The third edition of my book "Horses for Dummies" has just come out, and I'm feeling inspired. I wrote the first edition 20 years ago after spending a few years watching new horse owners struggle at a boarding stable in Southern California. These were people who had wanted a horse their entire lives, and when they finally realized their dream, they often found themselves overwhelmed. I couldn't find a book written specifically for adults who were new to horses. I thought the For Dummies format would be perfect for a book aimed at helping these new equestrians.

Twenty years later, "Horses for Dummies" has sold around 200,000 copies. What's interesting is that I have only heard personally from two of those 200,000 readers. One wrote to tell me that she didn't like my description of the history of the Morgan horse. Another wrote to thank me for talking her out of adding a horse to her life!

Of course Amazon has since made it possible for authors to see how readers feel about their tomes. Most of the reviews for Horses for Dummies have been glowing. I do have an occasional complaint, and I tried to take these into condition when updating the most recent edition.

After recentlyHorses for Dummies spending weeks working on the update of "Horses for Dummies," I spent some well-earned time with my two horses, Rio and Milagro. I'll tell you more about them in future blogs. :-)