Borrowed Horses

by Sian Griffiths

When her mother's MS takes a turn for the worse, aspiring Olympian Joannie Edson moves back to Idaho with her aging horse to be closer to home and family. She has given up everything (career, romance) to pursue her goal of riding for the US Equestrian Team, but now, with no horse to ride and no money to buy or support a young prospect, she finds herself faced with a choice: should she take a chance on a relationship with the attractive stranger pursuing her, or invest her time in training her coach's abused and violent mare? As she explores each option, Joannie finds that a fully lived life is much like the jumping courses she's always ridden, every path bearing obstacles that she will have to clear to find her way forward.

Genres: Horses, Fiction, Novels

300 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2013

About the author

Siân Griffiths lives in Ogden, Utah, where she teaches creative writing at Weber State University. Her work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Cincinnati Review, and American Short Fiction (online), among other publications. She is the author of the novels Borrowed Horses and Scrapple and the short fiction chapbook The Heart Keeps Faulty Time. Currently, she reads fiction as part of the editorial teams at Barrelhouse and American Short Fiction. For more information, please visit sbgriffiths.com

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I came at this book from two positive angles: Griffiths was with my wife at Sewanee, and the subject matter, horses and small-town love, are near and dear to the hearts of the students I teach at my predominalty equestrain college. And this didn't disappoint:

There's the a-plot, which deals with Joannie and her romantic problems, which are saved from being trite or flat by the believably escalating actions of a former lover and some strong backstory and character work. Griffiths never seems to run out of things to tell us about Joannie that we didn't know, but it all feels natural. A strong supporting cast and good dialogue helps a lot, too.

The horseflesh elements of the book, it's b-plot jostling between Foxfire and Zephyr, as Joannie tries to make something out her skills and desires as a horse-jumping fool, were more of a voyeuristic thrill for me. I'll never understand the relationships people have with their horses. I'm not sure I understand them better after reading this, but Griffiths writes about it with convincing poetry, and there's some good work here in that regard, especially at the very close of the novel, when the jumping stuff does take flight as metaphor.

I wished for a little more from the metaphor of the title. I think that it hints at something harder to talk about-- the way lots of talented riders are in very complicated relationships with the owners of the horses they ride. Everyone I know in that world feels those pressures, but this novel, while it engages them, never fully commits to exploring the feelings that make those dynamics so perilous. And on the level of metaphor, I wanted Griffiths to say something about whether another woman's husband is more or less than a borrowed horse, but Griffiths in the end shied away from going there.

A rich and rewarding read, despite my modest quibbles.

[Alyson Hagy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spirited and strong novel centered around a spirited and strong main character -- the inimitable Joanie. Lance Olsen calls the book "feisty," and he's right. But there's also compelling struggle in this story, and generosity, and wonderful writing. I'm in awe of Griffiths' equestrian expertise, but you don't need to be wild about horses to like this book.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this book with two biases: 1. I've never been a huge horse person--I mean, I like them, but have never understood the fanatics, and 2. The author was my mentor/professor at WSU--one of my favorites and very down-to-earth. I figured these two biases would even themselves out. I was wrong. My biases ended up making no difference at all. Dr. Griffiths did an amazing job with her subject. I felt the love and devotion that the protagonist, Joanie, felt for her horse, as well as the exhilaration she experienced riding and especially jumping. I kinda want to ride a horse now. :) Also, I completely forgot I knew the author and became immersed in the story. Halfway through, I couldn't put it down. I ended up reading until the wee hours of the morning in order to finish it. The plot is captivating and the characters well-developed. There is some language and sexuality, but I suppose that goes with the territory of literary fiction.

[Mary Choberka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an extraordinary first book. Although I am not a horse person I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the writing. It made me wish I HAD been a rider. The intertwining of the love of horse and a romance worked so well and the borrowed theme as well. The Idaho location was so real and fit the characters like a glove. The writing was lovely.

[Alex Jay Lore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not even a "horse book" reader (or at least not anymore), but this book was about so much more than that. I loved the complexity of Griffiths' characters and the rich prose with which she wove them into a book about love, friendship, horses, and new beginnings.

I'll write a more detailed review once my brain isn't addled by cold medicine, but I loved this.

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I was looking for books to spend my birthday money on, I heard about this novel. I remember that Griffiths mentioned that she had found some inspiration in Brone's Jane Eyre. I was intrigued and bought the book.

The novel follows Joan, a woman who returns from training for the US Olympic equestrian team to her hometown in Moscow, Idaho. Just outside of town, her truck breaks down and she starts a brief affair with Dave, who she later discovers in married. Her horse is arthritic, her mother struggling with MS, and Joan is faced with overcoming grief and finding the opportunity to trust and love even when her own mistakes end up biting her back.

I know that description sounds really trite, but Griffiths creates in Joan an insecure, human character who I enjoyed encountering. I cried when Dave tried to get revenge on Joan by burning the barn where her horse was stabled. I was grateful that Foxy had broken Dave's leg for his efforts.

I finished the novel in one sitting.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sister had recommended this to me (I think it was my sister, anyway) a few years ago. I finally got around to reading it.

