A Full-Time Writer, Again!

by Natalie Keller Reinert

Good morning! I write this blog post from my sofa, instead of where I usually write them: sitting on the subway, typing into my iPhone.

This is a nice change!

I recently went back to the full-time writing life, after spending a year with the mounted unit of the New York City Parks Department. It was an absolutely incredible experience, and I'm so happy to have had it. I mean, how else can you get pictures like this?

Oh you know, just patrolling Columbus Circle, like you do!

But a lot of factors came together all at once, and it became apparent that I was going to have to leave the day job... and go back to my old job.

You know, that one where I sit at a desk all day and make things up. Not the worst fate in the world.

And it's excellent timing, as I have quite a few projects to come, including the third novel in my Alex & Alexander series: Turning For Home. 

I wrote here about how I never expected The Head and Not The Heart, my first novel, to turn into a series, but that it just sort of happened. That's exactly what happened with this new project. Right after I released Other People's Horses, the second book, I was heading into Manhattan for some reason and rejoicing in my freedom from writing, however brief. It gets exhausting, writing a novel, when you are also working full-time with horses and trying to be a functioning member of a family besides.

So I was sitting on the train, and I pulled out my phone, and it didn't have anything I wanted to read on it, and then suddenly I was typing furiously and I had the first chapter of Turning For Home written before I got off the train.

What's that about, right? I don't know. Books just happen to you, with enough practice, I suppose.

I won't say too much about Turning For Home right now because it is in its infancy and anything could happen. But I wanted to touch on racehorse retirement and retraining Thoroughbreds, the subject of my website Retired Racehorse. So that's in there.

Besides the latest Alex & Alexander, I have two more novels to release this year. Both are already written and are waiting for me to dust them off and do final edits already. And when I say "written" I mean "written and then re-written five or six times."

The first one you'll probably see is Ambition, which follows a ruthlessly ambitious young eventing rider who is out to make her name whatever the cost. She'll steamroller anyone in her way in order to get to the top. This is a girl who has been the working student all of her life, watching the rich kids go on trail rides while she stayed behind to clean stalls, and consequently has a chip on her shoulder the size of Montana. When an apparently wealthy rival trainer offers her help, she brushes him off with no uncertain words. But everyone needs help eventually, and she finds herself in so deep that all she can do is give up her prejudices and trust in her enemy.

The second one is The Daughter of Horses. This novel is a completely new direction for me: fantasy, and follows a fairy tale that I've already been slightly obsessed with: Beauty and the Beast. Loosely set in England in the early nineteenth century, The Daughter of Horses features magic, romance, a traveling circus, and angry villagers. Oh, and horses. So many horses!

So there you have it. My summer is going to consist largely of getting these books out to you. Turning For Home, Ambition, The Daughter of Horses. So here's my question to you: which one should I concentrate on first?

Oh and by the way, The Head and Not The Heart is currently 99 cents, if you haven't given it a try yet, and all of my books are currently available for free lending via Amazon Prime. If you have a Nook HD, you can download the Kindle app and read your Amazon purchases that way. You can also check out the beautiful paperbacks if you're an old-fashioned kind of reader! Thanks, and keep it horsey!

The Downside of Loving Horses

                                    by Laura Crum

            First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to everyone--to those with horse, dog, cat, other critter kids, as well as those with human kids. I used to resent Mother’s Day before I had a child—I felt as if I were somehow being excluded from this role as “mother,” even though I loved and cared for all my animal kids. So I want to acknowledge that everybody with a dependent creature is a mom. Happy Mother’s Day to you all.

            I have been thinking about what it means to be a good “mom” to a horse. I love my horses. I think a lot of us who read this blog love our horses. And when you love your horses, you don’t get rid of them when their useful life as a riding horse is over. No, you retire them and take care of them as long as they can be reasonably comfortable as pasture pets. And when their life is no longer any pleasure to them, you have them humanely put down. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

            In theory it IS simple. In practice, not quite that simple. Let us take my particular situation. I have owned horses all my life. Twenty years ago I was able to buy a small horse property (actually I bought raw land and slowly built a horse property—but that story has been told before). The maximum number of horses that I can keep here is five. And not only do I have my horses, but my longtime friend, Wally, boards his horse (s) with me.

            Over the years there have been times that between Wally and me, we owned a dozen horses. Our using horses, our retired horses, rescued horses, and young horses we were training. It was a real juggling act to find places to put all of them. For many years our retired/rescued horses were turned out in a pasture, where either a friend or the pasture owner looked at them every day. When we weren’t training them, we turned the young horses out, too. And this worked pretty well for awhile.

            But our retired/rescued group got older. They all needed more care. Some of them were no longer thriving in the pasture, though they had been happy there for many years. And Wally and I got older, too. Neither one of us wanted to ride young horses any more. And neither one of us wanted to be constantly running out to the pasture to try and give adequate care to the old horse herd—on top of taking good care of the horses here at my property. So we made some tough choices a couple of years ago.

            We found good, happy homes for a couple of the younger horses that were ridable (where they are still happy today). We euthanised two of the older horses that were steadily failing. We brought my oldest horse (Gunner) home to live with my recently retired horse, Plumber. This gave me five horses at home—my two retired horses, my riding horse (Sunny), my son’s horse (Henry), and Wally’s horse (Twister). Sounds simple, right?

            In some ways it IS simple. I can take good care of the horses here at my home. They get fed three times a day—a mix of alfalfa and grass hay. The ones that need more alfalfa get that, and the ones that need more grass hay get that, too. Each horse is kept in a large (averaging 50 feet by 250 feet) paddock where they can be fed exactly what they need. They hang together under the oak trees and interact as a herd, but the old horses are safe from being bullied, and each horse is carefully fed what that horse specifically requires. Gunner gets lots of equine senior and free choice hay and is thriving at 33 years old. In green grass season the horses get turned out to graze, in the rainy season they are blanketed if needed and have run in sheds, in fly season they get fly spray and fly masks..etc as needed. I look at them many times a day and can catch problems very quickly. I can do all this because they are living here with me. So yes, in some ways, it is simple.

            Sunny grazing in the riding ring.

            Henry climbing the steps to the back porch.

            The problem? Well, the problem is that the youngest horse on the place is Twister, who is 17. Sunny is somewhere between 15 and 20 (no papers/weird teeth) and I just ballpark him as the same age as Twister. So I have two 17 year old horses, two that are about 25 (Henry and Plumber) and one that is 33. They are all doing great. But it doesn’t take a horse expert or a mathematician to tell me (or you) what is going to happen next.

            If I am committed to giving these five horses the best care I can for the rest of their lives (which I am), sometime in the next five years or so, I am apt to have five retired horses to care for and nowhere to put a useful riding horse. What’s a good horse mom to do?

            The option of a good retirement home isn’t viable for me. Every truly good retirement home I have ever heard of (and there are none that I know of near me) costs a LOT more per month than I can afford. I consider myself comfortably middle class, but it would be next to impossible for me to afford board for more than one horse in this part of the world. The option of keeping the horses in someone else’s pasture—or my own pasture (3 hours away)? Well, I’ve done that. And I have to say that even though the people who looked at my horses did their best, the horses got glanced at once every 24 hours, if that. The pastures were big and if the horses weren’t in sight of the driveway, no one was going to hike out to find them. Without being paid big bucks, no one was going to put blankets or fly spray on these horses or give them their daily ration of senior food (separating them from the herd to do so), or painkillers that they might need. I always worried that a colic or injury might not be caught for a couple of days. I went out to do the chores as often as I could (in the pasture near my home), but it was impossible for me to be there more than once a day. I just felt that the level of care wasn’t really adequate, especially as the horses got older.

            So I’m left with the fact that when my current five horses are all (possibly) too old to ride, I’ll just be taking care of them—like a good horse mom. And the truth is, I won’t really mind. I have done SO many things with these horses over the years—competed at cutting and roping, ridden in the mountains and on the beaches, taught my son to ride…etc. Every time I interact with my horses, even to feed them, all these happy moments come back to me. Time past is present along with time present. So, for me, taking care of my retired horses is OK.

            But…it wouldn’t have been OK in my 20’s and 30’s. I wanted to compete and train—most of all, I wanted to ride. Faced with this herd of old horses, I would be looking anxiously to find good homes for some of them so that I could get a new riding horse.

