I won a paperback copy of She Who Rides Horses by Sarah Barnes in a tour giveaway and I immediately picked it up and began reading..and didn’t quit until the last word was read.

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MY REVIEW

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.

What is essential is invisible to the eye…

People have forgotten this truth…But you mustn’t forget it.

You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.

Antoine de St – Exupery, The Little Prince (1943) Chapter XXI

Everything about She Who Rides Horses by Sarah Barnes intrigued me. I love horses, all animals really, so I was super excited to read about a young girl with a connection to a young horse and how it will change their world forever.

Horses are a food source, but Naya wants to ride the red filly. Her patience pays off as she earns the filly’s trust and willingness to let her ride. Naya uses no ropes, no force, just asks permission, allowing the filly to choose the time. I have a feeling it won’t be long before her imagination comes up with more uses for the horses.

I love the visionary aspects, the psychic connection Naya has with the filly.

When Naya is injured and she and her mother are forced to accept the help of strangers, I watched her grow as they struggled through the winter. The filly, a stallion and a pregnant mare choose to stay close to them.

Naya is approaching adulthood. For the first time, she feels an awareness of her sexuality. Will she be able to make her own choice of a mate or will one be chosen for her?

I am hooked on the series and I had to read the intro to Book Two, to see what was over the cliff that had captured everyone’s attention in Book One.

She Who Rides Horses by Sarah Barnes is a must read for horse lovers…maybe even all animal lovers.

At the end of the book is a section on domestication and the language of the characters. a glossary, references, an acknowledgment and an intriguing afterword by Linda Kohanov.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of She Who Rides Horses by Sarah Barnes.

GOODREADS BLURB

Set more than 6,000 years ago, She Who Rides Horses: A Saga of the Ancient Steppe (Book One) begins the story of Naya, the first person ever to ride a horse. Daughter of a clan chief, bolder than the other girls but shunned by the boys because of her unusual appearance, Naya often wanders alone through the vast grasslands where her people herd domesticated cattle, sheep and goats, and hunt wild horses for their meat. But Naya dreams of creating a different kind of relationship with the magnificent creatures. One day, while out roaming by herself, she discovers a filly with a chestnut coat as uncommon as her own head of red hair. With time running out before she is called to assume the responsibilities of adulthood, Naya embarks on a quest to fulfill her vision of galloping with the filly across the boundless steppe. Unwittingly, she sets in motion forces and events that will change forever the future of humans and horses alike.

• Genres: Action and Adventure, Fiction, Historical Fiction
• Kindle Edition
• Published April 2, 2022 by Little House Press

ABOUT SARAH BARNES

Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved stories.  She especially loved stories that happened a long time ago, in a land far, far away.  At first, others had to tell her the stories, but then, like magic, she learned to read them for herself out of books.  And then, even more magical, she discovered that there were stories inside her that she could write down using her own words.  

But just as she made this discovery, the girl came under a spell that made her believe that the only way that she could tell stories about long ago and far away was to become something called an historian.  And so that is what she did.  What she was not told, but had to learn for herself, was that becoming an historian meant relying more and more on facts and evidence and less and less on her own imagination, and soon the girl forgot all about the stories that had once been inside of her, waiting to be told.  The girl – now a grown-up professor with a Ph.D. – wrote lots and lots of words but with less and less joy, for the stories were lost.  Then one day, a special creature appeared, beckoning to the girl to leave her life in the ivory tower where she had become imprisoned.  The creature came in the shape of a horse, for the girl had loved horses all of her life but never had one of her own.   Realizing she wanted to be with the horse far more than she wanted to keep on being an historian, the girl fled her old life and went to live with the horse in a barn.  There, little by little, the horse helped the girl to remember the stories long buried in her heart until one day, she began to write them down.  And the rest is history.

When Sarah is not writing stories, she practices and teaches riding as a meditative art.  She holds a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University and spent many years as a college professor before turning full-time to riding and writing.  She has two grown daughters and lives with her husband, her dogs and her horses near Boulder, CO. She is currently working on books two and three of the She Who Rides Horses trilogy.

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