It's been months since I posted on the blog! I think it's time... Actually, I was reminded by two things. First, I received an order for a copy of A Life With Horses from a cousin I have not seen in years. Then, when I was cleaning up my desk, I came upon a letter from a friend I don't see that much either, a letter she wrote to me after she read A Life With Horses.
"I felt I was 'there' in your narratives," she writes. "Mind - that also meant there were moments when I was reduced to quiet weeping... a testimony of the love we have for our dearest friend, the horse."
Yes, indeed, that's what A Life With Horses is about - the connection I have, and that my readers feel, to horses as they emerse themselves in tales of both joy and sorrow. My friend already knows that. She, like I, cares for her horses better than she cares for herself and always first. I think of that now as I carry water to my stallion five times a day because the water bowl has frozen and it's -30. I think of that as I take my senior mare to the barn so she does not have to face the elements. And then I think back to that part of the book where I wrote about riding to school in this kind of weather. It was more than love I felt for my horse then - it was respect and deep, deep gratitude for without those tough little horses, I may well have perished.
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| Dressed for winter riding 1959 Saskatchewan |
A Life With Horses helps me keep in touch - in touch with friends and family and in touch with the kind of people who value the courage, heart and soul of their horses. That alone makes writing the book worth while.