            I’m glad I don’t feel that way now. But I did feel that way once, and I understand the feeling. I’m wondering how many other horse moms out there are looking at an increasingly older horse herd and wondering what their options will be when none of the herd is ridable. Any thoughts or solutions?

PS—Don’t forget that Linda Benson’s book Six Degrees of Lost is on special for 99 cents until May 15^th.

And the first two books in my mystery series, Cutter and Hoofprints, are also on sale for 99 cents each. Click on the titles to find the books.

Happy Mother’s Day! (Look what my husband gave me—a hanging basket begonia he raised from crosses he made—ain’t it great?)

Ups and Downs

                                                by Laura Crum

            Isn’t life just a series of these? We had a lovely ride on the beach this week along with the news that our friend/boarder, Wally, must go in for knee surgery ASAP. So we went from this:

            To the sad acknowledgement that our summer will be very different than we planned.Wally will be 80 this year and though we are all hoping that the surgery will return him to riding and roping, we also know that it is not a certain thing. So it was a bittersweet moment to see Wally and Twister wading in the surf. 

My son and I will keep on riding, of course, but many of our horseback activities included Wally, and won’t be the same without him. Here we are headed out to gather the roping cattle. That’s my son and Henry on the left and Wally and Twister on the right.

            And Sunny’s ears, of course, as we look for cattle. Can’t have too many ear photos, right?

            My uncle Todd and our friend Mark roping a steer.

            Anyway, in other news we went from down to up. As some of you know, last year my entire mystery series—twelve books about the adventures of equine veterinarian Gail McCarthy—became available as Kindle editions. I was pretty happy about this. I have spent the last twenty years of my life writing these books, and it was really gratifying to me that not only was the whole series once again available to readers at a reasonable price, BUT I was also making a little bit of money on every sale. As you may know, an author doesn’t make a cent on used book sales or books borrowed from the library, and though I did not and do not resent readers who read my series this way (not at all—I’m just grateful they read my stories), I will admit that it was a bit galling to be making NO money off my backlist. Authors, in general, don’t make much money, but it is very pleasing to make a little bit from your books—sort of validates your work.

            I am not an “indie” author. Twenty years ago a major New York publisher bought my first book, Cutter, and proceeded to buy the next seven novels in the series. I’m afraid that I state this fact with some pride. My apologies to all the excellent indie authors out there—and I know you exist—but there is a BIG difference between deciding that a book you have written is good enough to be published-- and publishing it yourself-- as opposed to having your book chosen out of thousands of candidates by an editor who has been in the business a very long time, and is willing to pay you for the privilege of publishing your novel.

            This is not to say that some “indie” books are not better than some traditionally published books. I have no doubt at all that this is true. But it is not very hard to understand that there is a slight drawback to a system in which the author is the only judge of his/her own work. Even if all the author’s friends/family like the work (and write positive reviews), and an editor who has been paid by the author likes the work…well, let’s just say I see a hole in this process and I’m sure you do, too.

            On the other hand, traditional publishing has created a climate that is VERY unfriendly to authors. I should know—I’ve been in this business for over twenty years. I spent years acquiring a literary agent, and another year while she sent the book around to various publishing houses and got the usual rejections. And I was one of the lucky ones. A big publishing house DID eventually buy my book (s). I like to think this is because they were worthy of publication (well, I would think that, wouldn’t I), but the truth may be that I was lucky.

            In any case, I do understand why authors are so keen to take the “indie” route now through ebooks. No years of hoops to jump through, no rejections, and a fair royalty on every copy you sell. So much easier, and in some ways, so much more fair than traditional publishing. So I get that. Its just that those of us who did jump through the hoops and got that blue ribbon are sometimes a little, shall we say, cynical, when indie authors talk about themselves as “published” authors. When I got started in the publishing biz, “self-published” was a word with a huge stigma.

            Once again, I am not intending to insult the excellent indie authors out there. Some of your books are no doubt much better written than my books. However, I’m sure you can see my overall point.

            For me, it was not a case of deciding my work was good enough to be published (an experienced mystery editor had made that call years ago), but rather deciding that my backlist, which was out of print (and the rights had reverted to me), ought to be put up on Kindle and made available to readers once again. And perhaps, just perhaps, I could make a small amount of money from these books that I had worked so hard to produce.

