A Lesson in Loading

I had a loading lesson with an amazing man last week. His name is Antoine Cloux, he rides Western, and he’s famous in my area for getting horses to load easily.

I’ve never really had any massive problems loading Qrac. He’s played me up a couple of times, but never for too long. Nevertheless, I’ve never felt totally confident about his attitude towards loading. Unlike his stable-mate Woody, who belongs to my friend Heike, you can’t just lead Qrac up to the trailer, tell him “forwards”, throw the rope over his neck and have him walk in all by himself. Same with unloading; Heike just unties Woody at the front, then calmly walks to the back of the trailer, unhooks the metal bar, and tells him to “come on”. Woody gently backs down the ramp, Heike picks up his lead rope and that’s the end of that. There’s no drama, no rushing around looking for someone to help her. Woody’s cooperative attitude makes trailering far more relaxed.

I want relaxed trailering experiences. I want Qrac to load and unload like Woody. So I asked Heike how she’d taught her horse to load so easily. She shrugged. “Oh, I just put food in there,” she replied. “Now he loves it!”

I’ve lured Qrac into the trailer with food many times, the most nerve-wracking time being when I hot-footed it out of the crappy, leaky-roofed dump of a stables I’d made the mistake of moving into last November (I wrote about it on this blog; Qrac and I lasted all of two days there). Being a little embarrassed about leaving so soon, I wanted to make a low-key exit. By some miracle I managed to align my car onto the trailer hook without getting in and out of the car a gazillion times, then, armed with a giant bag of carrots, enticed Qrac to follow me up the ramp singlehandedly. But my heart was in my mouth as I slipped out of the side door and rushed round to the back of the van to lock him in, certain he’d shoot back out again and gallop around, creating stallion mayhem. Thankfully he didn’t, and minutes later we slunk away, him presumably munching away, me sweating profusely!

There have been times, however, when even a bag of carrots hasn’t encouraged Qrac to bound enthusiastically into the trailer, when he’s danced around me and my hastily gathered trailer-loading assistants, eyeing us nanny-nanny-poo-poo style. One time we had to resort to using lunges to get him in (ok, so we hadn’t given him much time, but I was in a hurry, and couldn’t hang around proffering fruit and pretty-pleasing), an experience I didn’t enjoy. Also, having seen certain individuals at my stables shooing their horses into vans with whips and broomsticks, I didn’t want to find myself in the uncomfortable position of having them offer to help me get my uncooperative horse into my van! If Woody could learn to load so coolly, then so could Qrac.

Of course, Woody is far more placid than Qrac. Not that Qrac is a hot-headed fire-cracker. In his stable and in the grooming area, he comes across as a total dope-head, usually standing with his head low and his eyes half-closed. It’s when I get on him that he switches gears, striding out purposefully. Also, a new environment, or anything out of the ordinary tends to worry him, and Qrac is very good at whirlwind spins to the left, especially on outside rides. He’s hard to read, temperament wise, as he can go from super-cool to super-hot and back to super-cool again within seconds. Woody on the other hand doesn’t seem to get flustered about anything. I mulled things over for a while, wondering whether I could single-handedly teach Qrac to load consistently without getting myself into a giant pickle and making his loading ethic worse.

It didn’t take long for me to decide to get professional help. My trainer had told about Antoine Cloux’s remarkable track record with recalcitrant loaders, so I phoned him up and made an appointment.

Antoine met me at the stables last Thursday. He put Qrac in a Parelli halter (I think that’s what they’re called) attached to a long rope, and briefly explained his technique. Basically, the horse has to be motivated to go into the trailer, he must consider the trailer as a refuge from anything unpleasant happening outside. Of course, typically, Qrac followed Antoine into the trailer like a puppy dog from the word go! However, he wasn’t particularly motivated to stay inside the trailer despite the carrots and random other treats on offer, and soon began to try to back out, whereupon Antoine applied a steady pressure on the rope, holding it quite high, which Qrac clearly found slightly uncomfortable. As soon as Qrac took a step forwards, Antoine immediately relaxed the pressure. Thus began a “conversation” of backwards and forwards between Antoine and my horse. When Qrac insisted that he really preferred to be outside the van, Antoine told him that was perfectly fine, but that he’d soon find out that life was far more pleasant inside.

