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Saddled: How a Spirited Horse Reined Me in and Set Me Free
One day, at the age of thirty-one, Susan Richards realized that she was an alcoholic. She wrote it down in her journal, struck by the fact that it had taken nine years of waking up hung-over to name her illness. What had changed? Susan had a new horse, a spirited Morgan named Georgia, and, as she ";It had something to do with Georgia. It had something to do with making a commitment as enormous as caring for a horse that might live as my companion for the next forty years. It had something to do with love."; Every day begins with a morning ride. Every day Susan lives a little more and thinks about her mistakes a little less. Every day she learns a little more from Georgia, the kind of horse who doesn’t go in for indecision, who doesn’t apologize for her opinions, and who isn’t afraid to be herself. In Georgia, Susan finds something to draw her back to herself, but also something to keep her steady and focused, to teach her
228 pages, Hardcover
First published May 4, 2010
30 people are currently reading
992 people want to read
About the author
Susan Richards
8 books87 followersSusan Richards has a BA in English from the University of Colorado and a Master of Social Work degree from Adelphi University. She lives in Olivebridge, New York, with three dogs, two cats, and four horses.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
April 6, 2010
Susan Richards' "Saddled" is about more than horse ownership. It's about love, addiction and recovery as well.
Richards writes honestly about the abusive relationships she endured and about her alcoholism. Until she meets a Morgan mare named Georgia, Richards spends all of her time drinking. She stops because she knows that she needs to be sober to keep the beloved horse, but she continues other addictive patterns that were established early in her life.
Shuttled amongst various unaccepting family members, Richards' best childhood friend is a pony named Bunty. Through her adult life, she finds a spiritual acceptance and friendship amongst equines and decides that she wants to have one again. Thus, Georgia, Tempo and Hotshot come into the story. Even still, she finds that she needs to develop her independence and figure out who she is without alcohol and then begins to truly enter recovery.
This is not an easy book to read because of some of the issues Richards discusses. Her style is open and honest, and I think that people in recovery would benefit from it as long as they were not at a place where they were fragile and find it triggering. Ultimately, it is a story of renewal, success and joy.
As a former equestrian athlete, I also recommend this book to horse and animal lovers who have known the companionship of a snuffling muzzle and a kind nicker.
(Review based on uncorrected advance proof.)
Richards writes honestly about the abusive relationships she endured and about her alcoholism. Until she meets a Morgan mare named Georgia, Richards spends all of her time drinking. She stops because she knows that she needs to be sober to keep the beloved horse, but she continues other addictive patterns that were established early in her life.
Shuttled amongst various unaccepting family members, Richards' best childhood friend is a pony named Bunty. Through her adult life, she finds a spiritual acceptance and friendship amongst equines and decides that she wants to have one again. Thus, Georgia, Tempo and Hotshot come into the story. Even still, she finds that she needs to develop her independence and figure out who she is without alcohol and then begins to truly enter recovery.
This is not an easy book to read because of some of the issues Richards discusses. Her style is open and honest, and I think that people in recovery would benefit from it as long as they were not at a place where they were fragile and find it triggering. Ultimately, it is a story of renewal, success and joy.
As a former equestrian athlete, I also recommend this book to horse and animal lovers who have known the companionship of a snuffling muzzle and a kind nicker.
(Review based on uncorrected advance proof.)
March 23, 2011
Susan Richards is such a talented writer, that I would be willing to read any book that she writes. Reading about her past, and the things that she went through, it just amazes me. So many of us see the family with a lot of money and think, Their life must be perfect, but hearing her story really makes you wonder how true that is. This book certainly made me feel greatful to have grown up in my middle class family. Knowing that I was a loved and cherished member of the family.
November 29, 2010
I have a down side up side perspective on this book. I found the writing style a bit Oprah tabloidy, meaning no diminution of the authors awful childhood and resulting emotional damage. On the upside, the book made me understand (as a non horse owner, rider) how a relationship with a horse is on a whole different level from one with a dog, cat, etc.