            So I did the work to get my first eight books up as Kindle editions and the small checks came in and it was all good. Until my former publisher claimed the rights to a few of these books.

            I’m going to make a long story short and say that it took several months and some negotiating, but we all remained civil and pleasant and no lawyers were involved. And eventually the company agreed that the rights were mine. So after a period of frustration I am happy to announce that the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th books in my series—Breakaway, Hayburner and Forged—are once again available as Kindle editions for $2.99 each.

            Quite a few people had written to me in the last couple of months asking why they couldn’t find the books as Kindle editions, so, to make it easier for you, I am providing the links and a short description of each book. You can click on the titles to find the Kindle edition.

            My sixth book, Breakaway, is by far the darkest of all my novels, and the crime on which the plot turns is pretty twisted. People either love this book or hate it. Those who have been through a depression themselves are more apt to love it. And I must add that, weird though it is, the strange event that the book describes did take place in real life at a barn where I once kept my horses.

            The seventh book in the series, Hayburner, is as close to an erotic novel as I have ever written. (Disclaimer here—this is not really an erotic novel; my books are pretty much straight up mysteries, but it is as close to that form of writing as I ever got.) There may be quite a bit from my own life woven into this story. And once again, the central crime around which the plot turns did actually happen out at our family ranch when I was a teenager.

            And the eighth novel, Forged, involves a scenario that many horse people will relate to. Your classic always late, hard drinking, womanizing farrier (not that my farrier is anything like this, but I have known the type) gets murdered in Gail’s barn, while in the process of shoeing her horse. There is no shortage of suspects, as you can imagine.

            All three books feature much riding through the coastal hills and beaches and every bit of material about horses is drawn from my life and is absolutely accurate (the horses themselves are real horses). You won’t find horses talking and solving crimes here. You will find some thrilling horseback chase scenes in all three books.

            And for those who would like to start the series at the beginning, the first two books, Cutter and Hoofprints, are currently on sale for 99 cents each. Click on the titles to find the books. 

The series, in order, is Cutter, Hoofprints, Roughstock, Roped, Slickrock, Breakaway, Hayburner, Forged, Moonblind, Chasing Cans, Going Gone and Barnstorming.

            Those of you have read some or all of these books, I would love it if you would comment and point out strengths and weaknesses. And if anybody has time to put up a review on Amazon or Goodreads, I would be very grateful. Many thanks to those who have already done so!

Farewell to a superstar

By Terri Rocovich

Anyone who knows me, knows how passionate I am about the sport of dressage. My love for dressage though is not a blind one. I know that the sport has problems and even abuses like many other competitive equestrian disciplines. Some dressage horses are treated like royalty and trained with steady, consistent conditioning along with kind training techniques. Others are trained with harsh even bordering on abusive techniques and are used like vehicles only useful and wanted when they win.

Anyone who knows me also knows that I am equally zealous about how all horses are treated, Whether they are a high level competition horse, a kid's pony, a weekend warrior's trail horse or a pasture ornament; all horses should receive the same quality of nutrition and health care and should be given every the opportunity for a long, happy and healthy live.

Well a week ago, I was witness to an event that demonstrated that I am not alone in my perspective and that even at the highest level of my sport, a long and happy retirement can be chosen for a horse over a continued competitive career.

At the Del Mar National Horse Show the end of last month, a lovely retirement for Ravel was held after the musical freestyle completion. Ravel was ridden by Steffen Peters for his entire U.S. competitive career and they were an overwhelmingly dominant pair in the U.S. and one of the top horse and rider teams in the world. Steffen and Ravel represented the United States in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, won the 2009 World Cup, won the Individual Bronze Medal at WEG in 2010, have earned Horse of the Year titles from the USEF and the USDF, and last year were inducted into the USDF Hall of Fame. Pretty amazing if you ask me and not to mention that he has been immortalized as a Breyer Horse.

When I bought Uiver (my dressage horse) now nearly two years ago, as many of you might remember that I bought him through David Blake one of the trainers at Arroyo Del Mar, operated by Steffen and Shannon Peters. As surreal as it seems at times, seeing Steffen and Ravel became commonplace as I went to Arroyo on a weekly basis to train with David. Watching Ravel and Steffen never failed to take my breath away. Ravel always seemed happy and eager to please when working and as relaxed as a kid's horse on a trail ride when cooling out around the arena. It was always clear that he and Steffen had a special bond and everyone at the barn adored him.

