Join author Erin O'Malley for a discussion and signing of her debut memoir, The Brat and the Bullfighter, on August 8th from 12pm-2pm, in conversation with Carol Lynn McArdle.

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A heartwarming dual-perspective memoir for fans of The Ride of Her Life and Horse Crazy, The Brat and the Bullfighter explores how a misunderstood Lusitano stallion and an uprooted Army brat find healing, belonging, and each other.

Some horses don’t just change your life, they save it.

Arty’s blood runs hot. White hot. A white Lusitano stallion with bullfighting in his bones, he was born on a prestigious Brazilian farm and sold through an elite auction to a private ranch in California. There, human misunderstanding dims his brilliance. Rider after rider mistakes his sensitivity for defiance, eroding his confidence and trust.

As an Army brat, Erin relates. She grew up always moving—the perpetual new kid, never quite belonging, rarely feeling understood. Her love for horses was her only constant. So, when Arty’s owner recognizes he needs something different and offers to sell him to her, she can’t refuse.

What follows isn’t a fairytale. Erin questions everything: her choices, her ability, whether she’s helping or hurting him. But when unexpected loss shatters her, Arty steps forward to light a path through darkness.

Told from both human and horse perspectives, The Brat and the Bullfighter is a dual coming-of-age memoir about trust, love, and the bond that forms between two souls who, in finding each other, finally find home.

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Erin O'Malley is a lifelong horse lover and reluctant extrovert who credits her love of telling stories to her upbringing as an Army brat. She began her career in Paris, working for Hearst Publications on magazines like Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and Town & Country, before transitioning into tech, where she focused on marketing and content strategy. She lives near Seattle with her husband, two horses, and three dogs. The Brat and the Bullfighter marks her publishing debut.

Carol Lynn McArdle is one of the Pacific Northwest’s most respected classical equitation trainers and clinicians. A Grand Prix dressage rider and former Olympic short-list competitor in three-day eventing, she has spent decades helping riders better understand the physical and emotional experience of the horse. Based on Whidbey Island, where she founded the Tir na nOg School of Classical Equitation, Carol Lynn teaches riders how to build more balanced, compassionate partnerships with their horses and is especially admired for preserving the cheerfulness and positivity of both horse and rider while helping equestrians improve their riding and training.

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Erin O'Malley Presents The Brat and the Bullfighter

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