Joey: How a Blind Rescue Horse Helped Others Learn to See
By: Jennifer Marshall Bleakley / Narrated By: Emily Durante
Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
And Joey’s not the only precious horse in this book; I was BAWLING my head off halfway through >Sniffle<
The book opens with a woman stumbling upon a starving and neglected herd of horses where there are two, maybe three, already dead horses. But huzzah! The third horse is showing signs of life. So yay for Joey.
Alas, the Appaloosa has already suffered a career-ending injury; plus, he’s now blind. That said, he’s marvelous with kids, and a new outfit, Hope Reins, an equine therapy ranch, is so taken with his gentleness that they accept him, sight unseen, into their program and into their lives.
He’s accepted along with a very troubled horse named Speckles, who rears and bites and shudders. But Joey’s needs, his helplessness through his blindness, make Speckles the perfect friend for him. Speckles is gentled enough that the ranch discovers that horse is actually hurting, and that’s what is making him act out.
Joey is a book filled with damaged and mistreated horses given a second chance, damaged and mistreated children given the opportunity to open up and bond with gentle animals, and a group of women who are wholly devoted to God and to faith (except for one woman who’s early neglect makes her doubt the existence of a loving and present God, but she’s very hush-hush about it, and naturally, through seeing what happens at Hope Reins, she learns to open up about her abuse, learns to open up about her lack of Faith).
There are stories galore of children blossoming; there are stories galore about the horses themselves.
And dare I say it: I cried like a baby halfway through the danged book cuz Life happens, and sometimes that’s not always kind. Animals feel grief just as keenly as humans do and, even after all he’s been through, Joey has to learn to grieve, learn to trust and to love yet again. It’s a very touching part of the book.
A couple of people, judging from their ratings of the book over on Audible, appeared to have haaaated the book, to have haaaated Emily Durante’s performance. Oh I dunno. She’s not a super duper narrator, but I felt she was more than adequate in her portrayal of that really dedicated group of women as they tried to get the program going, as they tried to juggle life-demands, as they tried to find funds to keep the ranch afloat. I thought her delivery of women turning to each other in friendship, turning to God in Faith, was quite believable.
And certainly! Durante nailed the emotional parts of the piece. I mean, I’ll say it yet again: TOTAL snuffling and whimpering here to the point where I had to stop listening to the audiobook and dived into a different one until I found a sense of Non-Sniveling Composure.
But what happens to Joey? Well, drat it all: This is Joey’s entire journey as a good and loving being who helped countless people, a bevy o’ kidlets, and several other horses become better, kinder, and more trusting.
I’m so glad there are places like Hope Reins, places where kids have a second chance and where abused animals get another and better life.
It’s just that, well, >heavy sigh< I didn’t expect to get as teary-eyed and snuffly as I did…
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