Antoine never did anything hectic or violent. He never got loud or bad-tempered. All he did was wave the rope a bit, urging Qrac to move around him in a circle, making him cross his hind legs. Less than a minute later, he asked Qrac to follow him back into the van. Qrac went in happily, staying there a little longer this time before deciding to back out again, whereupon Antoine repeated the entire process. Before the hour was up, Qrac was going in and out of the trailer by himself, and once inside, staying there quite happily.

Antoine told me to never let my horse stop behind the trailer, to always lead him up to the van from a good distance away at a determined pace and to not turn to look at him (I tend to start off at a determined pace, then start worrying about whether or not my horse is actually going to follow me in, turn to try and determine what frame of mind he’s in, then find myself floundering at the base of the ramp with a prancing horse in one hand and a carrot in the other). I must believe he’s going to go in there without making a fuss.

Before Antoine left, he made me have to go. I took a deep breath, then set off at a decided pace only to hesitate for a nano-second at the base of ramp simply because I’d misjudged the trajectory and realised that Qrac was headed for the wrong, far too narrow side of the trailer (we’d opened the middle partition so it was wider for him). Qrac immediately balked, danced around the side of the ramp, whereupon I was told to lead him away from the van and start all over again. “Don’t hesitate,” Antoine encouraged. “Just go for it.”

This time I got it right. I’m not sure Qrac would have stayed in the van alone while I exited via the side-door and locked the bar under his tail, but the hour was up and it was time for Antoine to go.

I took Qrac to the farrier that afternoon. He loaded easily, but I doubt I could have thrown the rope over his neck and told him to go into the van by himself, so I’ve asked Antoine to come back in a couple of weeks for another session. I’ve also asked him whether he might be able to help me with Qrac’s annoying habit of suddenly spinning up and sideways on trail rides. He’s been doing it more often recently, and I don’t like it at all, especially when I can't see anything spooky in sight. Antoine seemed quite confident he could help me with this by provoking the up and sideways spinning in the arena, so we’ll see. I hope it helps.

Do you have any special tips for getting horses to load easily? How about for horses that suddenly spin sideways on trail rides? Antoine told me I needed to concentrate on his getting him to keep moving his hind legs, which makes perfect sense, but depending on the circumstances is easier said than done! I’d love you to share your tips and experiences with me. Thanks for listening.

Random Joy

by Laura Crum

Lately it seems like at least half my favorite horse blogs are written by endurance riders. I love the descriptions of the rides and all those photos of “ears” in front of striking scenery. And they all seem like such nice people. If I were younger and not so burned out on long hours in the saddle (I spent my 20’s and 30’s mostly on a horse), I’d take up endurance myself, if only for the social aspect. (Even though I’m something of a hermit in real life.)

But I am old and stout and I have paid my dues on many all day rides of various sorts (not endurance), and I like my sedate little two hour trail rides just fine, thank you very much. In fact, despite the fact that what I am doing now (horsewise) seems pretty tame compared to the ranching, roping, cutting, horse packing…etc of my youth, I am having as much or more fun with my horses today than I ever have in my life.

I like the freedom I feel, and the complete absence of anxiety. I like to ride along in a relaxed frame of mind, enjoying the scenery and the company of my son. I love my steady, unflappable little yellow mule, though he is a far cry from the much more athletic horses I competed on those many years ago.

So no endurance for me—though I tell myself that I am sort of a mini-endurance rider—after all we’re all folks who enjoy trail riding, right? I just don’t like trail riding until I’m exhausted (!)

But I do love getting “outside” on my horse, and when weather and life cooperate, I’m out on the trails two or three days a week. Last night I started looking for some photos of myself trail riding to post on the blog—as I always enjoy the photos that others post of themselves out on the trail. I particularly enjoy the “ride photos” showing the intrepid endurance rider and mount cruising through dramatic scenery (like the last set Funder posted links to on her "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" blog—breathtaking!). So I tried to find some photos of myself and Sunny out in the hills.

Well, there aren’t that many photos of me it turns out—because I am the one taking the photos, usually. Thus photos of Sunny are mostly of his ears. The most recent photos of myself and my mount that I could find are from last summer and fall. And they are a far cry from elegant “ride photos”. No professional photographer was handy. But anyway…

So here’s Sunny and me and my son and Henry in September—taken when my husband hiked with us. I am busy talking to my husband and paying no attention to what I look like on the horse—so yes, my hand is way too high.

