Horseracing in America

Sid Gustafson offers us a powerful glimpse into a unique and unfamiliar world in his new novel, Horseracing in America (Sleipnir Publishing, $17). Seen through the eyes of a female Native American woman, the reader is taken on a behind-the-scenes journey into the scandalous realm of horseracing. Laced with themes of bribery and corruption, Gustafson unveils the not-so-glamorous side of a widely popular pastime. From the mistreatment of animals, to the injustice of the American political system, Gustafson grapples with concepts that apprise readers to check their moral compass. Expressively written, with exciting dialogue and compelling character development, Horseracing in America brings into question our society's ethical animal principles, and is nothing short of an eloquent call to action. Reviewed by Corey Hockett, Outside Bozeman MagazineHorseracing in America is a contemporary literary novel narrated by an estranged female veterinarian from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana. The novel mines the present chaos in American horseracing to deliver a veterinary medical thriller, creatively informing readers how our treatment of animals reflects the American moral compass. This veterinary novel promotes responsibility to all animals, wild and domestic, and calls for improved animal sensitivity and care based on Native American animal principles. The narrator of this story pursues a mystical and mythical calling from an old veterinary school classmate and acquaintance. He lures her to New York to represent horses in need. The narrator streams the story of her conflicted veterinary life of animal advocacy. Having never known her own father, she leaves her daughter with her ex-husband, ensuring the development of a father/daughter bond she never had an opportunity to experience-this, to follow her professional passion for animal welfare to do right by the horse. On this journey, she discovers more about herself and horses than she imagined possible. Through the help of her absentee mentor, she arrives to remedy the precarious state of affairs that New York horseracing has become. Things have not gone well for the horses. Legs are breaking at an unprecedented rate. Jockeys are imperiled and injured, one killed. The rift between man and horses has widened, this time in fatal fashion. People are losing their connection with animals and nature. Humans continue to misunderstand the species that facilitated civilization. Horse welfare is compromised, society having lost connection with its origins. Reaching back into humankind's inner natures, Horseracing in America is an exploration of man's conscious relationship with horses.