling horses. They typically are not breeders and do not breed their own livestock, nor do they specialize in any one breed of horse or riding discipline.
-
The Romance of the Collie
By Karen D. PfeifferBy way of welcome Dawn snatched up a newly-cut thorn bush, and with this offering, he cantered over to her. The thorns became enmeshed at once in the filmy dress she was wearing. Gleesomely Dawn galloped around and around her, ...
-
Why Cats Do That: A Collection of Curious Kitty Quirks
By Karen AndersonA celebration of feline idiosyncrasies shares lighthearted explanations of such perplexing behaviors as getting stuck in trees, delivering kills to the doorstep and landing on their feet, in a volume complemented by evocative black-and ...
-
Sunken Gardens: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planting Freshwater Aquariums
By Karen A. Randall... 101 Ceratopteris thalictroides, 116–117, 124, 145, 164 chain sword, 121 chelating agents, 84 chemical filtration, 47 cherry shrimp, 181,235 chip clip, 223 chloramine, 28 chloride, 84 chlorine, 28 Christensen, Claus, 23 cichlid, 163, ...
-
Decoding Your Dog: The Ultimate Experts Explain Common Dog Behaviors and Reveal How to Prevent Or Change Unwanted Ones
By Steve Dale, Gary M. Landsberg, Katherine A. HouptAdvance Praise for Decoding Your Dog: Kudos to the Veterinary Behaviorists! Decoding Your Dog is a welcome addition to the voices supporting science-based and benevolent dog training. Read this book and your dog will thank you for it!
-
你的貓【暢銷二版】
By 伊莉莎白．哈吉肯斯部分視力依然受損,我跟他的主人說,可能要好幾週或好幾個月,視力才有可能會改善。我們讓灰灰出院,他的主人帶著灰灰和皮下注射液一起回家。我指示他們要在灰灰每一餐的食物中加入磷結合劑,而且只能吃高蛋白質罐頭,每天都要服用貝那普利和脈優錠。
-
Training Miniature Performance Horses: A Comprehensive Guide to Hunter, Jumper, and Halter Obstacle
By Jennifer Alisia Garrett, Jennifer Alisia Garrett BryantFirst Ever Guide to Hunter, Jumper, and Halter Obstacle for the Miniature Performance Horse! This great book will help owners train their horses and correct common mistakes.
-
Horses in Company
By Lucy ReesAt the highest level, my friend Delia Daniels, an artist at traditional Spanish high school, uses banks and slopes so imaginatively and skilfully that when a horse is strong and well-balanced enough he naturally offers her piaffe and ...
-
All Things Wise and Wonderful
By James HerriotThe Yorkshire veterinarian's sequel to All Things Bright and Beautiful focuses on his induction into the RAF during World War II, his trips back to Yorkshire, and his recollections of animals that he has cared for and people who have ...
-
The Natural Superiority of Mules: A Celebration of One of the Most Intelligent, Sure-Footed, and Misunderstood Animals in the World,...
By John HauerHowever, the excitement of facing the challenge of the canyon, and witnessing the unparalleled beauty for the first time, created a magnetic force that tugs as strongly today as it did when Major John Wesley Powell made his first ...