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Excerpt, page 50:

“Eli’s life had been filled with soiled nests, and the easiest solution had always been to leave the old behind and start anew. But men like Eli Brandt don’t ever truly find new beginnings. Perhaps their backs are too rigid, their minds too set and their necks too stiff to ever really start fresh. The old ways, the old habits and the old demons that are just as much a part of life as breathing out and breathing in, are always there to pull the Eli Brandts back into the muck. And all they leave behind are scars.”

Intrigued by the title, and being acquainted with some of his other writing, I was anxious to read Nolting’s first novel. 

The story is set in late 1880’s Oklahoma Territory. Cowboy Eli Brandt joins in the Oklahoma land rush and stakes a claim to his parcel, beginning a homestead and then marrying a young woman of Cheyenne/Mexican descent, Maria Sanchez-Little Wolf, eleven years his junior. It turns out, if he’s married to someone with Cheyenne blood he’ll be qualified for the next rush and a larger parcel, when the government opens up the Indian Nation land to homesteaders. Brandt knew this going in.

The story journeys through two decades as Brandt moves the family from Oklahoma to Kansas, Kansas to Arkansas and back to Kansas, usually to escape problems of his own making. Maria and their young children (and Brandt’s horses) all the while suffer greatly at the hand of this hard man.

Early on, Charlie Davies, a cowboy of good character, makes contact with the Brandts and the reader gets a sense there’s hope for a good outcome. Make no mistake though, this is not some cookie-cutter western novel. Nolting’s deft portrayal of this abusive, profane character incurs the reader’s immediate loathing for Eli Brandt and I soon got a sense from where the title originated. Nolting illustrates an ugly circumstance that all too often exists and shouldn’t be covered up. “And all they leave behind are scars.” Scars that become a legacy.

As I read …By The Way They Treat Their Horses, I was reminded of Michael McGarrity’s fine novel, “Hard Country”.

Nolting’s “By the Way They Treat Their Horses”, struck a chord which reverberated within my soul and which I could not silence. It chimed, “One more sentence, page, chapter!” His intricate melding of characters, actions, and topographic detail held me spellbound for two days. 

His insight into the intense aspects of human character and its emotive effect on one’s surroundings is rare and engulfing. I can hardly wait to share another sliver of his soul. Bravo! Encore!

Wow!! Lots of thoughts. I was immediately struck by Eli’s character; the rage and anger that presented itself at the beginning and remained throughout the story. I was astounded at the portrayal of this incredibly horrible person. Eli is the perfect villain that you love to hate!! And Maria is the quintessential victim. And the children who just try to placate. I’m sure many others will identify as well; and not just within the western lifestyle. I liked how the story moves quickly, spanning years at a time, yet encompassing all of it. I think the story flowed well, and took me from hate to hope quite a few times. I enjoyed it immensely and found it well written and easily absorbed.

Leslie Keltner; Wyoming cowgirl, singer/songwriter, poet