Wylde Ride

Book excerpt: There are horsemen, and there are riders—and occasionally someone special comes along who excels at both. Wylde Ride: A Horseman’s Story is the biography of Peter Wylde, a boy who won the Maclay Finals at age sixteen and later became an international equestrian superstar. In the late 1970s, a twelve-year-old boy and his parents arrived at horse trainer Joe Dotoli’s stable to inquire about his services. Relying on his memory and photographs, Dotoli chronicles his thirty-year relationship with Wylde as his trainer and friend, sharing the inspirational journey of a horseman who viewed his own accomplishments as second to those of his horse. From the first day Wylde rode his horse around the trainer’s field, Dotoli details how he helped build the confidence of his student who already seemed bound for prominence in an extremely competitive sport. From Dotoli’s stables to the Olympic games in Athens, the story of Wylde’s evolution into an equestrian superstar will inspire young riders to choose the honorable track and, above all else, become horsemen first. “Peter followed his dreams and pursued the quest for knowledge through all its hills and valleys to become one of the best in our sport.” —Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum