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Here is a handy article of advice for writers who don't know as much about horses as the reader might. Even if you do own a horse, you can't know everything about every sport or area of horse ownership, and someone will point up a detail they believe would be harmful or just incorrect. Thanks to Book Cave for the article.https://mybookcave.com/considerations...
Roz Marshall tells me:
I spend most Friday afternoons on our local artificial ski slope, teaching local schoolchildren how to ski. Before that I've spent the morning doing horse chores, putting him out to the field and getting his stable ready for the night.
And then most Friday evenings I spend writing newsletters to you!
The photo above is of the ski slope just outside Edinburgh, and you can see the south side of the city in the background. On a clearer day you'd see across the Firth of Forth to Fife!
The white diamond shapes are like upturned plastic bristles, and it gives a similar sensation to skiing on snow. It lets the local schoolkids learn to ski all year round, so that if they get the chance to go on real snow, they're not beginners any longer. It's actually where I learned myself, and where I passed my first instructor exam!
There are two slopes (this is from about half way down) which lets the groups spread out, and there are also a couple of nursery slopes for those first lessons. It's a great facility!
You may have thought that the life of a writer was glamorous, but I'm afraid that's not the case - not here at least!
As the author of three historical fiction books about horses, "PINTO!," "The Sand Pounder," and the soon-to-be-released title: "The Stallion and His Peculiar Boy," Clare asked me to share some information about researching topics for a book. All three of my books deal with real events that are little known to the world. I will address my work on PINTO! to give you an example of how much work the research part of writing a novel is. I stumbled across Pinto when I was looking to write a blog post about famous horses. Pinto still holds the record for the longest horseback ride in history. He traveled over 20,300 miles during a three-year time period (from 1912 to 1915!) I started digging! For two and a half years I read everything I could find. My research first took me to the National Western and Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City, Ok. I discovered their name in the credits for a photo I found on the internet. I went to the research library at the museum and asked to see their collection of photos of the "Overland Westerners" (the name the four men on the journey called themselves.) They had no idea what I was talking about! I told you, hardly anyone knew about the men or their journey with Pinto. But, after much searching in the deep, dark basement, we found a dusty box filled with pictures of the men and their horses in front of the state capitals as well as some old newspaper articles!
Next, I traveled to Bainbridge Island, WA, the home of two of the Overland Westerners and Pinto, himself. This cute, little museum has a permanent display of their hometown heroes. They also own all the journals that are still in existence that two of the men kept during the long, difficult journey. It was amazing! They gave me copies of all the journals and newspaper articles that they owned as well as rights to use their photos.
Returning home with a wealth of information, I carefully read and organized everything I learned. After reading each journal and taking notes of the highlights, I decided that Pinto, as the only horse to make it the whole way, deserved to tell the story. So "PINTO!" is told from the horse's point of view.
The research is the most fun part of writing Historical Fiction. I get to learn so many new things and pass what I've learned on to my readers.
Of course, the best Historical Fiction books are the ones about horses!
Have fun reading all sorts of genres and especially Historical Fiction!
M.J. Evans, Author
Thank you for digging in and preserving this history.
M.J., this is amazing work, and I'm so glad you did the research. Thanks for telling us your story, because other horse lovers can now get an idea how to go about doing something similar.
Romance author Gayle M. Irwin tells me how she researched for the rescue horses in her ranch settings. "My parents taught me to appreciate nature and wildlife. I also support pet rescue and adoption because of their enjoyment of dogs and cats. My father has also been a horse-lover, and during the past few years, my appreciation and respect for the outdoors grew to include wild horses.
On my drive to Montana last week, I stopped at the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center to hear a talk from filmmaker and author Chad Hanson, who had documented wild horses and the round-ups conducted by the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming.
People also had the opportunity to meet some of the wild horses adopted by people who support the Center, including Wyoming Whisper, a young foal rescued from starvation and death on the Pryor Range in January. Whisper’s mother had died, and without her mother, the foal was also dying. The BLM rescued her and the Center staff adopted her. She is now a thriving young horse, and she was a delight to behold.
I’m grateful I had opportunity to learn more about these magnificent animals! I’ve woven horse adoption into a few of my books, including My Montana Love and Finding Love at Compassion Ranch. I plan to continue that theme in books I’m planning for 2024. I also hope to take my parents to the Wild Mustang Center and to areas at which we can still view wild horses."
Helen Haraldsen tells me:
"As an equestrian author, I’ve made some great connections with others who write about horses and we’ve paired up to offer giveaways of each other’s books: Michelle Holland, Lynne Man and Grace Olson. In June, I made a new connection. Not an author this time, but a business who make educational equestrian soft toys. They are called Crafty Ponies.
Back in June, they were preparing a brand new product line. In addition to their existing ponies, they were in the process of having a new range of smaller toys - foals - made, and these foals will represent nine British native breeds: Fell, Dales, Connemara, Shetland, Exmoor, Dartmoor, New Forest, Welsh and Highland. They thought it would be good to have a short story for each breed to provide some information about them through an adventure they have.
That’s where I come in.
Since June, I’ve been working away on the Crafty Pony ‘My New Baby Foal’ stories. This has involved researching the breeds, writing, liaising with breed societies, redrafting based on feedback from people from the various societies who have kindly read the stories for me and discussing illustration ideas with Karen from CP.
Six of the nine stories are now complete and I’m very excited to reveal that they are being launched at HOYS in two weeks time. At least five of the six (if not all) will be available to buy from the show and direct from Crafty Ponies. The completed stories are: Shetland, Fell, Dales, Connemara, Highland and Exmoor.
I’m currently working on the Dartmoor story, with just New Forest and Welsh still to do. They’ll all be ready in time for Christmas! Perfect gifts for any young native pony enthusiasts!
It’s been a VERY different experience, writing for a business and to a brief, rather than for myself and I’m really enjoying the collaboration."
Link to the Crafty Ponies website.
https://helenharaldsen.us7.list-manag...
Cynthia Terelst tells me,
"How do I come up with my titles?
All of my titles are animal related which gives me a good starting point. I think about the type of story I want to write and then find a saying that fits in with that.
When I wanted to write a royal romance I thought about how I would write one situated in Australia. We don't have royalty here. Centering a story around the game of polo sounded like it would work. Naturally the animal in question would be a horse. I searched for horse sayings on Google. The title that fit best with a royal romance was Get Off Your High Horse."
Heather Wallace has kindly sent me the story of how she wrote the bio-autobio of a Paralympic dressage champion, Sydney Collier. You can read it on her website's blog page.
Heather tells me:
"There has been a lot going on this summer. The kids are home, so I’m basically an Uber. But, after two years of hard work, I’m excited to announce the release of Beyond Expectations: An Extraordinary Equestrian Journey from Deadly Diagnosis to the Paralympic Games by Sydney Collier and Heather Wallace.
I paired up with my buddy Syd, a two-time Paralympic Dressage Team member and all around amazing person to write her memoir. Want to know how that came about? I wrote an entire blog post around it."
https://timidrider.com/beyond-expecta...
Sydney Collier
Beyond Expectations: An Extraordinary Equestrian Journey from Deadly Diagnosis to the Paralympic Games
Natalie Keller Reinert tells me in her newsletter that she was interviewed for People magazine. 
You can read this interview on their website. There are the usual posed photos of the author, not many horses. But her books are about horses and she describes the horse work throughout her life which I have recognised from the Eventing series.
https://people.com/natalie-reinart-lo...
Cressida Burton describes in her latest newsletter how she did some practical research. 
"The other news is that a fortnight ago I visited the Disney ranch in Florida. Not only that but I achieved a lifelong ambition and rode western style!
The Tri-Circle-D Ranch at their Fort Wilderness Resort is known to be one of Disney's hidden gems, and, as we were in the area, we just had to check it out. It's a fully working ranch split over two sites; one where all the Disney horses are stabled and the other where you can go on trail rides. Well, when in Orlando... I just had to!
Now, I've never ridden western style and, yikes, was it different from English. Both reins in the left hand - not held between the ring and pinkie finger either - and with that same hand resting on the horse's neck. The right hand is on the horn at the front of the saddle. Steering and brakes were quite simple. Both reins far over to the left to go left, t'other way to go right, and pulled back to slow down or stop. Stirrups are worn extreeemely long. Having been taught to ride in a very classical English style, I found it very strange to ride almost leaning forward and with no contact at all.
