One Hundred and Four Horses audiobook

Compelling, heartbreaking and triumphant.This book is the voice of abandoned animals all over the world. It tells the dreadful story of the plight of the animals in Zimbabwe. While the human suffering is hard enough to digest, the fate of the horses and dogs and cats and livestock left behind when their owners were given just a few minutes—or the lucky ones a few hours—to pack up their worldly goods and leave their homes forever, was and still is a terrible tragedy. The book is extremely well written and tells the true story of the sacrifices the author and her husband made when they couldn't bear to leave their beloved horses or those of their neighbors to be tortured and massacred. In the end, having run out of all their options, they had to leave their homeland and find new pastures for the one hundred and four horses they had rescued.Each and every horse had a name and its own character and one cannot help but become invested in the fate of each one.I couldn't put the book down and it brought tears to my eyes more times than I could count.

This is an extraordinary true story of Mandy (Amanda) Retzlaff and her family as they brave Mugabe's stand in Zimbabwe. Both charming and tragic, this well written book demonstrates the love between a family and their horses. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in horses, adventure, and suspense. I could not put this book down! Enjoy!

I’m not really a fan of animal themed books, (they usually die) so ‘One hundred and four horses’ by Mandy Retzlaf, would not be something I would normally pick up. However, the theme for ‘Bookchat’ this month was animal stories, so this is what I went with. And yes (spoiler alert) some horses do die

A profoundly moving account of perseverance and courage.This is a riveting story of a couple’s perseverance, courage and dedication to providing a safe home for 104 horses, many of which they generously took in after their owners were forced to abandon them during Zimbabwe’s violent farm seizures. Later, like hundreds of other white farmers, Mandy and Pat Retzlaff were also robbed of their land and means of making a living. For their family and horses to survive, they undertook a frightening and grueling trek into neighboring Mozambique, fighting the weather and bandits along the way. Their story is heartbreaking, but it is an inspiring tale of sacrifice, perseverance and courage in the face of nearly insurmountable odds. I found this book almost impossible to put down, even though it had me in tears much of the time.

This was one of those books I just couldn't put down. It really gave you an amazing look at a type of life that most people couldn't comprehend. The strength and determination of these people is amazing. Well worth reading. I do need to disclose that I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

This was a fantastic book which appealed to me because I love animal stories, but turned out to be a history lesson told by a woman who was affected greatly. I loved this book, in spite of the gruesome tragedies that befall the horses.

Beautiful story of courage and strength in a beautiful country. Couldn't put it down! I feel like I know the author and her family after reading this story of love!

This is such a compelling read - a must read for anyone who lives in Africa.... Tragic yet beautiful

This is such a striking novel told by Mandy about her and her family’s lives. It’s filled with love, joy and like any good book sadness. It’s her story of how they went from 4 horses and their farm/ plantation to 104 rescue horses and the journey they embarked on. You can see the love that Mandy has for not only her family but the horses who became her family out of the kindness of hers and pats hearts. As a horse lover myself it was inspiring to see a novel where the personality’s if every individual horse shone through and you see how well Mandy really knew every horse. From crofton to Mozambique and the horrors they faced along the way I was captivated at every turn and i jumped for joy in some places and grieved in others. This book not only is an amazing book about horses but it has taught lots about Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the struggles about the Rhodesian war and how the natives were forced out of their homes. The story of how Zimbabwe was destroyed in some ways. A great book for horse lovers as well as those who aren’t and want a honest, soul wrenching book.

Mandy and Pat Retzlaff love horses. Their devotion to horses is so strong they risked everything to save as many as possible. This is a hard to put down memoir of one couples experiences in Zimbabwe during the rule of President Mugabe. Pat and Mandy were born and raised in Africa. As a young married couple they bought an abandoned farm in Zimbabwe. Over the years they built it into a successful commercial farming operation and were raising their three children. The plan was to spend the rest of their lives on this idyllic homestead. Then the situation in the country started to deteriorate. The white farmers were being pushed off their land by members of President Mugabe’s War Veterans’ Association. As Pat and Mandy’s friends and neighbors abandon Africa, they agree to take on the responsibility for the horses that would have to be left behind. Word spread about Pat and Mandy’s willingness to save horses and their herd grew. They were referred to as the horse people. Before long the war vets started to slowly overtake the Retzlaff farm. This started the family’s trek across the country, moving from one farm to the next. At one farm they were handed a written notice to be out in four hours. With so little time they packed what they could and left, leaving the herd of horses behind. That night, under cover of darkness, Pat with a group of men went back to the farm and walked 72 horses to the new location. Just one of many monumental feats. They did eventually get themselves and one hundred and four horses to safety only to be met with new and mysterious challenges.The book takes place at a politically charged time in Zimbabwe’s recent history, but the politics was left out. Mandy simply relates what happened to her family. Her dedicated family repeatedly made a plan and maneuvered around every obstacle they were faced with, all for the love of horses. It is both tragic and triumphant at the same time.