After the 2012 Olympics, Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang (Ravel's owners) and Steffen made the decision to retire Ravel when he could leave the competitive arena at the pinnacle rather than the decline of his career. As sad as I will be to not see Ravel when at Arroyo or at shows any more, I feel that retiring Ravel demonstrates what true horsemen and horse lovers Steffen and Akiko are.

The retirement ceremony could not have been more tastefully done. It started with Steffen riding a freestyle one last time and they performed as flawlessly as ever. I have included the video link below.

 

 

 

 

The crowd was on their feet erupting with applause and Ravel seemed to just soak it up. Steffen was holding back tears, I am sure at the thought that this incredible ride was his last on this incredible horse and out of gratitude for the audience's appreciation. After the applause died down, which took at least 5 minutes, they proceeded with the ceremony which included Steffen removing Ravel's saddle and leading Ravel out of the arena with Akiko and hand in hand with Shannon. There were few dry eyes in the house and I still get choked up now just thinking about it.

 

 



The Wednesday after Del Mar National, I was at Arroyo as usual for my lesson with David. After my lesson I was walking around the arena cooling Uiver out and Steffen was standing by the gate. He smiled at me and said hello as he always does and I said "Steffen you made everyone cry on Saturday". He looked at me with a coy grin and said "Why, did I ride that badly?" I laughed and said "Actually I thought you and Ravel looked as fabulous as ever." Steffen told me that he felt great but that it is important for them that Ravel go out on top. "I owe him too much for it to be any different, he has earned a long and happy retirement." "Well that is the way it is supposed to be." I said and walked away thinking that I have always admired Steffen as a rider, competitor and horseman. Now I also admire him as simply a good human being.

Below is the link for the entire ceremony including the video they played at the beginning of the ceremony that stories Ravel's life and career. Much of it was shot at Arroyo so you can see what an incredibly beautiful facility it is and why I feel so fortunate to be able to go there and train. Everyone on Ravel's team Akiko, Steffen, Shannon, Eddie (Steffen's groom), Dawn (Steffen's working student), and Dr. Vasquez are a class act and I feel honored to know them.

More Signs that Spring is Really Here

Cleaning. Spring and cleaning should never be used together (actually I would prefer the word cleaning was not in my vocabulary) but it does seem to be true for me that spring brings a sense that some kind of order needs to be made of the house, barn and gardens.  The house I choose to ignore. But we're putting a concrete floor in part of our barn (for tractors and carts to keep down the dust) and a new roof which necessitated cleaning it out. What an icky job. Between the mouse poop, cobwebs and stiff, moldy tack, I was pretty disgusted with my (our) lack of barn care all winter. A whole Saturday and two truck loads to the dump didn't seem to make a dent. I washed two

Does anyone need a rusty squirrel cage fan?

metal fans, a Garden Way cart, a mower from 1964 and a Spalding backboard, took pictures and posted them in the paper and on Craigslist to sell. (Not one phone call.)  Now the stalls are filled with stuff we didn't get rid of (and not the horses) because we had to clear the middle of the barn for the construction guys. Who knows how long before they show up. I hope they finish before the summer flies arrive or the horses will be miserable without their cool barn.




Fortunately the second sign of spring which I mentioned in my last post (and will continue to mention) is flowers and gardening. Unlike cleaning the house, I love working in the garden. Since I got my zippy Kodak camera (so easy to use) for my last birthday, I have been in love with taking photos of my flowers. Like Laura and many of you who commented on her post, I am a bit of a hermit, so pardon the need to share via the internet (and not with real people). I am also having fun combining my love of vintage with flowers. If you like the photos, I hope you'll try your own funky yard art and share your photos right back.


This was an ice cream parlor chair I bought cheap because it had no seat. I found a microwave plate that fit perfectly (95 cents at Goodwill) and voila it's the centerpiece of my porch steps.  Vintage tea pots and casserole dishes with no lids also can be found cheap at every thrift shop. They make great planters. I potted impatiens in these, which need low light, and put them in one of my booths. Both sold almost immediately.


The third sign of spring is fresh greens. My whole family is waiting for the first salad of the season. The weather has been perfect for lettuce, peas and spinach and they've grown quickly. Soon I will thin the rows and then yum!

