What it’s about
Dutch immigrant Harry deLeyer first came to America after World War II and worked at a girls’ boarding school on Long Island as a riding instructor. At a Pennsylvania horse auction he spent $80 and saved a former plow horse from the slaughterhouse. He called the horse Snowman and used him to train children to ride. Snowman soon revealed hidden talents and an amazed Harry found himself competing with him at the highest levels of showjumping.
Why we love it
86-year-old deLeyer proves a voluble narrator of his own life as he hints at wartime heroism in Holland and talks about the love of his life, Snowman. His children attest to their father’s dedication to an animal that was a beloved family pet as well as an unlikely champion. Incredible archival footage of Harry and Snowman competing at the National Horse Show in 1958 will have your heart in your throat as this incredible horse and his rider soar into history.