Horse Miracles

by Brad Steiger

Amazing true stories to inspire every horse enthusiast! From Seabiscuit to Black Beauty to The Horse Whisperer , horses have always captured our imaginations with their extraordinary beauty, sensitive personalities, and deep connections to human beings. In Horse Miracles , the bestselling authors of Dog Miracles , Cat Miracles , and Christmas Miracles offer more than fifty amazing true stories of the blessings horses bring to people around them and of the miraculous trials these noble creatures face with dignity and courage. Featuring such amazing horses

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Horses

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Lacy Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who would have thought a book about horse miracles would have been given 2 stars by me- an avid horse lover! The stories were so random and felt like they were all over the place. Some were modern day, some were historical. Lots of them felt hard to prove, and I did not enjoy the many stories about animal communication, religious lore, even horses in ghost form! There are enough wonderful, deeply touching stories about horses that you don’t need to tell some of the crazy, unbelievable ones that were in this book. Overall not what I expected which is perhaps my fault but am glad to be finished with it. Not to say I disliked everything here, a handful of the stories were beautiful and I wish we could have gotten more of the good ones.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read the few pages, early in the book, about Secretariat, there were so many glaring errors I wondered how much embellishment went into the other true stories. If any horse's life is easy to document it would be Secretariat's. It wouldn't have taken much work at all to do some fact-checking. Didn't finish the book, don't plan to.

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but oddly organized

[Rebecca Bezuyen · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I love some good horse stories, especially those found in short form, this book had a lot less "miracles" than the title implied. The facts about the "special" racehorses casually tossed in doesn't make them miracle horses in my eyes - but what do I know, I just read here - and the few stories about miraculous horse happenings seemed to be more like urban legends and tales more than miracles.

My rating of 2 stars is generous, I agree, but it's more-or-less for the content of the book being easy to read and entertaining enough for me to finish the book than it is for the quality of the stories included. If we're being honest, the stories felt like the ones that didn't make the cut for Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul but were still worth telling to someone.

I won't be retaining any of the stories in my mind in the long run, but they were still somewhat enjoyable to read for the moment. I guess in short, this book makes for good reading material while on the pooper, but that's about it in my opinion.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to read stories about horses. I enjoyed reading this book. It made me smile.

[Monica Horn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your time with this book because it is so far from factual that it's laughable.
I began this book with high hopes. THEN.... I got to the section on Secretariat! I'd read both Wolfe's and Nack's book on Secretariat so the inconsistencies glared off of the pages of the Steiger book! I won't bore you with explaining each part of the Secretariat story that was inaccurate but here is just one example:

Steiger Book says: "...by the time Secretariat reached the backstretch, he had already achieved a 10-length lead over Sham"

FACT The "backstretch" (when referring to the track itself) is the straight-away that begins right after the first turn and continues to the beginning of the "far turn" (2nd turn). Sham and Secretariiat were still competing for the lead, running neck to neck, coming out of the first turn (this is when they "reached the backstretch") They continued to run close to one another until nearing the far turn, so for most of the backstretch. The official notes made by the Belmont Chart Caller for the Daily Racing Form reads: “SECRETARIAT..... to vie for the early lead with SHAM to the backstretch, disposed of that one after three-quarters, drew off at will rounding the far turn". Give poor Sham the credit he deserves! The truth is, he hung with the Superhorse for the better part of the KY Derby before Secretariat took the convincing lead.

It is pitifully obvious that these authors made a half-hearted, careless attempt at briefly re-telling the story of a great champion. What a disservice! Secretariat deserves better! Shame on you, Brad and Sherry Steiger!!

I wanted to enjoy this book as I love horses but after the debauchery made of Secretariat's story I wondered how much of the other horse stories in this book that bills itself as having "TRUE tales.." were fluffed, embellished, and dramatized versions of the REAL horse story. If I am reading a book about true horse stories I want to trust that every word is true. If the authors didn't even bother to get an easily fact-checked story like that of Secretariat's right, how can I trust that the other stories in the book are "true"???

There are much better books about horses! Read Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand or Bill Nack's on Secretariat. Unlike Steiger, Hillenbrand and Nack spent a great deal of time thoroughly researching to make sure the books were factual and truthful as well as captivating!!!!

[Libbyloo98 · Rating 5 out of 5]

another book that shows my love for horses

[Lizzy]

Every motherfuckin day is another motherfuckin horse miracle.

[Alexis]

good book really good stories inside!

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally delivers what the title promises. This type of book is like a specially themed Reader's Digest, pleasant and easily consumed.