Laura Chester

When I first heard about Riding Barranca, a book blending a woman's personal journeys with her time on the trails, I immediately thought of Cheryl Strayed's excellent "Wild: Lost and Found on the Pacific Crest Trail". But this one would be on horseback, it should be perfect for me!

But Riding Barranca did not live up to my hopes. It read like a series of journal entries of specific day rides during one year, telling which horse she rode and where she went, without a lot of connection from one ride to the next. Friends came along on some rides, but their personalities were never illustrated. I'm not even sure the author's personality came through; the narrative voice was pretty distant. I didn't feel much emotional impact reading about the author's conflicted relationship with her mother, probably also due to the narrative distance.

I thought this book might include a deepening relationship between the author and her horse, Barranca. But Barranca was already a finished trail horse during the time span of this book, and their relationship was already well established. In fact, "Riding Barranca" is not really an accurate title, since the author has multiple horses and they played pretty equal roles in this book.

There were some interesting chapters in this book, particularly when Laura goes on vacations and rides in exotic locations.

I saw that the book will include many, many pictures, but they were sadly not visible in the pre-release version I received from NetGalley. If the photo on the cover is any indication, I missed out on some good stuff!… (more)