The horse in this book did not give the author any quarter, yet gave her mutual love and respect. The first well adjusted relationship the author had ever had. Animals are healers, this book really illustrates that.
March 22, 2020
I loved this story of hope, healing and horses!
December 17, 2018
I'm a sucker for anything to do with horses, so when I saw the cover with its beautiful Arabian horse, I was hooked. Even when I found out that the horse in the story is a Morgan, I thought 'artistic license' and kept reading. Unfortunately, the story is about the writer overcoming her addiction to alcohol through her obsession to the horse. It could just as easily been about painting, or music, or running marathons. It just happened to be about her relationship with the horse. I just didn't find her story compelling.
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April 23, 2012
I LOVED the first book she wrote (Chosen by a horse), and the second (Chosen forever). This one was touching and beautiful, and harder to read.
She talks about her abusive relationship with her (now ex) husband. She talks about her alcoholism and trying to free herself from her addictions. She talks about wanting to die and feeling helpless and hopeless and not knowing why. I think my favorite part was her description of AA.
"I didn't know that becoming sober meant really changing. Not drinking was the least of it. It was the rest of me that was the problem, the part that wanted to stay numb. The men and women in that room (AA) didn't sound numb anymore. They were angry and scared and depressed. They were also hopeful and funny and grateful. They were all over the place. The word that came to mind was whole. After years of shutting down all or parts of themselves with alcohol, they were finally whole human beings.
I sat in a corner with my arms crossed and my mouth shut and listened to what whole human beings sounded like. Evidently being human was a messy business. Not a single person said Everything's fine - my stock response since I was a child to any question about my state of mind. It had never been true, but that didn't keep from repeating it for the next twenty years. I thought that's what you were supposed to say. I thought that's what you were supposed to feel. Anything else meant you were a complainer or worse - a bad person, a wrong person, and wrong was just a code word for crazy. I didn't want to be crazy, because I was already on shaky ground in the wantable department. So the sweet smiley girl became the sweet smiley woman who drank liquor to help keep the lid on anything that didn't reflect how fine she felt one hundred percent of the time. Never mind the on-and-off suicide fantasies going back to fourth grade. Doesn't everybody have those? I was fine."
While I never used alcohol, I completely identified with everything else... The realization that there was more to life than just not doing the "shouldn't"s... And coming to understand what a whole human being looks like... and letting myself feel something besides "fine".
She talks about her abusive relationship with her (now ex) husband. She talks about her alcoholism and trying to free herself from her addictions. She talks about wanting to die and feeling helpless and hopeless and not knowing why. I think my favorite part was her description of AA.
"I didn't know that becoming sober meant really changing. Not drinking was the least of it. It was the rest of me that was the problem, the part that wanted to stay numb. The men and women in that room (AA) didn't sound numb anymore. They were angry and scared and depressed. They were also hopeful and funny and grateful. They were all over the place. The word that came to mind was whole. After years of shutting down all or parts of themselves with alcohol, they were finally whole human beings.
I sat in a corner with my arms crossed and my mouth shut and listened to what whole human beings sounded like. Evidently being human was a messy business. Not a single person said Everything's fine - my stock response since I was a child to any question about my state of mind. It had never been true, but that didn't keep from repeating it for the next twenty years. I thought that's what you were supposed to say. I thought that's what you were supposed to feel. Anything else meant you were a complainer or worse - a bad person, a wrong person, and wrong was just a code word for crazy. I didn't want to be crazy, because I was already on shaky ground in the wantable department. So the sweet smiley girl became the sweet smiley woman who drank liquor to help keep the lid on anything that didn't reflect how fine she felt one hundred percent of the time. Never mind the on-and-off suicide fantasies going back to fourth grade. Doesn't everybody have those? I was fine."
While I never used alcohol, I completely identified with everything else... The realization that there was more to life than just not doing the "shouldn't"s... And coming to understand what a whole human being looks like... and letting myself feel something besides "fine".
