I have been embroiled in a fascinating talk over in my “other world” at mugwump chronicles for the past few days.
I think we’re struggling towards an understanding of what constitutes cruelty and what is simply necessary training to accomplish a task.
The hardest part of this conversation, for me anyway, is it forces me to define what I’m looking for in a horse, the goals I want to achieve on the horse and how I’m going to reach them.
I have always had a curious and slightly obsessive mind. I get onto something and by golly I’m going to find out how to achieve it come hell or high water.
If I latch on I can’t let go until I really have a handle on it.
I started training horses professionally because I was making more money at it than I was illustrating and my daughter could come to work with me. It was that simple. If my little girl hadn’t been as entranced in the horse world as I am I would have done something else.
I started to learn to train from professionals because I wanted to know how to train a horse.
I wasn’t happy simply learning a sport or how to better my horsemanship, I had to know how to train them. So I became a pro. It was the only way to get enough horses to ride to fuel my need to learn.
One of the first things I learned was how unintentionally cruel I had been in the past with my horses simply from ignorance.
Because I didn’t know how or why things were done I used equipment that did more harm than good, used feeding programs that wreaked havoc on my poor horse’s gut and rode the poor suckers into the ground without thought.
It took me a long time to forgive myself. I could only do this by deciding ignorance was forgivable as long as I decided to do something about it.
In order to obtain knowledge the first thing I learned was to shut up. I mean really shut my mouth and watch.
Trainers did not want to hear my naive little self passing judgment on how they did things. Neither did clinicians. I noticed neither breed were particularly forthcoming if they felt I was there to attack. Since most trainers and clinicians have egos as big as the sky and as fragile as a hummingbird egg, I was able to get them to open up by being polite, attentive and quiet. I never named names or denounced anyone.
I learned to ask questions about the mechanics of a technique, or the thought behind a concept. I never told a reining trainer what I had just heard at a Ray Hunt clinic, nor did I raise my hand and ask Richard Shrake why he didn’t teach us to use a twisted wire the way the pleasure horse trainer I was currently riding with did.
I resolved to watch, compare and analyze without an opinion until I completely understood what I was seeing. Sometimes it has been really difficult. Often my mind was blown by the world of possibility I had opening in front of me.
This got the people I rode with to open up and really tell me how to get things done. It earned me some respect. Not as the greatest rider, but one with some serious insight. I’m proud of that.
I also quietly made up my own mind. I know why I don’t use braided snaffles because I’ve used them. I know why I’ll use a half-breed bit but not a mechanical hackamore because I have worked hard to learn how they work. For me mind you.
I still won’t judge because someone else rides differently than me. Especially in a field I don’t understand.
I was able to quit training because I achieved my original goal. I know how to train a cowhorse. I may not be the best (not even close), but I sure know how it’s done. I can happily putter on my own and create a horse I want to ride. So I’m happy.
Now I’ve turned my sights on the written word. I’m learning a lot from this site. Thanks everybody. Laura Crum has been wonderful and truthful. She gets my “trainer brain” and is helping me shape it into a “writer’s brain”.
I’m watching, listening and asking questions. I feel the same excitement in my belly every morning as I did my first year on the NRCHA circuit.
I can’t wait.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Guest Blogger Sherry Ackerman!
Hello everybody,
I'm delighted to introduce Sherry Ackerman as our guest blogger today. Sherry is the author of Dressage in the Fourth Dimension. Here's a wonderful piece about her world and her wonderful horse, Lippy!
Guest Blog by Sherry Ackerman
My love affair with Lippy started about 10 years ago when I was having breakfast with Arthur Kottas who was, at that time, Chief Principal Rider at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. We were breakfasting at a gorgeous Viennese café when news came that there were some Lipizzaners for sale…cheap….in the Pacific Northwest, USA. It was a distress sale and, if anyone were interested, they needed to move quickly. Well, here I was sitting in Vienna, home of the Royal Lipizzaner, so the synchronicity seemed meaningful. I asked to see the pedigree and, when it arrived via FAX, Herr Kottas confirmed that one particular mare had outstanding breeding. There was a small, color photo in which she looked rather attractive. I’m a gambler (if I wasn’t, I really couldn’t write books!) so I decided to take a chance. I wired money back to the States and made arrangements to have her shipped to my home in California just after my return date. It seemed like a good plan.
I waited excitedly for the van to pull up on her arrival date. When it did, I could barely contain myself….that is, until the cowboy who had been the driver announced “Good luck, Lady!”, unloading the skinniest, dirtiest, rankest horse that I had seen in a long, long time. She was skin and bones, her feet hadn’t been trimmed in a dog’s age, her coat was matted and dull. When my husband first saw her, he said, “Sherry, why did you buy such an ugly horse?” And, not only was she ugly, but she was mean….really mean. She bore her teeth and went after anyone who tried to come near her. I sat on a fencepost and contemplated the situation. Well, this was clearly my problem because I now owned her!
