My Life With Horses--Part Six

                                                by Laura Crum

            So just when you think you have it all figured out…it changes. I was enjoying team roping, but slowly my overall enjoyment began to grow less. Because no matter how hard I tried to dwell on the positive, I couldn’t help but see all the negatives in competition. This was the third competitive horseback event that I had immersed myself in, and it was more fair and more affordable than the first two. But it was just as hard on horses. In some ways it was much harder on horses than cutting.

            I was getting to the end of watching horses be trashed in order to win. In any form, for any reason. I was sick of seeing people be too hard on a horse because they wanted to win a damn event. I didn’t do this to my own horses, but it was all around me. My fourth mystery novel, Roped, had a lot to do with these feelings.

            I became aware that I was less and less interested in winning and less happy at team roping competitions. I began focusing on horse packing in the mountains more and more. Flanigan was my main mount at this time and he proved to be a wonderful mountain horse. We made many, many trips together, including some that were over a week long and covered a couple of hundred miles over many high Sierra passes. Here we are Wood Lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

            But despite my riding in the mountains from time to time, the thing that dominated my life was roping. I practiced twice a week and I competed on weekends. It was my life. Training horses and competing at horse events had been my life for twenty years. I didn’t know how to quit. Once in awhile I would stay home and putter around my garden on the weekends and just turn my horses out to graze…and I was aware that I would RATHER do this than go roping. But the honest truth was I felt guilty if I didn’t go. All my friends were going. Surely I should go, too?

            I had retired Gunner from competition at this point, due to arthritic changes. I was still roping on Flanigan, and I had trained my young horse, Plumber, to be ready to compete. But something was wrong. The heart had gone out of it for me. I knew how I felt, but I didn’t know how to change. So life made a change for me.

            I am going to say something here that not all horse people will want to hear. But it is absolutely true (at least for me). I had spent my life focusing on horses to such a degree that I didn’t think very hard about much else. I didn’t, for instance, think about how to create a happy marriage. I never gave much thought to having children. I was too busy with my horses. And now I was forty years old and competing on horses was beginning to seem meaningless and downright upsetting. I still loved my horses, but I went off to the ropings completely uninterested in winning or even performing well. “Please don’t let any horses or people or cattle get hurt,” was the only thought in my mind. “Let whoever needs to win, win.” By which you can see that the joy had really gone out of it. But I kept doing it. Because I didn’t know how to quit. And this is where life stepped in.

            In my 40^th year my husband fell in love with another woman and left me. And between this, and the very real angst I already felt due to losing my lifelong passion for horseback competitions, I fell into a true depression.

            Those people who have been depressed themselves will know what this means. For those who have not, I will say that depression is far more like being sick with the flu than it is like being “sad.” I had tons of physical symptoms. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I felt physically terrible. It wasn’t as if I could just sit around on the couch relaxing and feeling sad. I felt so awful that I was desperate to feel better. You know when you have a really bad flu how everything is just misery? That’s how depression was for me.

            And yes, I did try to get help. That’s what everyone says. Get help, there is medication, etc, etc, etc. Well, I am here to tell you that this doesn’t work for everybody. I saw three separate shrinks for a year straight, I took at least ten different anti-depressant meds (not simultaneously). None of it helped at all. Some of the meds just made me feel worse. The only thing that gave a little relief was a couple of glasses of wine in the evening. But the relief was always short-lived.

            And yes again, I contemplated suicide. That’s how meaningless everything seemed. But I honestly felt that I needed to survive for the sake of my animals. At the same time, I couldn’t really care for them. I did not go roping; I did not even ride. I had to drag myself through the most basic of horse chores—feeding and watering. Anything more seemed beyond me, and even this much was very hard to do. My friends and family helped me feed my horses…and they went to the grocery store and brought me food so that I would eat. Yes, it was that bad.

            But it passed. I just had to walk through it, one step at a time. It wasn’t easy. More like going through a severe illness than any other way I can think of to describe it. I felt like shit…all the time. And I endured it and continued to put one foot in front of the other. More than that, I contemplated my life and tried to see what the depression might be trying to teach me. Because strange though it sounds, that depression, as I began to understand, came to me for a reason. When I look back on it, I learned some very important things during the year I was depressed. But that didn’t make it easy to bear.

