SHLEP

Finding Healing on Horseback in the Lower 48

By: Kathy Burns

Narrated by: Kathy Burns

When Kathy decides to leave her abusive marriage, she is 59 years old. She’s unprepared to live on a reduced income when her estranged husband hides his assets from the court. She’s shocked by the cost of rentals in Southern California. She didn’t realize how impossible it would be to land a job at her age and after being out of the market for two decades while she raised her kids. She hasn’t anticipated that her nearly grown children would be mad at her for finally standing up for herself. And she certainly hasn’t expected the way that the prolonged stress of her marriage would fragment her psyche, making her long to not wake up in the morning.

The only time she feels halfway sane is when she is riding her horses, and so, with a truck and horse trailer paid for with money borrowed from her dad, Kathy decides to hit the road, riding in each of the lower 48 states until she finds a new place to call home and finds a calm within herself again. She names the journey SHLEP: Soul-searching, Home seeking, Liberating, Equestrian Party.

On her 13-month adventure, most of it solo, she confronts physical challenges and emotional demons. She deals with the dying of both her parents, re-bonding with her sister, and making peace with her three children. She meets so many women who are in the process of remaking their lives after their plans and dreams were shattered; these women are inspired by Kathy’s journey and in turn provide her with support and sustenance. Perhaps most importantly, she reestablishes her relationship with God and begins to rely on his grace to sustain her.

In the process, she makes peace with the “mess of her life” and gains a deeper confidence than she has ever known.

©2019 Kathleen Ann Burns (P)2020 Kathleen Ann Burns

Review of Shelp

I loved this book. It combined real life struggles with the so interesting adventure of horse travel. Have been to some of her destinations so could visualize everything. Loved it!

raw and inspirational

Kathy Burns is very honest in this writing of her experience of riding horses across the United States
and her struggles with her divorce and the loss of her parents. I found the growth she showed while meeting various people on her travels, intriguing.
I enjoyed it!

I loved hearing about Kathy's experiences!

As a lover of horses, I have experienced many of the same things that Kathy so eloquently described in her book. I felt like I was hearing her stories around a campfire! I couldn't put her book down. Thank you for sharing your story Kathy!

0 out of 10

The authors delivery is slow, dull, and inexperienced. You can hear her taking breaths as she’s reading. Annoying. The story is about her spoiled rich life and how unhappy she is. This woman is weak and pathetic and her whining made me more angry the more I listened. Absolutely terrible.

Really Was Hoping For More...

I was very excited to listen to this book. The story intrigued me as I am a horse person and was looking forward to the adventure I thought this book would bring. The first thing that annoyed me was the narration, by the author, which unfortunately was very flat and monotone. Usually I love it when the author narrates their work because they can bring certain excitement and insight to their narration. But the lack of inflection seem like the narrator was just plain bored reading her own work and this took away from the story she was telling! Next thing that annoyed me was the author spoke a lot about being a victim in her own marriage and life. And yet while her divorce was taking place, she kept wanting to bury her head in the sand and not deal with the problems that were taking place, she just wanted to complain about it all. I got tired of the depressing narration and the author not taking responsibility for herself and I quit listening. No adventure here.