It didn’t take long to figure out that the photo I had seen of her had been taken some time ago. She had never been started under saddle nor in harness. She was just a big, rank mare and that’s where the buck ended. I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Some days the most I could do was walk through her paddock without her charging, like a bull, at me. It took months to get a halter on her. Even feeding her was dicey. There were days that she was so ill tempered that I just tossed the food over the top rail of the fence into her paddock. But, not being adverse to pushing rocks uphill, I just kept at it. I felt like I was living the Myth of Sisyphus.
Here she is today…my very best friend. I’ll always remember the day that I call the “turning point”, when she began to trust people and try—just a little—to cooperate. Today, she is the gentlest horse that I own. I trust her with anyone, anytime. She’ll pack a beginner around or give an experienced rider a perfectly balanced canter pirouette.
One of the things that I realize about myself is that the story of Lippy is, to some degree, a snapshot of how I operate. For better or for worse, this is how I write, as well as how I buy horses. I can always feel a “book coming on”. I might be having coffee in the morning and, all of a sudden, I feel the Muses stirring. It’s just there…a sense of urgency and enthusiasm. It always seems like a good plan at the time. Some people might consider it impulsive…and they’re not entirely wrong about that. I start scribbling things on scraps of paper and the more I scribble, the more I feel a stream of ideas. It is chaotic. It isn’t entirely rational. It is the creative process in its most raw and unformed sense. Like those first few rides on Lippy, it can get pretty rough…not really knowing where the ideas are going, but just staying with the motion. Then, at some point, reality kicks in and I have a good, hard look at what I’ve written. It can be ugly. It’s as if that cowboy is right there, saying “Good luck, Lady!”. But, again, taking Sisyphus as my model, this is when I get down to the technical aspects of my craft. I roll up my sleeves and get to work. I coerce my colleagues to read the drafts, try the material out on my students…in short, work at infusing the process with some fresh ideas from outside of myself. Sometimes the feedback is right up there with getting bucked off. Then, it’s about picking myself up off of the ground, dusting myself off and getting back on with it. This is always the “turning point”—the place where the creative chaos integrates just enough order to keep the manuscript balanced on that delicate precipice between exciting and safe. It has to be safe enough that my publishers won’t freak out. They remind me occasionally that I am not Friedrich Nietzsche. But, it also has to be exciting enough to a strong build in the book trade. My new book, Dressage in the Fourth Dimension (New World Library, 2008) has turned out just like Lippy. It’s sweet and gentle…yet strong and powerful. It’s pretty, but it’s also pointed. But, I think the thing that contributed the most toward its being a success was that I was able to get it written without breaking its spirit….just like training a horse.
Sherry L. Ackerman
www.sherryackerman.com
I'm delighted to introduce Sherry Ackerman as our guest blogger today. Sherry is the author of Dressage in the Fourth Dimension. Here's a wonderful piece about her world and her wonderful horse, Lippy!
Guest Blog by Sherry Ackerman
My love affair with Lippy started about 10 years ago when I was having breakfast with Arthur Kottas who was, at that time, Chief Principal Rider at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. We were breakfasting at a gorgeous Viennese café when news came that there were some Lipizzaners for sale…cheap….in the Pacific Northwest, USA. It was a distress sale and, if anyone were interested, they needed to move quickly. Well, here I was sitting in Vienna, home of the Royal Lipizzaner, so the synchronicity seemed meaningful. I asked to see the pedigree and, when it arrived via FAX, Herr Kottas confirmed that one particular mare had outstanding breeding. There was a small, color photo in which she looked rather attractive. I’m a gambler (if I wasn’t, I really couldn’t write books!) so I decided to take a chance. I wired money back to the States and made arrangements to have her shipped to my home in California just after my return date. It seemed like a good plan.
I waited excitedly for the van to pull up on her arrival date. When it did, I could barely contain myself….that is, until the cowboy who had been the driver announced “Good luck, Lady!”, unloading the skinniest, dirtiest, rankest horse that I had seen in a long, long time. She was skin and bones, her feet hadn’t been trimmed in a dog’s age, her coat was matted and dull. When my husband first saw her, he said, “Sherry, why did you buy such an ugly horse?” And, not only was she ugly, but she was mean….really mean. She bore her teeth and went after anyone who tried to come near her. I sat on a fencepost and contemplated the situation. Well, this was clearly my problem because I now owned her!