It lasted a year. Until finally it lifted of its own accord. A year and one month after it began, it left me for good. I was involved with a new man and I went to Europe with him, and suddenly life was worth living again. And I still had my horses. Thanks to my friend, Wally, who did much of the feeding and caring for them during the year I was depressed.

            The thing is that awful though it was, the depression was actually a gift. I emerged from it changed—for good. I no longer felt that I had to compete on my horses in order to achieve something. I felt perfectly free to interact with my horses in whatever way was best for me and them. And I knew that I would never again prioritize horse competitions and horse training over my marriage.

            At this point I was re-married and I knew I wanted to have a child. I still had Burt and Gunner, who were both retired, and Flanigan and Plumber. My friend Wally was roping on Flanigan and Plumber and having a fine time with them. And me? I went on the occasional trail ride on Plumber with my new husband riding Flanigan alongside me and felt that life was good.

            But there were still more changes to come. (To be continued.)

PS—I wrote Slickrock about my horse packing adventures, and Breakaway about my battle with depression during this period of my life. These books are, of course, fiction, not memoir. All my novels have classic mystery plots involving murder and such, and this sort of drama did not come my way in real life, thank goodness. But all the background material in the stories is drawn from my own experiences. Click on the titles to find the Kindle editions of these books.

A Book Review of "Roped" by Dom

                                    by Laura Crum

            As those of you who read her blog, (A Collection of Madcap Escapades--listed on the sidebar) know, Dom is a talented young horse trainer and a fine writer and photographer. She recently had the misfortune to be working with a horse that had some severe issues. The horse reared up and went over backwards with her, breaking Dom’s leg very badly (required surgery). As with many young horse trainers I have known, Dom is not covered by insurance, so the medical bills will be hard on her. Not to mention the loss of income, as she cannot walk for ten weeks. Along with others, I am contributing to her recovery. If you want to help, she takes paypal at this email address. dominika.nawrot@gmail.com

            I have to say, this is the sort of cause I like to contribute to. A hard working person who gives a lot to the world has been hit by misfortune, and I can make a real difference by sending her a little money. So different from writing a check to a “charity” and wondering if any of it really goes to helping people/animals, or if it is all eaten up by “administration.”

            All this said, Dom has a lot of time to read right now. She recently posted a review of my fourth mystery novel, Roped—a review I just loved. Yes, I loved it because it was positive, no I had not contributed any money to Dom when she wrote it. I am not guilty of buying good reviews(!) Those who know Dom will know that she will always say what she honestly thinks, so I’m pretty sure I couldn’t buy a good review from her if I tried. And she knows a LOT about horses. If I had made any mistakes in the horse related details of this novel, Dom would have called me on it. Politely and kindly, because that is the way she handles things, but she would have let me know.

            Anyway, I am going to post her review of Roped here because I just love all the details she picked up on. It is fun to have such an insightful reader. For those who are reading the series in order, Roped is the fourth book. The order is Cutter, Hoofprints, Roughstock, Roped. The first two books in the series, Cutter and Hoofprints, are currently 99 cents as Kindle editions. Roughstock and Roped are $2.99. Click on the titles to order.

            So here is Dom on Roped. 

It should come as no surprise that I started reading the next Laura Crum book pretty much the second I was done reading Roughstock. The fourth book in the Gaily McCarthy mystery series is Roped.

I knew from the get-go that this book would be heavily western themed and I was looking forward to learning more about disciplines I'm unfamiliar with. What I wasn't expecting was for the book to open in the midst of tragedy. In the opening scene, Gail has to euthanize a horse with a broken leg. It turns out the depressing scene is a reflection on the state of Gail's life in general. Time has lapsed since the close of the last novel and not all is right with the world. I'm glad to see an accurate depiction of real life, with its ups and downs, but I'm saddened by the opening. I realize how attached I've become to Gail and her sorrows echo deeply with my own. I find myself angry at the character behind the betrayal, as if I knew either of them personally. By the end of the first chapter, I'm already involved in the story line.

Despite the noticeable time lapse, I feel like the introduction of the book really fills in some gaps in Gail's past. I learn more of her background and before long, I feel like I have a good insight to Glen, a character who is just making his first appearance in the books.

