Alex, The West Nile Horse

This is the true story of Alex who originally bred to be a championship American Saddlebred show horse is judged a failure at the young age of two and is subsequently banished by his trainer to the land of the cowboys at a rural Arizona desert barn. As an unwanted rescue, he contracts the most debilitating form of West Nile in which he suffers from severe brain encephalitis and is not expected to recover. Miraculously, he survives and his story truly begins as he struggles against traumatic brain injury. He desperately seeks out the help of a reluctant, middle-aged horse owner. He picks her to save him. Yet his rehabilitation is a challenge she may not be equipped to handle. She develops her own unorthodox methods to bring him back from the effects of his brush with death with sometimes mixed results. This story provides several surprises along the way as it reaches its unexpected ending. Written in the first person and covering an 18 month period, the book provides a unique horse training perspective, coupled with a view into the realities of rescue horse ownership in today's west. The compelling story is funny, sad, informative, heartwarming and provocative.