It didn’t take long to figure out that the photo I had seen of her had been taken some time ago. She had never been started under saddle nor in harness. She was just a big, rank mare and that’s where the buck ended. I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Some days the most I could do was walk through her paddock without her charging, like a bull, at me. It took months to get a halter on her. Even feeding her was dicey. There were days that she was so ill tempered that I just tossed the food over the top rail of the fence into her paddock. But, not being adverse to pushing rocks uphill, I just kept at it. I felt like I was living the Myth of Sisyphus.
Here she is today…my very best friend. I’ll always remember the day that I call the “turning point”, when she began to trust people and try—just a little—to cooperate. Today, she is the gentlest horse that I own. I trust her with anyone, anytime. She’ll pack a beginner around or give an experienced rider a perfectly balanced canter pirouette.
One of the things that I realize about myself is that the story of Lippy is, to some degree, a snapshot of how I operate. For better or for worse, this is how I write, as well as how I buy horses. I can always feel a “book coming on”. I might be having coffee in the morning and, all of a sudden, I feel the Muses stirring. It’s just there…a sense of urgency and enthusiasm. It always seems like a good plan at the time. Some people might consider it impulsive…and they’re not entirely wrong about that. I start scribbling things on scraps of paper and the more I scribble, the more I feel a stream of ideas. It is chaotic. It isn’t entirely rational. It is the creative process in its most raw and unformed sense. Like those first few rides on Lippy, it can get pretty rough…not really knowing where the ideas are going, but just staying with the motion. Then, at some point, reality kicks in and I have a good, hard look at what I’ve written. It can be ugly. It’s as if that cowboy is right there, saying “Good luck, Lady!”. But, again, taking Sisyphus as my model, this is when I get down to the technical aspects of my craft. I roll up my sleeves and get to work. I coerce my colleagues to read the drafts, try the material out on my students…in short, work at infusing the process with some fresh ideas from outside of myself. Sometimes the feedback is right up there with getting bucked off. Then, it’s about picking myself up off of the ground, dusting myself off and getting back on with it. This is always the “turning point”—the place where the creative chaos integrates just enough order to keep the manuscript balanced on that delicate precipice between exciting and safe. It has to be safe enough that my publishers won’t freak out. They remind me occasionally that I am not Friedrich Nietzsche. But, it also has to be exciting enough to a strong build in the book trade. My new book, Dressage in the Fourth Dimension (New World Library, 2008) has turned out just like Lippy. It’s sweet and gentle…yet strong and powerful. It’s pretty, but it’s also pointed. But, I think the thing that contributed the most toward its being a success was that I was able to get it written without breaking its spirit….just like training a horse.
Sherry L. Ackerman
www.sherryackerman.com
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Road to Publication con't. . . .
by Kit Ehrman
During my “Road to Publication” post on January 27th, I mentioned that I’d provide some specific pointers and ask some hard questions for those looking to get published.
What follows is a list I compiled and saved in an email draft because I receive so many queries from writers who want advice on how they can break in. One question (complaint, really) that I hear time and again is: “How can an agent or editor make a decision about my work based solely on a one-page query letter? They won’t know how well I can write unless they read the whole manuscript?”
Believe me; I understand this sentiment and sympathize with the writer’s frustration, but once you look at the other side of the equation—what it’s like to be the gatekeeper—you can see the validity of the “query only” limitation that is often part of the submission process.
A query letter serves the purpose of letting the agent or agent’s reader know if the project is something they’re interested in pursuing; therefore, it has to be extremely well written.
Editors and agents are swamped with submissions so, imagine if you will, the office receiving 200+ manuscripts a week instead of 200+ query letters. Query letters are a necessary evil of the publishing business because the competition is so fierce.
There are many things every writer can and should do to improve her odds. Ask yourself:
Editing
• Have you edited the manuscript many, many times?
• Have you studied the rules of grammar? (You need to understand them before you can break them for effect.)
• Have you learned the industry’s conventions such as proper manuscript format?
• Has your manuscript been through an objective critique group?
• Have you hired a professional freelance editor to give you input? (Get references if you go this route.)
• Have you had a lot of readers, who are familiar with the genre you’re writing in, read the manuscript and give you feedback?
• Is the manuscript as perfect as you can possibly make it?
The Query Letter
• Have you attempted to get writing credits to include in your query letter by entering contests or publishing short stories in genre-specific magazines?
• Have you studied what should go in a query letter?
• Have you polished your query letter ruthlessly?
• Have you shared different versions of your query letter with your critique group to see which one is most effective?
• Have you studied books on querying agents? (The Sell Your Novel Toolkit by Lyons is a good one. So is a book by Kathryn Sands about making the perfect pitch.)
