Ride a Hole Through the Wind by Judy Marshall

A Kansas State Reading Circle Choice

“...one of a handful [of books] that show alternative ideas instead of auto racing and other traditional male sports...informative.” —Quarter Horse Journal.

Fifteen-year-old Cutter McAllister is desperately trying to please a demanding father he both loves and fears, but certainly does not understand. His father’s dream had been for Cutter to be on the football team. To redeem himself after he is cut from the school football squad because he is too small, Cutter takes his personal battle and dream of proving himself in his father’s eyes to the quarter horse racetrack. Someday, he would ride the big roan colt with the crazy eyes to victory at Haskell Downs. But his father is adamantly opposed because of past experiences.

Through Cutter’s story we learn about the environment of a quarter horse training operation: its economics, its physical layout; the activities and safety precautions for both man and horse; and the different standards of operations of working owners. Cutter must fit in among the different personalities and work pecking order, starting first in cleaning out the stalls and the dung pile. He perseveres. He begins to value his own abilities and strives for his own goals, wishing that his father would be proud of him. In the end, Cutter learns from Spence, the ranch owner, what toughness is really all about.

Judy Marshall lives in North Carolina and grew up riding horses in Kansas. She and her husband raise horses for the track.