It isn't long before Laura tackles some hard-hitting issues in her book. In the midst of a roping competition, two animal rights activists make an appearance. I groan out loud when Gail spots them in the crowd, but am thrilled when Gail voices her thoughts about them. We seem to be on the same page about animal cruelty and the nut jobs who would rather set animals free to starve to death in the magikal wild than see them 'held captive' as pets. Laura doesn't mince words in her description of the wide spectrum of animal activists (ranging from the normal people who oppose dog fighting, etc. to the weirdos over at PETA) and I am tickled pink that she doesn't take the politically correct way out to save feelings and, heaven forbid, insult readers. A believable character has to have steadfast opinions that aren't going to please everyone... and Gail certainly has that.

I don't know about you guys, but I love having someone to hate in a book, and right off the bat it looks like Roped will be full of those characters. Even before I know what the mystery aspect of this book is, I find myself making a mental list of suspects (and then quickly reminding myself that whoever I guess will probably be wrong).

As usual, I find myself in Laura's amazing ability to describe things... from houses to weather to people. I don't know if it's just me, but the descriptions seem to get better from book to book. Even though it's a blustery day and the wind at home seems to come through the walls, I can feel the heat described in the May setting in Roped. I may be shivering under a blanket with Herbie huddled beside me, but I can taste the heat and sweat as if I were living it.

The one thing I'm grateful for is that this description doesn't extend to the death of one of my favorite characters. SPOILER ALERT!!! Blue, Gail's old dog, had to die some time, and I had a feeling that time was coming. Laura handles his passing with grace and without gory detail. I am grateful for the way she handles his death because I find it hard enough to take without reading it in infinite detail. Herbie is now huddled closer.

As I immerse myself in the opening chapters of the book, it becomes clear that this mystery is going to be different from the others. The other novels in the series have started with a dead body or an outright murder. But this novel starts with an old acquaintance seeking Gail's help with something fishy that she can't quite prove or pin point. Right from the start, I'm dying to know how this mystery is going to unfold.

While the mystery unfolds, Gail finds herself in a bar with some people she knows. Her relationship woes leave her feeling nostalgic and we get to learn about people from her past. Laura's descriptions of how people have aged and changed (or not) really hit home with me and I begin thinking of people I've watched age over the years. Her character descriptions are as vivid as ever. I don't know if it's that Laura's writing grows stronger from book to book, or if my attachment to the characters is just becoming more real, but I find myself intrigued with all the people around Gail. I feel as though Laura did a fantastic job tackling the passing of time without resorting to super-obvious tactics like flashbacks.

What follows next is a scene in which Gail gets to confront the animal rights activist and voice her thoughts on animal cruelty, specifically certain rodeo events. I find myself practically cheering out loud as Gail hits the nail in the head, as far as I'm concerned. Her points echo my own feelings on horse keeping, the treatment of livestock, and even the wild mustang issue. YES, YES, YES!!

As the confrontation wears down, I find myself back in the reassuring lull of Gail's interactions with those around her. There's something so familiar and comfortable about the way Laura describes the flowing conversations, even though it's a scene quite different from anything in my own life. I'm still having a hard time reconciling with Gail's new vulnerability... and over a man! I'm almost mad that a character that I like and look up to can get so unhitched over a man, but before I have time to get too mad, the conversation drifts back to horses and I find myself relating again.

I take the time to chuckle about the fact that my moods shift with the characters in the book, but I'm not chuckling for long before the action unfolds! Man, every single one of these books puts me on an emotional roller coaster and I LOVE it.

The scenes that unravel are delightfully dark and have a feeling of a world very different from mine, very... western. Dark bars, dirt roads, Spanish cowboys with straw hats and blue shirts. I'm totally fascinated by it.

I'm equally fascinated and enamored by  Gail's house. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd like to design my own house in a similar way. I'm heartbroken that Gail has put it on the market. Everything seems to be changing, and I am shockingly saddened by the whole turn of events.

What really impresses me is the way Laura mixes subtle details with grand descriptions of big events to create a believable world. Everything from bar fights described in explicit detail to the fact that the pick up truck in the driveway has a nickname make for a world that is very real to me, despite the fact that it's nothing like the world I actually live in.

But perhaps my favorite scene of the book is the big cattle gathering. The description of a perfect day, a mix of relaxing and exciting, the smells, the sights, the way the cattle move, all had me completely wrapped up and more than a little jealous (what with my broken leg and all).

My joy in this western world is cut short, however, by a crime so garish I can barely stomach it. Thankfully, Laura is quick with the comic relief, using a pair of personable Queensland terriers to take my mind off of the discovery Gail and her friend make.

