So much to share

By Gayle Carline
Author and Horse-a-holic

First, I'm doing a Goodreads Giveaway for MURDER ON THE HOOF. Here is the link if you would like to enter (https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/99425-murder-on-the-hoof). It ends on the 28th, so don't dawdle.

I made a book video (did you know the term "book trailer" is copyrighted?) for MURDER ON THE HOOF. I like to make book videos. They challenge me. Like all of mine, this one is short, shaky and homegrown. Hope you like it.



Second, I want to introduce you to a book I read recently. I met Robin Hutton at the Western States Horse Expo in Sacramento last June. She has written a book about a war horse, SGT. RECKLESS: AMERICA'S WAR HORSE. Reckless was a little red mare, barely 13 hands high, who was used during the Korean War to transport ammo over terrain too rough for vehicles to pass. There is so much about this mare that amazes me, from the fact that she would make these trips unaccompanied, to her official designation as a staff sergeant in the US Marine Corps.

Not only did Robin write a book about her (interviewing as many of her former handlers as were still living), she spearheaded a movement to have a monument erected at Quantico (USMC headquarters) in honor of Sgt. Reckless, and she is getting the funds together to have another monument installed at Camp Pendleton (near San Diego) where Sgt. Reckless spent her final days, and is buried.

As soon as I got a copy of the book, I opened it and never put it down until it was finished. What a fascinating amount of information, both about Reckless and the war! I had read somewhere that mares were actually preferred in battle to stallions, as they are quieter and not as given to fighting each other. Sgt. Reckless' story proves that a mare can be smart, too.

You can probably get your copy anywhere, but here's the link on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Sgt-Reckless-Americas-War-Horse/dp/1621572633). It's a great read.