So, first off--it had a lot more language than I expected.

Besides that it was a good read for me. The story takes place in the Palouse, ID. While I have never been there, I do have family that has recently lived there. It was nice to read about it.

The main character, Joan, is a broken character. I love broken characters and having them become--not healed or whole--but less broken by the end. Joan is broken all over the place. Her solace and even more pain is found in her horse.

There were great uses of imagery and symbolism. I enjoyed it, though I really could have done with less language.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up at our local library's "withdrawn books" sale. For only $1, I bought it based purely on the title and the little info given on the back. Finding a synopsis for this book was oddly difficult, even here on Goodreads. This book had a lot of promise and a few major highlights.

The book is centered on the life of Joannie, who recently moved back to her Idaho hometown after a failed Olympic show-jumping stint in New Jersey. She arrives home to deal with some ghosts: the untimely death of her high school best friend, and her mother's fight with MS. When her truck breaks down outside of a town, she meets Dave, a stranger who comes to her rescue. They begin a brief but torrid affair which is ended upon Joannie's discovery that he is married. The fallout of this affair, and trying to deal with her demons, make up the bulk of the book. It is punctuated by Joannie's horse life, which is all-consuming, for better or worse.

First, what I liked about the book: the horses! Clearly, Griffiths is a horse-woman because she wrote Joannie's interactions with her horses and her rides with the knowledge that only a true horse-person could capture. I have been a "horse girl" most of my life; like Joannie, it is my passion that runs deep. Nothing ruins a book for a reader like spoiling the very basics of what they love...so many horse centered novels do that to equestrians. I saw so much of my own (former) horse in Zephyr that it left me in tears because it felt so real.

However, there were two major things that spoiled this book for me, despite the deftness of her horse-centered writing. First, this book needed a better editor. The exposition was much too long for the rapid fire pace that it ended with. Nothing really happened for at least the first 100 pages and with a total of only 300, that's far too much. There were many places where it seemed that Griffiths was trying so hard to be profound that the turns of phrase (and sometimes whole paragraphs of musing) made little sense. Joannie would be thinking of one thing, then randomly remember Mouse (her friend who passed) and then muse about something completely nonsensical. This happened nearly every other page. The second thing that bothered me **spoilers ahead** was Joannie's reaction to nearly everything that Dave did. He was completely unhinged from the outset and I have no idea why she would just shrug off this behavior from someone she had a very brief fling with. He attempted to abduct her and smashed her head into a car door and she thought this was just normal? She spent the whole book talking about her parent's wonderful relationship and the fact that she never had boyfriends, so I'm not sure where that would resonate as okay in her mind. And then to flaunt Timothy in his face, purposely make plans with Dave and his wife?? Seriously?? Who does that? The entire relationship was bizarre and completely unbelievable.

Griffiths is a promising writer and I think that this was her first novel. Hopefully she finds some editing help in the future, but I would certainly read another of her novels if they are horse focused. The fact that she got the horses so right that I was crying was enough for me to forgive my glaring issues with the writing.

[Linda Shantz · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first read the sample for this book a few years ago, it didn't grab me. Recently I decided to give it another go, and I'm glad I did – it definitely was not what I expected it to be from that sample. It's the best book I've read in a long time, which is maybe just a reminder of how much I like literary fiction, and that I should go back to reading more of it.

It wasn't perfect; there were some logic problems for me, and I expect an author of this calibre (especially a horse person) to know the difference between confirmation and conformation. And is it too much to ask for "Thoroughbred" to be capitalized? A huge pet peeve of mine. There was some other horse stuff that bothered me but that's par for the course for me! Overall, I loved the mood and the complexity and was able to move past those things.

[Kathy Cvetko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-done

Sian's proselike writing compelled me to highlight many of her passages.
She also had a majority of her horse facts correct, which is a plus for me, as a rider.
I'm glad that the catharsis of the book happened near the end. Its gave us a chance to know the characters, including her beloved Foxfire, and I'm not sure I would have stayed w/it, if it had happened earlier in the book!

[Karenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel about a young woman at a crossroads in her life has great characterization and plotting, and nuggets of wisdom pepper the narration. It really spoke to me about ideas of love and sacrifice. Don’t miss this book if you feel any type of passion (especially for horses)!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun to read a local author, it fell apart in the end for me- probably more like 2.5 stars