It should come as no surprise that the comedy is short lived. Very soon, Gail is back to dealing with some pretty serious relationship woes. Without giving too much away, I just want to say that I cannot understand why she's with Lonny. I haven't liked him since the get go and I definitely don't like him now. The more I read about their seemingly failing relationship, the more my hackles rise. I do feel sorry for the bastard, but really, what did he expect? I'm rooting for my favorite vet-detective to keep her independence and just walk away from him.

Of course, Roped features some of Gail's work stories. One of the things I truly enjoy about this series is the description of day to day equine vet calls. Laura does a brilliant job describing various patients, from high strung horses who try to kill the vet, to steady older patients who mind their manners even in the worst of times. Gail's thoughts and feelings on each patient are realistic and often leave me in stitches. By now, the reader has become acquainted with some of the 'local horses' and some familiar faces appear in the daily rounds. It's just another thing that makes these books so believable.

But perhaps what Laura does best is lull me into a false sense of security. This book is very different from the previous novels in the series in that there is no dead body at the beginning. The nature of the mystery is different. The author seems to have a great time toying with that. Even with some excellent foreshadowing that leaves me with the promise that something is about to go very, very wrong, I find myself totally absorbed in the every day... the roping, the western dancing, the ins and outs of Gail's tumultuous relationship.

The other thing that's great about this 'different sort of mystery' is that Gail tackles it differently than the other books. There's no way to involve the police because there's no real evidence... only a strong suspicion. There's a lot of wait-and-see and the suspense is delicious.

Of course, it isn't long before the action builds, and despite the fact that I've been well warned and expecting it, I jump when it finally happens. Again, without giving away any spoilers, let me just say that the bratty little dog in this novel brings me to tears as the drama unfolds.

One of the things I loved about Roughstock was the involvment of the horses at the end of the novel. I was delighted to see the animals play even more of a role in Roped. As Laura describes Gail riding blindly in the dark on a quiet, young horse, I'm brought back to Vermont with Rayzer in the summer of 2011. Best of all, Laura manages to write the animals into the story line without being cheesy like some books tend to be. I feel like all the animals in my life are such an important part of my own story line, and it's nice to see that reflected in a novel without being over done.

And then, the mystery that has been so quiet and strange all along takes center stage with a crash and I am stunned at the violence, even though I had the right suspects in mind for once! By this point in the series, I have come to expect a dramatic finish, and this book didn't disappoint. For all my sleuthing and guessing, I was close, but not quite. As usual, the book got my blood pumping, and I wasn't convinced it was over until it really was.

Laura certainly knows how to keep a reader hooked. Between the suspense, the action, the mystery, and the fact that there are unanswered questions about Gail's relationship, I will definitely be back for more.

...and did I mention that the last page of the book had me blubbering like an idiot? Because it did.

On Being There Until the End

by Laura Crum

Not so very long ago I read a blog post with a similar title to this, written by a blogger who runs a retirement farm for horses. She had some interesting and worthwhile things to say, along the lines that the horse doesn’t care if the owner is there at the end, and that choosing to place your horse in a good retirement home (and paying the bills for his care) is one of the best things you can give your horse. She also had some (to my eyes) rather scathing comments about people who didn’t want to send their old horses away and who thought it important to be there at “the end”.

Now I agree with some of what this blogger said and from what I can tell, she runs a great retirement farm. But she missed a few important points, in my view. I wrote a comment listing these points, and lo and behold, it was not posted. I don’t know if got filtered by accident, or she just wasn’t willing to post any comments that didn’t entirely second her own opinion. So today I’m going to enlarge on what I said in my “unposted” comment in reply to her blog—because I think it’s important.

First off, the notion that many of the horses at her farm don’t seem to recognize or be interested in their owners when said owners visit makes perfect sense to me. People, when you send your horse to a retirement farm, its exactly the same as selling your horse to a truly good home. From the horse’s point of view, that is. The horse doesn’t know you are still paying the bills, and that you still own him and care about him. From the horse’s point of a view, he has made the transition to a new home and new equine friends and new human owners. The people who run the farm and feed him and care for him are his owners now. He is interested in them (if he’s interested in people at all), not his used-to-be owner.

There’s nothing wrong with this. Sometimes sending a horse to a retirement farm is the best choice for both horse and owner. But its good to be clear about it. This is the reason many of these retired horses at the farm show no particular interest in or recognition of their owner— with whom they may once have had a great bond. If an owner doesn’t mind this transition and knows its what’s best for their horse because they are no longer able to give him a good life at home, more power to that owner.