Selecting An Agent
• Have you researched possible agents carefully?
• Do you know how to select the right agent for you?
• Have you looked through the acknowledgements pages of books similar to yours so you can determine agents who like the kind of thing your write? Oftentimes, an author will thank his or her agent in the acknowledgements.
• Have you gone to writing conferences where you can verbally pitch your book to agents?
• Check out a website called Predators and Editors that lists agents to avoid.
Acting Professional
• Have you joined the organizations relevant to the genre you’re writing in so you can become familiar with the publishing industry?
• Have you attended conferences in order to network with other writers, authors, and industry professionals?
I highly recommend that you go to Miss Snark’s website. She’s a New York literary agent. This site is no longer active, but there’s a wealth of information here. Beginning with this link, you can see how she evaluates the hook in a query. What gets her interest, etc. This is very insightful for seeing what works and what doesn’t. Here’s the link where the hook evaluation begins: http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006_12_10_archive.html. Also, search this website because you’ll find a lot of useful information about the industry in general.
It takes talent, luck, and perseverance to get published. The best way to deal with the query process is to start on the next book while you’re doing it so you don’t become obsessed or depressed by the process. And you’ll be glad you have another book that’s partly done when you do get published, because once you are, you’ll have to promote the first book while you’re writing the second.
Good luck!
Kit Ehrman
www.kitehrman.com
During my “Road to Publication” post on January 27th, I mentioned that I’d provide some specific pointers and ask some hard questions for those looking to get published.
What follows is a list I compiled and saved in an email draft because I receive so many queries from writers who want advice on how they can break in. One question (complaint, really) that I hear time and again is: “How can an agent or editor make a decision about my work based solely on a one-page query letter? They won’t know how well I can write unless they read the whole manuscript?”
Believe me; I understand this sentiment and sympathize with the writer’s frustration, but once you look at the other side of the equation—what it’s like to be the gatekeeper—you can see the validity of the “query only” limitation that is often part of the submission process.
A query letter serves the purpose of letting the agent or agent’s reader know if the project is something they’re interested in pursuing; therefore, it has to be extremely well written.
Editors and agents are swamped with submissions so, imagine if you will, the office receiving 200+ manuscripts a week instead of 200+ query letters. Query letters are a necessary evil of the publishing business because the competition is so fierce.
There are many things every writer can and should do to improve her odds. Ask yourself:
Editing
• Have you edited the manuscript many, many times?
• Have you studied the rules of grammar? (You need to understand them before you can break them for effect.)
• Have you learned the industry’s conventions such as proper manuscript format?
• Has your manuscript been through an objective critique group?
• Have you hired a professional freelance editor to give you input? (Get references if you go this route.)
• Have you had a lot of readers, who are familiar with the genre you’re writing in, read the manuscript and give you feedback?
• Is the manuscript as perfect as you can possibly make it?
The Query Letter
• Have you attempted to get writing credits to include in your query letter by entering contests or publishing short stories in genre-specific magazines?
• Have you studied what should go in a query letter?
• Have you polished your query letter ruthlessly?
• Have you shared different versions of your query letter with your critique group to see which one is most effective?
• Have you studied books on querying agents? (The Sell Your Novel Toolkit by Lyons is a good one. So is a book by Kathryn Sands about making the perfect pitch.)
Selecting An Agent
• Have you researched possible agents carefully?
• Do you know how to select the right agent for you?
• Have you looked through the acknowledgements pages of books similar to yours so you can determine agents who like the kind of thing your write? Oftentimes, an author will thank his or her agent in the acknowledgements.
• Have you gone to writing conferences where you can verbally pitch your book to agents?
• Check out a website called Predators and Editors that lists agents to avoid.
Acting Professional
• Have you joined the organizations relevant to the genre you’re writing in so you can become familiar with the publishing industry?
• Have you attended conferences in order to network with other writers, authors, and industry professionals?
I highly recommend that you go to Miss Snark’s website. She’s a New York literary agent. This site is no longer active, but there’s a wealth of information here. Beginning with this link, you can see how she evaluates the hook in a query. What gets her interest, etc. This is very insightful for seeing what works and what doesn’t. Here’s the link where the hook evaluation begins: http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006_12_10_archive.html. Also, search this website because you’ll find a lot of useful information about the industry in general.
It takes talent, luck, and perseverance to get published. The best way to deal with the query process is to start on the next book while you’re doing it so you don’t become obsessed or depressed by the process. And you’ll be glad you have another book that’s partly done when you do get published, because once you are, you’ll have to promote the first book while you’re writing the second.
Good luck!
Kit Ehrman
www.kitehrman.com
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Why do I do This?
