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The Horse Lover's Blog

Riding and Writing

Riding season is about over for me. I've gone from obsessed, and starting every day with a ride, to having to push myself to squeeze one in. In part I'm transitioning by writing a story that features a horse almost identical to Robin--so I'm still obsessed, just not getting as much exercise!
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Sign My Breyer's belly

A first for me--last week I went to a model horse show and signed my first model, with a Sharpie, on his belly. It was a fascinating scene that I would have loved as a kid. In my day, boys and girls, we clomped our models around on the floor and made up stories  Read More 
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What Happens at Pasture, Stays at Pasture.

What happens out at pasture, stays out at pasture. Last week Robin came in with a big egg on her leg and a couple of nearly invisible scratches on her nose. Over the next few days the scratches morphed into an ugly infection, and the egg on her leg (hey, sounds like a title!)  Read More 
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Keeping Barney

I'm thinking about Keeping Barney, my first book, and suddenly the one I'm hearing about from fans--young women now, who say it was an influential book for them. It was a long time ago for me, that book. I wrote it during my junior year at Wellesley, while taking a semester off and working  Read More 
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Who's Confused, Me or the Horse?

Trying to teach Robin to leg yield. To the right, no problem. To the left, not possible. I read my books (Mary Wanless, Sally Swift, everyone!), worked on my position, agonized. I also, in the barn, asked her to sidestep away from my hand on both sides. Click, treat, nicker. She was definitely less  Read More 
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Westminster, Vermont, 1735-2000

The Big Book, as it's long been called in Westminster Historical Society circles, is finally in our hands, and it is so beautiful. I feel quite detached from it; it looks like a lot of work to me, and I'm impressed with the author. Strange! I'm very aware of its imperfections, and the number  Read More 
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Chico's Challenge is here at last!

It's been a long haul, but CHICO'S CHALLENGE, my middle-grade novel about a young Quarter Horse, is finally out as a paperback and a model and book set. Chico was raised on a suburban ranchette; when he gets a new owner and moves out to the range, he's mystified and frightened by those strange  Read More 
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Bramble and Robin, Maggie and Jessie: Horses Meet Girls

When I began BRAMBLE AND MAGGIE, now the first in a three-book series, I was just getting to know my new horse Robin. She most definitely had her "little ways." An unbroken three-year-old, Robin "didn't think poorly of herself," in the words of Cheryl Rivers, who bred her. I was heartbroken at losing Atherton,  Read More 
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So Write About Robin

I have finished all my projects, on time, under budget, without going nuts. Now I have no projects. NOW I'm going nuts!
So I'm thinking about a new novel, not wanting to start because I don't know enough yet. But I often used to start a novel knowing only the first sentence, and I  Read More 
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To Claim Your Prize

If you responded to Win A Prize (and I Know Molly did!), please send me your mailing address so I can send you your pin. The glitch here is that this blog--set up by the Authors Guild--doesn't show me your email address, so I can't respond to you directly. I'm not Ms. Technology, so  Read More 
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