August 25, 2010
I bumped into this book, and somehow after flipping through the pages and seeing, memoir, alcoholism in family, transformation, I took the book home from the Pasadena Central Library. I am a memoir addict, and the authentic and well written voice calls me. I couldn't put it down.
those who know me personally will imagine and know my delight in the author's triumphs and courage, but imagine that this reader, a pug devotee par excellence, gasps when she looks at the back inside cover flap and see Susan Richards with what? A pug, a pug, a wonderful looking, high i'm the center of the universe pug. I feel as if I know this lady. The background of book had aspects of Boston, my home town, and so it goes. I highly recommend this book. I'm off to read her others; have to order them too!
those who know me personally will imagine and know my delight in the author's triumphs and courage, but imagine that this reader, a pug devotee par excellence, gasps when she looks at the back inside cover flap and see Susan Richards with what? A pug, a pug, a wonderful looking, high i'm the center of the universe pug. I feel as if I know this lady. The background of book had aspects of Boston, my home town, and so it goes. I highly recommend this book. I'm off to read her others; have to order them too!
May 7, 2011
Yes, the horse on the cover was the first thing that caught my attention. When I found out it was a Morgan horse I was even more interested. When I read the dust jacket and found out it was about a woman finding her place in the world after overcoming alcoholism....I wasn't sure I wanted to read on.
I did. It was worth it. Susan talks about how she found herself to be an alcoholic in a family of alcoholics. How she became sober - almost by accident - and discovered that the days were so much better. And now, without alcohol to fill her days, also a bit terrifying.
It's a rather slim novel and worth your time. I may have to read it again just because.
I did. It was worth it. Susan talks about how she found herself to be an alcoholic in a family of alcoholics. How she became sober - almost by accident - and discovered that the days were so much better. And now, without alcohol to fill her days, also a bit terrifying.
It's a rather slim novel and worth your time. I may have to read it again just because.
June 1, 2010
Dragged me down. Heard about it in the LAST memoir.
November 9, 2025
Susan Richard’s has a gift for describing events, people, feelings-all of it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
July 1, 2016
I liked the descriptions of the relationship between Susan and her horse. I think she has the kind of magical connection with Georgia that most horsewomen would dream of having. I also liked hearing about their long rides out in the woods alone with the dog. That imagery really has stuck with me.
Several quotes I found noteworthy while reading:
"It was the first time I considered that anxiety might be rooted in a kind of inflated self-importance, that even being shy had a component of false deference. Who were you to declare yourself so unavailable or so perfect that not living up to your own measure should make you withdraw?"
"I stood with the three of them clustered around me, doling out peppermints and scratching necks. It seemed to me that this was my church, this pasture, this barn, this land surrounded by mountains and forests and streams, and that to live in the perfection of nature, to live with animals is to know the divine. The texts of man seemed clumsy and didactic compared with the wisdom of a tree, a dragonfly, a horse. It was this wisdom, always present but never preached, that I looked to in moments of despair."
"Probably no book described my scars better than Alice Miller's 'The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self'. In a text combining equal amounts of compassion and psychoanalytic theory (a rare combination in academic writing), Miller laid out the causes and consequences of childhood trauma. I was my own first client, a sometimes frightening prospect. But for the first time, I was able to look at the events and circumstances of my past more objectively."
"I think caring deeply about something outside yourself is essential to any kind of healing."
"One day, as I was sitting on his bed holding his hand, I felt all the anger toward him I'd carried for years leave my body. It was like exhaling a poison I'd inhaled a long time ago, and it had finally come out. In its place I felt an overwhelming sense of love for this terribly flawed father, this human being who had suffered greatly for most of his life. I saw how pointless and self-serving my anger had been, how rigid and self-righteous. I saw how it had stunted my own growth and had kept me from pursuing a relationship with him on more honest terms, terms that would have taken into account who he was rather than who I had wanted him to be."
"I simply felt that animal children were the equal of human children and deserved the best of whatever I had to give."
"There is something intensely solitary about galloping on horseback, as though horse and rider become a single unit, shooting through space with just the smell of pine to hint that they are still earthbound."
