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By Root 1236 0

rides. In the spring, the dogwoods ringing the fields bloomed flaming pink. As the weather warmed, the girls had permission to ride down to the beach after their lessons, where they discovered, to their delight, that Snowman loved swimming. Many of the horses hesitated at the water’s edge or took a few steps in to paw and stamp, but Snowman waded past them until the water was chest-deep and then, head stretched out and nostrils flaring, plunged forward. In a moment, his hooves left the firm anchor of the sandy shoals and he was waterborne. Any lucky rider—clinging to his wet mane or throwing her arms around his strong neck—went along for the ride, the salty water churning up in a froth around them. His broad back grew wet and slick, and the strong scent of the horse’s coat filled the air as the girl wrapped her bare calves around his barrel, and felt his coat prickling up against her skin. When the beach was crowded with girls and swimming horses, the sounds of splashing and laughter filled the air.

At the end of May, the school year drew to a close. In the summer, to save money, the school grounds—including the stables—were shut down. Harry moved the horses from the horseshoe-shaped stable back to his farm on Moriches Road.

And every summer, when the Knox School girls left, money got tight in the de Leyer household. Harry’s tiny property had just a few stalls and a small paddock to double as a ring—not enough space for a proper riding stable. During the school year, he needed to keep a string of horses big enough to accommodate all of the Knox students in the riding program. If he had had more space at home, he could have continued with lessons over the summer, but the Knox stable was three times the size of his. As the 1956 school year drew to a close, Harry faced a familiar situation. A few of the horses would have to go. This problem was typical of riding academies, camps, and dude ranches all over the country. When the season ended, the excess horses were trundled off for sale, often going back to the same auctions they had been purchased from. Harry’s auction purchase had grown used to his roomy box stall at Knox. Every morning, Snowman greeted Harry with his trademark three loud whinnies, and each time a girl passed his stall, he seemed to look at her with a wink and a nod. Yet Harry knew he needed to find a buyer for the big gray. He tried to interest one of the girls in Snowman, but he was not the kind of horse they went for.

The girls preferred the regal thoroughbreds, like Wayward Wind. Windy had a fine, shiny coat and a silky mane and tail. Her coloring was a deep chestnut, and her white markings—a white blaze down her face and four white stockings—made her stand out from the other horses. Windy had been only three when Harry bought her from Belmont Park in New York. Nobody wanted her. She had gotten caught in the starting gate and torn a huge gash, from the tip of her withers all the way down to the point of her shoulder. A track vet had sewed her up—thirty-four stitches, just to close the wound, and not even careful work because the injury was so severe that her racing days were finished. Most buyers passed her over entirely—with a wound like that, who knew if she would ever fully recover? The wound might get infected, or the shoulder muscle might have suffered permanent damage. But Harry had bought her for a song and slowly nursed her back to health. Now she was a sweet-natured beauty. The students loved to show her, often bringing home blue ribbons. Riding Windy, a girl made an impression when she entered the ring. Snowman, at 16.1 hands, was similar in size to Windy (an equestrian “hand” is four inches, or the width of an average man’s hand, and is counted from the ground to the top of the withers), but his broad chest and heavy-boned legs, all qualities that were bred into workhorses, were not attributes that would appeal to a horse show judge in the way that would Windy’s sleeker, more refined form.

Nevertheless, Harry kept looking hopefully among his students to find Snowman a buyer. The horse was