And here’s one taken by my son last summer. Look at Sunny’s mane. Funder and White Horse Pilgrim, I think it rivals Dixie’s and Brena’s.

And yes, I know—no helmet. This was before my conversion to helmet-hood. I do wear the helmet now. And yes, I ride in Ugg boots. Works for me. Note the little flames on Sunny’s breast collar. I would not have chosen these (Aarene and Funder), but my horse Plumber won this breast collar in a roping contest, so of course I have to use it.

Looking at these photos, I realize that they were both taken on one of my favorite rides. This is a logging road that runs through a redwood forest on private land. The property is next door to my uncle’s small horse ranch and we have permission to ride there. It’s an up and back, not a loop, but I have been riding on this road for over thirty years and I know every bend and every tree. The road takes you up to the top of the ridge, and then, unless you get permission to ride on some other private land, you come back down. Going to the top of the ridge and back takes between one and two hours, depending on how fast you go. In my twenties, I would lope the whole way up on Gunner. It was great fun. Now we mostly walk and trot.

Here are a few more photos that show what a pretty little dirt road this is. Below you see my son on Henry and our friend Wally on Twister, headed up the hill. My son is objecting to being photographed—I think he’s been reading too much Calvin and Hobbes (!)

And here I am following Wally and my kid out of the forest and into the big meadow that borders my uncle’s place.

Here’s the ubiquitous ear photo as Sunny and I reach the top of the ridge.

Here’s my favorite photo—even though it is blurry. (I have a hard time taking sharp pictures from my horse’s back.) But you can see my favorite stretch of the road with my kid trotting down it—isn’t it pretty?

We only ride here in the summer and fall—since it is a north slope mostly in shade, it doesn’t dry out in the winter and spring and the ground there is very slick when it is wet. So I haven’t been there since the day my husband took the first photo in this post—which was September, I think. Usually the earliest we can ride there is June, and we’re almost never up there past October.

Its been raining a lot for the last week or two, so I haven’t been out on the trails at all for awhile. But looking at these photos makes me feel happy. I’ve had so much fun riding on this little road through the woods over the years. I look forward to getting back up there this summer.

And, on another joyful note, my 5^th book, Slickrock, is now up on Kindle for 99 cents, This has always been the reader favorite of all my books, and today I’m gonna give it a little plug. Folks, if you like horses and trail riding, you will like this book. It’s the least mystery-like of my novels, so even if mysteries are not your thing, I think you’ll like it. The whole story takes place in the course of a mountain pack trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, and its more of an adventure than a mystery. It works just fine as a stand-alone, so even if you’ve got no interest in reading my mystery series, give Slickrock a try for 99 cents (if you read on Kindle). Here is the link.

OK, I’ll quit with the shameless promotion now.

The Value of Friendship

Friendship, true friendship, is really an interesting phenomenon. Philosophers for hundreds, even thousands of years have pondered both the simplicity and the complexity of friendship. Like love, friendship is equally essential and problematic. Very few of us, if any, can exist as an island, with no element of friendship in our lives.

All of us have friends, some more than others, but like most things that matter it is in the quality not the quantity that matters. So what draws friends together, purpose, usefulness, common interest, chemistry or something much more intangible? Friendships are often born out of interesting, if not even strange circumstances. Michele Scott and I became friends because of problems with another trainer and her daughter's pony that precipitated her moving her horses to my facility. Was that just a friendship of need and convenience? Now several years later, Michele and I are like sister's talking nearly every day and our friendship is now more like family.

I have discovered over the years that most horse people share a kinship, if not a full blown friendship, with hardly knowing each other. How many times have you struck up a conversation with a stranger at a feed store and within minutes you are conversing like old friends. Friendship of common interest? Yes, but is the instant bond more. I think that there is some undiscovered common gene thread connecting horse people in specific and to animal lovers in general. How many of you have numerous photos of any number of horses or other pets saved on your phone and will gleefully show them off to a total stranger in an airport, or supermarket, or doctor's waiting room, when you realize you both have animals. Friendship of common insanity? Perhaps.