But…people who don’t feel that they would ever want to send their old horse “away”, are not to be ridiculed. If a person has the ability to keep their retired horse at home (or in a nearby boarding facility) where the horse has plenty of room to move around, the company of other horses, and good feed and care, that is, in my eyes, the best possible choice. No matter how good the retirement farm, it simply doesn’t offer the incredible benefit of looking at your sweet old friend every day, seeing he is happy, and hearing him nicker when he sees you. And, in my view these things are priceless.

I have two retired horses on my property. One is Gunner, who has been featured throughout my mystery series starring equine vet Gail McCarthy. Gunner is 32 years old—I have owned him since he was three (see my February blog post “Feeling Good” for more about Gunner). For ten years Gunner was my main riding horse—we competed at many events, covered many miles. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to see his blaze face and bright eyes every day.

Gunner lives in a big paddock where he can run and buck and play (and he does) and socialize over the fence with other horses. He has a shed and gets free choice hay (and equine senior feed night and morning). His weight is good, he is sound, and his attitude is happy. I kept him turned out in a neighbor’s pasture for awhile (with other horses) and I honestly think he seems more content here in my barnyard, with all the human and horse activity that goes on. My son and I pet him and give him cookies and though he doesn’t see or hear well any more, he really is thriving overall. So his life is good; and my life is better because he’s with me. I missed him when he didn’t live here and am happier now that he’s home. Gunner seems happier, too. Isn’t that what its all about?

My other retired horse is Plumber. Plumber is also a featured “character” in my mystery series, where his registered name is “Plumb Smart”. My real life Plumber is “Plumb Brown”. Plumber is 23 this year and I bought him as an unbroken three year old from my uncle, who raised him; I did all this colt’s training myself. I have known this horse since he was born—in fact I was the first one to see him. Plumber was my main mount for twelve years and we competed at team roping and completed many mountain pack trips. I gave my little boy rides on Plumber when my child was a toddler. Plumber has lived in his same large paddock on my property for twenty years. He is completely dialed into life here—knows exactly when I am going to turn him out to graze—has involved relationships with his equine companions of many years. He nickers every time he sees me, whether it’s feeding or grazing time or not. Does anyone really suppose that the best thing for Plumber would be to uproot him from his comfortable life and move him to a retirement farm? Even if it was the best farm in the world?

Below you see Plumber about six years ago, when he was 17 years old and still in full use as a riding horse and team roping horse (we retired him at 20, still sound, because he gave us signs that he didn’t enjoy working any more). Look at that sweet face. How could anyone choose to send a horse like this away if they didn’t absolutely HAVE to?

And yes, I know, my kid and I are not wearing helmets. If I had it to do over again, we would be. But this photo was taken before I began blogging—and interacting with so many horse folks on the internet. No one in my real life horse world wears a helmet—and their kids don’t either. I did buy my kid a helmet (and made sure he wore it always) about a month after this photo was taken—at the same time I bought him a pony for his 5^th B-day. And, in my defense, we rode Plumber just as you see for many years, with absolutely no problems. My conviction that Plumber would not dump me, and that I could hang on to my kid if the horse spooked (and he did spook occasionally), was perfectly accurate. And yes, to those who have an eye for detail, I am wearing pirate pants and clogs. I ride in pretty much whatever I have on.

Anyway, Plumber is a very sweet little horse, and he knows who his people are, and it would make me, and I think also him, very sad if I had to send him away.

Mind you, if I couldn’t keep him here for whatever reason, and chose to send him to a retirement farm, he’d get through the transition. Horses do. Sometimes its harder than others and a horse will really mope for awhile, but eventually the new place would be home. But given that I can keep him here in what has been his true home and not force a big transition on him late in life, I think its much better choice for him (and me) to keep him here.

Yes, it’s an inconvenience in many ways. Gunner and Plumber take up two of the four large paddocks that I have for horsekeeping and I get no “use” out of them. But it is more than worth it to me to have them with me—for my sake as well as their sakes. I love them. I don’t want to break the bond between us. I want them to remain “my” horses. And yes, I want to be there at the end—to take upon myself the responsibility of when is the right time to make that choice and to insure that it goes as smoothly as possible. This is not something that I want to give away to someone else, no matter how experienced and well intentioned that person may be. These are my horses. It is my privilege to care for them until the end of their lives. I don’t want to send them away if I don’t absolutely have to. And I don’t think this is a point of view that should be ridiculed in any way.

