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I had a hard time writing a review for this book because I found it so deeply moving. It's hard to pull back and intellectualize something that strikes such emotional chords.

When I read the subtitle, "True Stories About Horses and People," I expected another collection of sentimental stories of amazing feats and improbable rescues. What I found were the reminiscences of one woman about the horses she has known - stories that delve into truths of human nature, horse nature and the imperfect world in which we all make our way.

The twelve biographical short stories in the book could each stand alone, but Teresa Marino's narrative skill and poetic prose kept me reading from one to the next, and when I had reached the end, I was ready to start again at the beginning.

Against the backdrop of the people and events in a human life, Martino weaves stories of her life with horses. She subtly but impellingly shares the lessons each horse teaches her from her first pony, Babe, to Stoat, the once-in-a-lifetime horse every rider dreams of finding. The book is populated with familiar characters we've met in our own horse worlds - the much loved pony, the abused horse, the horse worth too much money to be allowed to be a horse. She also takes truths we don't like to admit about the horse-human relationship and holds them up to the light.

Perhaps the most important life-lesson Martino learns is from the beautiful and expensive Gauguin. Sensing that Gauguin, despite his owner's ambitions and financial investment, really doesn't have the heart to be a top-level event horse, and unwilling to resort to the forceful methods other trainers might use, Teresa takes him to a respected friend and horseman for his opinion. After watching Gauguin go, Brian talks with Teresa. He asks her,

"...Would you trade the way you feel about horses to be able to ride at the top?"

A heavy silence surrounded us. An ocean of thought surged through me, its waves rolling like a good cross country course. Though I didn't know it in the moment, I was freed. My chains of ambition and glory traded for simple love.

After a moment of shock, I stated my truth. "I wouldn't trade, Brian."
                                                                      (p. 104)

And so she gives up a lucrative, successful career as an upper-level event rider and trainer rather than sacrifice her love of horses on the altar of expedience. She leaves behind the high pressure world of money and competition and her comfortable standard of living to be true to her inner self. She continues to train horses and riders but only in a spirit of love and self-fulfillment for each individual.

Dancer on the Grass is a book about life with all its joy and grief. It's a book about discovering your truth and living with it. It's also a book of good horse stories wonderfully told. If the love of horses runs in your veins, don't miss it.