The Horse Books That Meant The Most

by Natalie Keller Reinert

A few weeks ago, the latest Facebook fad seemed to be "post the ten books that matter the most to you." You weren't supposed to give it a lot of deep thought or anything, just post the ten books that came to your mind first. 

I gave it a shot. And here's the list that happened:

1. Emily's Quest, L.M. Montgomery

2. Rilla of Ingleside, L.M. Montgomery

3. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

4. The Black Stallion (most of the series), Walter Farley

5. Horse Heaven, Jane Smiley

6. Light a Penny Candle, Maeve Binchy

7. Eureka Street, Robert McLiam Wilson

8. The Enchantress of Florence, Salman Rushdie

9. The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

10. The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis (every single one)

And then I sat back and looked at it. Wow. There were not a lot of horse books on that list. (Although my copy of The Mists of Avalon does have a horse on the cover.) 

Instead I had two fairly bleak turn-of-the-century Young Adult stories, two extremely different Irish novels, a Young Adult horse series and an adult horse book, and a whole lot of magic. (Like, seriously, a lot of magic. Who knew that fantasy was so important to me?)

But in the grand scheme of How My Brain Works, it all started to make a lot of sense. Most of these books seriously informed my writing in some way. Emily's Quest is about a young woman embarking on a writing career and coming face-to-face with the loneliness and self-doubt that such a calling entails on a daily basis. Rilla of Ingleside was about the upheaval and change that The Great War brought to a happy-go-lucky family who already had six books to their name -- it's the last of the Anne of Green Gables novels -- and what an incredibly bold move for a writer to make with such beloved characters! Light a Penny Candle is another big saga, about two best friends surviving all sorts of trauma (they come together through World War II), which, again, it's hard to believe the writer was so willing to dish out to such lovable characters.

Eureka Street, well, that might be my favorite book of all time. I adore everything about it: the vain, hapless, soul-of-a-poet repo-man Jake; the rambling and unapologetic passages exploring the terrible beauty of Belfast; the harrowing and yet lyrical descriptions of violence that leap out of previously tranquil pages as surely as The Troubles could instantly cloud a sunny day--and of course a cast of characters who were as funny and as flawed as any in literature.

And then all that fantasy! I'm still surprised by it. The Mists of Avalon probably is the least important to me as a piece of literature, but was a huge part of my adolescence, so I can't leave it out of any list. The ones that got me: Narnia, The Enchantress of Florence, The Night Circus -- oh, those really got me. Rushdie taught me that prose can be poetry if you decide it can. Morgenstern taught me that reality can be fantasy (and vice versa) if you choose it to be. Lewis taught me to talk to trees and animals without feeling embarrassed, and how many stories of my childhood did that inform? Countless.

What of the horse books, then? What are the horse books that meant the most, and why are they so few?

To be fair, there are twenty installments in the Black Stallion series, so that's twenty books right there that I stuck on my top ten list. Those books were my lifeline as a child, to a world I knew existed and that I wanted to be part of so very, very much. I put on my velvet hunt cap with one hand and I turned the pages of The Black Stallion's Courage with the other, imagining myself on The Black as we came down the long homestretch at Belmont Park; then I went out and used the mounting block to mount a school pony and get down to the business of staying on.

Horse Heaven was a lifeline as an adult, because it taught me a very important lesson: horse books for adults can work. This book was a massive seller. I should know--I was working part-time at the Barnes & Noble in Ocala, Florida when it came out. When HITS was going on, riders in breeches and boots were literally coming in and asking for it by name. We had it stocked behind the counter to save time. Horse Heaven changed the way I looked at horse books. And it changed the way I looked at what I might write someday.

When I started writing contemporary fiction for equestrians, it was with the success of Horse Heaven reminding me that people wanted books like this, about characters they recognized -- adults living their lives with horses.

I've read dozens, or hundreds, who knows, of pony books and horse books over the years, but these were the true game-changers, that helped decide the course of my entire life. From my years with Thoroughbreds to my current career as a novelist, those were the horse books that meant the most.

What are yours?

A short note on giveaways and signings:

I'll be at Equine Affaire this November! I'll be with Taborton Equine Books on Saturday, November 15th from 4-6 PM, and on Sunday, November 16th from 12-2 PM. Come and visit me and the other awesome equestrian authors who will be there! You can add it to your calendar with this Facebook event: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/496418717161243/

The Big Giveaway from Equestrian Culture Magazine is on throughout October. I'm so happy to be part of this gorgeous glossy magazine's giveaway this fall, which includes prizes from Goode Rider, Ariat, Dubarry, and plenty of other big names in equestrian apparel and supplies. Check out the website at http://equestrianculture.com/giveaway/ for details on how to win different prizes, including a set of my paperback novels. And if this is not a magazine you're familiar with -- it's time to pick up a copy! It's for our kind of people!

Guest Blogger: Rhonda Lane--Choose Wisely, Aspiring Novelist

Today, we have a guest blogger, Rhonda Lane, an aspiring mystery novelist.

Because I’m writing a horse mystery, I have two weekends of the year in which I must choose between two excellent, useful events.

So, do I go with the mystery weekend? Or do I go with the horse option? Or can I manage both?

The Kentucky Derby or Malice Domestic?