What chores do you love to tackle in the spring? Which do you avoid? I'd love to hear your comments.

Helmets Do NOT Keep You Safe

                                    by Laura Crum

            I’ve heard it once too often. Something along the lines of “Stay safe—wear a helmet.” I just can’t let it pass any longer. People, helmets do not keep you safe. They protect your head in certain specific ways. The rest of you is just as vulnerable as ever. The last three horseback riding fatalities that I personally knew about would not have been changed by wearing a helmet. In fact, in one case the person WAS wearing a helmet. And that child was just as dead as if she hadn’t been wearing one.

            So let’s start over here. I come from a western background. I’ve trained and ridden cutting horses, cowhorses and team roping horses; I’ve worked on commercial cattle ranches and for a Sierra pack station. I’ve ridden many, many miles through the coastal hills and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. And in over forty years of pretty much non-stop riding, neither I, nor anyone I ever rode with, ever wore a helmet. And in all those years, no one I knew was killed or seriously impaired due to head trauma.

            Before you go all helmet Nazi on me, you should consider that virtually everyone you will ever meet who comes from a background like mine will be helmetless. Check into your favorite cowhorse training blogger and observe. No helmet. Ropers, western horse trainers of all sorts, ranch cowboys…etc. No helmets involved. It sort of goes with the territory.

            Does this make it right? Uhmm, no. Over the last few years I realized (thank you horse blogging, helmet wearing friends) that helmets just make sense. They’re like seat belts. My seat belt has caused me plenty of minor discomfort and it has never helped me one little bit. But it might save my life some day. It’s dumb not to wear it. The downside is nothing compared to the possible good it may do. So I wear it. And last year I bought a helmet and now I wear it, too. And my son wears his helmet every ride—ever since he began riding independently.

            However, I do NOT believe my helmet keeps me safe. And those who think that helmets keep them “safe” are putting themselves in greater jeopardy than if they weren’t wearing the helmet at all. Because doing foolish things and imagining you are safe because you are wearing a helmet is the path to a serious horse wreck.

            Let’s talk about those three horseback fatalities that have happened in the last few years that I personally knew about. But first off, let’s all agree that horseback riding is inherently dangerous. My husband says that horses are like motorcycles. It’s not a matter of whether you’ll get hurt, but when, and how badly. And there’s some truth to that. But once this basic fact is acknowledged, there are some things you can do to reduce your risk of serious injury, and yes, wearing a helmet is one of them. But it’s not the most important one.

            The single most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of being hurt is to ride a solid, gentle, well-broke, older horse that is experienced in your riding event of choice. Sorry, but that’s true. I’ve spent a lifetime around horses and I’ll stand on that one. Second most important thing is to make good, conservative decisions when you ride. Third would be to avoid horseback events with speed involved.

            Now I know that a lot of people choose to ride young horses or problem horses and choose to compete in events with speed involved. I did this myself for years. There’s nothing wrong with it. But you need to acknowledge to yourself that you are upping your risk of getting hurt. Plain and simple. If you REALLY don’t want to be hurt, you’re probably better off ditching the young horse and giving up eventing (or barrel racing or team roping or insert sport of choice here) with a helmet on in favor of gentle trail rides or dressage or western pleasure on a tried and true steady Eddie sans helmet. Yeah, I’m serious. Your risk would be less. If, that is, you followed my second principle. Which is, make good, conservative decisions when you ride.

            So lets get back to the horseback riding fatalities that I actually know about. In all three cases I was not there, but good friends of mine that I trust were there and told me what happened. The first two cases happened at team ropings. Right off the bat you have upped your risk. Team roping is an event that takes place at a dead run and is stressful for horses and riders. The first horseman was very experienced but got on a horse he didn’t know that had “problems in the box.” The horse began rearing and they “shortened the tie-down.” Those of you who know this world will know that this is a standard roper’s answer to a horse that throws his head or comes “up” in the box. But it can really backfire. In this case the horse went over backward in the box and landed on the guy and killed him. His head was fine. It was trauma to his body that caused his death. Helmet wouldn’t have changed a thing. Making smarter decisions definitely would have helped. Riding a reliable horse and avoiding speed events would have changed the whole picture.