Several quotes I found noteworthy while reading:
"It was the first time I considered that anxiety might be rooted in a kind of inflated self-importance, that even being shy had a component of false deference. Who were you to declare yourself so unavailable or so perfect that not living up to your own measure should make you withdraw?"
"I stood with the three of them clustered around me, doling out peppermints and scratching necks. It seemed to me that this was my church, this pasture, this barn, this land surrounded by mountains and forests and streams, and that to live in the perfection of nature, to live with animals is to know the divine. The texts of man seemed clumsy and didactic compared with the wisdom of a tree, a dragonfly, a horse. It was this wisdom, always present but never preached, that I looked to in moments of despair."
"Probably no book described my scars better than Alice Miller's 'The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self'. In a text combining equal amounts of compassion and psychoanalytic theory (a rare combination in academic writing), Miller laid out the causes and consequences of childhood trauma. I was my own first client, a sometimes frightening prospect. But for the first time, I was able to look at the events and circumstances of my past more objectively."
"I think caring deeply about something outside yourself is essential to any kind of healing."
"One day, as I was sitting on his bed holding his hand, I felt all the anger toward him I'd carried for years leave my body. It was like exhaling a poison I'd inhaled a long time ago, and it had finally come out. In its place I felt an overwhelming sense of love for this terribly flawed father, this human being who had suffered greatly for most of his life. I saw how pointless and self-serving my anger had been, how rigid and self-righteous. I saw how it had stunted my own growth and had kept me from pursuing a relationship with him on more honest terms, terms that would have taken into account who he was rather than who I had wanted him to be."
"I simply felt that animal children were the equal of human children and deserved the best of whatever I had to give."
"There is something intensely solitary about galloping on horseback, as though horse and rider become a single unit, shooting through space with just the smell of pine to hint that they are still earthbound."
May 11, 2010
Wow is the first thing that comes to mind about this book, as I frequently find with this author. She is a magnificent writer. Susan writes from the heart, reaching deep within in her soul. Her writings are easliy followed and heart felt from front to back. They leave you hungry for more. She shows you that with love and devotion, one can get through anything. Anyone who has ever loved an animal of any kind will be able to relate and understand such a deep devotion that we have to our animal family. Well written Susan, well written! I can only hope she continues bestoying upon us, the gift she has so obviously been blessed with. Her art of touching the very heart of any who read. She shows that there truly is light, at the end of a very dark tunnel of addiction!
June 11, 2010
Inspiring and honest story of a woman who finds the strength to change her life and her family legacy of addiction via a strong connection to a spirited horse.
I felt it was her ability to love the horse for, not in spite of, its "imperfection" in attitude that gave her permission to love herself and her own imperfections and begin her journey of healing.
In many ways the horse was a role model for another way of moving through life, with spirit and power and without apology for who she is. The author's choice not to train away all of the attributes that would be perceived as "negative" (read un-compliant) in traditional horsemanship was a testament of her ability for unconditional acceptance and appreciation for the whole being.
I felt it was her ability to love the horse for, not in spite of, its "imperfection" in attitude that gave her permission to love herself and her own imperfections and begin her journey of healing.
In many ways the horse was a role model for another way of moving through life, with spirit and power and without apology for who she is. The author's choice not to train away all of the attributes that would be perceived as "negative" (read un-compliant) in traditional horsemanship was a testament of her ability for unconditional acceptance and appreciation for the whole being.
March 19, 2015
Saddled: How a Spirited Horse Reined Me In and Set Me Free by Susan Richards was a book I discovered on GR Recommendations, and
WOW!!
what a discovery!!
I am a firm believer in the power of a horse’s ability to love, soothe, and gentle an owner’s anxiety and tension. This story beautifully exposes the facility of horses (could also be cats, dogs, and other domesticated critters) in diverting us humans away from angst, loneliness and other discomforts. Georgia, Tempo and Hotshot are like huge comforters driving evil spirits (of alcohol) and abusive relationships away much better than AA could.
