I think it was Winston Churchill who said, "There's something about the outside of a horse that's good for the inside of a man."  Anyone who's spent some time around horses knows this to be true.  Horses represent beauty and power; horses represent unbridled spirit.  In my new novel, Dream of Night, I write part of the story from a horse's perspective.  And it's not just any horse I write about.  It's a Thoroughbred.  A champion among champions.  A racehorse.  Once upon a time.  When we first meet Night he's a long way from what he once was.  He's nothing but skin and bones, having been starved nearly to death.  His body is nearly broken, from abuse, from neglect.  But it's his spirit that remains true, even when his body has nearly given up.  I've never known a horse exactly like Night.  But I've heard stories, I've seen pictures.  I've talked to people who spend all their extra time rescuing ex-racehorses -- something I never even knew needed doing until I moved back to my home state of Kentucky.  Why do ex-racehorses need rescuing anyway?  Well, the short answer is:  not every horse that enters a race comes home a winner.  Not by a long shot.  There's an old joke that goes, How do you make a small fortune in horse racing?  The answer:  By starting with a large fortune.  Horse racing is called the "sport of kings," but the sad fact is, it's not a palace that awaits most horses after their days on the track are over.  Keeping a horse is expensive.  It's a big responsibility.  And so each year, thousands of ex-racehorses, end up neglected and abused; thousands end up in "kill pens," which is just as tragic as it sounds.  In researching my novel Dream of Night, I found out there are lots of organizations around the country that help people rescue, adopt, foster or sponsor ex-racehorses.  One of the oldest and most renowned is the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in upstate New York.  I got to know the director of the Kentucky branch, the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center at the KY Horse Park, pretty well.  I learned a lot from her about how abused horses behave, and how with time and care they can be rehabilitated so that they can go on to be somebody's prize eventer -- or just somebody's beloved horse.


Get more on Heather Henson at SimonandSchuster.com