            The second fatality, also at a team roping, involved an inexperienced roper who couldn’t ride very well, mounted on a horse that was too much for him. This person had come near to having a major wreck several times in this roping arena, and one experienced roper had told the man that he had no business roping on that horse. He then told the arena operator that he should bar the guy because “He’s gonna get killed in your arena.” The next week the horse came unglued in the course of the roping run and bucked the guy off hard. He later died of injuries to internal organs. Again, his head was fine. Helmet would not have changed a thing. Making smarter choices, riding a reliable horse, and avoiding speed events would all have changed the picture a lot.

            The third fatality was different. A child riding at a local riding school in a ring with other children. All beginners, all wearing helmets. This is something that most people would take for granted as a safe situation. But I can tell you for a fact that no child of mine, or no child I was in charge of, would EVER be placed in such a circumstance. Why? Because riding with several beginners together in a ring is a recipe for disaster. Particularly when they are mounted on school horses that they may or may not know, and that may not be the most trustworthy horses in the world.

            In this case one child, mounted on a small horse/large pony rode behind/near a child mounted on a larger horse. The larger horse kicked out hard and caught the child on the smaller horse in the neck, breaking her neck. She died of this injury. The helmet did no good at all.

            Smarter decision making in this case would be something that not everybody will understand. As I started out saying, helmets do NOT make you safe. Do not assume that because your child (or you) puts on a helmet that he/she/you are magically “safe” when you ride a horse. The truth is far otherwise. People, I know this is a hard one, but don’t let your child ride any horse that a knowledgeable horseperson that you really trust hasn’t vouched for. Do NOT assume that a “riding school” knows better than to mount kids on unsafe horses. A friend of mine has been working at a local riding school and recently quit because too many kids were getting bucked off and hurt. The last one ended up in the hospital. My friend and others repeatedly told the owner of the school that certain horses were unsuitable for beginners and this advice was just as repeatedly brushed off. The owner continued to mount young children on these problematic horses and the wrecks kept happening. My friend quit.

            Only mount kids/beginners on truly safe, reliable older horses. Avoid letting them ride in the ring with other beginners. At our own roping arena one day three young kids (not my kid) were put in the round pen to ride. (This was before I owned Henry.) Two of the horses, though lazy, were not really reliable kid’s horses. The third horse was Henry. None of the adults responsible for these kids were paying much attention to them. One horse spooked, started loping off, and became panicked by his beginner rider pulling wildly on him and screaming. He ran until he dumped the child (into a metal fence). The second horse was alarmed and started bucking until he bucked his kid off. The third horse (Henry) remained calm and well-behaved. (One of the many reasons I chose to buy Henry). The little girl who hit the fence was very sore and severely traumatized. But neither kid was seriously damaged, thank goodness. Nonetheless, this disaster could have been avoided, not by putting helmets on the kids (none of them were wearing a helmet), but by not mounting them on horses that were less than reliable and by the adults showing good judgment by carefully supervising the kids while they were riding together.

            The only time I let my child ride with beginners is when I put my kid on Sunny (my own horse) and the beginner kid on Henry and then I pay close attention and supervise the whole time.

Also, I am very careful to teach my son that when you must ride up behind another horse (and this does happen on trail rides), stay directly behind the other horse. Do not ever ride up behind and alongside. This is how you get kicked. If you stay directly behind another horse, if that horse does kick, the blow will fall on your horse rather than you, unless you are riding a very small pony. These precautions are what I mean by making good, conservative decisions.

            I know not everyone has the goal of staying as safe as possible while continuing to ride horseback. And I totally respect that others have different priorities. As I said, I once had different priorities myself. But ever since I started trail riding with my young son, my highest priority has been to keep us as safe as possible while still sharing the joy of horses. Yes, my son has worn a helmet every ride ever since he started riding independently. No, that is not the main thing I have done to keep him (and me) safe. The most important thing I have done is to buy two safe, solid older horses that are both very good outside. I’ve tried, every step of the way, to make good choices every time we ride. I stay alert; I pay attention. I consider the risks in any given situation. And I haven’t encouraged my kid to take up horse events that occur at speed. If he wanted to do these things at twelve years old (take up team roping for instance), I would support him, but he would learn slowly and with much supervision on a very steady, reliable horse.

