The Long Approach: Edgar Pagán’s Memoir of Devotion, Resilience, and Unrelenting Effort

A powerful story of resilience, passion, and the unbreakable bond between horse and rider.

The Long Approach is the remarkable story of Edgar Pagán, a boy from the streets of Brooklyn who dared to imagine a life far beyond the world he knew.  

Born into a Puerto Rican family, Edgar began with little more than determination and a jar of coins saved toward his first horse. What followed was a journey neither he nor those around him could have imagined, carrying him from neighborhood streets to the heights of international equestrian competition.  

But the distance between those two worlds was measured in far more than miles. There were sacrifices, setbacks, unexpected kindnesses, and moments when the dream seemed impossibly far away. Through it all, Edgar discovered that the life he was building was shaped as much by the people and horses who crossed his path as by the victories he pursued.  

Told with intimacy and warmth, The Long Approach reaches beyond the equestrian world to explore something deeply human: the courage to keep going, the quiet sacrifices made along the way, and the meaning we find in giving ourselves to something we love.  

For anyone who has devoted years to a calling, a responsibility, or a dream, Edgar’s story offers a moving reminder that the measure of a life is not always found in its achievements, but in everything it takes to get there.