My passion for both horses and writing inspired me to write and illustrate my first book, a self-published children's picture book, The Horses I Love, when I was seven years old. It was about my favorite horses at a barn where I rode at the time. The horses I knew and wrote about then were well cared for and much loved animals.Several years later I wrote another book about horses, Mystery at Silver Key Stables. I wrote this chapter book about stolen horses when I was twelve years old. When I first began writing this story I had no idea that tens of thousands of horses really are stolen in the United States every year and seldom recovered. It is a crime that most often goes unsolved. I discovered, while doing research for the book, that stol
My passion for both horses and writing inspired me to write and illustrate my first book, a self-published children's picture book, The Horses I Love, when I was seven years old. It was about my favorite horses at a barn where I rode at the time. The horses I knew and wrote about then were well cared for and much loved animals.Several years later I wrote another book about horses, Mystery at Silver Key Stables. I wrote this chapter book about stolen horses when I was twelve years old. When I first began writing this story I had no idea that tens of thousands of horses really are stolen in the United States every year and seldom recovered. It is a crime that most often goes unsolved. I discovered, while doing research for the book, that stolen horses can end up at auctions or even slaughter houses. (See Debi Metcalfe, Stolen Horse International/NetPosseCom, for more information).
Some of what I learned while researching my book was very disturbing to me and, consequently, it changed the way I look at my world and all of the horses in it. I began to understand the transitional nature of many horses' lives. Horses typically have several owners in their lifetimes and it is not uncommon for the various owners who sell the horse to have no idea where the horse eventually goes. Sometimes the horse can end up in very sad circumstances. I really wish sometimes that I didn't know about this, but I do. And once you know a thing, it becomes part of you.
I decided that I wanted to write lots of stories (because I love to write) about horses (because I love horses). I hoped that horses could benefit somehow from my writing about them, so my parents helped me to create the Charity Book Series. Every book in my series will be about different horses and their lives. I donate the net proceeds from the sale of each book in the Charity Book Series to charities that help rescue, rehabilitate and provide safe shelter for horses. I pick these charities myself and you can get more information about them on my website. www.alexandragritta.com
For the love of all horses,
Alexandra Joy Gritta
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