I'm hoping this experience will be invaluable in helping me write realistic western riding scenes for my characters Teal, Fallon and Beck."
The best research is lived research!Roxanne Rustand tells me in her newsletter about her background which makes her books solid. Anyone wanting to keep up with Roxanne would, I am sure, be welcome to sign up to her newsletter.
"I often set my books in the contemporary West, and I think I started my general research when I was six years old. My dad bought me an elderly mare and bridle for $75.00. From then on, I was on horseback constantly unless I had to be in school or my parents had other plans.
I grew up riding bareback throughout our part of the county with my horse-owning friends. We played Civil War or Cowboys. We were little girls in pigtails, racing across meadows, following every gravel road we could find, and swimming our horses in the nearby lake. It was a magical childhood, before the time when parents became afraid to let their kids out of sight.
When I was a little older, I loved riding during heavy Minnesota snowfalls and loping across snow-drifted fields. What a magical world that was—though now I look back and can only be thankful that my guardian angel was working overtime.
Eventually, I grew up to raise, train, and show my own horses. Later, after Joe and I married, we began raising quarter horses and later on, thoroughbreds…and I also have relatives who raised cattle. That—and all of our travels out West—proved to be helpful research for writing the contemporary romantic suspense series (Montana Secrets) that I set on ranches in the West.
Some of my childhood horses--and even the many pets our kids had while growing up—have even appeared in my books.
Cherokee, for instance. He was a huge, seventeen-hand Thoroughbred-Clydesdale cross, with the height and color pattern of a Budweiser horse—with a broad white blaze and white socks—and personality to burn.
Tall as he was, he would lie down and shimmy under the pasture fence to escape, and he did that on a regular basis despite my dad’s efforts to improve the fence. Cherry liked to go sightseeing at night, and he was particularly fascinated by houses and the people inside.
One night, he wandered a mile away. A couple looked out their window and saw an eerie white form with glowing eyes “floating” outside their window.
Terrified that they were seeing an alien, they called the sheriff, and several patrol cars soon arrived with lights and sirens…only to find Cherokee standing on their rose bushes and watching them through their window. Some of Cherry's adventures appeared in one of my novels.
People are almost always delighted to talk about their lives and careers, and there’s nothing like those interviews for adding personality to a fictional character. The local sheriff and firefighters. Doctors. Private investigators. Fingerprint analysts. Attorneys. And of course, there’s incredible research to be found on the internet.
I also love setting books in other places, like small towns in the North Woods of Wisconsin and Minnesota. But each time I start a book involving ranches and a hero wearing a Stetson, I feel like I’ve come home again."
Horse lover Brittney Joy tells me about her writing start. Anyone wanting to find out more about Brittney can subscribe to her e-newsletter, where the article and photos appeared.
"The first photo (above) is seventeen-year-old me with my first horse, Austie. She was a Quarter Horse/Saddlebred cross and a sassy little spitfire. She carried me down thousands of trails and through plenty of show pens. She taught me patience, the pride of hard work, and made me into the horse-woman I am today. She had a perfect, white heart on her forehead... which was fitting as she was my heart.
The second photo is a current picture of me and my two big-babies--Cheli (Friesian/QH/Thoroughbred gelding) and Stella (Paint mare) who live in my backyard and are properly spoiled. I still love to trail ride and compete. I show Cheli in Cowboy Dressage and take both horses to explore the State Parks of Oregon as well as the beautiful Northwest beaches.
The (above) photos were taken about 20 years apart... but my love and appreciation of horses has only grown. I'm so grateful for their presence in my life. I couldn't imagine what my life would look like without horses.
I often get asked how I got into writing fiction. Really, it was my love of horses that started my love of reading & ultimately inspired me to write my first novel.
Before I had a horse of my own, I used to devour any horse book I could get my hands on. In particular, I loved The Thoroughbred Series by Joanna Campbell. In middle school, my best friend and I read the series together and couldn't get enough of it. After reading those books, I knew that one day I wanted to write a similar series... something featuring friendship, first loves, and (of course) horses & horse-adventures!