            Boring, you say? Overkill, you say? All I can answer is that death, or serious injury, is a devastating downside of horseback riding. It is worth it to me to do my best to keep my son (and me) safe, while we enjoy riding together. And though that DOES include wearing a helmet, the helmet is just a small part of good decision making in order to improve our chances of staying safe and undamaged—emotionally and physically.

            OK, I’ve said my piece. I want everyone to notice that I support wearing a helmet. I just don’t think it’s the most important thing we can do in order to stay safe with horses. Any thoughts on this?

Six Degrees of Lost - on Sale - 99 cents!

Hi Everyone - I'm having a promotion on one of my books, with the cooperation of my publisher, Musa.

From May 1-15, Six Degrees of Lost will be only .99 as an ebook.

It's a sweet story, told in two different voices, and it's about a lost dog, a first love, and a journey.

 

Olive’s mother is headed to jail and her brother to join the Army, so thirteen-year-old Olive is uprooted from sunny California and dumped in Washington State like a stray. That's exactly what she feels like surrounded by her aunt’s collection of homeless dogs, cats, and horses.

Fourteen-year-old David’s future is already carved in stone. From a military family with two brothers serving overseas, he’s been pointed towards the Air Force Academy his entire life - but a rafting trip gone awry might ruin his chances.

When a runaway dog is almost hit by a car, the search for its owner leads Olive and David, two teens from entirely different backgrounds, to an unlikely bond. Will their growing attraction to each other be enough to keep Olive from a foolhardy journey to find her mother? Will David risk his family’s plans to save her?

Six Degrees of Lost will be available at this special price on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and some other sites, I believe.

And although horses are not the main theme of this book, it does of course, have horses in it! Here's a short excerpt:

“So what’s with all those dogs barking in the back yard?”

“They’re foster dogs. My aunt takes them in when they get too crowded at the animal shelter. Some of them aren’t adoptable, and would be put to sleep otherwise.”

“Really?” I gulp.

“We’ve also got six cats in the house, plus the horses out back. Come on, I’ll show you.” The yellow dog jumps up and down, begging for the stick. Olive flings it down the driveway. I see a small shelter out back, with sagging fences. Olive is already headed that way, taking short barefoot steps on the gravel, so I follow.

A sway-backed pinto horse with a mouth full of hay sticks his head out from the shelter and then turns and goes back to his breakfast. It looks kind of bony.

“Wow,” I say. “Skinny.”

“Yeah, that’s Paintball.” She grins. “Well, that’s what I call him. He was found wandering loose up in the National Forest. Aunt Trudy says somebody just dumped him there.”

“Why would anybody do that?”

Olive shrugs. “I know. Hard to believe, huh? I guess they couldn’t afford to feed him, but still, that’s just mean.”

A huge brown horse wanders over to the fence. “Who’s this one?” I reach between the strands of wire and pat his head. He’s just as skinny as the first one.

“My aunt says he’s ancient, and we’ll probably never get his weight back on. They found him tied to a tree in front of the animal shelter, but they don’t really have any facilities for horses there, so he came here instead. He’s sweet, huh?”

“Yeah, he seems nice.” The old horse pushes his head underneath my hand, clearly enjoying the attention.

“I call him Shakespeare. ‘Cause he looks so noble and elegant.”

Elegant? I think. That’s a stretch. “Can you ride them?”

“I don’t know. Aunt Trudy says we don’t really know that much about them. Anyway, it’s been too hot, and she’s always busy. She’s a clerk at the animal shelter thrift shop, and she takes turns working down at the shelter, besides feeding all these animals here at home.”

Olive talks so fast she makes my head swim. She barely takes a breath, and rattles on. “So besides the ones she takes in from the shelter, my aunt is always finding animals, too. She says there must be an invisible sign at the bottom of the driveway that says: Lost Animals Stop Here.”

“Is that how you found this dog?” I stroke the big lab’s ears, and he presses against me.

“He was standing in the middle of the road,” she says, “and almost got hit by a car.” She smiles. “Maybe he was reading the sign.”

---

Hope some of you will hop on over and pick this one up while it's on sale at this great price. It's perfect for middle-grade readers through adult, and animal lovers of all ages!

Thanks! We appreciate our readers very much!

Amazon

Barnes & Noble