While this post could apply to writing, as in "why do I write when I don't make any money at it?" It's not about writing today. It's about riding.
I had my first lesson last Thursday in over four weeks. I didn't want to ride that night. In fact, I considered different ways to get out of it. My trainer has a policy that it you don't give her 48 hours notice of a cancellation, you still pay. Many times, this has forced me to go ahead and take my lesson even when I didn't feel like it.
So I trudged into the barn, resigned that there was no way out. My mare is in the first stall as you walk down the aisle. She had her butt to the door until she saw me. She turned around and poked her nose through the bars, happy to see me and probably wondering where the heck I'd been all these weeks.
Ever since I sold my first book and started writing "professionally," it's gotten harder and harder to drag myself to the barn. I have so little free time that I sometimes wonder why I continue to juggle all these balls. Lately, it seems like riding would be the first to go, especially riding dressage.
As you know from previous posts, Gailey has been in her winter shying mode, and it's been driving me insane. So that makes me dread riding all the more. Since no one had ridden her in a week, I wasn't expecting a fun time of it. So I saddled up, feeling a little better because I do love this horse. She seemed genuinely happy to see me, too. I walk to the arena, climb on, and started warming up. My mare is wound up and raring to go, which isn't always a bad thing. When she's like that, it's easier to get her to sit on her hindquarters and get her shoulders out of the ground. She has huge powerful shoulders, and she'd much prefer pulling herself along with those shoulders.
With low expectations, I walked around the arena, then trotted. My mare likes to overpower me with her big gaits so she can fall on her forehand and tow me around. So from the first stride of trot, I kept my legs on, did half halts, and kept her at a controlled pace. Usually at this point one of us starts pulling, she starts going faster, and so it goes. That didn't happen. I reminded myself not to pull, but to take then give until she started increasing her speed instead of her power, then it was take-give again.
Okay, I've ridden dressage for probably 30 years now. I understand the basics. I know how it's supposed to work. I also know that as an uncoordinated adult, the doing is much harder than the understanding. I've never been great at coordinating my seat, legs, and hands. I also have a tendency to stiffen and pull rather than relax and ask.
As our lesson starts, and my trainer asks for more power with no more speed, I actually do it without pulling. Then we canter. Lately, this has been the gait I can't seem to balance. Much to my surprise, I did it. I have this bad habit of half-halting at the bottom of the stride instead on the up-side. That night, I kept her up and balanced between my hand and legs.
And wonder of wonders, no pulling. So by now, I'm having a good time. Everything is coming together. I've totally forgotten that I'd dreaded doing this an hour before.
At a break I talk with my trainer about not having the ambition to ride and reasons that I, and many others, keep doing this. Besides all the obvious reasons which any horseperson knows--that uncontrollable love of horses--we discussed our friends who don't ride. What do they do in the winter? They sit on their butts in their warm houses and watch TV. Riders don't do that. They go to the barn no matter the weather. Dressage requires the horse and rider be in shape so you have to ride. If I didn't have this horse and I didn't ride dressage, I'd be one of those women sitting on their butts, especially now that I'm writing seriously.
My instructor's personal trainer at the gym mentioned to her that all the riders he see are actually pretty toned. I also know that when I get massages, the masseuse is always surprised how in shape I am when I tell her I don't "work out."
So I now have renewed ambition to ride again rather than give it up. I know it gets me out of the house in crappy weather. I know it keeps me in relatively good shape. I know it keeps me young, compared to all my friends of the same age. And most of all, I remember once again why I do this.
So I guess I'm going to keep slogging to the barn even when I don't want to ride. Once I put my foot in that stirrup, I forget why I didn't want to do this.
When it all comes together on the back of a horse there isn't a greater high on earth
I had my first lesson last Thursday in over four weeks. I didn't want to ride that night. In fact, I considered different ways to get out of it. My trainer has a policy that it you don't give her 48 hours notice of a cancellation, you still pay. Many times, this has forced me to go ahead and take my lesson even when I didn't feel like it.
So I trudged into the barn, resigned that there was no way out. My mare is in the first stall as you walk down the aisle. She had her butt to the door until she saw me. She turned around and poked her nose through the bars, happy to see me and probably wondering where the heck I'd been all these weeks.
Ever since I sold my first book and started writing "professionally," it's gotten harder and harder to drag myself to the barn. I have so little free time that I sometimes wonder why I continue to juggle all these balls. Lately, it seems like riding would be the first to go, especially riding dressage.