Fast forward to my early thirties... I was between jobs and took advantage of that time to write the first draft of my first book, Lucy's Chance (Red Rock Ranch, book 1). I wrote the first draft in about three months, but then started a new full time job and took about the next year to revise and edit that manuscript. That book then blossomed into a three-book young adult series following a sixteen year old girl named Lucy during her summer working as a stablehand on a ranch. And, this series holds a very special place in my heart because it really reminds me of my childhood."
Bridget E. Baker aka B. E. Baker has kindly updated me on her handsome and much-loved horse Denver, who turns twenty this month. She has written a book about Denver's health issues and treatment, and wants other horse lovers to know they can take a chance on helping their injured horses. Anyone wishing to keep up with Bridget's news can subscribe to her e-newsletter, or visit her online store to take up her offers. This section is not for promotions generally.
"Poor Denver. About a month ago he pulled up sore. It was right after our new jumper, Brinkley, also injured herself. If you have experience with horses, you may not think this is SO strange, that someone with 9 horses would wind up with two who are suffering with a similar issue. I'm hearing from lots of horse friends that they've had the same bizarre thing happen. (Brinkley injured her high suspensory, got Renovo, rest, shock wave, and wraps. She'll be rehabbing for a while.)
And then shortly after Brinkley got sore, DENVER did, too. I was nervous, because the slight "off" stride was in his hind legs, but thankfully it was his left leg that looked the worst. (His right is where his big surgery/repair was.)
One thing I haven't talked a lot about is that right after we bought Denver, seven years ago, he had inflamed and chronically sore high suspensories. That was an easy diagnosis (relatively speaking), though it was an expensive repair. We had an MRI done to confirm that it was chronic and not an acute tear, and then he had a neurectomy on both hind legs. That's a surgery where they clip the nerves to his inflamed high suspensory tendon, because inflammation isn't something that gets worse, and it gave him relief. That surgery worked great, and he came back totally sound and happy.
But...
Apparently after enough time has passed, the nerves sometimes regrow, so I should have known our wonder horse would "heal up" eventually. It appears that almost seven years after that surgery, his nerves to his high chronically inflamed suspensory have regrown. They're still inflamed, but instead of redoing the MRI and surgery (which has higher risks for older horses, because it requires double sedation, and getting the horse down and up again before and after is risky), so this time around, we decided to treat him less aggressively. We've been treating his legs every day with something called Runner's Relief, and wrapping them. We've given him a month of rest so far, and we're doing shock wave therapy to help the ligament heal. He'll be on complete rest for at least another month before we try to bring him back with hand-walking, etc. He's getting shock waved more, and we may wind up using Renovo on him as well.
All that to say we aren't riding Denver right now, so that might make it his best birthday ever. (That's mostly a joke. Denver actually likes being ridden, especially on trail rides.) If our less aggressive treatment doesn't work, we may retire Denver to be a trails-only horse, which he would be fine with. (His girl Tessa would be disappointed as she enjoys jumping with him in the back yard!)
BUT what's the big news for you?
If you have followed along with my e-mails about Denver over the years, you already know that he had a catastrophic trailer-loading accident several years ago. He spooked and shot back on his back legs, knocking his "scutum" or cartilage off the back of his right leg. Instead of putting him down as we were advised, we decided to pay for and deal with a risky and expensive experimental surgery (experimental for the purpose we used it on with Denver) to try and fix his injury. We beat the odds, and it worked, beautifully! I recently wrote a book about the whole thing. If you like heartfelt memoirs (this one is told from my POV and from Denver's!) then you might love Denver the (not so) Great.
My memoir about Denver is now out in a beautiful, SPECIAL edition paperback as well. It's full color, with a beautiful red-foiled edge and a red-foiled cover. It's full of color pictures and they're all from our lives with Denver. It comes with a sticker and a foiled bookmark."
This is an extract from the newsletter of Denise Hunter, who had an enviable time researching. To see her photos and keep up with her news, readers can subscribe to her e-newsletter. 