I also count many 4 legged beings as friends, pretty much on the same plain, or even higher, than my human friends. Just this past weekend, I saw a horse that I trained many years ago at a horse show. He looked me straight in the eye, nickered and then begged for treats and a rub as if I had seen him yesterday.

How about you? How do you define friendship and how important of a role does it play in your life? I have been blessed with many close, long term friendships and I know that they are people who love me and have my back unconditionally. That, combined with a close family, makes me doubly blessed. Although I am often frustrated with my fellow humans and sometimes think that they are not the best example of humanity, I still value their existence and cherish the special ones, 2 legged and 4 legged, I have in my life. What do you think??

Barnstorming by Laura Crum

Yes, I am reviewing our own Laura's newest mystery. I have been reading and writing mysteries since my first short story in Highlights, "Dusty's Disappearance," was published in 1984 (I was only two years old. And if you believe that I have a sound, bombproof horse to sell you.) Sixteen Nancy Drew and ten other mysteries for kids later, including the Edgar nominated Shadow Horse, I am still excited to discover a new mystery author. Even though Laura is a friend I have gotten to know via blogging and the internet, I had never read any of her books in the Gail McCarthy series. Shame on me!

Laura writes in her Author's Note "Many people have asked if Gail is "me" (others just assume it.) The answer is mixed." Well, I will admit right away, the best thing for me about Barnstorming is despite the fact that I live in Virginia and Gail/Laura lives in California, as I was reading I felt as if I was spending time with Laura, her horses, her friends and her family. I have only been in California once, but Laura's descriptions helped me be there. "The eucalyptus trees were light and airy, compared to redwoods or oaks. They were slender, towering high, moving in the slightest breeze. Light slanted between them; the ground was carpeted with long shreds of their pinkish, peeling bark, dried lance-like yellow leaves, and their small hard blue cones."

Descriptions like this are better than a photograph to someone who loves words. The main character, Gail, (like Laura) also does not hesitate to express her opinions and her love for horses and family. And of course, Laura gets the horse details right in her book. Something not all writers do, which irks the heck out of people like me.

The mystery also moved along nicely (I won't give anything away) with suspense in the right places. " . . the bright red blood splotching the small hole in her chest gave the answer. My heart pounded; I could feel a strange rushing in my ears." And Jeri Ward, a detective with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department, would make a nice spin-off character.

So next stormy day, when you can't ride or garden, and you want to curl up with a good mystery, Barnstorming is the perfect pick.

Next blog I will review another mystery Scrapbook of Secrets which is as far from California and horses as I can get!

Finding a Been-There-Done-That Broke Horse

by Laura Crum

A recent post on a popular horse blog featured the statement—“Its easy to say that a beginner needs to ride a 12 year old been-there-done-that horse. Good luck finding that one.” This statement made me roll my eyes and laugh out loud. I am one of the folks who is always advocating that beginners need to ride older been-there-done-that horses. And guess what? I do know where to find them. If said blogger would like to learn, I’m happy to share.

First off, you can’t have your heart set on twelve. Many of the horses that will fit your needs are older than that. I bought my son’s horse as a 19 year old, and Henry is still going strong at 24. The main thing you want is sound and gentle—and certain sorts of arthritic problems, such as bone spavin, can be tolerated.

There are certain “pools” of horses that offer many good older horses for beginners. One of the best is team roping horses. Now if you’re an English rider, you may think this tip won’t work for you, but you’d be wrong.

Remember we’re talking beginner horse here, or horse for an older re-rider with fear issues. We’re talking babysitter. We are not talking something that you are going to win a dressage contest on, or a hunt seat class, or a three day event. We are talking about a horse that can teach a kid to ride well enough that said kid might be able to move up to a horse that COULD be competitive at these events. But you have to learn to ride first—without getting so badly hurt or scared that you don’t want to ride any more. And this is where your older bombproof horse is invaluable.