I loved this story which felt like home to me even though I haven’t had to experience any of what Susan Richards endured.
I am a firm believer in the power of a horse’s ability to love, soothe, and gentle an owner’s anxiety and tension. This story beautifully exposes the facility of horses (could also be cats, dogs, and other domesticated critters) in diverting us humans away from angst, loneliness and other discomforts. Georgia, Tempo and Hotshot are like huge comforters driving evil spirits (of alcohol) and abusive relationships away much better than AA could.
I loved this story which felt like home to me even though I haven’t had to experience any of what Susan Richards endured.
June 28, 2010
So far I am annoyed that the book features a Morgan horse and the cover picture is of a Arabian horse! The book is promising, but details like that bug me.
I am sooo glad I went back and finished this book. I give very few ratings of 5, but this one deserves it. It is an unusual writing style with chapters hopping back and forth between the present and the past. A child bounced from one relative to another; who only feels grounded when at summer camp. Her work to become sober and to live up to the "expectations" and needs of a horse with which she's fallen in love. I am going to recommend it to many friends!
I am sooo glad I went back and finished this book. I give very few ratings of 5, but this one deserves it. It is an unusual writing style with chapters hopping back and forth between the present and the past. A child bounced from one relative to another; who only feels grounded when at summer camp. Her work to become sober and to live up to the "expectations" and needs of a horse with which she's fallen in love. I am going to recommend it to many friends!
June 24, 2010
Why so many people find it difficult to stop drinking "...is the necessity of exchanging one identity for another. I knew who I was as a drinker. That identity, the confident, friendly, easygoing woman, might have been mostly a myth, but as long as I kept drinking, I wouldn't have to face that. But when the wine stopped flowing, there I was - someone I didn't know, someone full of nameless insecurities and fears with a one-size-fits-all coping skill: alcohol".
December 28, 2010
If you're a horse lover and expect this book to be primarily about horses, be forewarned. It's more about dysfunction, alcoholism, and recovery than it is about horses, although the author's relationship with her horse figures prominently. That said, I found it to be well-written and interesting. The author's recounting of her alcoholic years made me pretty irritated with her, but in the end she has some preceptive things to say about her life.
June 18, 2010
I love the way this author expresses herself. This is her 3rd book - all memoirs and all super good reading. More than just about horses - it's about her complicated and interesting life experiences. Such great reading. Highly recommended.
March 17, 2011
Second book I read by Richards and I liked it, though I liked Chosen By A Horse better. I enjoyed the parts about the human/animal bond and about her (very sad) childhood but some of her memories were a little dull. I'd still like to read more by Richards though.
Read
February 11, 2011A story of healing...and horses...I enjoy the author's honesty and insight. She knows so well how magical and powerful horses are. Light, yet inspiring, book. I have one more of the author's books to read. I hope she is writing a new one as I type.
July 7, 2010
I really enjoyed this book.. It was a amazing story of what she learned from her horse and how the horse helped her change her life.
October 26, 2010
Good book, very fast to read! Enjoying how the horse helped this woman through an abusive marriage and alcoholism.
January 2, 2025
LOVED IT. This chick is ME. Except for the rotten awful childhood and the rampant alcoholism. Everything after that...I want everything she talks about in her life. Especially the horses.
March 11, 2011
The love of a horse helping an alcoholic get sober. What could be sweeter. I have read all of Susan's books and her love and understanding of horses it wonderful.
July 23, 2011
I did like it, but it was hard for me (I work in DV). But I admire her willingness to look at herself and write a "real" account.
November 25, 2011
Horses are therapy! Case closed!
July 14, 2010
I love Susan Richard's writing. She is a courageous and very insightful writer.
July 10, 2018
The Alcoholic Who Loved Her Horse
While I believe in the author’s intention, there are many missed opportunities here. The narrative contains 3 central threads: the author’s struggle with alcoholism, her relationship with her horse, and the depiction of her abusive childhood. There is an attempt to connect these but the effort does not come off very well.
