They are simply shipped to Canada or Mexico. And as the book points out, if we close American slaughterhouses, no fewer animals die. If we slaughter cows and chickens for food, I cannot on moral grounds argue against the slaughter of horses, or even cats or dogs. Yet we live in a world where animals are eaten. An incurable animal-lover, one who wishes those first innocent days of creation might have lasted, I cried during parts of this book. And the pharmaceutical industry, particularly producers of women’s hormones, make their money at the dreadful expense of equine lives.

The worn out, the used up, those who never measure up, all sold for slaughter. For every champion, tens of thousands die, often before they take ten breaths. I learned a good deal about the dark side of the horse racing industry. It is a feel-good story of spirit and triumph, but it contains some disturbing undertones. There, where their stories merge, where love and trust are allowed to grow, healing is found for girl, for man, and for beast. To escape, Hannah volunteers at a nearby stable that rehabilitates abused horses. Hannah’s mother died of cancer five years ago, and her father returns from Iraq minus a leg and exhibiting some terrifying effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I’m afraid my review may grow rather controversial before I’m done. The Outside of a Horse is an emotional, eye-opening novel that has pushed me into some new areas of thinking. “There’s nothing so good for the inside of a man as the outside of a horse.”

The outside of a horse by ginny rorby