Team roping horses are good bets for a wide variety of reasons. The biggest one is that in order to become a solid, competitive team roping horse, the horse has to be able to handle a lot. You name me another event where the horse must stand flat footed in an open space until signaled, then run as hard as he can, staying focused on the object (the steer), make a sudden turn, tolerate the whirling ropes, erratic cattle, hard jerks…etc, and then walk off (well, most of the good ones walk off). It’s a lot of adversity, and if a horse can put up with all that, there’s not much that rattles him. Now this is a generalization, of course. There are plenty of dingy team roping horses, just as there are dingy horses in all disciplines. But there is a very high proportion of unflappable bombproof horses among the older team roping horses I have known.

Also, since team roping requires that a horse run hard…etc, a team roping horse may be retired from roping if a kind-hearted owner feels he just isn’t up to this work any more—and the horse may still be quite sound enough for light riding. My son’s horse, Henry, is perfectly sound. He was retired because he was 19, not as fast as he had been, and the owner didn’t want to break him down. This scenario is not uncommon.

Team roping horses are mostly QH’s or QH types, and such horses are often pretty laid back and steady. I do not mean that all QH’s are this way. Certain lines are ridiculously flighty. But these “airhead” types are not the sort of QH’s that mostly become rope horses. Rope horses tend to HAVE to be mentally tough—or they just don’t make it.

Anyway, this is the place I would start, if I wanted to find my next been-there-done-that horse. And yes, this is exactly how I acquired Sunny and Henry, the two bombproof geldings my son and I use for trail riding. And neither horse was terribly expensive—both horses have stayed sound.

Now the fact is that I know a lot of team ropers, and if you don’t, you may be saying that its all very well for me to talk, but how is someone else supposed to find these horses? My answer would be to look for western trainers in your area and ask them if they know any team ropers. Keep asking until you get the names and contact info of some ropers. Contact them and ask if they know of any older, sound, gentle rope horses, suitable for a beginner. And if they don’t know of anything like that, can they give you contact info for someone who might. Keep on persisting in this fashion. Persistence is key.

I would not be too excited if the western trainer wanted to sell me someone’s old show horse. Not that these are never a good bet, but such would not be my first choice. I am also not very keen on buying a horse through someone who is making a commission on the deal (trainers usually are).

When looking for your “bombproof” horse, be aware that no horse is perfect. My son’s horse, Henry, is pretty close to perfect, but he is lazy and has the bad habit of persistently snatching at vegetation. My Sunny horse is genuinely bombproof—he’s also strong minded, and inclined to testing for dominance—lazy and rough gaited, too. Its best to decide before you set out horse shopping what kind of faults you’ll tolerate. I suggest being tolerant of the lazy horse if you’re looking for a babysitter.

The thing you really need to be clear about is you want a “broke” horse. This does not mean that you need a “well trained” horse. Most team roping horses are broke in the sense I mean. A “broke” horse is a horse that will do what you tell him, even under pressure. Sometimes the horse only understands pretty crude signals (this is true of many rope horses), but he stays obedient when the going gets tough (or scary, or whatever). That’s broke.

A broke horse may spook, but he’ll stop when you pull on the reins—he won’t bolt. A broke horse may crowhop playfully when he feels good, but you can pull his head up and holler at him and he’ll quit—he won’t bog his head and buck you off. A broke horse may balk if he doesn’t like the look of something, but he won’t rear or spin or bolt away. And in the end he will follow your directions, though sometimes you might have to be firm, persistent and patient. A broke horse may jig a little but he remains under control. That’s broke.

A “well trained” horse of any discipline is one who has been taught to be responsive to the aids. Such a horse gives his head, and moves easily off cues from your leg or seat. A well trained horse is (often) a pleasure to ride, but what the beginner or anxious rider NEEDS is a broke horse of a laid back temperment. Its best to keep this clearly in mind when horse shopping. Many great been-there-done-that horses, perfect for your use, are not all that well trained and respond somewhat sluggishly to the aids. But they are broke in the sense that counts (Sunny and Henry are in this category).

In general, sensitive, reactive, or hot horses are a poor choice for a beginner/anxious rider, no matter how gentle, well-trained, and broke they are. You want the calm, laid back, stoic, and (usually), somewhat lazy horse. But he has to be broke. Not just ignorant and lazy (such horses cannot be trusted to stay obedient under pressure). Thus team roping horses are a great place to start. They can’t become competitive without getting broke (in the sense I am talking about).