"More Than Friends will be on shelves April 14, and I can’t wait to take you to Chincoteague Island through the power of story! It’s truly one of the most charming little coastal towns I’ve ever visited (or researched!). Nestled along Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Chincoteague is known for its breathtaking marsh views, oyster boats, colorful sunsets, and close-knit community life. It’s the kind of place where everyone knows your name… and your history. Which makes for some delicious tension when Jenna returns home and finds herself face-to-face with her childhood best friend, Tyson.
Of course, no trip to Chincoteague would be complete without its famous wild ponies. These hardy little horses roam nearby Assateague Island and have captured hearts for generations—especially during the annual Pony Swim, when local “saltwater cowboys” (yes, that’s a real thing!) gently guide the ponies across the channel to Chincoteague. These modern-day cowboys are volunteer firefighters who’ve been carrying on this beloved tradition for one hundred years. There’s something so romantic about a town that honors its history, protects its wild beauty, and still believes in community—and it made the perfect backdrop for a story about second chances, old friendships, and love that refuses to give up."
British author Helen Haraldsen tells me in her newsletter that she is involving school children in writing a book about a native pony breed. This sounds like a fascinating project.The Fell Pony is a good-sized English pony built to carry people and loads across rough mountainous country. Their natural colour is black. A smaller version is called the Dales Pony and some shows would have classes for Fell and Dales.
Take up the story, Helen!
"I’ve been really busy with author visits this year, which is amazing, and I’m loving working on my new book which is all about Fell ponies!
It took me 15 years to get my first book (about a Fell pony) published so it seems fitting that I’m returning to the topic for my fifteenth book. This one is a collection of short stories told in verse. Some are about the breed in general - their heritage, historic uses, legends, qualities etc, and some are about specific real-life ponies. As you know, I love writing about real animals and it’s been a brilliant experience collecting a range of Fell pony stories from owners. Some are heart-warming, some are funny and some are dramatic. My hope is that, as a collection, they show off the breed’s brilliance, from their hardiness and amazing temperament to their versatility.
Cumbria’s native pony breed is now classed as ‘at risk’ and if this book can help to raise awareness and appreciation of them, to help have a secure future, I’ll be delighted. There’ll be more about my plans for this book in future newsletters. For now, if anyone has - or had had - a Fell pony in the past and has a story to tell that you’d be happy for me to use in my book, please send it my way for consideration.
In the meantime, I’m working with Cumbrian schools to help them learn something about their native pony - most kids have never heard of it - and get creative, writing poems and creating art inspired by the ponies. I’m hoping to include some of the poems written by the children in my new book.
For any Cumbrian teachers / parents reading this, the opportunity for kids to get published in my book is very time limited. The next half term is the only time I’ll be running this workshop with the possibility of being included in the book, so if you’d like more details and available dates, please get in touch asap.
Schools who take part during the 2026 summer term will also get a sneak peak at the book in production which is another added bonus."
Hello, I just discovered this forum called Goodreads, so I'll gradually participate and learn.Regarding my writing, I've always enjoyed writing, but I started doing it for the public about 20 years ago, first in the blogosphere and then for a horse racing magazine called Super Turf. Later, I went on to contribute to another turf magazine (Eleturf). Horses have always been a part of my life, and I don't have a "first memory with horses" because I've naturally grown up and gone through life with them.
The book I wrote is about a true horses story that took place in New York in 1977, known in those years as "The Belmont Sting," among other names. I came across that story as a child thanks to what my father told me, and then in 2007 I rediscovered it when I found online that a horse named Cinzano was in the Virginia Steeplechase Association Hall of Fame. Something clicked inside me. "Is this the same Cinzano from my father's story?" I started searching online, and sure enough, it was the same. But not only that, the story my father had told me wasn't the real one. Later, I would discover that everyone has "the truth" about this story.
From 2007 to 2011, the death of Mark Gerard (one of the protagonists) brought the Cinzano story back to mind. At that moment, I decided to write a book about it, but it wasn't until 2022 that I actually started writing. Before that, there were many failed drafts that didn't even reach 10 pages.
From July to September 2022, I would wait until my wife and son went to sleep and then sit down at the computer to delve into the newspaper archives of newspapers.com and to write, transcribe the interviews, think of questions for the surviving protagonists, and keep writing. I managed to establish a routine from 11 PM to approximately 2 AM, and in three months I had the book draft finished. In this time lapse i fell fire in my stomach, i don't know how explain this feeling to other people but was marvelous.
