Product Description

At the age of thirty-four, Polly Evans finally fulfilled a childhood dream - to learn how to ride a horse. But rather than do so conveniently close to home, she decided to travel to Argentina and saddle up among the gauchos. Overcoming battered limbs, a steed hell-bent on bolting, and an encounter with the teeth of one very savage dog, Polly cantered through Andean vineyards and galloped beneath snow-capped Patagonian peaks. She survived a hair-raising game of polo and a back-breaking day herding cattle. Taking a break from riding, she delved into Argentina's tumultuous history: the Europeans' first terrifying acquaintances with the native 'giants'; the sanguinary demise of the early missionaries; and the gruesome drama of Evita's wandering corpse. "On a Hoof and Prayer" is the stampeding story of Polly's journey from timorous equestrian novice to wildly whooping cowgirl. It's a tale of ponies, painkillers and peregrinations - not just around present-day Argentina, but also into the country's glorious and turbulent past.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48860 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Sunday Telegraph
'Evans is an adventurer...Her writing is full of colourful
anecdotes on taking tango lessons in Buenos Aires, attending polo
tournaments and galloping across the pampas and into the mountains. This is
a jolly romp of a read, with some good snapshots of local life'

From the Publisher
She's back... and on another hilarious, madcap adventure

From the Back Cover
At the age of thirty-four, Polly Evans decides to fulfil a childhood dream – to learn how to ride a horse. But rather than do so conveniently close to home, she goes to Argentina and saddles up among the gauchos. Overcoming battered limbs, a steed hell-bent on bolting, and an encounter with the teeth of one very savage dog, Polly canters through Andean vineyards and gallops beneath snow-capped Patagonian peaks. She also survives a hair-raising game of polo and a back-breaking day herding cattle.

Taking a break from riding, Polly delves into Argentina’s tumultuous history: the Europeans’ first terrifying acquaintances with the native ‘giants’; the sanguinary demise of the early missionaries; and the gruesome drama of Evita’s wandering corpse.

On a Hoof and a Prayer is the stampeding story of Polly’s journey from timorous equestrian novice to wildly whooping cowgirl. It’s a tale of ponies, painkillers and peregrinations – not just around present-day Argentina, but also into the country’s glorious and turbulent past.

Customer Reviews

She just gets better!
Polly Evans has a magical ability to create a colourful picture of present day Argentina as well as evoking its colourful past. In addition, Polly weaves stories and tales, anecdotes and vignettes that keep us turning the pages. She is wickedly funny and her self deprecating humour ensures that she skilfully keeps the past and the presnt intertwined.

I am a great fan of Polly Evans, having read her previous three books and I strongly recommend them to anyone who enjoys well written books that have something to say.

Hmmmm...
I agree totally with J Dowens review. I wanted to like this book, I wanted to be riveted, I wanted to smell the leather, feel the Argentinian wind in my hair along with the author...but it just didn't do it for me. Pleasant enough in a mildy interesting kind of way. More like "Round Argentina at a Trot" in my opinion. Don't think I'll be bothering with any of the author's other books which is a shame. The book covers are good though!

Pleasant enough travel-lite read, but lacking substance
On a Hoof and a Prayer is a pleasant enough little page turner, and has enough interest in it to keep you going to the end. At first it seems like it might be funny, insightful, and maybe even adventurous; however it doesn't take long before a bit of disappointment sets in.

Labouring through the short chapters it soon becomes obvious that this is a simply a pedestrian account of an unremarkable whistlestop journey round the well-beaten tourist trails of Argentina: a day here, a bus journey there, and an internal flight somewhere else. Polly's own experiences are interspersed with a little cultural history, but where this occurs it is often quoted in large paragraphs directly from the source books she read as research. I'm not sure I learned that much more than a half hour television show could have told me, and there was basically no first hand insight into Argentinian life or culture.

I think my main disappointment is that the gimmick of the book - "around Argentina at a gallop" - fails to materialise at all. Granted she spends a week learning to ride when she first arrives, but after this all we get is an occasional pony trek, and then a short four day riding holiday nearer the end. I was expecting some kind of expedition on horseback, perhaps an exploration of the Andes or a summer as a gaucho, but sadly it wasn't to be.

Don't get me wrong. It wasn't terrible, but by the last 1/4 of the book I was just hoping it would end soon and I could get onto something else. I've heard similar disappointment expressed at "Kiwis Might Fly", and after reading this I won't be in a hurry to read any more of Polly's work. Worth borrowing if you are interested in Argentina, but not one to buy...