The other great resource when it comes to finding your older-been-there-done-that horse is horses that people have outgrown, or need to sell for various reasons (divorce, death, loss of job…etc). It sounds callous, but my uncle used to say that the first thing he did when he heard a roper had died was to call the widow and ask if she wanted to sell his horses. And the very best been-there-done-that horse of my childhood was a sorrel gelding named Tovy that uncle Todd acquired in just that way. (Tovy was the name of the departed owner).

My friend Wally recently bought a sound, gentle nine year old gelding, absolutely suitable for a beginner (and very cheap) because the owner had lost his job and was behind on the board bill. Wally didn’t actually need another horse, but both he and I figured the horse could come in handy if one of our horses got hurt.

And we bought our pony, Toby, when the neighbor girl outgrew him and moved on to a horse. I saw this pony pack the girl and her friends around for years, and when they told me he was for sale (they could only afford to maintain one equine), I jumped on it. My little boy was five years old and getting too big to ride with me on my horse. Toby was twenty and perfectly sound (and very inexpensive). And Toby taught my son to be a competent, confident rider—in two short years. Yes, Toby died of cancer at twenty-two—we only had two years with him. But he was perfectly sound the whole time and we rode him on average fours days a week. He was only sick for the last two weeks of his life. Toby gave us a HUGE gift, and if I had it to do over again, I’d do exactly the same thing.

So, look for good older horses that are being sold for a “legitimate” reason—due to no fault of their own. They are out there.

And finally, a lameness issue that is a stopper in a competitive rope horse can be not a problem in a horse used for light riding. My friend Wally’s six year old blue roan gelding, Smoky, was injured such that the vets said he would never be sound enough to be a team roping horse again. Wally gave the gentle, well trained Smoky to some friends of ours who spent a year rehabbing the horse. Smoky is now eight years old, sound at the trot on soft ground (will bob a little on rough ground on his “bad” side) and is used for walk trot work with beginning riders and short trail rides on good ground. They LOVE this horse. And he was free.

Some of you may remember that about three years ago I was trying to find a home for a rope horse that belonged to my uncle. Harley was a been-there-done-that twelve year old gelding (I’m not kidding—he really was twelve), who had suffered a suspensory tear. He’d been rehabbed and returned to rope horse work and reinjured himself. My uncle rehabbed Harley again—a year later Harley was sound and my uncle wanted to give him to a home as a light riding horse. I had a friend who was very timid and had not ridden since she was a teenager, but she wanted to “get back into horses” and she had an appropriate horse property. Harley was as solid as he could be, but he was not a complete deadhead. I wasn’t sure if it was a good fit. I put this question out on the blog and most people said to give it a try. So I did.

Three years later I am happy to say that this has been an absolutely wonderful success story. My friend went from being so timid that she wouldn’t even handle the horse without her instructor being present to someone who told me yesterday (with a grin a mile wide) that she had saddled and ridden Harley on a breezy day when he was “feeling good”, all by herself. Not only no one with her, but no one on the property at all. She said both she and the horse had a blast. How’s that for a happy ending? And contrast this to the sad stories we’ve all heard where the person buys a younger, greener horse, gets hurt or scared, and the joy in horses is diminished or gone forever. And again, Harley was free.

So, yes, dear fellow horse blogger, beginners or anxious riders do indeed need to get that older been-there-done-that horse. And those horses ARE out there and they are often very reasonably priced. More than that, many of them need that good forever home as much as the gentle rider needs their steady nature. You don’t even need good luck to find them, just persistence and a little common sense.

OK—climbing off my soapbox now. All comments on this subject are welcome.

Horseless in Shelton

It's been a busy weeked for me. I planned on writing megawords on my latest novel, but I only wrote 300 words all weekend. I did mow the lawn for the first time since last fall. Of course, the lawn is all moss so it was hard to see where I'd mowed.

The other chore I had this weekend was haul my horse back to my former trainer's place. She'd going to breed her this spring.

Saturday morning, I hooked up the trailer and caught Gailey. Expecting her to give me problems when I loaded her, I'm happy to report she loaded easily within a few minutes after some token resistance.

Now she's gone.

My husband couldn't wait to get rid of her. I somewhat felt the same way. After all, having a horse on the property cramped our style. We couldn't go off on a trip at the drop of a hat, or come home late from work whenever we pleased. So now we're free...

