Autumn Care of Madison
Mr. Harry deLeyer was part of the underground during WWII and helped many Jews escape the Nazis through the Netherlands. An American soldier’s dog tags brought him to the U.S. and the soldier’s family eventually sponsored him and his wife to come live in this country.
As he began working on the sponsor’s farm, Mr. deLeyer was recognized for his talent training horses. To offer horse lessons, he purchased a horse named Snowman right before he was to be shipped off to be slaughtered. Mr. deLeyer then taught riding lessons for 22 years. At one point when Mr. deLeyer attempted to sell Snowman, he repeatedly jumped fences to return to him.
Mr. deLeyer trained Snowman as a jumper; he went on to become the National Show Jumping Horse in 1958. Snowman won the Triple Crown of Show Jumping. In 1959, he made history as the first horse to win the Open Jumper Championship two years in a row. In 1983, Mr. deLeyer went on to represent the United States at the World Championships. The duo have been the subject of numerous magazine articles, four books, TV appearances, and now a recently released documentary, Harry and Snowman.