Gaffney has a breathtaking and at times nearly otherworldly ability to read horses by closely studying their bodies, and then to capture what she sees with her prose.

In the author’s note of this fascinating memoir, Ginger Gaffney lets readers know exactly what’s to come. The dialogue is drawn from memory, and yes, she’s made some character composites of the more than 50 residents at the alternative prison ranch where she volunteered during the year and a half the book covers. But some of the most compelling characters here don’t speak in words: They are horses. And in Gaffney’s book, they come alive..

Gaffney pulls off the impressive feat of translating horses and humans. She creates lyricism through experience, landscape, and empathy. Not only does she avoid the often cringe-worthy tropes we see regarding horses, but she also swerves away from stereotyping the incarcerated population in the United States.

[Gaffney] recounts her own journey to ranch life, her sense of never quite fitting in, and how she found solace with these beautiful, powerful animals. With exciting showdowns and poignant moments, Half Broke finds freedom in self-control..

... often extraordinary.

An engaging debut memoir about the rehabilitation of damaged horses—and humans ...The book shifts easily between the ranch storyline and the author’s history of extreme introversion and fraught lesbian relationships.

In this powerful debut, horse trainer Gaffney shares stories of her 18-month stint at an alternative prison ranch in northern New Mexico, which she spent teaching its residents how to work with troubled horses.