As you know from previous posts, Gailey has been in her winter shying mode, and it's been driving me insane. So that makes me dread riding all the more. Since no one had ridden her in a week, I wasn't expecting a fun time of it. So I saddled up, feeling a little better because I do love this horse. She seemed genuinely happy to see me, too. I walk to the arena, climb on, and started warming up. My mare is wound up and raring to go, which isn't always a bad thing. When she's like that, it's easier to get her to sit on her hindquarters and get her shoulders out of the ground. She has huge powerful shoulders, and she'd much prefer pulling herself along with those shoulders.
With low expectations, I walked around the arena, then trotted. My mare likes to overpower me with her big gaits so she can fall on her forehand and tow me around. So from the first stride of trot, I kept my legs on, did half halts, and kept her at a controlled pace. Usually at this point one of us starts pulling, she starts going faster, and so it goes. That didn't happen. I reminded myself not to pull, but to take then give until she started increasing her speed instead of her power, then it was take-give again.
Okay, I've ridden dressage for probably 30 years now. I understand the basics. I know how it's supposed to work. I also know that as an uncoordinated adult, the doing is much harder than the understanding. I've never been great at coordinating my seat, legs, and hands. I also have a tendency to stiffen and pull rather than relax and ask.
As our lesson starts, and my trainer asks for more power with no more speed, I actually do it without pulling. Then we canter. Lately, this has been the gait I can't seem to balance. Much to my surprise, I did it. I have this bad habit of half-halting at the bottom of the stride instead on the up-side. That night, I kept her up and balanced between my hand and legs.
And wonder of wonders, no pulling. So by now, I'm having a good time. Everything is coming together. I've totally forgotten that I'd dreaded doing this an hour before.
At a break I talk with my trainer about not having the ambition to ride and reasons that I, and many others, keep doing this. Besides all the obvious reasons which any horseperson knows--that uncontrollable love of horses--we discussed our friends who don't ride. What do they do in the winter? They sit on their butts in their warm houses and watch TV. Riders don't do that. They go to the barn no matter the weather. Dressage requires the horse and rider be in shape so you have to ride. If I didn't have this horse and I didn't ride dressage, I'd be one of those women sitting on their butts, especially now that I'm writing seriously.
My instructor's personal trainer at the gym mentioned to her that all the riders he see are actually pretty toned. I also know that when I get massages, the masseuse is always surprised how in shape I am when I tell her I don't "work out."
So I now have renewed ambition to ride again rather than give it up. I know it gets me out of the house in crappy weather. I know it keeps me in relatively good shape. I know it keeps me young, compared to all my friends of the same age. And most of all, I remember once again why I do this.
So I guess I'm going to keep slogging to the barn even when I don't want to ride. Once I put my foot in that stirrup, I forget why I didn't want to do this.
When it all comes together on the back of a horse there isn't a greater high on earth
Friday, February 6, 2009
Using Animals in Fiction as Secondary Characters
I'm popping in before I go to work to let everyone know that I blogged today at The Romance Studio on using animals as secondary characters and writing scenes from an animal's point of view.
I know a lot of you are interested in writing equestrian fiction, so you might want to check it out: http://theromancestudio.blogspot.com/
I know a lot of you are interested in writing equestrian fiction, so you might want to check it out: http://theromancestudio.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Guest Blogger--Patti Brooks, author of Fame and Deceit
I'm happy to welcome guest blogger, Patti Brooks. Patti is the author of an equestrian fiction book, Fame and Deceit. Welcome, Patti!!!
Setting my stories in the horse world is a given as I’ve been immersed in everything horse since, at age nine, I earned my pony’s keep by giving ten-cent pony rides. Writing was in my blood as well and as a teen I sold my first article to a national magazine for $3.00. That sealed my fate. I spent my life with horses and writing.
I kept a notebook of story ideas with the thought that since I am a professional horse trainer, someday I’d be bound to break a bone and be laid up for six or so weeks and then I would write the first of many books. Sure...dash off a publishable first novel in six weeks!
Fortunately I did not break a bone but I did learn my way around a computer and a non-horse story was put in my lap, begging to become a novel. Four years of research and another four to polish sufficiently to catch the eye of a publisher and that story became Mountain Shadows ( a historical set in the Prohibition era in the Adirondacks). I am pleased that it has become required reading in a number of Adirondack high schools. It taught me I had to make time to write and for me that meant starting my days at four a.m.
Now that I had some basics, I thought my first book set in the horse world would be a cinch. Certainly did not need four years of research to get my setting down. I lived my life surrounded by all things horse.
I took part of a number of workshops and found them priceless. But I was surprised at the feedback encouraging me to flesh out the horsey stuff. I always fret about being too preachy. I want to tell an intriguing story, not teach my readers how to train a horse.
