Blake's love for her work and animals pulses through this memoir that reads like journal entries as she covers "14,000 miles in eight months" as a traveling horse trainer "promoting a kinder method of training." Delving into the development of “Affirmative Training,” her empathetic method, and also how the pandemic changed the trajectory of her life's work, and the "special connection" horses and their humans share, Undomesticated Women offers much that will engage seekers and animal lovers. "Sometimes I refer to myself as a couple's therapist for horses and humans,” Blake affectionately writes, and her stories back this up as she demonstrates a passion for her career path that is infectious and inspiring.
This spirited memoir focuses on travel, human-animal relationships, and what it actually feels like to live an adventurous, nomadic existence. Blake mourns her losses, celebrates her husband, tends to the animals she loves, and frankly addresses issues of mental health—“My depression sat next to me in broad daylight, like an evil twin with poor hygiene”—she writes, as this candid, memorable memoir finds her hitting the road, leaving domesticity in the rearview.
Takeaway: A horse trainer’s intimate nomadic journey through pandemic-era America.
Comparable Titles: Lisa Wysocky's Horseback, Courtney Maum's The Year of the Horses.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