If I truly didn’t have room for them or couldn’t keep them in an appropriate way, or if I lived in a harsh climate where I felt the winters were too hard on them, I might indeed send them to that retirement farm for their sakes. But in my own circumstances I think it a far better choice to keep them with me, and I feel sure that many others would benefit from making the same choice.

So my point is not that retirement farms are a bad choice. They can be a very good choice, depending on your circumstances. A much better choice than selling an old horse and not keeping track of him (which is a terrible/evil choice, in my view). A good retirement farm is a responsible, loving choice. But the best possible choice is to be able to keep your old horse with you and enjoy his company, and be there with him at “the end”. The rewards of doing this are huge, and I’m pretty sure that others who have followed this path will agree. So…no ridiculing those of us who do NOT want to send our old horses away, and who want to be there with them at the end. Not without a rebuttal, anyway.

Please feel free to give your own thoughts on this subject in the comments.

And…my fourth book, “Roped” is now available on Kindle for 99 cents. I have to say that re-reading this book (which I haven’t read in over ten years) was kind of fun. I almost have to pat myself on the back. The book is set in the ranching/team roping world of central California—the world where I spent my twenties and thirties—and the story brought the working ranches of my youth back so vividly I almost felt that I was there again. The gathers in rough country, the horse wrecks, team roping contests, and hours spent hanging out in the local bar with the cowboys, everybody talking horses….it’s all there. Along with an exciting mystery plot. I mean, even though I knew how it was going to end (duh), I was still pretty gripped.

OK—its silly to blow my own horn. Of course I like the book—it’s my book. But I do think that any of you who have the slightest tinge of interest in the ranching life will enjoy this mystery.

Anyway, Cutter, Hoofprints, Roughstock, and Roped—the first four books in the Gail McCarthy series, are now available on Kindle for 99 cents. Click on the titles to go there.

Also, anyone in the continental US who would like a free review copy of my latest book, “Barnstorming,” (12^th in the series), can have one by emailing Susan Daniel at susan@danielpublishing.com with your snail mail address. Your only obligation is to post a short review (can be a couple of sentences) on your blog or on Amazon.

And last thing, we FINALLY updated my archaic website, which I’ve pretty much ignored for oh, about the last ten years. It was very 90’s—and that’s putting it kindly. It’s still a work in progress, but thanks to my husband, it now has a slightly more current look and up to date info. We are going to keep working on it over the next couple of months and hopefully it will soon be pretty interesting. Check it out at www.lauracrum.com

The Real Horses Behind My Fiction

By Laura Crum

I usually write posts about what I’m currently doing with my horses—but at the moment, just as Alison said in her last post, there’s not much for me to say. The occasional quick ride and turning them out to graze is about it. Instead I’m focusing very hard on finishing my twelfth mystery novel, which I must turn in to the editor at the end of the month. So my attention is really on my writing. But that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about my horses. Because my horses play a big part in my books.

In my novel, Chasing Cans, for instance, Gail McCarthy, my equine veterinarian protagonist, acquires a pony for her child. This particular plot device never would have occurred to me were it not for the fact that several years ago I acquired a pony for my little boy. I had never owned a pony before and Toby was an education to me. I found the little critter so endearing that I just had to write about him, and Toby our pony is faithfully described in Chasing Cans, though the way in which Gail acquires him is rather different than the way in which I came by the real Toby.

This is often the case with my equine characters. Over the course of my twelve mystery novels, I’ve based virtually every horse that Gail encounters, owns or rides on real horses I’ve known. Gunner, who is Gail’s main mount through most of the books, is modeled on my own horse, Gunner. He is accurately portrayed as to appearance (a fifteen-three hand Quarter Horse gelding with white socks, a blaze and a blue eye), personality and quirks (the real Gunner is a big spook, as is Gail’s “Gunner”), but the living horse’s history is a bit different from the fictional one.

Gail acquires her horse Gunner when a veterinary client refuses to spend the money and time it would take to allow the horse a chance at recovering from severed flexor tendons. (This occurs in my first novel, Cutter.) Gail takes the horse to save him from euthanasia. (The story is also based on a real horse; it just wasn’t Gunner.)