When I sent Fame & Deceit out in the world to find first an agent who would then find a publisher I could work with, I received oodles of stock rejections and quite a few requests for the entire manuscript. Some of those came back with worthwhile suggestions that I acted upon, some came back saying horses don’t act like that, and others came back saying an audience of primarily horse people wouldn’t sell enough books.
That is what frustrates me! Why couldn’t Fame & Deceit be as successful as Tom Clancy’s first novel, Hunt for Red October, that is set in the submarine world? Certainly more people would be intrigued reading a murder mystery with horses trotting through it than with submarines lurking under the seas! Were his readers mostly sailors? Course not.
But even if a reader has to like horses to enjoy my novel, that is hardly restrictive. The American Horse Council’s independent survey indicates there are 13 million people in the US over eighteen that consider themselves to be horse people. I’d be happy selling a book to half of them!
But there’s another rub! I was fortunate with my first novel to receive dozens of letters from kind folks who praised the book. Unfortunately, so many of them proudly told me they passed the book on to friend after friend. Given what an author makes on the sale of one book, readers need to be encouraged to send their friends to the bookstore to buy the book. Just before Christmas (four years after the book came out) a woman sent me a handwritten note saying she passed her copy on to fifteen people. Heart-warming, but not wallet-filling.
These are things I grumble about, but it won’t stop me from completing the next book in the series.
Patti's Bio:
There were times when my husband, Bob, and I had as many as a hundred Morgan Horses on our farm in East Lyme, CT. Although I’ve been an avid horse show exhibitor, my real love is competitive distance riding and being open to take on off-beat endeavors. With my Morgan stallion, Peppertime, we appeared in TV commercials and were chosen to jump out of a horse-size birthday cake to celebrate the bicentennial of the Morgan Horse.
I have served as President of the New England Morgan Horse Assn. and was inducted into the American Morgan Horse Association’s Hall of Fame. Currently she is sePrving a term as President of the Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Assn. and teaches a fiction writing class at a local community college.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Aging and Our Horses
I don't know if any you have ever found that riding and relationships change with your horse as you age. I found that out this weekend. I mean, I kind of knew it already. I'm definitely far more cautious than I was when I was a kid with the horses. When I was a kid, it was all about get on and ride like hell. When I came off (which I often did) I seemed to bounce. I might have shed a few tears, but not many because all I really wanted to do was get back on the horse and ride like a mad kid again. Plus, I had my dad always telling me, "get back on. Wipe yourself off and get back on." Of course, he'd make sure I was okay first, but once he had, I dind't have a choice. So, I would get back on. I'm actually thankful now that I had an ornery pony to teach me how to be tough and ride. I don't have a lot of fear because of my bucking bronco, racehorse of a pony who used to buck me off almost daily from ages 8-10, until I finally learned how to stay on.
However, what I have gained as I've aged is a lot of respect for the animal, and a realization that at any given moment my horse could use every ounce of muscle and hurt me, and the only thing I wuld have going for me would be my brain. My respect for my horse and my brain probably saved my life on Saturday (okay I might be exxaggerating a bit, but it at least saved me from getting hurt).
Krissy is 16.2 hands and because of regular work, a good maintenance program, and a lot of extra feed, she has muscled out, filled out and is one powerful mare. She is half warmblood and half TB. Most of the time her warmblood brain is in charge. But something was in the air on Saturday. I will give her the benefit of the doubt here, she did have a few distractions making her crazy. I took her out into the jumping arena. It was great--just the two of us and my trainer--and the fifty or sixty goats and their babies on the property next door tromping through the cornfield (you getting the picture), plus the kids next door jumping around on pogo sticks, and a horse turned out having a great old time. We decided to hold off on jumping and just do some flat work. The goal was to keep her focus on me and not all the chaos around her. Yeah right! Walk, trot around and she is okay. She's very aware of goats, pogo sticks and other horse, but she's listening to my aids and she's trying really hard to be a good girl. Krissy has a very good heart and a good mind, so I don't get too worried, but I do know she has a flight system deeply embedded in her body.
It was time to canter. The departure was great, going around was fine, until--one of the other riders decided to start taking down jumps and rearranging the course. I know what you're thinking--couldn't she have waited? Crossed my mind, too. All it took was for her to move a pole over into the bushes to send Krissy over the edge. With a toss of her head and more power than I have ever felt underneath me, she decided to take off. For a split second I thought, "I'm dead." I could hear my trainer yelling, "Sit back, sit back," which I did, but after I decided I wasn't ready to die, I heard this voice in my head--"Turn her, turn, her, turn her hard." It was my dad's voice, and I was a little girl on a fiesty pony again trying to run away with me. I turned that mare into me to the right and she stopped, and I was grateful that she did! The gal moving the rails apologized and said that she dind't expect that because Krissy is always so even tempered. I know, but the bottom line is that she is still a horse, and a horse has a mind of her own.