We went to a hockey game last night. When we got home, Hubbie ran to the barn to check on the horse. No Horse.

Oh, yeah, she's gone.

I woke up this AM later than usual. Gotta run out and feed the horse. Wait, no horse.

We should have been happy. Instead, it was like a part of our life was missing. When I sat in my library, I can usually look out on the horse pasture, but again, no horse.

It's a weird feeling when you've adjusted your life around a horse, and she's no longer a part of it. I'm sure we'll adjust, but it'll take a while. We both miss her. It's like a part of our lives is missing, and actually it is.

She'll be back in the future, so for now, we'll try to appreciate our freedom, even as we miss her.

Good Horse Books for Kids!

by Laura Crum

Since my eleven year old son is a voracious reader, and he has a horse and loves him, horse books are very high on our priority list. We’ve read quite a few of them over the years, some of them written by authors from our very own blog. So today I want to talk about some of our favorites. And I’m going to start out with our “home” authors.

The first book we read that was written by one of our authors was Linda Benson’s “The Horse Jar”. My kid had seen this book on the sidebar of our blog, and thought it looked interesting. Linda very kindly sent him a signed copy (a big thrill). We read it together, and we both really enjoyed it. The characters were very believable and the story was one that a 9-10 year old could totally relate to. I loved the basic storyline, which shows a child making a very mature, loving, but difficult choice. My son is still very fond of this book.

Then, more recently, Alison came out with “Risky Chance” in the Horse Diaries series (this series is written by different authors, the common elements being the theme—books from a horse’s point of view set in different periods of history—and the excellent illustrations by Ruth Sanderson). My kid had wanted to try these books for a while (they were featured in the Chinaberry catalog—one of our favorite catalogs), so we ordered “Risky Chance.” This one my son read on his own, and reviewed here on the blog. I also read it, and really enjoyed it, particularly the setting (Southern California TB racing during the Depression). At this point my son became a Horse Diaries fan, and Alison very kindly sent us a signed copy of her other Horse Diaries title, “Bell’s Star.” The book is set in New England in the 1800’s and deals with a runaway slave and a Morgan horse-- we both liked that one a lot, too. Again, this was a book my kid read on his own and it kept his interest right until the end. Alison’s knowledge and love of horses really shines in both of these books. Now we’re busy acquiring the rest of the series.

Most recently, I ordered Alison’s book, “Gabriel’s Horses”, because after reading about it on her website, it seemed like it would make a perfect start to doing a “unit” on the Civil War. As a homeschooling mom, I am always looking for books that will provide a good prop for learning about something. And “Gabriel’s Horses” did not disappoint.

Set in Kentucky during the Civil War, the book is about a slave boy who wants to become a jockey. Gabriel is about my own son’s age, and the story painted a vivid portrait of what his life was like. We read the book chapter by chapter, with exercises (provided by me) of mapping the Confederate and Union States…etc. The book was GREAT—really kept both of us interested, gave you the feeling and many facts about the Civil War and slavery, without being too horrifying (which many books—even kid’s books—about this war are, because it was a truly horrifying event in terms of suffering). I recommended it to the teacher who leads our homeschool group, and she is going to read it to the whole group of kids next year. Again, the horse element was very well portrayed.

That covers the children’s books we’ve read so far by authors from the EI blog, though I’m sure we will be reading more. Certainly the second and third books in the Gabriel trilogy, and possibly Linda’s new book, if we ever start reading ebooks or it comes out in paper. So far we read only paper books, but who knows what the future will hold.

We have, of course, read many of the old classics—just finished “Black Beauty”, which is still a great read. Read “The Black Stallion,” which was well liked, and “The Island Stallion”, which I loved as a child, but my kid was not as enthralled by it as I was. We read my personal favorite, “Smoky the Cowhorse,” again, not as big a hit with my kid as it was with me. Maybe he needs to be older. Misty of Chincoteague was well received, also another childhood favorite of mine, Elizabeth Goudge’s “The Little White Horse.” I thought about reading “My Friend Flicka”, but when I reread it myself to preview it, I decided no, it’s just too dark. Maybe in awhile. Same verdict on Steinbeck’s “The Red Pony.”

So, there are a few good kid’s books about horses. Anyone want to chime in with your own favorites?