In the Scent of Horses, Hay, and Old Barns

A narrative retelling of the life of a horse girl who moved west and started one of the nation’s longest running equestrian schools.In early autumn, 1958, thirty-two-year-old Eleanor Fracker Smith left her family roots in Massachusetts and moved to southeast Wyoming. There, she realized her life philosophy: that people can do without a lot of things, but no one should have to live without horses. Living on the dry, wind-swept prairie west of Laramie, Ellie bought horses she could afford: ill, malnourished, and poorly trained. Through her accumulated knowledge of equine care, Ellie turned her unimpressive herd into show-ring winners and sought-after breeding stock. In 1961, she established Sodergreen Horsemanship School based on a uniquely immersive curriculum, with lectures and lessons based upon love, patience, mutual trust, communication, and—most importantly—groundwork. For forty years, Ellie’s renowned depth of knowledge and commitment to educating the horse-loving public drew students of all ages and skills. When Ellie married Bill Prince in 1966, they purchased a rundown ranch, just west of Cheyenne, and took with them the school and its name. Classes were full every summer until the school officially closed in 2001. Ellie stayed involved in teaching and other horsemanship activities until she passed away in 2024, in her ninth decade. “I was nutty about horses,” she once said, “and couldn’t see life any other way.” Pamela Galbreath’s finely tuned narrative reverently traces the arc of Ellie Prince’s lifetime of service to horses and horsemanship with remarkable attention to setting and detail, transporting readers from the suburbs of Boston to the plains of the West. Those who love horses or have an interest in the history of horsemanship in the United States will find themselves wishing they could have been taught by Ellie Prince.

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