Lucky enough to have known the author and her husband, having holidayed (apart from the 15 year long civil war) in the Bazaruto Archipelego since 1958, when still a child, having come from the same farming area to where they were farming and having gone to school in Umtali, I'm probably biased but anyone who's ever lived with a pet they loved will be able to relate to how much these horses meant to Mandy and Pat, and anyone who hasn't will want to rush out and buy their own or at least take up riding! Tastefully collated in a gentle yet decisively unique style, Mandy's memoirs are a classic reminder of the appalling and sinister way in which the notorious Mugabe systematically destroyed the lives and aspirations of not only white Zimbabweans but his own people too. Instrumental in these cowardly acts which epitomise his fear of the white man who, by their mere presence, remind him of his own inadequacies. Pat and Mandy rose above that, evident by their tremendous courage as well as their selflessness and compassion shown not only to their family but their friends, their staff and equally to their horses. Their charm is also in their humbleness and honesty. I for one had no idea of what they had endured and we were virtually neighbours in Vilanculos for months on end. Last but not least (but especially), the masterful way in which Mandy introduces so many of their horses, characterising each one's personality not only by name but by their idiosyncrasies, their antics and peculiarity of appearance.. and orchestrated with such love to be truly remarkable.. and, at the same time, enthralling, enabling one to fully understand and follow their life's journey in the hope of finding safer pastures. If there were six stars it would get my six but there's only provision for five so will have to settle for five!

This is a story that would make any animal lover proud. And for that very same reason many will choose to keep off this book, not realizing what the book really is about. My first impression based on the title was to keep hands off policy, and I almost missed a really good book.One Hundred and Four Horses: A Memoir of Farm and Family, Africa and Exile by Mandy Retzlaff is a heart-touching and beautiful story. It is a gripping story of one family's dogged determination to do something good in the midst of ruins in Zimbabwe under dictator Robert Mugabe.Mandy Retzlaff, her husband Pat and their three children, along with four horses, arrived in Crofton, Zimbabwe to begin a new life. They spent over a decade leading a contented and happy life. But their happiness was short-lived. In 2002, they were told to leave Crofton within four hours. The sea of change sweeping over Zimbabwe was dramatic. A country once known as Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. Once considered the breadbasket of Africa was now a devastated country, almost in total ruins. Its economy has plummeted beyond salvage. A free country was now under a dictator.Though fearful for their own lives, the Retzlaffs refused to be cowed down. They kept moving from one friend's farm to the next, and kept on sheltering any horse in need. Soon, the number swelled to 104. And with all their horses they managed to escape to neighboring Zimbabwe.Though not a great writer, Mandy has rendered in a lovable way a beautiful story that will touch the reader's heart. This book is not just about the Retlaffs' love for horses, it is also a book of history and adventure - about and in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

What a story! What a life!The Retzlaffs are a couple who have been through much and survived.Moving from one place to the next as they were forced off the land they farmed and loved due to the political uprisings of Mugabe era in Zimbabwe. While colonialism changes the face of a country and the term "driving back the bush" brings a shudder to a conservationist nevertheless, the farmers whose families worked the land were also generations into heritage of the same lands and their roots were deep.The seasonal challenges, the droughts, the rise and fall of the markets - familiar to farmers everywhere. Beautiful productive land, growing tomatoes, spices, fruit and the horses! The horses.The herd grew as farmers lefts the land, left the country and those like the Retzlaffs took up the responsibility of the animals. It is not an easy book to read. The land was devastated and laid waste, animals were butchered senselessly. To live through these things and the threat to their family and yet hold hope for the future, albeit it over a border in another country, only slightly more welcoming, shows immense strength of character and purpose.

This true story had me at Africa and horses. But I was unprepared for the emotional journey I was about to take reading it--I couldn't put it down. I was in Zimbabwe in 2005, the only tourists staying at Elephant Camp (they took in orphan elephants that were also victims in Mugabes wake). This amazing story brings to life the unbelievable human spirit and commitment of a heroic couple, Mandy and Pat Retzlaff in their remarkable perseverance to rescue 104 horses left in the wake of farm land reclamation and a brutal time in Africa's history. It renews faith in the power of love and compassion between man/woman and horse despite the brutality of what they experienced along their journey. I had tears in my eyes reading this more than once. Mandy did a marvelous job capturing the essence of both the beauty and brutality of life in Zimbabwe and the grace and nobility of the horses. I feel compelled now to travel to their horse safari camp on the Mozambique coast and meet this compassionate resilient couple. Words fail me at how much I admire them.