"This is one of those books that stays with you, long after you’ve turned the last page."
"This book is great fun, a solid story, and something you could, maybe, use to explain an obsession of your own."
"This book really is one that speaks directly to the heart and soul of someone who feels so passionate about the thoroughbred horse."
"She knows these settings and she doesn’t miss a detail. You can almost taste the grime of a side street in Brooklyn, and you can exactly picture what the old Claremont Riding Academy looked like." - Andrea Galbraith, Eventing-a-Go-Go
For anyone who ever doubted their life's work... for anyone who ever looked up and suddenly wondered if they were doing the right thing... The Head and Not The Heart explores just what makes passionate people tick.
Horses have always been Alex's obsession. Their presence has defined her life: all her choices, from her love-life to her career, have been made with horses as her priority. But the horse business isn't for the sentimental, and it's growing harder for her to tamp down her emotions and think about the horses with her head and not her heart.
Alex's life looks pretty wonderful to the casual observer. She's in a committed relationship with a master racehorse trainer. Surrounded by hundreds of horses in the green hills of Ocala, Florida, it's a dream life for any equestrian.
But suddenly she's tired of hitting the ground when a flighty racehorse decides to spook, tired of fending off biting and kicking foals, tired of 2 AM calls for veterinary emergencies. And Alex is starting to wonder if she's made the right choices in life.
When their racing stable suffers a loss, she and Alexander slowly begin to fall apart. A chance find of a long-lost horse sends Alex alone to New York City, and she wonders if this is the sign she's been waiting for. Is it time to leave it all behind and start fresh?
Running from the lush pastures of Florida horse country to the icy streets of Brooklyn, Alex experiments with being a different sort of person, as if horses had never mattered to her, and finds herself lost in the company of strangers.
Dealing with love, loss, and obsession -- all the components of a life with horses -- "The Head and Not The Heart" brings the world of racehorses and the people who love them to life.
*In keeping with its racetrack theme, this book contains strong language.