The Eighty-Dollar Champion

In 1956, Dutch immigrant Harry de Leyer arrived late to a New Holland, Pennsylvania, horse auction, seeking a workhorse. Only eight "reject" horses remained, loaded on a trailer bound for the slaughterhouse. Eighty-dollars later, a big grey gelding with "something special in his eyes," deemed "Snowman," began the winning bond between Harry and horse. Bronson Pinchot uses his smooth baritone to capture the heart and soul of this Cinderella story. His interpretation of de Leyer's Dutch accent secures Harry's matter-of-fact character. Pinchot balances his delivery as Snowman goes from roughed-up plow horse to "representing the little guy" when he becomes the underdog champion at the National Horse Show in 1958. H.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine


In 1956, Dutch immigrant Harry de Leyer arrived late to a New Holland, Pennsylvania, horse auction, seeking a workhorse. Only eight "reject" horses remained, loaded on a trailer bound for the slaughterhouse. Eighty-dollars later, a big grey gelding with "something special in his eyes," deemed "Snowman," began the winning bond between Harry and horse. Bronson Pinchot uses his smooth baritone to capture the heart and soul of this Cinderella story. His interpretation of de Leyer's Dutch accent secures Harry's matter-of-fact character. Pinchot balances his delivery as Snowman goes from roughed-up plow horse to "representing the little guy" when he becomes the underdog champion at the National Horse Show in 1958. H.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

May 9, 2011
Letts (Quality of Care) raises expectations in her newest book by claiming national inspiration in the subtitle. Snowman was a plow horse bought off the slaughter truck for $80 by Danish immigrant Harry de Leyer. Snowman's appearance masked superior jumping talents, and de Leyer took him to the top of the "expensive.... equestrian world was one of the last bastions of the upper-class elite." The events occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s; however, Letts doesn't quite establish the context, and it's not clear how a horse provided inspiration for workers "starved for dreams" amid "terrifying fears of nuclear age tensions." Diversions such as the decline of the American horse population offer little insight, and nonequestrians will occasionally be puzzled by the lingo, particularly with respect to equine anatomy. Still, Letts is a solid prose stylist; her vivid descriptions of staid Long Island with its "gentle meadows ringed by dogwood trees" provide virtual tours, but it is de Leyer's realization of the American dream that is the real story. Photos.