Krissy tried this stunt three more times with me, until she finally realized that she could trust me and she was safe and all I was going to do was turn her and stay on. By the end of an hour of helping her with her fears, she started to relax and forget about goats, pogo sticks and the wind in the trees.
I think we both came away with a little more respect for one another.
How about any of you? As you've aged (ooh hate that word) have you found the way you ride or treat your horse is different than maybe a few years ago or if you had horses when you were kid, is it different now?
On a separate topic: A quick note! I have two books out today. My first children's fantasy is out today--"Zamora's Ultimate Challenge." Ages 8-12. This a fun chapter book and for those of you with kids, just go to my site and check out the excerpt and the contest. If you have boys and they like video games then they'll enjoy this book, and girls will love the characters from The Pegasus named Isaac to Chelsea the Mermaid. One reviewer wote: It's a cross between The Narnia Chronicles, Spy Kids, and Lemony Snickett. Pretty cool!
Also out is the fifth book in the wine lovers mystery series: Corked by Cabernet. More murder, romance, wine and food, and laughs. I hope you'll go to my site and have a look around, read the excerpts, enter the contests, etc. Thank You.
Cheers,
Michele
www.michelescott.com
However, what I have gained as I've aged is a lot of respect for the animal, and a realization that at any given moment my horse could use every ounce of muscle and hurt me, and the only thing I wuld have going for me would be my brain. My respect for my horse and my brain probably saved my life on Saturday (okay I might be exxaggerating a bit, but it at least saved me from getting hurt).
Krissy is 16.2 hands and because of regular work, a good maintenance program, and a lot of extra feed, she has muscled out, filled out and is one powerful mare. She is half warmblood and half TB. Most of the time her warmblood brain is in charge. But something was in the air on Saturday. I will give her the benefit of the doubt here, she did have a few distractions making her crazy. I took her out into the jumping arena. It was great--just the two of us and my trainer--and the fifty or sixty goats and their babies on the property next door tromping through the cornfield (you getting the picture), plus the kids next door jumping around on pogo sticks, and a horse turned out having a great old time. We decided to hold off on jumping and just do some flat work. The goal was to keep her focus on me and not all the chaos around her. Yeah right! Walk, trot around and she is okay. She's very aware of goats, pogo sticks and other horse, but she's listening to my aids and she's trying really hard to be a good girl. Krissy has a very good heart and a good mind, so I don't get too worried, but I do know she has a flight system deeply embedded in her body.
It was time to canter. The departure was great, going around was fine, until--one of the other riders decided to start taking down jumps and rearranging the course. I know what you're thinking--couldn't she have waited? Crossed my mind, too. All it took was for her to move a pole over into the bushes to send Krissy over the edge. With a toss of her head and more power than I have ever felt underneath me, she decided to take off. For a split second I thought, "I'm dead." I could hear my trainer yelling, "Sit back, sit back," which I did, but after I decided I wasn't ready to die, I heard this voice in my head--"Turn her, turn, her, turn her hard." It was my dad's voice, and I was a little girl on a fiesty pony again trying to run away with me. I turned that mare into me to the right and she stopped, and I was grateful that she did! The gal moving the rails apologized and said that she dind't expect that because Krissy is always so even tempered. I know, but the bottom line is that she is still a horse, and a horse has a mind of her own.
Krissy tried this stunt three more times with me, until she finally realized that she could trust me and she was safe and all I was going to do was turn her and stay on. By the end of an hour of helping her with her fears, she started to relax and forget about goats, pogo sticks and the wind in the trees.
I think we both came away with a little more respect for one another.
How about any of you? As you've aged (ooh hate that word) have you found the way you ride or treat your horse is different than maybe a few years ago or if you had horses when you were kid, is it different now?
On a separate topic: A quick note! I have two books out today. My first children's fantasy is out today--"Zamora's Ultimate Challenge." Ages 8-12. This a fun chapter book and for those of you with kids, just go to my site and check out the excerpt and the contest. If you have boys and they like video games then they'll enjoy this book, and girls will love the characters from The Pegasus named Isaac to Chelsea the Mermaid. One reviewer wote: It's a cross between The Narnia Chronicles, Spy Kids, and Lemony Snickett. Pretty cool!
Also out is the fifth book in the wine lovers mystery series: Corked by Cabernet. More murder, romance, wine and food, and laughs. I hope you'll go to my site and have a look around, read the excerpts, enter the contests, etc. Thank You.
Cheers,
Michele
www.michelescott.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)