The hardest part was editing and proofreading because I was already tired and couldn't think clearly; I just wanted to print it and have it in my home library.
In the end, it turned out to be much more than that, since in addition to sparking the interest of a New York production company, I also met many wonderful people, among whom I want to highlight Michele Rouse, who offered me all her kindness and hospitality when I traveled from Uruguay to Virginia to present the book translation.
Will I ever write about horses again? I still do it occasionally in Eleturf magazine, but I don't know if I would embark on writing another book. Nor would I write for a newspaper, since the times they proposed it, I didn't feel comfortable with such strict and rapid deadlines.
I hope I haven't bored you, and apologies for my English.
Thank you so much, Daniel, for explaining your inspiration and writing process. Some people may imagine a writer has nothing to do but sit researching and typing - but when it's your second job, or your hobby, the real life takes precedence and as you note, it can get very tiring making time to write.
I love that you had a story told to you by your father, and found there were different versions of the story!
Your English is excellent.
Hi, I'm Jeanette Gower, Australian equestrian author. I've written The Thinking Horseman Series covering selection, breeding, and sales strategy. Been working with horses for 50+ years. Happy to answer questions about writing horse non-fiction.
Hello, I'm Jeanette Gower. I'm an Australian horse breeder and trainer, and I've been working with horses my whole life. About ten years ago I realized I had a different problem than most people: I had too much to say, not too little.My real writing challenge isn't finding things to write about. It's deciding which of the hundred things I know actually matter to readers.
I understand horse temperament intuitively after fifty years. But trying to explain that intuition on the page so someone else can learn it? That's where the real work happens. That forced me to understand my own knowledge differently. I had to break down things I do automatically into steps anyone could follow.
I'm curious if other writers who write from deep experience have this same problem. Do you struggle with abundance (too much to say) or scarcity (not knowing what to write)?
Because it completely changes your writing process. When you're struggling with scarcity, you research more. When you're struggling with abundance, you have to become ruthless about editing and deciding what's essential.
Hi Jeanette, glad to have you with us.When writing for young readers, I only provide the kind of info that relates to that moment in the story. Like you, I could pile on the content about a topic, but the young reader wants to get on with the fiction story and not be swamped in non-fiction.
I have not yet written a non-fic about horses. So much is now available online or in videos that it might be hard to know what would be the most valuable.
I found during a convention I was helping to staff recently, that I got talking to writers who were creating fantasy and didn't know as much about horses, it seemed, as I did - and I just had to explain that I could talk for years about horses and they should get in touch if they ever needed some facts for a book. Describing how and why horses replaced oxen in farming in England could be a step too detailed for some listeners.
Here's content from an author who has described this moment which seems highly scary...
Thanks to
Natalie Keller Reinert
"Sleep? What's sleep?
Haha, I'm already a very poor sleeper. So when news of a potential hurricane for Florida next week really started ramping up last night, I knew there was no hope for me. Sure enough, I was up past one o'clock, the cats woke me up at three, and I never fell back asleep. This is only slightly worse than usual. It's a mercy I don't have a job to drive to, because I'd be driving drunk all the time (did you know sleep deprivation is comparable to intoxication? True story).
Anyway I got up at seven and the National Hurricane Center just issued their official CONE OF UNCERTAINTY with Florida at the top, bottom, and center, so I guess we're in prep mode.
For me as a horse owner, that means grabbing an extra bag of feed, checking my hay supplies, and making certain I have leather halters for turnout, antibiotic cream for any cuts, and a serious sense of humor about getting wet. Oh and of course checking my own pantry for peanut butter, granola bars, and cereal.
As luck would have it I just finished the last revision of a book and that included writing a hurricane scene...something I should seriously stop doing IN hurricane season!!
My corner of Florida doesn't see direct hits from hurricanes very often, and even when they do, I'm generally far enough inland to avoid hurricane-force winds, so I'm not actually worried. But I am ready to lose power...hopefully for not more than a day, because I have a lot of work to do! This book won't design itself!"