Every spring, for Kentuckians at home and in exile (like me), Kentucky Derby Day is a combination of the Super Bowl and Christmas.

Thanks to various TV networks, we can watch all the action at Churchill Downs, almost all day long. The action starts early, too, as the gates open at 6 am while the horses are just wrapping up their morning workouts.

For nearly the entire day, we can watch commentaries, races, stories about the horses and their connections, as well as playful features about the action. Plus, the colorful characters at the track can inspire characters for the page.

But it’s also bittersweet for me. Watching Derby Day festivities on TV can feel like torture by homesickness. The breeding farm commercials showing foals romping in fields make me cry. When I lived in Lexington, the location of many breeding farms, I used to drive past such scenes every day on my way to work. And, when the University of Lousiville band strikes up those first few chords of “My Old Kentucky Home,” it gets worse.

A few years ago, I revised my Derby tradition and went to Kentucky instead. A horse show in the circuit in which my not-a-horse mystery is based happens on Derby weekend. Every other year, I go down there for a week, visit the farms and re-connect with my sources.

(Ringside at the Derby Classic Horse Show in Harrodsburg, KY. Photo by Rhonda Lane)

On the big day itself, I watch the race on the TV in the hotel lobby with other guests. Or I stay alone in the room if I’m feeling vulnerable. If I haven’t been watching it all day in my living room in New England, I can tough out the ritual playing of “My Old Kentucky Home” in more of a public setting.

Meanwhile, in a suburb of Washington, DC, on the same weekend, is the mystery convention Malice Domestic. For months before the weekend, questions fly around the various writers groups. Who’s going? Who’s on panels? Who’s up for an Agatha? Where are we meeting for a meal?

Aspiring authors network, meet agents and make connections at Malice. Friendships are forged and maintained. Or so I hear.

Because I’m either at home on the couch watching the race. Or I’m in Kentucky roaming the barns. On the few years that Malice hasn’t landed on the first weekend in May, my travel budget for that year is already set for my trip to Kentucky. Besides, I am not happy if I’m not attending some kind of equestrian event on Derby Day

So, for good or ill, in my case, Kentucky always wins, whether it’s a trip to the Bluegrass or a day on the couch. Whenever I do manage to go to Malice some day in the future, I hope I’m in a position to slip off to watch the Derby, if only just at post time. Maybe a few of you will go with me and won’t snicker at me when I sniffle?

Massachusetts Equine Affaire or New England Crime Bake?

Fast forward to late fall. I live in central Connecticut, about an hour away from the Eastern States Exposition, the fairgrounds for the combined state fair for the New England states. The “Big E” in West Springfield, MA, is also the setting in November for the huge equine trade show Equine Affaire.

Part convention, part expo, part trade show, Equine Affaire almost defies description. The show takes over the entire fairgrounds except for the midway and the Halls of the States. Famous clinicians show up for demos in multiple program tracks that run for four days. Event organizers say that about 95,600 people attended the last one, despite the uncertain economy.


(Friesians sharing secrets at Equine Affaire/Photo by Rhonda Lane)

Three exhibit halls are packed with booths offering expert information or goodies to sell.
Every thing “horse” is available, from trailers and tack to artwork and boots. It’s like a giant horse mall.

Equine Affaire always features three major equestrian booksellers with crowded booths and multiple author signings each day. Plus, each tack shop with a booth has a shelf of books for sale, with some of them fiction.

For story research, representatives from The Tufts Veterinary School, as well as other disciplines, are stationed at booths and are ready to have their brains picked. Want to try a sidesaddle without worrying about climbing up on a horse? There’s usually one on a nice bombproof sawhorse just a few feet off the ground.

One thing to keep in mind about Equine Affaire, though, is that often some people are only available for certain days, usually on the weekend when most of the crowds come.

Meanwhile, on that same weekend, about an hour and a half away in the suburbs of Boston is the New England Crime Bake.

Like Malice, about 300 friendly writers fill the hotel meeting rooms. Lectures and panels teach us both fiction craft and police craft. Your writer peers are there, as are published mystery authors there to share their experiences and information. You can get your current manuscript evaluated and, if you’re lucky, you’ll get a lousy review from which you can learn much. Agents and editor are eager to meet new talent, even just to chat in the hall. Cops and other enforcers of law are there to share their secrets.

I have done both in the same weekend. Equine Affaire runs from Thursday through Sunday. Crime Bake is from Friday night through Sunday. I have spent Thursday in a mad rush through Equine Affaire so that I can drive up to the Boston area on Friday. The smartest way to do it is to drive up to Springfield for the trade show on Thursday, spend the night there and then drive across the state down the Mass Pike toward Crime Bake.

Still, attending both makes for a busy, exhausting, exhilarating weekend that leaves one drained for days afterward.

The wild card

Then, there’s the unanticipated event. This last year, I attended neither Equine Affaire nor Crime Bake in November.

My husband and I watched the space shuttle Endeavor launch from the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center in what was said to be the last night shuttle launch. Soon, in 2010, the space shuttles will be retired. It was sort of a now-or-never deal.

After all, Crime Bake and Equine Affaire happen every year.

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Bio – Rhonda Lane is a former newspaper reporter who lives in central Connecticut with her husband and three cats. She’s working on a mystery novel and her blog “The Horsey Set Net.”