[Arlene Gutierrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

This novel was one that I couldn’t put down. It was very engaging and was extremely enjoyable. I recommend to all who love love stories and even those who don’t.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borrowed Horses was wonderful. The plot wove intricately around the framework of competitive riding, a sport which illuminated some basic truths about the narrator and protagonist, Joannie. At the same time, the metaphor and influence of this subject matter doesn’t overwhelm the plot.
Griffiths gives us a believable, stark landscape which her characters exist within, and while horse showing is a main focus, there is so much here that readers who don’t know much about the sport can identify with. A love triangle draws the reader in but doesn’t degenerate into cliché, and always lets our hero keep her identity.
In a literary world where we more often are seeing female protagonists sucked into their male interests, Griffiths presents us with a refreshing portrait of a woman who comes to know herself, flaws and all, without the need to lean on a man. There is romance and danger, which keeps the action moving, and strips the emotions of the characters raw.
My one criticism of the book was that I wanted more from the characters. From the main male characters especially, I felt a lack of depth and complexity compared to the heroine. Some of the writing left them flat and a little unsurprising, which made me feel as if I didn’t have to work too hard to understand them.
Despite that one point of contention, I still thoroughly enjoyed Borrowed Horses, and would definitely recommend it to a friend.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent first novel! I lucked out at the library stumbling upon this adult horse fiction novel. The horse scenes are believable and obviously written by someone who knows & loves horses and jumping in particular. The horses really come to life in her descriptions and I enjoyed the jumping metaphor which organizes the chapters. There is also an element of romance to this book, though that part is less believable for me as the main character is attracted to 3 different men simultaneously and she is sometimes frustrating in her decisions. But her character flaws remain consistent and predictable and she does learn and grow through the course of equine, romantic, and friendship choices and experiences. The novel begins with her returning home from New Jersey because her older jumper is no longer capable of the big jumps she needs to be at the top and because of her mom's deteriorating health. This story deals with her struggles to find a horse to jump and to continue to face her personal struggles with relationships. I'd like to hear more Joannie or other novels about from Sian Griffiths.

[Zannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel provides a glimpse into the world of Joannie, her world of horses, her group of horse friends, and a little romance. The beginning of the book may seem a little unconnected, but it's worth continuing to read, if you like tension.
One of my favorite parts of the book was the deep, unique, and thought-provoking metaphors. They ranged from the strength of human bones to painting a picture of the relationship between horse and rider.
The characters are generally perceived as tough, beer-drinking rednecks that sometimes come across as overbearing and unrealistic. This characterization, however, takes the reader straight into the barns of a small-town community in Idaho.
The reader gains insights into Joannie’s thoughts and dreams, which are often bizarre, but prove her to be a realistic character with worries that would overcome anyone else.
Overall, the novel has its odd moments that seem to work in its favor and paint it into an eccentric country story that is worth a read.

[Jessica Diekman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed Horses is a novel that deals with main character, Joannie, in her personal struggles with her romantic relationships, mom's MS, riding, and friendships. I absolutely loved this book! I grew up on a farm with several horses and it brought on full-fledged nostalgia for me. It brought me back to a time when I was riding with friends and living the rural life. The novel was beautifully written and she had wonderful character development. I enjoyed the thorough description throughout the book, but it didn't get overwhelming like some books can. It's apparent that the author truly knows her stuff about horses from the horse lingo used throughout the book. This was a really great first novel and I hope she keeps them coming. I absolutely recommend this book and I will be passing my copy onto my former horse riding buddy because I know she will love it as much as I did!

[R.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes of Bel Canto and Jane Eyre

This is a character driven novel. There is a lot of introspection by our main girl but it isn't tedious because it is written so well (I definitely took advantage of the note and highlighting features while reading the ebook version).
Like Bel Canto, there is a focus on a topic that runs through the novel. In Bel Canto it is opera, in Borrowed Horses it is horseback riding. I felt that it wasn't pretentious. All of it was integral to the understanding of the main character.
I also mention Jane Eyre because there are plot points that reminded me of it (but I won't say more because of spoilers).
If you are into character driven novels, Bel Canto, or Jane Eyre give this one a whirl.

[Kate Finegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed Horses is a story of land and longing, hard work and hard knocks. It's also very timely, as it deals with toxic masculinity and stalking. Griffiths deftly weaves a world out of the landscape of Idaho, the grim reality of working as an ER radiographer, and competitive horseback riding. The horses are what make this book, and I'm not even super into horses. Passion comes through on every page. At first, I was a bit disappointed that this was shaping up to be a love-triangle story, but it twists and turns into something so much darker. I couldn't put this down.

[Beth]

OK. I'm 10% in, and I am bored. The writing (word choice, style) is not particularly interesting nor is the plot at all compelling. I had heard that this was a good book. Am I ditching it prematurely?

[Margaret Hoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars. A love story with a fair amount drams; a bit overwrought at times but a quick decent read. I learned a bit about horses and gained an understanding of the passion that can arise when individuals dedicate physical and emotional energy to riding.

[Dlinth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book. At one point I had to stop reading for a bit because I was so mad at something the main character did. That really speaks to the level of involvement you feel when reading this story. Beautifully written.

[Corrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book and couldn't put it down until I finished. Completely engaging with great characters. I wAnt this book to be the beginning of a series.

I look forward to more by this author since I couldn't put the book down after I started it earlier today.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of weird story of a woman and her goals of winning a metal at the Olympics with her horse that is now too old. She finds another after moving back to Idaho and a man as well. Very strange

[abby jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

The only problem is I didn't want it to end. Good job with the horse lingo ,obviously a rider :)

[The Mad Mad Madeline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty blah. Poetic and lovely writing at places, but not enough realistic horse stuff, plausible situations or real characters.

[Kem Timlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!!!