The real Gunner’s life history is rather different. I acquired him as a three-year-old, just as Gail did her Gunner. I was twenty-four years old and working for a prominent reined cowhorse trainer who shall remain nameless. As his assistant, I rode a string of eight horses every day; these were horses that, for whatever reason, he didn’t care to ride. Some he considered less talented, some were in the barn just to be broke and the owners weren’t interested in showing them, some had a bad attitude (poor me)…etc. Gunner was in my string because the trainer wasn’t collecting training fees on him; the horse was there to be sold. Gunner was a well-bred and talented cowhorse prospect, and the trainer thought that not only would he collect a fat commission when he sold the horse, he might also be able to place him with one of his own clients who would then pay the trainer to ride this gelding and perhaps enter him in the major futurities. Needless to say the price tag on this horse was high. He was probably the best colt I had in my string; he was also a very likable horse.

Just as he is described in my books, Gunner had a friendly, clownish personality, a willing and cooperative nature, and tons of athletic ability. He came to me in January of his three-year-old year with about thirty rides on him, and I took it from there. He was always an easy horse, never prone to bucking or other negative behaviors, other than his penchant for unexpected sudden twenty foot sideways leaps whenever he saw something worth spooking at, which was often. He never dumped me (and never meant to), but it was a near thing more than once.

Despite the swerves, I loved riding Gunner. It amazed me how quickly this colt came on and how much “cow” he had. As the months passed with no buyer coming up with the purchase price, I grew fonder and fonder of this horse. I began hoping desperately that no one would buy him; I dreaded his removal from the barn or seeing him placed in the trainer’s string (by this time I’d had lots of experience with the well known trainer’s rather harsh methods and didn’t want to see this kind, willing colt subjected to them).

Eventually the day came. A prospective buyer was due to arrive, one who would surely buy Gunner. He was a rich man; the purchase price would mean nothing to him. He was known to be looking for a good futurity prospect and to like Gunner’s breeding. The trainer was very keen to make the deal. I gave Gunner a bath with tears running down my face. That morning, despite the fact that I had no idea where I would get the money, I told the trainer I would give him the full price for the horse and wrote and handed him a deposit check.

I’ve never regretted this decision. I borrowed the money to buy Gunner and I left that trainer’s employment almost immediately thereafter. I trained Gunner myself and showed him at a couple of futurities and “stakes” as a three and four year old, winning some very minor awards. Gunner became an accomplished cutting horse over the years and I won quite a few events with him eventually. Later I trained him to be a team roping horse and competed on him for several years at ropings. I still own Gunner; he’s thirty-one and sound, if a bit stiff, and retired to the pasture. He’s been my friend the whole time.

Gail’s Gunner is given a slightly different history. She never uses him as a cutting horse, but does compete on him at team roping in Roped, my fourth mystery novel. In Slickrock, the fifth book in the series, she rides him on a major pack trip through the Sierra Nevada Mts of California. Though this pack trip is based on many pack trips that I made over those same mountain passes, the mount that I used on those trips was Flanigan, a horse I also rode for years and loved dearly, just as I did Gunner. Flanigan loaned his skills as a team roping horse and his quirky personality to Burt in my third novel, Roughstock.

In my latest novel, Going, Gone, Gail acquires Sunny, who is my current riding horse. The fictional Sunny is an accurate portrayal of the real Sunny, and those of you who read my blog posts will instantly recognize this horse. So the horses in my books are real horses, and the adventures Gail has with them are all based on things I have really done with my own horses. Thus my mystery series is a tapestry of fact and fiction, which I hope will engage readers in much the same way that the actual horses have engaged me.

Anyway, since I am currently pushing so hard to complete one more book, I thought you all might like to see how I have worked my horses into the stories, and perhaps some of you who enjoy these blog posts will be moved to give my novels a try.

And for those who would like to buy my earlier novels in hardcover (they are out of print), my friend/boarder, Wally, sells them through his feedstore. Wally doesn’t do the internet, but if you call Valley Feed, 831-728-2244 (in California) and give Wally or Lynn a credit card number, you can order any of my first eight books for $20.00 each (which includes shipping to anywhere in the continental US), and you will get signed copies, which I will also personalize for you if you would like. If you want to find out more about these books and read the first chapters, you can go to my website www.lauracrum.com

Anyone who has read my novels please feel free to give a reader review in the comments. I like feedback and can stand a bit of criticism, so let me (and others) know what you liked or didn’t like. Cheers--Laura