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REVIEWS OF ‘A Fisherman in the Saddle’ – a new editon just published in the UK
“This is story telling charged with raw emotion and always a deep appreciation for the sheer beauty and the enduring magic of nature which transcends politics, implosion of families, emigration. Horses, the author says, became ‘my nation, my friends, my identity, my medicine. When I am in the saddle I’m home.’”
Robyn Cohen, The Cape Times
“Every now and then a gem of a new book lands on my desk: sometimes but rarely a diamond. This is one. I laughed. I cried. I was deeply moved. This is among the best books I have ever read about fishing, horses, growing up, the pain of maturity, leaving one’s homeland and the things that make up the richness of life.”
Dave Bristow, Getaway Magazine
“The ability of horses to help and heal is boundless. In A Fisherman in the Saddle, Julian Roup explains how he feels about horses. ‘The feeling of elation, of freedom, of excitement was indescribable. It was like being given wings and the gift of flight. I was hooked for life.' I know the feeling, and I hope many others discover it for themselves.” Octavia Pollock, Country Life UK
A Fisherman in the Saddle is a meditation on joy; it is a return to those things that have given him the greatest pleasure in life – horses and fishing. Both have been lifesavers in their time, like medicine in their effect.
If you love the outdoors and find solace under the sky, then this book is for you. And if you love horses and landscape, or the sea and fishing, then you will find a bonus here.
First published by Jacana in South Africa in 2003 this new second edition of the book, ‘A Fisherman in the Saddle’ by BLKDOG Publishing UK, has three new fishing chapters and many more images.
Horse riding is cheaper than seeing a shrink says Roup and he finds contemplation or meditation as a by-product of riding or fishing, life enhancing.
And the sea has never failed to provide fish and the best kind of companionship - he has always been seawitched he says.
This book of memoir started with the death of a beloved horse and as its story concluded the author found the need to write of his other horses that made their presence felt. And then his other passion for fishing and the far flung secret places it took him to. This is a book for those who love being out under the open sky.