The writing does pick up steam as Richards talks about her horses. Georgia, the horse, has terrible manners. Bites, kicks, bucks, the whole nine yards. But this says more about the author’s failure to train the animal than Georgia herself. Then we are treated to flashbacks about Richards’s horrific childhood. Flashbacks are a useful technique, but Richards forces us to look at the really depraved behavior of her relatives again & again. She needed to curate her choices. I simply got tired of it.
And then the exposition on alcoholism. Much of this material became redundant & I lost interest.
One should read this book before “Chosen by a Horse”, which focuses more on her relationships with her horses. Richards’s writing here is stronger. We get to know the characters better, & she does an improved job of showing us what she wants us to know. She makes us care about her, and her horses, something “Saddled” failed to do for me.
Kelly Keller
While I believe in the author’s intention, there are many missed opportunities here. The narrative contains 3 central threads: the author’s struggle with alcoholism, her relationship with her horse, and the depiction of her abusive childhood. There is an attempt to connect these but the effort does not come off very well.
The writing does pick up steam as Richards talks about her horses. Georgia, the horse, has terrible manners. Bites, kicks, bucks, the whole nine yards. But this says more about the author’s failure to train the animal than Georgia herself. Then we are treated to flashbacks about Richards’s horrific childhood. Flashbacks are a useful technique, but Richards forces us to look at the really depraved behavior of her relatives again & again. She needed to curate her choices. I simply got tired of it.
And then the exposition on alcoholism. Much of this material became redundant & I lost interest.
One should read this book before “Chosen by a Horse”, which focuses more on her relationships with her horses. Richards’s writing here is stronger. We get to know the characters better, & she does an improved job of showing us what she wants us to know. She makes us care about her, and her horses, something “Saddled” failed to do for me.
Kelly Keller
September 24, 2021
I had read Susan Richards book Chosen By A Horse when it was first published. I listened to it yesterday and it affected me very differently. When I first read it I did not have an alcoholic family member. Now I have two. I had not yet rescued a horse. Now I have. So I naturally looked for the rest of Susan’s story and found the story of Georgia, who we first met in the previous book. This really isn’t so much the story of a love affair with a horse as it is a story of generational alcoholism and a miraculous recovery (they are all miraculous because alcoholism is a cunning disease) which happens to include a horse. Now that I am a member of a 12 Step program, with two alcoholics in Recovery, I value these two books even more. This story is beautifully written, with heart and soul. Inspired and inspiring. The meat of it, which brought me to tears, was when Susan described sitting in a classroom receiving the epiphany that her abusive family were not evil people. They were alcoholics, raised by alcoholics. They were repeating a pattern. This is a really beautiful memoir. And there is one more book to listen to. Lay Me Down died. Georgia can’t be ridden anymore. I’m rooting for a HEA in the next one!
July 28, 2019
Finished it in one sitting
I alternately cringed and glowed as I read. My childhood, in it’s own way, reflected the author’s. It hurt to read her descriptions of her formative years, being taught that she was unnecessary and unwanted by anyone. The connection to horses, though, struck a deep chord inside me. Like the author, I learned as a child that the company of horses made me feel whole, that the bubble we existed inside when we were together didn’t allow criticism or pain to enter. I have had four horses in my adult life, the most recent entering the clearing at the end of the path two weeks ago today. They each helped me navigate life, and as much as their leaving has hurt my heart, I know there will be another horse in my future who will teach me more about myself, and heal more of my pain.
I alternately cringed and glowed as I read. My childhood, in it’s own way, reflected the author’s. It hurt to read her descriptions of her formative years, being taught that she was unnecessary and unwanted by anyone. The connection to horses, though, struck a deep chord inside me. Like the author, I learned as a child that the company of horses made me feel whole, that the bubble we existed inside when we were together didn’t allow criticism or pain to enter. I have had four horses in my adult life, the most recent entering the clearing at the end of the path two weeks ago today. They each helped me navigate life, and as much as their leaving has hurt my heart, I know there will be another horse in my future who will teach me more about myself, and heal more of my pain.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews