The Blog of Marilyn M. Fisher

What I Found Out about Book Blogs

2012-01-25T17:31:00.001-06:00

Like Heracles, I had to perform a task that seemed almost impossible to fulfill: access and read about 500 book blogs. By the time I finished this marketing job, I was pretty punch-drunk. It took untold hours, and if at the end I had been able to bury my computer in the ground, like Heracles with the Hydra's head, I would have done it.
What did I discover?

I was impressed by the genuine love of reading expressed in the blogs. Whether they are carefully prepared or more informal, the writers want to tell the world about reading.
The bloggers are often students in high school or at a higher educational level. Older bloggers can be librarians, housewives who have children and are starved for reading, and professional people who work for tech companies or teach or do other demanding work.
Bloggers are busy people and it's not unusual to find them saying, "I want to apologize for not having blogged for the last four months but I had too much going on in my life."
The bloggers are very definite about what kinds of books they will read for review purposes, whether it is YA (young adult), middle grades (fifth grade and up), fantasy, historical fiction, romance, science fiction, memoir, mystery, suspense, erotica, non-fiction, horror, women's lit, or any other type. Many have also broken down these types so we understand more clearly: it is to be a "serious" romance rather than a "silly" one, it has to be science fiction dealing with psychology rather than technology, and so on. Some bloggers won't read self-published works; others are more broad-minded.
The tone of reviewing blogs can be cheerful, positive, and willing to read an author's book: "I usually get the book reviewed in a couple of months." At the other end of the spectrum, those who review can be cranky and threatening. "Better get this straight, I will not read anything that isn't in the list I've given you of types, and don't expect to get the book back and don't expect me to tell you if I'm going to review it or not."
The graphic design of the blogs swings from wild and crazy and lots of clashing colors and everything super-size, including the fonts, to tasteful, with flowers and images of nineteenth century ladies reading and neatly placed text in a neat font. For some reason, there are many images of cats in these blogs, often the blogger's own animal. (Cats, for that matter, are often associated with bookstores. You used to see them sitting in many a sunny window before so many independent bookstores closed.) At any rate, I got very tired of seeing backgrounds filled with huge shelves of books; I suspect there's a Google picture somewhere of that same image because people seemed to like it.
The bad news for authors is that many of the blogs are not offering reviews. They want to tell what they're reading right now, how many books they read last year, or how they're reacting to a local weather phenomenon, or what movies they saw or their opinion of a book that came from the syllabus of their freshman English classes.

Heracles, the Hydra, and Me

2012-01-24T11:44:00.001-06:00

One of the most terrifying stories about Heracles was his battle against the Hydra, a thing of horror with the body of a serpent and many heads. (The number of the heads varies, according to which myth you read.) As soon as a head was cut off, the beast grew another two. Heracles and his friend thought that if they cauterized each stump, no new heads could erupt. But one head proved to be immortal, so the strong man cut it off and buried it.Today I feel like Heracles, except that the heads on my Hydra, the tasks of marketing my book, never die. Most folks, I expect, don't know much about this part of the author's life. Many have been surprised when I tell them that I have to perform jobs that seem to them unnecessary. "But the publisher does all that," they exclaim. Like Heracles, I fought an epic battle recently. The Hydra head task was reading about 500 blogs and then finding among those, a few bloggers who might want to read my book and review it. Like Heracles, I learned a lot from the quest. Tomorrow I'll tell you more.

HarperCollins vs. Open Road

2012-01-12T15:37:00.000-06:00

In The January 11, 2012 issue of The Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg tells us about HarperCollins and its upcoming battle with the e-publishing company, Open Road Integrated Media. At stake is a crucial question for all publishers: "...whether book contracts written before the digital age granted publishers digital rights, or whether those rights were retained by the author and could be sold to an e-publisher." He says that as long ago as the mid-nineties, publishers were taking pains to add specific clauses that guarded their right to publish an author's books as e-books. But what if they didn't, and took it for granted that the contract automatically covered e-books? Authors who find themselves in this predicament are fighting for their right to some of the lucrative profits from the Great E-Book Revolution by trying to buy back the rights from their old publishers so that they can either self-publish online or sell their newly-acquired rights to an e-book publisher like Open Road. To read more background and details, go to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203436904577153142705735660.html.

Clarence Day: Truthteller

2012-01-11T17:46:00.000-06:00

The publishing world has been in an uproar for the last few years over the supposed triumph of e-books over the printed books with which we are all familiar. Amongst the clamor of people who claim e-books are the future, and the competing chorus of voices that argue passionately that they love the feel of books and won't change to the new device, we should all remember what Clarence Day said about books. He was speaking the truth when he wrote that "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall, nations perish, civilizations grow old and die out; and, after an era of darkness, new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again, and yet live on, still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead." The important point, I think, is that men and women recognize and cherish the truth, in whatever form it makes its appearance.

Has Anyone Read Clarence Day?

2012-01-10T11:55:00.000-06:00

Searching through my bookshelves for something cheerful to read, I found an old book I picked up someplace in my travels entitled The Best of Clarence Day. I don't suppose many students or their parents read Day's work today, seeing that he lived from 1874 to 1935. All his life he struggled with rheumatoid arthritis; that constant pain is reflected in his picture above. Despite R.A., he wrote beautiful, sweet, humorous essays, his best about growing up with his family in New York City. (Movie buffs may have seen the film made from his work, "Life with Father.") Every day, I read only one essay, to make them last longer. This morning it was "Father on Horseback," in which Day's intractable father meets a horse named Rob Roy who is equally as stubborn. I'll let you guess who wins. Although the essays make me laugh out loud, I'm also appreciating his word pictures of old New York. This morning, his description of what the eighteen-hundreds Elevated looked like held me at the breakfast table: "Soon a stubby little steam engine, with its open coal car piled full of anthracite, and its three or four passenger cars swinging along behind, appeared round the curve. White smoke poured from the smokestack. The engineer leaned out from his window." While Day's essays put me into a good mood for writing, they also make me a better writer, a fact which all authors know about reading other's works.

Wild Horses: Ted Williams Takes on the Issue

2011-12-06T12:50:00.001-06:00

Photo courtesy of Colin E. Braley, http://www.wildwest-media.com/

In Audubon magazine of January to February 2011, Ted Williams, a longtime conservationist, takes on the explosive issue of the wild horses, In his article "Saddle Sores," he describes his trip to see the BLM's October 2010 roundup of the horses, known as a "gather." There is definitely a war on words in the struggle to take care of these horses; the word "mustang" as applied to them evokes the proud conquistadors riding gorgeous, equally proud horses, to which the modern wild horses are supposedly related. In reality, says Williams, "these are mongrels, descended from livestock owned by everyone who ever dumped or lost horses in the West from 1540 to 2010." This romanticization of the horses' background is irrelevant. There are too many of them. Many are sick and dying. They neeed help right now. The word "gather," used by the BLM in obeisance to those who fight against its practices, is a euphemism for "roundup." It is widely said that the wild horses are frightened by the helicopters used in the roundup and may injure themselves; Williams said that when he watched the process, the horses were "nonchalant" about the whole thing. They didn't stampede, they mostly trotted, they ate and drank contentedly in their holding pen. The helicopter stayed about a mile behind the horses as it herded them. The cliche "Wild and Free" is hardly true either, since they are quite grimly, free to get sick or die in a habitat that cannot sustain them.
As you can see from the picture above, their habitat is fragile. Williams describes it vividly: "I hiked across badlands of shale and polished stones, over sparse shrubs, thin, widely spaced clumps of grasses and forbs, and dry dirt that crumbled and sailed aloft. Ancient, scraggly junipers dotted the hills. Pronghorns and mule deer browsed the valleys. Less than seven inches of precipitation a year isn't unusual here, and that precipitation may come in two rainstorms, so it doesn't do much good." He explains that since horses have solid hooves and teeth that mesh, they are very destructive of all native vegetation. The horses wander over the range eating anything they can find--"horses stomp the shrubs into the dirt to get the last blade"--but drive away other animals, people, and grouse from the area. More nutritious grasses are dying out, due at least partially to this overgrazing. When there is drought, this ecosystem becomes even more unsustainable. And with too many animals on this impoverished land, the problem looks unsoluble.
Can anything be done? Secretary Salazar suggested that the horses be transported to other, more fruitful lands but Williams says that he had to drop this idea because of the outraged reaction to his remedy. Even if they were transported to other habitats, the costs of maintaining these herds increases all the time.There was hope for a while that people would adopt the wild horses; that has proven a vain hope. People today are getting rid of their horses due to our depressing economic problems. How about euthanizing the excess horses? Few people want to even consider this as a solution. Surgical sterilization is a possibility as is injecting mares with an anti-fertility drug; Williams points out that the latter drug, PZP, isn't alway dependable and may wear off after several years.
It seems there is a stalemate here. But I believe that if people who want to save the wild horses, people who are fair-minded and willing to listen to many schemes and even try some, could sit down and talk about it without the hyperbole, bitterness, bias, and lack of common sense so often present when coflicts are approached, something could be done.
Williams suggested that all people who are interested contact Secretary Salazar and urge him to use every tool at his disposal to control wild horses. Keep track of what is happening in Congress about this issue. Contact your representatives about it. And above all, learn the truth about the wild horses and their terrible dilemma.

Wild Horses: Ken Salazar's Plea for Action

2011-12-05T22:31:00.001-06:00

Photo courtesy of Colin E. Braley, http://www.wildwest-media.com/

Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, announced in 2009 that wild horses were out of control. In replying to many animal advocates who claimed that rounding up the horses was unnecessary and cruel, the Secretary said the following, quoted in the Los Angeles Times of January 14, 2010. I include the whole excerpt here because it states the problem clearly and succinctly without emotion fogging the issue, and calls for action on the part of everyone who cares about the horses.
"Though an American icon is again flourishing, the job of restoring the health of wild horse herds is far from complete. Without natural predators, wild horse populations have grown beyond the carrying capacity of the sensitive and sparse lands on which they live, causing damage to ecosystems and putting them at risk of starvation. As a result, federal managers must move thousands of wild horses each year off the range to pastures and corrals, where they are fed, cared for and put up for adoption. The current situation is unsustainable.
The American people expect the health of their lands and watersheds to be protected, and it is unacceptable to allow wild horses to be malnourished on inadequate ranges. Yet no one wants to see them gathered and moved off Western ranges. Moreover, the status quo comes with a steep price tag. The federal government spends more than $60 million a year on the wild horse and burro program, of which $35 million goes to the care and feeding of the horses. A broad range of animal rights organizations, conservationists and Western communities agree that we cannot continue down the current path. We must change course. I agree.
However, if we are to succeed in restoring the health of wild horse herds, we must choose our new path wisely. To allow wild horse herds to grow beyond the limit of the range--as some wild horse advocates and celebrities are arguing--is not realistic, humane or environmentally responsible. Instead, we need a comprehensive and balanced approach built on new partnerships, new thinking and new courage to tackle an issue that, unfortunately, has no easy solution."
Now Secretary Salazar lays out specific suggestions to effect control of the herds.
"First, we must control the growth of wild horse herds by humanely applying fertility control to wild horses on the range. We can do so responsibly and at a reasonable cost. We must elevate the stature and care of wild horse herds that will sustainably live on Western ranges for generations to come. As Interior secretary, I am examining ways we can better showcase special herds in signature areas of the West to provide eco-tourism opportunites and provide them greater protection. We must identify and restore new habitat where wild horses could be returned. Some of the prairies and ranges outside the West--places where forage is rich and where wild horses once wandered--could become sanctuaries for the animals. I have proposed that through partnerships with the private sector, stakeholders and local communities, we establish new sanctuaries in the Midwest and the East, where healthy horse herds could return. Finally, we must recognize that the federal government alone cannot restore the health of wild horse herds. We need citizens to help. We want Americans to visit their public lands where horses roam, to help us care for these magnificent animals, to share their ideas with us and to help us find citizens and animal lovers across the country who will adopt wild horses and provide healthy, happy homes for them. ...Preserving the health of our land and wildlife requires collaboration, patience, and courage. Demonizing others in the ways that some advocates have recently demonized federal land managers is neither reasonable nor productive. ..Let us find common ground and humane, environmentally sound solutions on our public lands."
Next post: Ted Williams

Ted Williams and Ken Salazar on the Wild Horse Problem

2011-12-01T12:34:00.001-06:00

Photo courtesy of Colin E. Braley, http://www.wildwest-media.com/
In this blog entry and several more this week, my overwhelming motivation is to plead with all well-meaning, intelligent horse people to face the facts about the dilemma of the wild horses and work on their behalf without resorting to the same partisan bickering that paralyzes all progress on serious problems. We're all exhausted by reading about our elected politicians who cannot seem to resolve the economic morass we are in, or the locked-in-battle people who seek to control the governments of other countries and accomplish nothing. This same sterile tendency to fight unproductively is seen in the factions that have grown up the problem of what to do with our wild horses. I've read the arguments of those who believe the horses should live free, and oppose all efforts to control their numbers and their habitat. Sometimes these arguments are inappropriately emotional and poorly thought-out. I've also read the more reasoned arguments such as those of Ted Williams and Ken Salazar, the first an environmentalist, the second the Secretary of the Interior. Both men have a passionate interest in the horses, and both have written intelligently about the situation. To come: I'll write about Secretary Salazar's reasonable, rational recommendations, and Ted Williams' suggestions which rose out his visit to the Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek Herd management area that contains the horses.

Rethinking My Blog

2011-11-18T18:01:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking about this blog lately, and have decided to pin it down, so to speak, to the following aims. I'll publish good news about people who help horses survive. I'll talk about health problems for horses as well as abuse issues. I'll tell readers about the two mystery novels I've written, each one depicting a type of abuse, and the unraveling of the mystery by my character Connie Holt, who cherishes horses and wishes to save them, no matter what it takes. Sometimes I may write about the writer's life and the problems and joys therein.

My Heroes: NYS Racing and Wagering Board

2011-10-19T16:36:00.005-05:00

On October 12, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board acted like heroes for all of us worried about the drugging of racehorses. Richard Dutrow Jr. was finally barred from New York's racetracks for 10 years. His name is well known in racing circles for almost 70 violations at 15 racetracks in 9 states. Consider this: Dutrow hid illegal workouts of his horses, used strong painkillers including butorphanol found in winnning horse Fastus Cactus, kept 3 syringes in his desk loaded with xyzaline, a muscle-relaxant. John Sabini, chairman of the Board, said: "His [Dutrow] repeated violations and disregard of the rules of racing has eroded confidence in the betting pubic and caused an embarrassment throughout the industry." It is hoped that Dutrow will not be licensed in other states to race. Those who drug horses to win are not only guilty of greed. Veterinarians believe that using both legal and illegal drugs on race horses is account partly for the fact that the United States has the world's highest rate of thoroughbred mortality.
But Dutrow has the right to counsel, and they managed a win when at a hearing, Judge Richard Giardino upheld the stay. If he hadn't, Dutrow would have been refused entrance to all New York tracks right away. One wonders how much the judge knows about the years on end of drugging horses and how many people have tried to get rid of this widespread horse abuse. With this stay, Dutrow can go on training horses until his appeal is heard; lawyers can delay this process easily. Dutrow said of Giardino's ruling, "I'm glad I still get to go to the barn. I got a very positive attitude here, no negativism at all. It's easy for me to get up in the morning and go to the barn. Everything else comes so naturally for me there." Unfortunately we all know what comes naturally. We congratulate the Board, and wish that Dutrow had been barred for life.

The Artist Jane Walentas

2011-09-30T14:43:00.003-05:00

Over twenty years ago, Jane Walentas saw a battered old carousel from the 1920s. It had 48 horses and two chariots. The horses' bodies were covered with multiple layers of varnish that defaced their original bright colors. Jane was determined to restore it and then put it in Brooklyn Bridge Park on the East River. Twelve years ago, Jane and a team scraped away all that varnish and found the real horses underneath: their superb carving, their colors. The horses are resplendent, now, with gold leaf, their saddles and reins newly decorated. On September 16, Jane's Carousel opened to the public. The now-glorious carousel will be maintained and operated by a non-profit charitable organization, named, what else, but Jane's Carousel. I am indebted to its web page for the image of the horses. Why not visit the site yourself at http://janescarousel.com where you'll see more of the carousel?

Keats and The Pleasure of Teaching in Libraries

2011-09-29T11:03:00.010-05:00

John Keats

For quite a few years, I've been teaching at one library or another. One of the best things modern libraries do is offer rewarding classes of many different kinds for its patrons. There you can find people learning about certain medical issues; using a computer; the writing problems that face novelists; and the work of published authors. The last two categories include me, although last year I taught a class on the Shakers to a receptive audience. (Needless to say, everything I teach I have a lot of experience with, even the Shakers, a personal obsession, which has led to my visiting as many of their former settlements as I can find and researching their theology.) For a former college professor and ongoing novelist, conducting these classes has been a pleasure.

Lately I've been teaching at Brentwood City Library, about nine miles from my home. Recently, I started five new classes at one of the most attractive and carefully-planned libraries I've ever seen. In September, I taught three introductory classes on "How is Poetry Written?" I've always loved analyzing poetry, ripping it apart, so to speak, and putting it back together again, finding its ideas and meaning. Just think. I had the opportunity to talk about figures of speech, rhythm and meter, imagery: all that good stuff I went to graduate school for years to learn. And lastly, I could revisit some of the my favorite poems by British and American authors like Browning, Tennyson, Keats, Frost. Now two October classes are starting, "The Formal Essay: How Do You Write One?" and "Using the Most Effective Point of View in Fiction." I chose the first because of years and years as a college writing teacher. I had many students who told me they never had any formal instruction on how to write an essay. "What the heck is a thesis statement?" they used to complain. When I was a new college teacher, I used to think that maybe the students were making this up. But years of experience told me they weren't. What better class could I teach at the library than an introduction to this genre?

My description of the essay class goes like this: "Writing a formal expository essay clearly and coherently is often a required skill, both in the academic and professional worlds. The class will discuss the following topics. What is an essay? What are the most common writing patterns used by essayists? How is an essay developed? What is the role of Internet research?" I'll have the joy of reading and selecting essays by modern writers which both fulfill the aims of the essay and which DON'T!

The second class is "Using the Most Effective Point of View in Fiction." Here my experience springs from writing two novels and coping with this thorny problem. I had always taught point of view in my writing and literature courses, and understood intellectually what this entails, but when it came to choosing one for my first novel, I had written 100 pages before I thought, "This just isn't working, I'll have to start over." With the second novel, point of view wasn't a problem. Here's a little of what we'll talk about: role of the narrator in the novel, major types of points of view and their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of each, what is stream of consciousness. We'll get to read in this course too, looking at various excerpts from literature with differing points of view.

Come and join our classes if you can. The essay course is Wednesday, October 5, 2011, and the point of view class is Wednesday, October 12, 2011. They start at 6:00 PM and end at 8:00 PM. And if you come, be prepared to have fun!

Wisdom from President Reagan

2011-09-23T11:35:00.004-05:00

"There's nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse."

The only change I would make in this little gem of wisdom is "for the inside of a man or woman."

Can Breezes Hurt Two-Year Olds?

2011-09-12T14:22:00.006-05:00

Horse people are taking another look at breezes and the danger they pose to two-year-olds who are forced to run them. Breezes, according to a new article in The Wall Street Journal by Dionne Searcy, are exercises that these young horses are put through at sales events to show off their ability. These sprints are 1/8 of a mile and "are typically run in less than 11 seconds." Sometimes, the running horses have undeveloped bones and muscles, which can't withstand the intense stress of a breeze, and thus cause injuries. And if you think these horses automatically turn out to be Derby winners, you're wrong. Sometimes they don't even win a race. Among other other concerned activists, PETA has taken up the cause, pursuing animal cruelty charges against two auction houses where two horses died in breezes; urging auction companies to let young horses just gallop or accelerate gradually, which is done at some European companies; requesting auction houses to bar horses younger than two-years-old from the exercise; and last, to postpone breezes if the the track is in bad condition or the temperature is too high.What do you think? My facebook page has the whole story.

Killer Nasville Here

2011-08-25T17:53:00.003-05:00

Tonight Killer Nashville kicks off at the Hutton Hotel in downtown Nashville with a wine tasting followed by a mystery-themed team trivia game, hosted by Mysteries and More Booksellers. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, there will be a wealth of panels, talks and other activities. Tomorrow, I'm going to be part of a panel at 12:30: "Putting the Thrill in Your Fiction: How to Create Fear and Danger on the Page." On Saturday at 10, I'll be talking about the Gothic Novel and what led to its appearance in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Hope to see you there!

He Trots the Air Travels

2011-08-20T10:46:00.007-05:00

Fun to read Google and see He Trots the Air advertised in Portugal, Canada, UK, Japan, Australia, Denmark, and Italy.

Killer Nashville Almost Here

2011-08-17T08:16:00.002-05:00

Killer Nashville will be held in only eight days at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville from August 25 through August 28. It offers five tracks of varying interest and experience levels, so you'll always find an intriguing panel or talk to attend. There will also be the dead body (hee, hee) to investigate and solve the puzzle of its death. And of course there will be much more offered by your delight. The fan track is my niche there. I'll be speaking on Saturday, August 27, from 10:00-11:00. My talk will be on the Gothic Novel in England and America. Come and hear about this type of novel that has lasted to the present day. Did you ever read Twilight or see the film? Jane Eyre? Frankenstein? Come and learn about the history of this strange kind of fiction, which has been said to be the forerunner of the mystery story!

I'll be on panels at KN as well.

Go to http://www.killernashville.com/ for lots more information.

Hope I'll see you there!

Thank you, readers!

2011-07-03T17:54:00.008-05:00

Kind readers have already responded to He Trots the Air. To read, go to http://www.mmfisher.com/, and click on the book cover.

Equine Herpes May be Spread by Stressed Show Horses

2011-07-02T08:37:00.008-05:00

When horses like those beauties above leave their peaceful pasture and are taken to the show ring to compete, the equine herpes virus most adult horses carry can spread due to the stress of competition. In an article by Jennifer Viegas of Discovery News, we read that Dr. Philip Johnson, who teaches equine internal medicine at the University of Missouri points out that "most adult horses are infected with the virus....[That] infection leads to a life-long association between the virus and its host. In most healthy horses most of the time, the host's immune system prevents the virus from going active and being especially contagious." But, he goes on, there are times when the virus overcomes the immune system and becomes active. An example is the April/May National Cutting Horse Association's Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah: 32 cases of infectious equine herpes resulted, with those infected spreading the disease to other horses. Dr. Johnson says, "Congregated horses coming together to compete are stressed, adversely affecting the immune system's function." Dr. Johnson adds that it may be that show horses, that are commonly exposed to intense confinement and a lot of transport between shows, neither of which they may be used to, may become carriers of an activated virus. And the grouping of show horses closely together in temporary, strange stabling, is another factor. Once the virus is active, formerly unaffected horses can breathe in the virus, and are infected by horse workers' hands, equipment, tack, and food.

The virus appears in two strains. One is more likely to cause neurological problems. The symptoms of the latter are fever of 102 degrees F or even higher; nasal discharge; fatigue; weakness; urine dribbling; leaning; tail loss of tone; and problems with standing. Dr. Bruce King, state veterinarian of Utah, says that an infected horse should be isolated, his temperature taken and recorded twice a day. Dr. John Hunt, Acting Arizona State Veterinarian, says further that this procedure should continue for 28 days after the initial symptoms are seen. If the sick horse has secondary infections, doctors may use anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, and anti-viral drugs. If the horse can't stand up, body padding and slings may be used; intravenous feeding and a catheter may also prove useful.

Viegas concludes that "some vaccines provide protection against the less debilitating form of the virus, but they do not appear to protect against the neurological syndrome."

Swamp Fever: No Vaccine, No Cure

2011-06-01T11:28:00.003-05:00

Maybe you've read about the fatal horse disease currently raging in the west called equine infectious anemia. Many horse people know it as swamp fever. There is neither a vaccine nor a cure. The sick horses suffer from intermittent fever, they are depressed, they grow progressively weaker, they lose weight, and they have anemia and edema. For a more technical description, go to http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/horse/v1195w.htm. Let's think of those horses and their desperate owners today, and hope that veterinarians find a solution soon for this terrible scourge.

Iroquois Steeplechase 2011

2011-05-23T11:56:00.009-05:00

Readers, meet my friend Robert, pictured above with his daughter, Kimberly. He kindly consented to write his impressions of the wonderful Iroquois Steeplechase, held on May 14th. As a Jump Marshal, his is a unique view. Thanks, Robert!

Iroquois Steeplechase 2011

Saturday, May 14th, was the 70th running of the Iroquois Steeplechase at Nashville's Percy Warner Park.

My thirty-something daughter Kimberly and I were Jump Marshals, along with hundreds of other volunteers at the Iroquois, and Marilyn asked me if I would write a guest blog about my experience this year. I was happy to be asked and anxious to write this!

I have been to the Iroquois five times. Once as a spectator in General Admission on the hillside. Once with press credentials which allowed me to be all over the grounds observing everything. And three times as a volunteer Jump Marshal which keeps me near one jump for all the races, but very close to the horses, with nothing between them and me. I can feel them thunder by! I guess there is a bit of danger that adds to the thrill. This year, I invited my daughter from Knoxville to be a Jump Marshal along with me. Kim and I spent hundreds of hours together at horse shows in her teenage years. In fact she is the person who steered our family into "horse fever" or "horsin' around" in the early nineties. I was hoping we could recapture that feeling of being together at a horse show--and I have to say it worked. We plan to do it every year from now on.

The Iroquois is difficult to write about, because there is too much to write about. It's a horse race, it's a party, it's a fashion show, and it's Nashville on display. It's Nashville's Kentucky Derby (and always the Saturday after the Derby.) One of its prominent signatures is the many beautiful and crazy hats, which I believe was increased this year due to the influence of the Royal wedding. Here is a great link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.211368625563831.60203.204660386234655. And for a lot of interesting history regarding the Iroquois since 1941, go here: http://www.iroquoissteeplechase.org/RaceInformation/AboutIroquoisSteeplechase.

What part do Jump Marshals play at the race? Marshals are part of the emergency response team who tend to the safety of each of the nine jumps. We are also the eyes and ears of the Emergency Response Director, in case anything happens. In the three years, I've been a Jump Marshal, there have been no problems on my assigned jump or at any of the jumps, although every year there has been a riderless horse, which means the jockey fell off his mount. I suggested to Kim because she was a new volunteer at the jump that she pretend that Classy (her beloved horse) is running in the next race, and do everything you can to ensure her safety. That means all divots filled, all debris picked up, no spectators on the track, and protection and response for any human or horse that possibly go down. The emergency response team at the Iroquois is second to none, with marshals, EMTs, physicians, veterinarians, ambulances, horse ambulances, and life flight helicopters at the ready on site.

I like the Iroquois races because I like horses and all things horse, and this event keeps the interest in horses alive in the minds of Middle Tennesseans. (I have a gnawing fear that the horse is slowly fading away in modern society.) The race also keeps Middle Tennessee economically alive. The last race alone had a $150,000 first prize with $450,000 in total prize money.

Of my five Iroquois experiences, the rain has been a factor (including the Nashville flood of 2010) in all but the first. There is something about the second Saturday in May that brings out the quirky weather. We should be due a nice sunny day next year. I'll see you there!

Killer Nashville is Coming!

2011-05-10T09:59:00.003-05:00

Heads-up! Killer Nashville, that splendid conference, is coming again. It will be held August 26-28 at a new place this year, the Hutton Hotel in Nashville. I can testify that this conference is different from most, because I've been to a lot. It features five event tracks for people with, as the website says, "varied interests and experience levels:" a Writing Track, a Publishing Track, a Career Management and Promotion Track, a Forensic Track, and a Fan Track. But there is much more. You might be interested in submitting your manuscript for critique; or participating in the agent/editor pitch sessions, where you can get an opinion about your novel from an experienced reader; or submitting your business plan to a marketing professional; 0r attending a wine-tasting session; or investigating a crime scene staged by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. (I always make it a point to get to the forensic talks every year.)

Please look me up if you come. I'll be giving a talk on the gothic novel (BRRR, BRRR, SHUDDER, SHUDDER) at 10:00 AM on Saturday, August 27. And you can buy my newest book, He Trots the Air, at the Mysteries & More book room at the conference.

For more about this marvelous conference, go to www.killernashville.com. And be sure to read the exciting news on that page about the new Killer Nashville e-Magazine. Like to write? Here's your chance.

A Model Equine Hospital in Tennessee

2011-04-09T16:14:00.004-05:00

Several weeks ago my friend Robert and I had the extreme pleasure of touring the Tennessee Equine Hospital in Thompson's Station, Tennessee. I use the word "extreme" because we experienced a great deal of satisfaction seeing horses in their stalls recuperating from illnesses that a few years ago might have killed them without the state-of-the-art equipment and techniques at the hospital.

Here are just a few of the services provided there. The hospital has a nuclear scintigraphy ward to diagnose bone disorders. In this procedure, a harmless radioactive substance is injected into the horse's blood. Areas of increased inflammation are revealed, especially where there are bone disorders. The exact location of a lameness can thus be found.

The stalls serve multiple purposes: administering intravenous fluids; accommodating a mare and her foal; adjusting the climate control for a recovering animal; a three-stall isolation ward so that diseases won't spread. The staff can treat outpatients in dedicated areas so that visiting horse patients won't be exposed to hospitalized patients.

If breeding services are needed, TEH provides artificial insemination, with frozen or fresh semen, stallion collection, semen freezing, semen shipping and embryo transfer. Pregnant mares at the hospital are monitored extensively and assisted when they give birth.

Finally, the vets in the sports medicine specialization at the hospital have over fifty years of experience in the field. Horse athletes get expert care at TEH.

Read much more about this model hospital at its web site http://www.tnequinehospital.com/.

Read the Prologue to My New Book Now

2011-04-05T07:03:00.004-05:00

If you would like to read the Prologue to my new book, He Trots the Air, go to my web site at www.mmfisher.com, and click on the very small image of the book's cover. There you'll also find me musing about writing the book and what I wanted to accomplish.

Connie Holt's Newest Case: He Trots the Air

2011-03-15T13:34:00.005-05:00

At the beginning of He Trots the Air, Connie has a string of good fortune, leading her to believe that this year will be happy, vastly different from a year ago when she had to investigate the tragic deaths of three horses. For one thing, employer and friend Cary McCutcheon has acquired Darkling Lord, a Thoroughbred of dazzling pedigree, and plans to run him in the Gold Cup International Steeplechase in October. The colt will train at Fayence in Albemarle County, and Connie looks forward to visiting the horse often to watch his progress. Earlene Collins, who breeds Arabian horses, finds what could be an original Henry Stull (1851-1913) painting hidden in the attic of her pre-Civil War home. Busy with her work, Earlene asks Connie to find an art expert to work with the painting, a task Connie welcomes. And in Denver, where she meets with restorer Patrick Laurent, she reunites with a man whom she has never forgotten.

But on her return from Colorado, things turn dark and dangerous. No one but the reader knows that from the beginning of the novel, a plot has been underway to drug Cary's colt for reasons that have nothing to do with financial gain. Someone has hired three desperate people to commit the crime. Just thirteen days before the Gold Cup, Connie and Cary learn that something is going to happen to the horse. They start a relentless, time-starved investigation complicated by too few facts to go on, the continuing frustration of speculation without foundation, and the strong possibility that they won't be able to solve the puzzle and save Darkling Lord from harm. As both the conspirators and Connie and Cary move closer and closer to race day, tension and worry grow almost unbearable. The climax comes in front of the colt's stall on the day of the race--and no one is ready for what happens.

If you would like to read He Trots the Air, just click on Contact Me Directly (under the book cover to the left) to order an early autographed copy. I'll tell you how you can get it now, and at a substantially lower price than after June 15.

Introduction to Connie Holt, Continued

2011-03-14T10:34:00.004-05:00

The Case of the Three Dead Horses starts during a November storm when the hilly roads in Central Virginia are covered with ice. At a breeding farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Connie Holt finds a prize stallion dead in his stall--and a dead man huddled in the corner. Connie suspects the horse was murdered but finds no evidence. Had the killer put the murder into motion only to be killed by his victim? Or was he himself a victim? Then two more horses die, and she must find the killer.

Tension and suspense mount as Connie moves closer to discovering the murderer's identity. Among the suspects are Rod Payson, a breeder whose wife's tragic death has plunged him into depression and financial ruin; Pres Carter, a vet who needs money to restore his ramshackle antebellum mansion; Tony Stephens, a mysterious northerner who presides over a fabulous estate but a touch-and-go horse venture; and Beau Taylor, a troubled stablehand. As she pursues the truth, Connie is helped by her boss, Cary McCutcheon, who shares her devotion to horses and their welfare.

But her investigation is complicated by her hopeless love for married vet, Jase Tyree, who cherishes their friendship but is consumed by problems with his faithless wife, and by Jake Wampler, a lustful state trooper who delights in harassing her on the road at night.

To Connie, the elements of the mystery are like "shards of colored glass with odd shapes." When at last she pieces them together, the completed mosaic reveals a horror she couldn't have foreseen.

More on Connie Holt: The Case of the Three Dead Horses

2011-03-12T11:21:00.004-06:00

More on Connie Holt, as discovered in The Case of the Three Dead Horses. Connie is a former teacher from a rust-bucket city in the north, who comes to Virginia with her husband Mike, to whom she has been married since they were teenagers. He hopes to start a consulting business to help companies with their computer problems. But he fails again, and when Connie won't go with him to another city and another failure, he leaves her with a little money and a rundown truck. At a restaurant where Connie is working as a waitress (she's terrible at it), she meets customer Cary McCutcheon, presiding over a table of horse trainers and owners. He watches with kindly concern as the tall, thin woman with unruly red hair jugggles a large tray of hot beef and gravy sandwiches. There's something about her that appeals to him, and when she apologizes for her clumsiness, he offers her a job at the McCutcheon Equine Insurance Agency. She's successful as a receptionist but becomes fascinated with the investigators' jobs and soon asks Cary if he'll train her. By this time, he has come to admire her even more for her willingness to work hard. Overcoming the local prejudice against women in field work held by many of his male clients won't be easy. But eventually she wins them over by sheer persistence. Things are going quite well for Connie until horses start dying for no good reason. That is when The Case of the Three Dead Horses starts in earnest.

Tomorrow, a little about the plot of this first novel in the Connie Holt series.

Connie Holt Back with Another Mystery

2011-03-03T17:01:00.007-06:00

I'm happy to say that my second Connie Holt mystery will be officially published June 15th of this year. Connie has put up with a lot of grief from me, first in The Case of the Three Dead Horses, and now in her newest adventure, He Trots the Air. And by the way, since the story is about the steeplechase this time, I think Shakespeare's lovely words about the joy of riding a horse fit the story very well: "When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk; he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it . . . "

Keep your eyes on this site, and you'll read more about Ms. Holt and her adventures as an equine insurance investigator. I'll also tell you how you can get the new book right now!

Racing Fans Know the Truth about Drugging Horses

2011-01-31T10:30:00.005-06:00

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association recently surveyed 1,250 fans who bet or attended races weekly. They all agreed that the worst blemish on racing is drugging horses illegally. Washington Post reporter Andy Beyer who has written about this issue for a long time said, "The use of illegal drugs is so widespread and so out of control that these are not assorted brush fires that have to be put out. This is like a raging forest fire."

Beyer's comment is one reason I chose to write about doping horses in my new novel, He Trots the Air. It is a horse abuse issue that put both horse and jockey in danger and can result in death.

Fire, Ice and Sickness

2011-01-17T09:39:00.010-06:00

Several weeks ago, my family and I were struck with calamities for which we were entirely unprepared. A dear daughter's home started on fire and that same daughter had to have surgery during this time of desolation, worry, and chaos. To make everything worse, we were experiencing a severe winter with ice, snow, car wrecks, and everything else that plunges people's lives into disarray when nature fails us. To say that our lives were turned into a muddle is, of course, an understatement.

Our family approached our calamities in our usual way: find a way to solve the problems and do it now! And many people helped us. Consolatory messages poured into my computer from everywhere, with requests to pass them along to my daughter. From a western state, my son immediately sent a marvelous device overnight to enable the burned-out family to have the Internet. From a northern state, my older daughter offered any kind of help we needed in soothing calls. Friends and acquaintances from the neighborhood and the children's schools and groups appeared with hot food and promised all kinds of assistance, including transportation. And the neighbor on the next hill over, in a burst of generosity, offered his home for the family to occupy while he and his wife and dog were in Florida. Insurance companies are constantly reviled, but this time, the company acted immediately, breaking down what has to be done into categories and organizing a work schedule.

A wise friend of many years counseled, "It is time for everyone to bite down hard and endure." And while I knew this, having bitten down in the past until my lip split and bled from stress about other calamities, I was confused this time. How to endure the ravages of fire when I've only experienced ice storms, tornadoes, the flooding of last May, and the illness and death of family members? It was hard to keep focused on tasks I had promised my publisher that were becoming more demanding; to find out what practical help I could give besides verbal encouragement; to be careful when the roads finally became passable; to get enough sleep through all of this so that I was able to, yes, endure and be of service too.

Today, my daughter has come through the surgery well. Everyone's worst fears failed to materialize. Her beautiful log house on the hill is filled with the acrid smell of smoke which stings your eyes if you try to enter the house; dirt tracked in and out, the depressing sight of one window boarded up. The inviting hominess of fireplace, comfortable furniture, and good cooking smells are gone. The good news is no one lost their lives, including the dogs. And important things were saved in the chaos and frenetic activity as the fire burned, including the musical instruments family members play, precious documents, and favorite things everyone snatched and ran outside with. The neighbor's home is large and comfortable. The two dogs are comfortable too. Luckily the family barn didn't burn since it has its own electrical supply; the dogs have settled into a warm barn. And the reconstructive work is progressing. In April, the outside will be warm and beautiful, as in the picture above, and hopefully, the house will be habitable again.

Most important to this story, everyone is back to doing their everyday tasks, although in a different setting and a disrupted time pattern: school, Parkour lessons, instrumental instruction, providing for the family's needs, doctor's visits, coping with the constant questions workers have about the house and what they propose to do with it--all of these are filling each day. But we are all somewhat clumsily back on track. Including me.

Why Cats Should Be Kept Inside

2011-01-11T14:37:00.003-06:00

What is this, you say? If you guessed it's a cat in a roll basket and not a fur pie, you're right. But why did His Plumpness cram himself in there a few months ago? The answer lies in an article I read in the January/February 2011 issue of All Animals, the excellent magazine of The Humane Society. The article is "Peaceable Backyard Kingdom," by Karen E. Lange. She argues that cats should be kept inside, for their own well-being, as well as for the well-being of the animals outside.

First, she uses her interview with Dr. David Zanders to summarize what can happen to a freely-roaming cat outside:

puncture wounds and infections inflicted by other cats in territorial fights
abscesses on the back from being grabbed with teeth and claws by a non-neutered cat who wishes to mate
broken bones from being hit by a car
injuries inflicted by people who don't like cats
fleas and parasites that can be passed to people
diseases such as leukemia
kidney failure (perhaps the cat has drunk antifreeze)
talon wounds from hawks and owls who try to attack small cats
death from being eaten by coyotes, trapped, poisoned, or ripped apart by a car engine when a homeless cat tried to get warmth from lying on the engine

Letting your cat roam? Dr. Zanders says that "It's like letting your child go downtown [alone.]"

How about the other side of the coin? What do outside animals have to gain if cats stay cozy inside? When free-ranging cats, foraging from dumpsters, scavenging any way they can, feel they must hunt, reptiles, small mammals, amphibians, and birds suffer:

bite and puncture wounds
skin torn and ripped
feathers pulled out
death from infection

So the idea here is, spay and neuter your cats and let them live with you indoors. And oh, yes, why did the fat cat above crawl into the basket? Answer: he did it for fun. With time on his paws, free from danger, and well-fed, he can experiment with changing his environment slightly--albeit in a basket too small for him. Lately, I've placed a much larger basket--his increased girth prevents him from entering the little basket any more--on the dining room table facing the backyard, where he can gaze at the birds outside the window and fall asleep at his leisure.

Find more at http://www.humanesociety.org

Drugging Race Horses: Life Imitates Art

2010-12-11T17:12:00.004-06:00

Here's a story of life imitating fiction, in this case, my new novel coming out next spring, He Trots the Air. A group of men was accused this year of animal cruelty, that is, drugging horses, and illegal horse racing in San Joaquin County, California. My point in the novel is that drugging a horse is indeed animal cruelty and the perpetrators should be punished, but that this crime can have terrible physical consequences for the animal, even death.

The men in Californina doped the horses with methamphetamine and cocaine. Can you imagine the effect of these drugs on the horses? We should all thank California's Bureau of Gambling Control. Undercover investigators wearing hidden cameras and audio recorders infiltrated the illegal races which were held in private ranches in Stockton, Lodi, Escalon and Ceres. It took them over three years, but I'm happy to say that the nine men were finally apprehended and will be punished.

Barefoot Hoofs

2010-12-10T09:36:00.004-06:00

The Sound Horse Conference 2010 on November 4, 5 and 6 was one of the best educational events I've ever attended--and I have plenty of experience to go on. The conference was beautifully-planned, with the emphasis on education about horse welfare. These are a few of the talks I appreciated: "Chemical Warfare;" "Pressure Soring; " "Life Impact and Unknown Dangers of Breaking the Law By Soring Horses;" Trainers' Philosophy for the Balancing Act;" "Second Careers for Show Horses;" "Judging Perspectives;" and "The Tennessee Walking Horse Industry: Path to the Future."

Of all the rich presentations, the one that held me motionless in my seat was given by Jaime Jackson, who is a natural hoof care pioneer. An expert on domestic and wild horses, Jackson originated the barefoot hoofs theory. To read a lot more about him and his work, you'll want to go to his website at http://www.aanhcp.net/ (Association for the Advancement of Natural Horse Care Practices.) For this talk, he concentrated on the hoof of a horse and what happens when a sorer gets at it.

For readers who don't know what soring is, here is a description from a FOSH (Friends of Sound Horses) pamphlet: "Soring is the use of chemical and mechanical means on a horse's front legs to make it painful to bear weight." The horse lifts his legs in what is called "The Big Lick" to avoid that terrible pain that his handlers have inflicted on him. Besides burning chemicals, the handlers use nails, chains, screws, and pressure shoeing to get the results they want.

Here are several of the points Jackson made. They were graphically illustrated on a screen and through the speaker's words.

1. Trainers, hoofmen, riders and owners who are guilty of soring work to get the horse's body into an abnormal axis. The aim is to get the horse to lift his foot and fling it so that he moves forward with a snap: the Big Lick.

2. One method is to bolt "stacks" of shoes to the bottom of the horse's feet. These sometimes cause the horse to trip and fall as he lunges forward to maintain his balance. The rider of such a horse, who often looks unsmiling and poker-faced, yes, even villainous, as you watch videos of such a performance, sits forward to maintain his own balance. Obviously there is an unequal weight balance on the horse's back so that the rider's own balance is compromised.

3. Forcing a horse to ride with this "hollow back" can bring about nerve damage, bone damage, and calcification of joints. The tendons swell up in a horse's back. One of Mr. Jackson's slides really unnerved me, an image of a horse who had fallen forward because he just couldn't keep up the abnormal body position his rider put him into. When horses are ridden to the extreme all the time, sometimes they just give up and lay on their faces. What happens to them then? Often they are shot.

3. What are other effects of this abnormal gait? Grooves in the hoof; hoof contractions; shut-down hooves; clubbed feet; oozing-out dermis; structures inside the hoof jiggling around; the nails pounded into the hoof becoming transducers; and horribly, sometimes the hoof coming off.

We are used to seeing horses moving naturally like the beautiful jumper above. When you see videos of a Walking Horse show and observe horses that have been sored, tortured that is, to make them move in an unnatural, grotesque way, and realize that they have been condemned to lives of pain and misery, you want to stand up and scream at those who have done this to innocent creatures. Lori Northrup, FOSH president, reported that in five years, there have been 1,157 repeat offenders, those who routinely sore horses for glory and prize money and keep it up even though it is illegal, and yes, many would say "immoral." If you asked these people why they do it, their excuses are many: "It's us against the government" (see the Horse Protection Act), "The Bible says we can do anything we want to horses because we own them," "It's my horse, I bought him," and "That's the way Tennessee Walking Horses have always been trained."

Sherlock Holmes is Back!

2010-11-04T14:09:00.004-05:00

About every five years or so, I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories again. And when I think of the actors who have portrayed him best, Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett are tied for that honor in my mind. These actors showed us the immortal Holmes as true to Conan Doyle's master of deduction as closely as possible.

Right now, I'm happy to say, there is a new Holmes on NPT. Made in Britain of course, the title of the series is Sherlock! The hero is a young Holmes in modern-day London. He calls himself a consulting detective and lives at 221B Baker Street. His comrade is Dr. Watson, who is just back from Afghanistan. The series is shot in London so the milieu is stunning with its huge old buildings and red buses. The friends have strange murder cases to solve; Lestrade (oh, he is there too) is frank to admit that he depends on Sherlock for help with especially grotesue and puzzling crimes. We've even met Holmes's brother Mycroft, who of course, is as brilliant as Sherlock. The actor who plays the detective, Benedict Cumberbatch, LOOKS LIKE a Sherlock Holmes, with an intelligent, sensitive face, high forehead, upward-slanting eyes, and the rather pasty complexion of a man who spends a lot of time with his books and chemistry experiments. Nevertheless, he is still the athletic Holmes of the stories.

Go to the BBC Sherlock web site for more information. Warning: there have only been three episodes made so far, and the third and last will be this Sunday evening on NPT.

Milkshakes and Horses

2010-10-31T18:07:00.003-05:00

My forthcoming new novel, He Trots the Air, is about the drugging of horses, yet another way horses are misused by unscrupulous trainers. Connie Holt is back, whom readers will remember as the equine insurance investigator in The Case of the Three Dead Horses. The new story revolves around a conspiracy to drug a prodigious colt named Darkling Lord; he is slated to run in the International Gold Cup steeplechase in Virginia. But Connie's investigation is hampered by lack of information. Who is behind the plot? How many people are involved? Where and when will the drugging happen? What will be the drug used? And most important, can Darkling Lord be saved? Therein lies the mystery.

But while it was great fun to tell this story, my great black colt is just an invention, and I don't have to worry about a real plot. Sadly, many real-life horse owners do. Here is one case in point. Last July, a Pennsylvania trainer named Darrel Delahoussaye was arrested and charged by Pennsylvania State Police with administering illegal drugs to racehorses. The specific drug was milkshakes, that is, the trainer was using a substance that is illegal because it is used to gain unfair advantage. The substances used to make milkshakes as well as syringes were discovered in a truck associated with Delahoussaye, and a former employee testified that he often saw the trainer administer milkshakes to horses on race day.

The most important ingredient in a milkshake is sodium bicarbonate, known to the rest of us as baking soda. Here is the theory of how baking soda works in a horse's body. (By the way, the process is by no means thoroughly understood and research is ongoing.) When a horse is running as fast as he can, lactic acid builds up in his muscles, and he becomes tired. Some believe that large doses of bicarbonate offset the accumulation of acid. Thus the horse will be able to run longer and faster, and with less fatigue. The milkshake is often administered through a nasogastric tube. (Imagine the harm that might be done if an unskilled person ran the tube into the horse's nose and the fluid went into the lungs rather than the stomach.) While horses don't seem to be adversely affected by milkshaking, it is still necessary to continue drug testing programs to determine if there is bicarbonate in a racehorse's body, and if so, enforce the law vigorously. As the Delahoussaye story above demonstrates, people will still try anything they can to change the horse's performance--no matter that it's illegal.

Ken Aberegg: Receiving a Well-Deserved Honor

2010-10-27T10:50:00.002-05:00

Last May, the Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary held its annual awards ceremony to pay tribute to those who help animals that have been abused by former owners. Ken Aberegg was honored for his extensive work in rehabilitating horses that often arrive at Happy Trails with emotional and behavioral problems. Knowing how expensive it is to run a rescue operation, Ken provides his valuable services free. "Valuable" is the right word. Ken owns a stable in Alliance, Ohio, where he is a trainer and a riding teacher. But people know him also as a professional horse whisperer, who uses his acute knowledge to bring horses that have been mistreated back to a sane world--where they can't be hurt any more.

Renaming a Tree

2010-10-04T12:02:00.003-05:00

The shorn, rather ugly object above is vitex agnus-castus, otherwise known as a Purple Chaste Tree. Every year around October 1, I prune its luxuriant growth until it looks like this.

In spring, it comes back to life, this year reaching a height of about nine feet. It has grayish-green leaves, palmately divided, and purple flowers with an exotic fragrance, not sweet exactly, but more--well--medicinal. Bees cannot resist it, and nestle in the flowers, doing their thing all summer until the Day of Pruning. With this last cutting, I thought all the bees had gone, but there in the branches I had cut off and thrown to the driveway for hauling to the curb, was one stubborn black creature in the flowers.

The Chaste Tree is important to me. In 2003, in the early hours of Mother's Day, a tornado hit our city. I awoke to find my property littered with uprooted trees, the roof of my house pierced by two huge evergreen branches that had fallen into it from my neighbor's yard, and my driveway completely blocked by the debris. It took a long time to fix the damage.

As soon as my dear friend up north heard about it, he selected the Purple Chaste Tree from one of his garden catalogs and had it sent to me. The small rooted shoots, of course, were packed carefully, with instructions included for planting. I dug a hole at the side of my house and followed each direction with utmost care.

Every time I pass the tree or perform the savage pruning, I think of my friend. He has been cursed with ill health for many years, and can no longer garden the wayhe used to. But that tree survives and so does he. And to honor him for his bravery, I have long since given the tree a new name, not as romantic, but much more significant.

I call it the Samtree.

Sound Horse Conference 2010

2010-10-01T11:32:00.007-05:00

Ideally, horses' lives should be marked by the best care possible from their owners, and a place to live as beautiful and bountiful as the above scene in Virginia. Those horses were my mare and her son at the farm where they lived. But as I have often written, some horses, especially Tennessee Walking Horses, suffer torture by their owners or trainers so the animals will walk in a contorted, exaggerated, unrealistic gait for the show ring. The gait is marked by the horses lifting their legs unnaturally high, because they are afraid of again experiencing the pain their owners have inflicted upon them. Many people who attend a Walking Horse show don't realize this; they think that this abnormal gait has been achieved through normal training.

These horses are victims of soring.

Their legs have been treated with caustic agents; they have been made to wear stacked shoes; often trainers have placed irritants under their saddles which constantly remind them, with pain, that they have to lift those legs; and they are treated to other horrifying techniques honed by years of mistreatment by men and women who only care about prizes, money, and prestige. These horses are forced to remain in their stalls without the pleasurable experience of grazing, like the horses above, and it is thought by some experts that some Walking Horses' lives are cut short by all they have to endure.

I have written here about the horse protection organization, Friends of Sound Horses. This brave group brings all its resources to getting rid of soring, once and for all. The Sound Horse Conference will be held November 5 and 6 in Louisville, Kentucky. My brochure lists the following as just some of the topics that will be discussed: Pressure Shoeing, True Life Stories, Veterinary Research on Customary Practices for Tennessee Walking Show Horses, Detection of Soring, Legal Developments Affecting the Horse Protection Act, and Second Careers for Show Horses. The panelists will be comprised of veterinarians, judges, trainers, attorneys, and volunteers. All of these speakers are, of course, dedicated to ending soring. I'm going, and hope to see you there. For more information about FOSH and the conference, go to http://www.fosh.info/ and http://www.soundhorseconference.com/. And while you're at it, why not join FOSH and volunteer your services? Horses can use your help.

Horses One, Druggers Zero

2010-09-26T10:30:00.003-05:00

Since my new novel He Trots the Air is about drugging horses, I'm particularly sensitive to the fact that doping horses persists in The Sport of Kings. My eye was caught recently by a news item about the Breeders' Cup board of directors, who work toward protecting both the Thoroughbred athletes and the integrity of the sport.

To keep rogue trainers from drugging their horses, Breeders' Cup officials approved a policy in September 2010 that gives horses a chance to run drug-free in the fourteen-race Breeders' Cup World Championships. (The 26 million dollar event will be at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, on November 5 and 6.) The policy will take effect in 2011. In strengthening previous resolutions, the Breeders' Cup board should take pride in punishing any trainer who tries to subvert ethical standards in horse racing and endangers his or her horse. The policy is about Class 1 and Class 2 drugs.

The Association of Racing Commissioners International oversees a number of racing organizations, crafting model rules and suggested penalties. RCI defines Class 1 and Class 2 drugs as those that affect a horse's performance, but have no justifiable therapeutic value. Examples are blood-enhancing drugs, opiates, amphetamines, depressants, stimulants, powerful painkillers, and blood-doping drugs.

The resolution bans any trainer from participating in the Breeders' Cup if his or her horse tested positive for Class 1 or 2 drugs in the preceding year. The trainer cannot start any horses in the Breeders' Cup while he or she is serving out the suspension. If a horse tests positive for these drugs three times, the trainer will be banned for life from the Breeders' Cup races.

Many of us wish that rogue trainers could be banned for life for just one infraction.

DuMaurier, Walking and Me

2010-09-18T10:49:00.002-05:00

Having read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and loving every gothic paragraph, and then seeing the old film of the book with Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, I went on to read about the author's life. She had a good solution to the problem of writer's block: simply leave your home and take a long walk. For du Maurier, it was a brisk walk along the beach as she straightened out the writing problem with her current book.

I adoped walking a long time ago to solve problems, writing and other kinds, before Americans became obsessed with being fit. Nowadays, I walk regularly on a trail that starts behind the place where I work out and winds through a subdivision of upscale homes. It is more than just a walking trail: Children, teen-agers and adults run or ride their bikes on it and exercise their dogs. As I walk along, a new character might appear in my mind demanding to be used in the novel, or I think of an incident to bridge a gap in time. I look up as other people approach and say "Good Morning!" Even though it is quite early--in my part of the country you have to exercise early--almost everyone replies cheerfully. Little do they know they've entered my mind, too, all grist for the mill.

This morning I saw a mother striding along and carrying one of those tiny dogs so much in fashion, preceded by her two children on bikes; a large sweating man who just managed to nod wearily to my greeting as he galumphed along; a couple chattering happily as they ran; an elderly lady sitting on a bench by the trail reading a book before resuming her walk; a town employee cutting the grass; and a large dog on a leash bounding toward me followed by his owners, also running. All three were in perfect rhythm.

Writers' Fun in Franklin

2010-09-08T11:18:00.003-05:00

Every year in September, the Council of the Written Word sponsors a writers' workshop in Franklin, Tennessee. This year it will be held on Saturday, September 18, 2010, at the Williamson County Public Library, and will feature three writers with stellar achievements and honors. Ted Swindley will speak on "Narrative Play: Stories My Grandmother Told Me;" Caroline Alexander on "Telling True Stories: The Art of Non-Fiction;" and Dr. Lorraine M. Lopez on "Contrapuntal Conversations: How Dialogue Works." For more information, see http://www.cww-writers.org/events/FallSem2010/FallSem10main.htm.

Beaker Street Blues Band

2010-09-03T17:16:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday night I went to a wonderful event: a music festival benefitting Page High School's prize-winning marching band. It was a feast of music all day. But by far the best event on the program was the finale: The Beaker Street Blues Band. Sitting under the spectator's tent in the hot, humid night about nine 0'clock or so, I had just finished a dish of homemade peach ice cream and was looking forward to the last act. I was glad the weather had at last cooled a little bit. I watched while the band members climbed on stage and carefully prepared their instruments, the mics and the rest of their equipment. Then they started to play their R&B and what a group of talents! Steve Smartt, trumpet and vocals, tells what kind of music the band plays: "I like the classic two-horn sound of sax plus trumpet and the variety and versatility of using the horns either out front and in your face, or way down low in the background. I'm always learning something new with this band and that's what makes it fun." I'm a person who likes this kind of music "in your face," and I wasn't disappointed. By the time they had played several numbers, the audience was clapping, cheering, grinning, taking pictures, and dancing. The highlights of the evening were, for me, their version of BB King's famous "Everyday I Sing the Blues;" the sax man playing two saxes at once as he played along with the trumpet; and the last number: the sax man jumped down from the stage playing furiously, strode over to a group of teen-agers dancing, pushed his way into the middle, still playing, and then made his way back to the stage, where the band finished for the night in a blaze of glory. To read a lot more about this band, go to http://www.beakerstreetbluesband.com/. And if you live around Nashville, find out where they're playing and GO!

A Scrumptious Killer Nashville This Year

2010-08-13T11:24:00.004-05:00

The Franklin Marriott Cool Springs Convention Center in Franklin, Tennessee, is again hosting the scrumptious Killer Nashville conference next week, August 20-22. Scrumptious, that is, in terms of its rich variety of offerings for writer and fan alike, and the sheer fun of going. You can solve the mystery of the annual dead body and win a free Killer Nashville for next year; buy a wide selection of books from the bookstores and/or their authors; get your manuscript critiqued; and learn how to write knockout dialogue. Above all, you can revel in being with people who share your love of mysteries. I promise you there is so much to do that you'll be sorry the conference doesn't last longer. There are more than forty separate seminars, workshops, lectures, and presentations.

Of great interest to CSI or Law and Order buffs like me, those who are fascinated with police procedure or gathering real facts for a novel, look for the fourteen seminars on forensics. Presented by experts in psychology, medicine, and law enforcement, these sessions provide in-depth information about forensic science, criminal psychology, investigative techniques, and firearms.

And if you come, please look me up! I'll be moderating an unusual panel on Friday, August 20, "Grow Old Along With Me: The Aging of Series Protagonists." It will be at 4:00 PM. And on Saturday, August 21 at 8:30 AM, join our group in discussing the Father of American Detective Fiction. That fellow above. Look for "Edgar Allan Poe: Dark Inspiration" in your schedule of events.

Killer Nashville has a number of special rates and discounts, including discounts for seniors, teachers, and full-time students. Special hotel discounts are available to conference attendees. If you'd like to know more, go to http://www.killernashville.com.

Zenyatta who?

2010-07-18T15:56:00.003-05:00

Laura Hillenbrand, the author of the wonderful book "Seabiscuit: An American Legend," was interviewed on National Public Radio by Scott Simon on July 17, 2010. Her book led to one of the best equestrian movies I've ever seen, "Seabiscuit," starring three of the finest actors in the business: Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, and Tobey McGuire. Little wonder I listened carefully to what Hillenbrand had to say about the newest sensation in horse racing, the captivating mare Zenyatta, who is winning and winning and winning one race after another. Hillenbrand was so enthusiastic about the mare's performance that when she mentioned that listeners might like to watch Zenyatta on YouTube, I went to my computer and found this clip from the 2010 Vanity Handicap: http://www.youtube.com/resultssearch_query=zenyatta+vanity+handicap&aq=3.

I advise you to watch Zenyatta move up past all the other horses to win. Then read the Simon/Hillenbrand interview at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128584725&ps=cprs. You'll see that everything the dazzled Hillenbrand said in the interview about Zenyatta is true.

How I would love to see this mare run!

Botulism and Flooding

2010-07-07T09:46:00.003-05:00

Several months ago, I read an article about the deaths of four horses at a riding stable near my home. They died from botulism, a devastating kind of food poisoning that comes from a neurotoxin, defined by Webster's as "a poisonous complex especially of protein that acts on the nervous system." The effects of botulism upon a horse may include muscle tremors, a weakness so pervasive that the animal cannot stand up, the loss of the ability to control his or her tongue and thus the process of swallowing, and a stiff, short, stumbling gait. Death results because of the horse's paralyzed respiratory system, or from associated health problems.

Botulism occurs when horses eat feed or water that contain the deadly toxin. For example, haylage, a silage made from partially dried grass, can be contaminated during raking and baling. Perhaps the body of a dead animal, maybe a snake or a rabbit, is caught in a bale. When several horses develop botulism, the vet looks for poisoned feed or water. What is so troubling for owners is that sometimes the silage may look and smell rotten, and it can be disposed of. But often, the poisoned feed shows no sign of spoilage, and then the horses eat it.

In the case above, it may well be that the recent flooding in Tennessee caused the fields to flood and the hay to get wet. It decayed and the toxic bacteria entered the horses' bodies either by ingestion or through a cut.

When a horse is hospitalized for botulism, the cost is often prohibitive for the owner. The sick horse must be given a serum over many days at $700 for each bag.

While we read about the tragic ways in which the recent flooding affected human beings, we often forget that horses are prey to natural disasters too.

Art Thieves Don't Look Like Brosnan or McQueen

2010-06-28T11:47:00.006-05:00

I learned the pleasures of visiting art museums at an early age in Buffalo, where regular visits to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery was common for children. One of the best art experiences I ever had years later was in London, where the prestigious museum I kept going back to (I believe it was the Victoria and Albert) served breakfast in its restaurant. After a scrumptious pastry or two, I would prowl the huge museum at my leisure and see things I had only read about.

Coupled with my love for art museums is my love of heist movies. I've seen many, but one I really enjoyed was the charming movie "The Thomas Crown Affair," a remake of the old Steve McQueen movie but this time starring Pierce Brosnan. Now I've started reading about real thefts, stories in which the thieves are scruffy, weasly, cruel and greedy. I'd like to recommend to my readers "The Gardner Heist" by Ulrich Boser. I've never visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the scene of the largest unsolved art theft in history. The author tells the story of his quest to solve the mystery, a search that took him all over the world. And he is still searching, by the way. See his blog The Open Case at http://theopencase.com/columns.php?page=blog&ctitle=The+Gardner+Heist&blog_id=11.

Two Treats from Michael Flatley

2010-06-08T15:33:00.004-05:00

In my blog of June 5, I talked a little about my love of clogging. Having discovered Michael Flatley of Riverdance fame long ago, I wondered about the connection between clogging and Irish Step Dance and tap dancing. And here's the answer. Through a little research, I discovered that "the troubles between the British and the Irish in the mid-18th century, coupled with the great famine, brought a mass exodus of Irish to the shores of America. Many Irish settled in the Appalachians, bringing their music and dance with them. Irish step dancing thus influenced the creation of Appalachian clogging. American tap dancing was also influenced by a combination of African rhythm and Irish percussive foot work." For more on this, go to http://www.ehow.com/about_5453202_history-irish-step-dancing.html.

However, Michael Flatley, having won international acclaim for Step Dancing, exceeded even himself and created his own version, which you can never forget if you've seen him dance. Here's what he says: “What I'm doing there is an accelerated version of Irish traditional dancing." He says more: “At the same time, I have incorporated the upper body movement and all of the arm movements, but it’s not done like ballet. It’s not done like tap and it’s not done like flamenco. It’s something that I had to create from scratch because nothing else would have fit there.” Go to http://worlddance.suite101.com/article.cfm/michael_flatley_biography#ixzz0qITKVQO7

Here are two YouTube excerpts of Flatley's dancing. The first is his "Thunderstorm" from Riverdance. Notice that his arms are freely and naturally moving, as opposed to traditional step dancing. The dancers' percussive steps are perfectly executed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytcZIfvSWW4 And last today, notice how his style has changed in his "Feet of Flames Finale." I like the Spanish influences so much. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdD5Te_ZZys&feature=related

Clogging Makes You Smile and Smile

2010-06-05T10:57:00.003-05:00

I first found clogging on the Blue Ridge Parkway of Virginia, and I have loved to watch it ever since. A friend and I were driving on the Parkway and he knew of a store close to one of the mileposts. The sights and smells of the store turned out to be fascinating to a newcomer from the cold and ice of Buffalo (that's me), and we had fun browsing for drinks and treats.When we emerged to go back to our car, some energetic people were setting up a portable stage for what turned out to be clogging. The women were dressed in brightly colored blouses and big skirts, the men is neat shirts and trousers, and they all wore tap shoes. There was canned blue grass music, the volume turned up high. It looked like a square dance to me, but the dancers were clogging, that is, performing heavy, stamping steps. The rhythm in this percussive dancing is catching. And I liked the way the dancers and onlookers grinned from ear to ear. You just can't help it, when you're around clogging.

Just a few months ago, I walked downtown to the square, and suddenly heard bluegrass. In front of the bank, cloggers had set up to dance. This time, it was anything goes, and as a CD played, everyone got into the act: an elderly man, a child of about three, two high schoolers, a middle aged man who was really good. They clogged away deliriously, while I stood in the heat and watched and enjoyed and grinned.

To get an idea of what southern clogging looks like in action, go to this link to YouTube. I found it recently. This is real, southern clogging, and this time, there are wonderful, old-time musicians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs2j8f7H2WY

Disaster on May Day

2010-05-25T10:42:00.005-05:00

Saturday, May 1, was no happy day of feasting, dancing, singing, love, and gathering flowers, as it was in the May Day holiday of medieval times. Far from it. That was the day the river that encircles my community like a belt rose in its bed and flooded us out.

It started raining sometime after after noon on Saturday, Day One. By Saturday evening, people on our street were advised by the police to evacuate our homes, because of the intensity of the flooding that had already occurred. "Shut off the electricity before you go," one policeman told us. By that time, I had watched a strange drama out of my back windows. My neighbor, insisting plaintively that he didn't know how to paddle, was nonetheless taking his property out of his home by canoe, "docking it" after each trip in my yard where the flood waters mysteriously stopped and some grass was still visible. The water in his back yard was so high that a volunteer trying to maneuver the canoe by its bow was standing in water up to his waist. And the water had roiling waves. In the pasture beyond our back fences, a new lake had formed that looked perfectly natural, in fact, oddly pleasant. Out of my front windows, I watched canoes ply their way up and down the street. Some people were determined to get some fun out of the situation. A teenager walked through the water, never realizing what was in it: it was toxic with detritus and horse manure from the house with the four horses down the street, and such things as the plastic bag that washed up on my lawn containing what looked like shoe liners complete with worms.

On Sunday, my family and I went to my house to get the furniture up on blocks, tie up the curtains, and do anything else to save my home. The rain was eerily heavy, the street flooded and dangerous. We worked frantically to ready the house and then left the area as quickly as we could. We didn't know when it would stop raining.

By Monday, when I went back to my house to see if the water had risen inside (miraculously it hadn't), neighbors were sitting in front of their houses watching the water slowly, agonizingly slowly, receding. A thoughtful neighbor had put an old can at the edge of the flood water, and watchers in lawn chairs sipping drinks were using this as an indicator. Every time the water moved, the neighbor would move the can. The water receded, but the devastation remained. And now, my neighbors had to start getting back the comfortable homes upon which they so depended.

Editors are Often Angels

2010-04-05T10:30:00.003-05:00

My latest novel, He Trots the Air, is presently being edited by an angel. Well, not like the ones with wings and sometimes swords. Nevertheless, thank heavens for her. As a teacher of literature, I've learned that people read novels many different ways. They bring to the story their own frames of reference and interpret the themes of novels in ways authors never imagined when they were sitting at their computers and sweating out the composing process. Dedicated writers obsess over every word, every sentence, every paragraph. I have written the same two paragraphs 17 times, and in the present editing process, cast a jaundiced eye at those paragraphs and some inner compulsion forced me to write an 18th version. And yet I know that e-mail from readers will tell me their reactions to the book and my eyes will widen with surprise. That's why editors are so important. Angelic editors bring a scrupulously objective reading to their author's work whether they like the book personally or not, their mission to improve the book, make it clearer and more enjoyable. When my editor said, "I don't understand this," or "How about more detail about XXX?" it was tremendously helpful. In one case, I took out a rather rather abstruse reference I thought everybody understood, and in the other, filled in some extra descriptive words about the appearance of a character I thought would be perfectly clear in the imaginations of my readers.

FOSH Fights Soring

2010-03-02T15:44:00.005-06:00

As we've learned, Tennessee Walkers and other gaited horses are prey for those who sore their animals for greed and prestige. Today, a few words about Friends of Sound Horses (FOSH), a group I think highly of for its active defense of gaited horses and condemnation of soring. Its mission is "To promote all "sound," naturally gaited horses, with a specific emphasis on Tennessee Walking Horses. (“Sound” means not “sored”)." The group educates the public about the "humane care, training, and treatment of all gaited horses for their emoti0nal, mental and physical well-being. FOSH will only support flat shod or barefoot horses, and will never endorse any event that uses stacks and/or chains as action devices, nor any mechanical, chemical or artificial means to modify the natural gait of the horse."

FOSH really goes after those who sore. On their web site, the FOSH folks have an excellent page devoted to soring. But they don't leave it there. I especially admire their bravery in publishing Horse Protection Act (HPA) Violations Lists up to 10/16/09, and their state-by-state map of HPA suspensions. I've said here before that one of the ways to get rid of soring is to expose its practices to the light, and now FOSH has exposed the people who do it. They cannot hide. FOSH also suggests ways to work on this problem, including joining FOSH and becoming a volunteer. Read their "Volunteers Welcomed" page. You'll find something to do, I'm sure, as you read the really useful list of things that need to be done to get rid of soring.

There is much more at the FOSH site to enjoy. If you like what you see, you might consider joining the group and enlisting as a volunteer.

http://fosh.info/index.html

Horse Tortured for Fifteen Years

2010-02-28T11:04:00.006-06:00

About a week ago, a new acquaintance told me the following story which she has never forgotten. She and her husband were at an auction of older horses, looking to buy. One horse didn't get any bids and when the auction ended, the couple walked to the horse's stall to observe it more closely. That's when they noticed the telltale marks on its hooves and legs and the lack of vitality in the poor animal. It looked worn out. Someone who was well acquainted with the owner told the couple confidentially that the horse had not been out of its stall in 15 years,except for shows, and the owner intended to euthanize it if he couldn't sell it. And that's just what happened the next week. To his credit, the husband met the owner at a horse event and raked him over, telling him what he thought of him for doing that to a horse.

The reasons why this abuse is still happening are politicians who don't want to offend the horse industry and sp won't act, and the federal government, that doesn't give the inspectors enough money to cover all the gaited horse competitions so that the abusers can be caught. The Horse Protection Act is thus not enforced to the fullest extent.

The worst people of course are the owners and trainers obsessed with making money and winning prizes and the dubious prestige that goes with the prizes when horses have been sored, and so will do anything necessary to torture their horses in order to win. Even when the offenders are caught, the punishments are not nearly harsh enough. What would be appropriate would be with one infraction, the sorers would never be allowed to participate in another event, and they would have their horses taken away. They would never be able to own horses again either. And I would legislate huge financial penalties and even jail time. I would also work hard to change the tax codes of a particular state to classify the horse in more ways than just farm animals.

What can we all do about this? At least let your representatives in Congress know how you feel about it, stressing that some states' names are blackened in the public's view because of the filthy reputations of sorers who live there, and urging the politicos to use their power in Washington to get rid of soring. Go to http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml to find your reps and contact them. And because sorers profit from the silence of people who care but do nothing, find some way to work on horses' behalf actively besides donating money. If you have web sites or blogs, write about the problem, and get it out in the light where people will learn about it. Become a member of an active horse protection group. Read good web sites where there are opportunities for you to do something substantial. In my next blog entry, I'll tell you about an excellent group that needs your help.

The Savagery of Soring

2010-02-06T05:28:00.004-06:00

In all discussions of soring, we have to remember that there are many trainers who work with gaited horses in a humane way without having to resort to torture; indeed, I believe that knowing what the sored horse goes through, they are ashamed of what their fellow trainers do for ribbons, money, and prestige. Several years ago, a prominent local citizen told me that he had given up showing his Walking Horses, even though he had trained them with kindness and patience, because he couldn't stand seeing the other horses that had been the object of savagery.

The techniques of soring as seen in the damaged hoof above, are bad enough, but it doesn't stop there. As discussed on the Protecting Horses page of my web site at http://www.mmfisher.com/, The Horse Protection Act of 1970 was designed to eliminate soring, but political pressure from influential business people in the horse industry, inadequate funding from the federal government, and the arrogance of those who sore their horses and who will not stop have hobbled the enforcement of the law for almost four decades. The law involves inspection of horses. And here is where the afflicted horses suffer more. In "The Cruelest Show on Earth," the Humane Society says that some people train their horses not to respond when inspectors palpate their ankles and legs to find out if they have been sored. How do trainers do this to their animals? By beating with blunt instruments or attaching alligator clips to sensitive parts to cause pain, or putting a painful device in their mouths: all to force the horses to concentrate on the "new pain" rather than in the "old" pain in their feet or legs. They must not move. This process is called "stewarding" within the industry, an ironic double usage. As an English teacher, I can't help but see the irony here. The word "steward" was in use before the twelfth century and meant, as it does today, someone who is in charge, who directs affairs, who has great responsibility. Stewards then can be those who run horse shows in the right way, those officials most in evidence at shows, or a trainer who works in a stall or pasture, torturing, stewarding his animal into silence.

Some years ago, I included abuse of horses in a list of topics my students could choose to research for their essays. We talked about each topic and its possibilities, and when we came to the horse question, a student in the back spoke up loudly and clearly: "I don't know what all the fuss is about. It's just a horse." What that eighteen-year-old said was crude and ignorant, but is true of too many "adults" who are equally unable to consider the horse as anything more than an animal who is worth money, prizes, and prestige. It is a horrible prestige, this maiming of animals for no good reason, and people who respect, care for, indeed, love their horses regard sorers with horror and loathing.

I discuss the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration of 2009 on the Protecting Horses page at http://www.mmfisher.com/.

My Neighbor's Cherished Horses

2010-01-30T10:45:00.004-06:00

Snow. All day yesterday. The tall trees left in the backyard along the fence (the ones still standing after a tornado hit a couple of years ago) looked black from my back kitchen windows. On the other side of the fence, the empty, white, snow-covered pasture stretched back to snowy farm buildings. Everything black and white with a leaden sky. As I came into the kitchen to make tea, I happened to glance out the windows just as five horses--black, white, brown--galloped along the fence in a perfect line, one behind the other, head to tail. They were moving in perfect rhythm and complete abandonment through the cold air and thick, falling snow. I thought how beautiful those cherished horses were in motion: strong and free and joyous.

More About Soring

2010-01-27T14:26:00.002-06:00

At http://www.hphoofcare.com/lick.html, the writer points out that abuse of the horse's feet and legs is not the only way the animal suffers. The horse may wear a cruel bit to increase leverage on his or her head, and a tail set, that forces the tail into an arched, extremely high carriage. The tail set must be worn almost all the time. And the way the horse is ridden is all wrong, a bizarre form of equitation that does not suit the horse's natural gait. Indeed, sometimes horses fall over as they try vainly to do what the rider wants. The rider may resort to using spurs. Read more at this excellent web site, that also contains powerful and heartbreaking images and videos, illustrating far better than words what the horse endures.

It's no wonder then that The Humane Society concludes that "many Tennessee Walking Horses die at a young age from colic, believed to be caused by the extreme stress placed on them in training and by exposure to the toxic chemicals used for soring." http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/tenn_walking_horses/facts/what_is_soring.html

More to come soon.

Terrible Facts about Soring

2010-01-25T13:27:00.004-06:00

Soring is about the worst torture that can be inflicted on horses--short of killing them, that is. Rational people in the horse industry who love and respect horses, cannot understand why owners would maim their own beautiful animals in ways designed to inflict the most pain possible to the horse--all to produce the grotesque Big Lick gait seen in Walking Horse events. (Or for that matter, at shows where other gaited horses like Spotted Saddle Horses or Racking Horses perform.) The big money, name recognition, and blue ribbons are certainly not worth ruining a horse physically and mentally.

In the accompanying image, you see the results of damage to a horse's leg and hoof. (Thanks to the USDA, United States Department of Agriculture.) The following are techniques used by unethical trainers to achieve the Big Lick, the artificial movement where in reality, horses are lifting their legs high to somehow avoid more pain. Owners and trainers often pretend that these poor horses love to perform this way and nothing bad has ever happened to them to achieve this movement.

Reality coming, though. Here is what unscrupulous trainers do to the horses.

Apply corrosive chemicals that blister the horse's legs, like kerosene, mustard oil and diesel fuel, and then wrap plastic wrap around the legs. Leave the horse in the stall for days at a time to suffer.

Pressure shoe the horse, that is, cut the hoof almost to the quick and tightly nail on the shoe.

Stand the horse for hours with the excruciating part of his sole on a raised object.

These methods induce the most equisite pain imaginable to the horse. But it doesn't stop there; the pain must be prolonged to be effective, so when the horse moves in the future, trainers put chains around the ankles, which slide up and down, aggravating the painful ankles.

But the trainer is not done yet. To emphasize the Big Lick, the performing horse wears a high, heavy stack of pads. To those who witness a show like this, the horse appears to be standing at a bizarre angle. And sometimes trainers put foreign objects between the hoof and the stacks to induce more pain.

More to come. In the meantime, go to http://www.hsus.org/horses_equines/tn_walking_horses/what_is_soring_fact_sheet_.html to read more.

In Tennessee: Horses Recover from Great Cruelty

2010-01-22T11:32:00.005-06:00

Remember the great Tennessee Horse Rescue of 2009? (See Tuesday, December 8, 2009 in Blog Archive.) Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nveFOcnRuVQ to see the results of the outpouring of love and care by volunteers who worked so hard to bring as many of the horses back to health as possible. You'll smile all day! Guaranteed!

Hooray for My New English Class

2010-01-20T14:08:00.004-06:00

As a teacher for a long time, I think there's nothing like starting a new class. I've now met with my spring 2012 class twice, and already I see potential in the students: I'm thinking there will be good discussion and smart thinking. I'm using the same textbook but redesigning lessons. I'm incorporating technology into the classroom by huddling with the IT man. I'm thinking about what I could bring into class from my own reading: maybe an essay from David McCullough's Brave Companions. I think they'd like the one about the short-lived "wild west" and Teddy Roosevelt. Or maybe the script of Avatar, available electronically, in which we see things left out of the movie. We'll see. What fun!

Tennessee: Starving Horses Only a Misdemeanor

2009-12-08T08:54:00.004-06:00

"He bought the horses at an auction, but they were way too much for him to take care of," said Humane Society representative Jordan Crump of Charles Howland, who along with his son Clint, let 84 horses starve on his Cannon County farm in Tennessee. The Cannon County Sheriff's Department and Humane Society volunteers rescued the the horses, along with goats, dogs, and chickens. According to http://humanesociety.org/, "When rescuers arrived on the property, they found many Tennessee Walking Horses and Spotted Saddle Horses, as well as quarter horses. Tennessee Walking Horses and Spotted Saddle Horses are two breeds that commonly suffer from soring, an abusive practice that involves the intentional infliction of pain to a horse's legs or hooves in order to force an artificial, exaggerated gait. Many of the horses were extremely emaciated and suffering from a variety of medical ailments including overgrown, infected hooves and parasite infestation. Rescuers also found several dead horses on the scene." See slide show at http://www.wsmv.com/slideshow/news/21711849/detail.html.

The animals were transported to the State Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville, where many stalls were available. The good news is that as of December 1, the horses are doing much better. Thanksgiving Day drew a lot of sympathizers who brought hay for the horses and food for the valiant workers.

Out of this near-disaster emerged a frustrating problem with Tennessee law. The Howlands, charged with animal cruelty, will never go to jail. But, you protest, there are 84 counts of animal cruelty against both men. It doesn't matter. Cruelty to horses is only a MISDEMEANOR. Maybe they will be fined $2500. You understand that if horses are considered livestock and livestock can be used as a business expense, the farmer can have a large tax break. Incredibly, the Farm Bureau said that this law is working. But of course in the minds of all rational people, it isn't working, when two men can try to starve 84 horses to death so they don't have to feed them. Note that Rep. Janis Sontany is working to get horse cruelty declared a felony. See http://www.wsmv.com/news/21740874/detail.html.

For a video whose images speak volumes about what these animals have suffered, go to http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091208/NEWS01/912080346.

Drugging Race Horses

2009-12-02T09:06:00.003-06:00

The great fun of writing a second book about a woman I know well (actually, I created Connie Holt), is giving her new challenges. Never a dull life for her. The new things are rife: new danger; a couple of new puzzles to solve, one about villains, one about a man she knew previously; a new task involving art, and a new change in her personal life. And all in a new novel, as of now called Painted Stallion. It has been accepted by Bedside Books for publication. (I'm just starting the editing phase and have no date yet when the novel will be out.)

This time, Connie's main preoccupation is about the drugging of steeplechase horses--an ongoing problem in all of horse racing. Connie has her hands full when she and her boss, Cary McCutcheon, stumble on a plot to drug Cary's magnificent Thoroughbred entry in the International Gold Cup. The horse's name is Darkling Lord. Trouble is, the two have little information to help them catch the perpetrators. The investigation is grueling and frustrating. But there is more. On the private side, Connie's friend Earlene Collins, breeder of Arabians, has found what looks like an original Henry Stull equine painting in the attic of her early 1800's house. Busy with her new mares, Earlene asks Connie to find an art expert to validate the painting. Connie's trip to Colorado to meet the expert has results no one could have been predicted; as a result, her personal life, in tatters at the beginning of the book, changes radically.

The Mustangs of Las Colinas

2009-12-01T11:56:00.004-06:00

I'm fond of sculpted horses, and have looked for them all my life as I travel, whether here in the United States or in Europe. Visiting Texas a few years back, I saw what is advertised as the world's largest equestrian sculpture. In the Las Colinas section of Irving, there is an elegant, modern complex of copper-roofed, granite office buildings. They border, on three sides, a plaza of pink granite. Across the plaza runs a stream of water.

As you approach the plaza, you are startled and then delighted to see a group of nine bronze mustangs--a young stallion, five mares, two colts, and an older stallion who is clearly in control of his band. The mustangs are stunning, one and a half times life size. They are all in motion, and are approaching the stream, in the stream, or on their way out of the stream. The water is powered by an ingenious pumping system that produces realistic splashing around the hooves of the horses "running through" the water. The horses were modeled by the eminent sculptor Robert Glen. Glen's keen visual acuity enabled him to see--and model accordingly--how the mustangs must have looked in motion. Most important, I believe, Glen caught the mustangs' essence: they are joyous, exuberant, powerful, and free.

If you can, go to Irving and see the mustangs. You'll never forget them.

Find more pictures at my web site (http://www.mmfisher.com/).

And read more about how this magnificent project was completed at http://www.mustangsoflascolinas.com/History.html.

Where is the Media When We Really Need Them?

2009-11-17T11:34:00.003-06:00

There have now been 21 horses butchered for their meat in the Miami-Dade area of Florida as of November 2. The facts of these killings should be exposed in the most blinding light the media can turn on them, so that the horse murderers are caught and punished. I wonder why there hasn’t been more in the media about what is happening in The Sunshine State. Is it politically incorrect to speak of these killings because some cultural groups like to eat horsemeat? Maybe it’s because many people dislike horses or just don’t care what happens to them, thus providing no grist for the media mill.

A little history. Horse lovers were relieved in September when two men were arrested on charges of horse poaching. Although two more men were caught selling horsemeat in October, the police believe they are not involved with the killing of the 21st horse, a Thoroughbred mare. Her remains were found on Saturday, October 31, by horrified trail riders. Richard Cuoto of the South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals thinks the mare was killed elsewhere and then dumped.

The reward for solid information resulting in the conviction of these horse killers is $20,000. Call Crime Stoppers at 305/471-8477 or 866/471-8477. To read Pat Raia’s article in the online magazine theHORSE.com, go to http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=15052.

Debi Metcalfe, founder of the nonprofit organization Stolen Horse International, has put together these commonsense suggestions for horse owners.
1. Trespassers should know you have plenty of surveillance. Use warning signs, motion lighting, a farm light, animal alarms, Debi mentions donkeys and peacock among other animal sounds, and video or deer cam coverage.
2. Your neighbors should band together to watch the neighborhood and each other’s horses.
3. Gates should be consistently bolted.
4. Horses should be moved closer to your home when sleeping and away from easy entry to your property.
5. Horses should have a plainly visible ID and a microchip number.
6. By all means, work with law enforcement about suspicious people on your property. Get tag numbers from trucks and cars if you can, but don’t take any risks. Use your cell phone to take pictures of suspicious vehicles. For more on this, go to http://netposse.com/Floridahorseslaughter.html.

Happy Trails Farm

2009-10-21T16:31:00.004-05:00

I'm always delighted when I hear of an animal refuge that's well run, with lots of love to spare for the residents. Such a place is the Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary in Ravenna, Ohio. Their mission statement is well worth reading. Here it is:

Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary Inc. is a non-profit (501c3) organization that rescues, rehabilitates, and provides an adoption program for abused, abandoned, and neglected farm animals such as horses, ponies, pot belly pigs, farm pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, sheep, goats, and cattle. Happy Trails serves the entire state of Ohio, and works in cooperation with county humane societies, animal protective leagues, and local and state law enforcement officers. Our criteria for accepting a farm animal or horse into our rescue program is that the animal has been removed from it's current situation by a county humane officer, sheriff, or other law enforcement representative. Happy Trails does NOT accept owner surrenders. We do not accept farm animals or horses from owners who simply no longer want their farm pet or wish to sell their farm pet or horse. Happy Trails provides the rescued farm animals and equine with medical care, proper nutrition, clean and safe housing, and as much TLC as possible. We work in cooperation with a variety of other rescue groups, both local and out of state, to network and help find homes for the rescued farm animals. Our adoption program allows for the rescued farm animals to be adopted as a family pet only. Once a farm animal is accepted by Happy Trails, they are no longer allowed to be placed back into food production, nor are they allowed to be bred or used for exploitation in any way. The Happy Trails Amish Horse Retirement Program, an extended part of our original rescue program, accepts Amish-owned buggy and plow horses that can no longer serve their Amish families. The acceptance criteria is that the horse is surrendered directly from it's Amish owner, and that it is donated to the Amish Horse Retirement Program. These horses are then given an overall health and wellness medical examination, updated with vaccinations and a consistent worming schedule, have their hooves trimmed, and are made available for adoption.

Readers, take a look at the delightful pictures of these animals on the web site. Every time I look at them, I wish I could adopt a horse. Or maybe a pot-bellied pig! ( http://happytrailsfarm.org/about.htm)

My correspondent Julie first called my attention to this wonderful farm. Here's what she has to say about her visit there:

Last Saturday, my husband Kip and I visited the Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary in Ravenna, Ohio. It was fantastic! They had horses, pigs (both potbelly and standard), chickens (including roosters rescued from cockfighting), ducks, geese, goats and miniature horses!! (We learned that the Amish use miniature horses to pull farm carts. ) They are also expecting a set of sheep to arrive shortly.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed spending time with the farm animals. The pigs were especially fantastic. One followed me around like a dog, rubbing on me when I petted her and falling over to expose her tummy for more patting and grunting with pleasure. I climbed right into the pens with the full-grown hogs (one was 1,400 pounds!) and they were extremely gentle and friendly - came trotting right up to me to look me over and be petted. The sanctuary director, Annette Fisher, says pigs are just fine - not at all aggressive - when they are not made aggressive by being kept in the horrible conditions that are standard in the hog-raising industry.

The horses were great. Sadly there were some there whose previous owner had abandoned them in a barn in stalls with the stall gates NAILED shut. And neglect cases are up a lot due to the economy. Annette says many foreclosed country property owners are moving away and just leaving their farm animals behind, still in their barns, sheds or fields - or even abandoning them by the side of the road.

The fighting roosters were a sad sight. They have to be kept in special individual cages where they can't reach each other or they will fight to the death even through the wire mesh. But the sanctuary director took one out of his pen and I got to pet him - he was completely gentle and friendly to people. The cockfighters strap razor blades on their legs for them to fight with and cut off their combs so that the blood won't run down into their eyes when they fight. They also shave off all their feathers so their wounds will show better when they are fighting. Many have damaged or cut off beaks so they can't groom their own feathers any more. So even with their feathers mostly grown back now, they were a bedraggled sight - but still lively and interested, looking around and liking being petted. (How to pet a rooster: scratch around the base of the feathers at the back of the neck and he becomes blissful).

Annette is trying to get the state to make the penalties for fighting all kinds of animals the same (fighting dogs is punished more strictly than fighting roosters). She says that cockfighting is associated with underage drinking, drug sales, illegal firearms, and a host of other ills so it should be as serious a crime as fighting any other animal.

The sanctuary folks are going to bring some of the fighting roosters, some ducks and one of the miniature horses to our Blessing of the Animals [at our church] next Sunday! I am so thrilled. I have already sent a press release out about it to the local paper.

Only a Teen-Age Face

2009-10-11T11:35:00.003-05:00

I read in The Miami Herald post of 9.23.09 that a nineteen-year-old man has been arrested and charged with butchering horses, probably for their meat, at two ranches in the Miami-Dade area of South Florida. I stare at the picture of Santiago Cabrera--short, neat haircut; gold earrings; red and blue shirt; sketchy mustache--and try to reconcile the image with the brutal details of the crimes to which he has confessed. But the face reveals nothing of what he did to the horses at the Lazy L Ranch and another place. It's merely a teen-age face with a tentative expression. The police have charged Cabrera with killing two horses at two different ranches. Among the charges are armed burglary, killing a registered breed horse, and animal cruelty.

While I'm glad that two killers have now been arrested (Luis Miguel Cordero, 18, was the other one), police are still looking for other suspects. No one should be relaxing yet. If you have information, call Crime Stoppers, 305-471-TIPS.

To read more about the arrest, go to http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/1246788.html.

$300 to Butcher a Horse

2009-09-20T17:39:00.003-05:00

A teenager was arrested by the Hialeah and Miami-Dade police when he was taken with incriminating evidence and confessed to having butchered a horse in company with another man. The details of his act, for which he was paid $300 by someone as yet unknown, are so gruesome that I can't bring myself to put them into this entry. You can read more at the September 17 posting of The Miami Herald: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1237437.html.

Sadly, a September 10 posting at the same newspaper site tells us that a racehorse has been slaughtered. The police are investigating thoroughly to see if these two crimes are related and of course to find out who else is involved. Read more, if you can stand it, at http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1225961.html?asset_id=12248.

If anyone has any information, please call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

Meet Me at Killer Nashville

2009-08-04T15:32:00.003-05:00

A reminder that Killer Nashville, the mystery writers and readers conference, will be held Friday, August 14 through Sunday, August 16. On Friday from 2:30-3:30 PM, I'll be discussing "Animals in Mysteries" with my fellow panelists. For all the important details and to register, see http://www.killernashville.com/.

Mindless Atrocities

2009-08-04T14:02:00.002-05:00

Ellyn Robinson, Vice President of the South Florida SPCA, wrote to ask me to tell my readers what is happening to horses in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. Pet horses, the official number is now 17, are being hacked to death for their meat. The details of how Geronimo, Bonita, Linda, Comanche and others were butchered are so sickening that I can only think those who are doing it are in the same class of human criminals as Caligula, Herod, Saddam Hussein and Idi Amin Dada. They are amoral, cruel, greedy, and remorseless and they are always with us.

In this case, Ellyn tells us, the horse meat is being sold on the black market. Various estimates of the profits range from $7 to $40 a pound. Richard Couto, investigator with the S.F.S.P.C.A., says "Miami-Dade and South Florida is a melting pot....We have a lot of people, we have a lot of international people, from Asia, Europe, South, Central America and the islands. A lot of these countries, horse meat for consumption is legal. These people grow up eating this meat." (It is legal in Florida for owners to kill and eat their horses on their own property but the meat cannot be sold to others.) Ellyn mentions the irony in the fact that the horse meat is contaminated from antibiotics, de-wormers and other drugs that loving owners pump into their horses to keep them healthy. It's a case of the biter being bit when buyers are willing to purchase this illegal, ill-gotten meat and then get sick and possibly die from eating it. Some think that the killings are a result of the recession, that people need cheap meat. There is even a theory that there is a cultural belief that maintains that horse meat cures diseases.

A note about the wonderful South Florida SPCA and Ellyn Robinson: In one of the killings, a mare was killed but her foal spared. Ellyn and others are trying to get the owner to allow the SPCA to take the foal to its rescue ranch until the foal overcomes the trauma of witnessing his mother's horrible death. Ellyn says he's only about two months old. She has volunteered to pay the expenses for his care.

There is a reward fund being set up so that the police can get more citizen information. If you would like to contribute, please send your checks to:
South Florida SPCA
15476 NW 77th Ct #440
Miami Lakes, FL 33016
The memo line on the check should read: reward fund.
The check should be payable to the South Florida SPCA

Or:
Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers
Attn: Maureen
1030 NW 111 Ave.
Miami, FL 33172
The memo line on the check should read: Dade County Horses
The check should be payable to Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers

For more on this situation, go the the Protecting Horses link on my website at www.http.mmfisher.com.

Here are some helpful links:
www.http.helpthehorses.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/1161684.html
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=horse+slaughter&target=article&sortby=display_time+descending
http://cbs4.com/local/horse.butchered.burned.2.1104065.html
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Another-Horse-Cut-and-Killed-For-Meat.html
http://www.justnews.com/video/20203309/index.html

Killer Nashville Coming!

2009-07-19T10:06:00.004-05:00

To all mystery and suspense junkies, writers and\or appreciative readers of same: Killer Nashville is rolling into its third year with three days of fun, Friday, August 14 through Sunday, August 16.

J.J. Jance, the popular and prolific mystery writer, will be the honored guest at Killer Nashville 2009. Author of so many thrillers and mysteries it makes your head whirl to read all her titles, she has written 3 thrillers and 34 mysteries (the latter includes three series). I can't wait to hear her speak. But there's a lot more: the web site promises over 40 panels and discussions. For example, the writing craft is well covered, and what you learn in the writing workshops and panels can be applied to all types of fiction and nonfiction and also specific genres.

To read a lot more more about the feast, go to http://www.killernashville.com/.

Zaporizhzhia!

2009-07-02T15:57:00.002-05:00

The movie "Taras Bulba" (1962) has a score by Franz Waxman for which the composer received a twelfth Academy Award nomination. The story was adapted from Taras Bulba, the novel by Gogol. It's about the Cossacks of the Zaporizhzhia region in the Russian steppes. The music Waxman wrote for the ride of the Cossack tribes to Dubno to finally extinguish their enemies the Poles is so exciting and so exhilarating, and builds to such a crescendo as the Cossacks ride all-out on their vengeful mission, that I never get sick of listening to it.

The ride was choreographed with a horse-movie convention I always like. How many of you have ever seen this kind of scene? In the western, it's the "we're going to town to destroy the bad guys." The movie "Silverado" has one of these. In "Taras Bulba," Yul Brynner and his two sons start the journey to Dubno early in the morning, with the music starting softly. Then the music gets louder and louder as tribes of Cossacks join them from both sides yelling what sounds like "Zaporizhzhia!" until a great host of reckless, fierce, vengeful Cossacks is galloping all-out to Dubno. The music builds and builds and by the time the music ends triumphantly, they're riding into Pole territory and you know what they're going to do. If you've ever ridden a galloping horse, you wish you'd been in on the making of that movie.

I listen to it as I walk the track at my local rec center. Invariably, as "The Ride to Dubno" blares in my ears, I speed up. Regrettably, when this happens, I am compelled to pass the person in front of me, can't help it. Under the influence of this music, I've sped past people who are younger than me, even high school students on the track--and all due to this wonderful music.

Although the movie is cheesy in parts, it's worth buying the DVD for that scene alone. "The Ride to Dubno" is also known as "The Ride of the Cossacks," and has been played all over the world.

Searching for Henry Stull

2009-06-30T15:32:00.003-05:00

Part of the fun of writing my latest novel, Painted Stallion, was researching Henry Stull, American equine painter (1851-1913.) Henry figures largely in the novel.

I'd first seen a Stull painting in a magazine and finding more on the Internet, was drawn to his glossy horses with perfectly depicted anatomy and jockeys with brilliantly patterned silks. The horses were often famous winners and the silks were accurate. But it also delighted me to see the "rocking horse" posture in which he often painted his running horses, front and back legs fully extended. I've learned since that many owners asked for that posture for years, even though it was unrealistic. It was a well-loved artistic convention.

I wanted to find out more about Stull and in my travels, visited the Horse Park and Keeneland Race Course libraries in Lexington, Kentucky; the Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville, Tennessee; and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York. And my research for the novel paid off: it was in Saratoga Springs that in August 2008 I finally saw one of the rocking horse pictures. I'm sure the other artgoers thought me silly. I was grinning like a fool.

The Winners: Mullins and Lanzan

2009-06-07T14:55:00.004-05:00

When I watch horse races like the Triple Crown, I marvel at the beauty and swiftness of the horses and the expertise of the jockeys who ride them. I always wonder how the riders keep their perfect, immovable posture on top of those madly galloping, plunging horses, and how a 115 pound jockey gets a 1200 pound animal to do his or her bidding? Horse racing, with all its issues, is still fascinating today because we get a chance to see the most accomplished athletes in both the human and horse worlds engaging in a contest of skill that is dangerous and thrilling and beautiful in its execution. But racehorses must be protected from possible injury by their handlers. And that's why I was so glad to see "I Want Revenge" scratched from the Kentucky Derby because trainer Jeff Mullins and owner David Lanzan found a hot spot on the horse's ankle. This is responsible racing. Read more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30533737/.

Temple Grandin's Wisdom

2009-04-18T11:24:00.002-05:00

Temple Grandin's chapter on horses in her book Animals Make Us Human is filled with such valuable advice on working with horses that if I were training a horse I'd memorize what she says. Here are a couple of examples: "The real secret of horse whisperers and expert horsemen is that they understand the behaviors associated with different emotional states and they have also figured out that a reward or a cue has to be given within one second after a desired behavior occurs for the horse to make the association." And "Behavioral trainers never talk about vices and depravity. Behaviorists are some of the most 'optimistic' . . . trainers there are, because if . . . an animal isn't learning, a behaviorist is trained to examine what he is doing wrong, not what the . . . animal is doing wrong. This means that behavioral . . . trainers don't blame the student."

The Writing Life

2009-04-04T11:17:00.002-05:00

I'm writing my second novel right now, the further adventures of Connie Holt of the McCutcheon Equine Insurace Agency. It's tentatively entitled, "The Painted Stallion." This time it's trouble in the dangerous world of the steeplechase and a new love affair. Usually when I exercise by walking, usually at a track or down the road to my town, I line things up in a row mentally, so to speak, about the current plot situation. Thus prepared, I go confidently to my computer to write my self-imposed 1200 words per day. But in the process of putting my thoughts into words, I find often that my mind says, "That won't do!" And all my preparation was for nothing. This morning for instance, I found more research was necessary about the race course described in the book, I ended up suddenly dissatisfied with the heroine's race attire and made it more characteristic of her personality, and I heightened a bloody scene with--yes--more blood.

Wild Horses in Trouble

2009-02-14T17:05:00.004-06:00

The February 2009 National Geographic magazine, both paper and online, has an excellent but sobering article about the plight of the wild horses in the ten Western states where they are trying to survive. Writer Alexandra Fuller gives a little of the history of the horses and mentions "Cattle Annie" who was largely responsible for federal protection of the horses. (See my article about Cattle Annie in the "Protecting Horses" section.) Fuller points out that the wild animals have been besieged by stock men and their cattle and sheep, machines on their range, helicopters, cars, and trucks, and now the added insult, the struggle to find oil under the Western ground where these animals live. The Bureau of Land Management is supposed to see that they are safe and that they are kept at workable, manageable levels on the Bureau's 258 million acres. The Bureau oversees about 30,000 horses. At prescribed intervals, a number of horses are rounded up (called a "gather") by helicopters and cowboys and the animals have uncertain fates. A particularly interesting part of the article deals with efforts to try a contraceptive solution to reduce the numbers of the fertile mares, but Fuller says that the Bureau is cool to the idea. What's going to happen to these horses who many feel represent the spirit of America?

Frontal lobes only 3.5 percent of a cat's brain

2009-02-10T16:24:00.006-06:00

All cats' frontal lobes are 3.5 percent of the brain compared with dogs' at 7 percent and we humans at a whopping 29 percent. I learned this from the wonderful book I'm reading, Animals Make Us Human. Written by the champion of animals, Dr. Temple Grandin, the book's chapters are divided into dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, chickens and other poultry, wildlife and zoos. I started reading about cats first because I live with the mysterious little beauty in the picture whose name is Autumn.

Dr. Grandin explains a lot of mysteries I've wondered about in Autumn and all the cats I ever owned, and indeed a lot of mysteries remain to be solved.

Just because a cat's frontal lobes are a smaller part of the brain, does not mean they are stupid. Indeed, they are, according to research veterinarian Dr. Karen Overall, who investigates behavioral medicine, ". . . really bright, inherently cognitive individuals. [People] forget the most critical need [for cats] which to me is the intellectual one. I think we haven't given cats or dogs the credit they deserve for their cognitive capabilities. I think we've got an epidemic of understimulated cats whose intellectual needs aren't being met." "Intellectual needs", indeed!

On the basis of what Drs. Grandin and Overall say about cats' needs to be stimulated, I performed a simple, unscientific, stimulation experiment today. I took all Autumn's toys away except for his well-loved foil ball which he hasn't been interested in for a long time. I put it on a table where it usually isn't found. After he'd eaten his breakfast, he found it immediately on his tour of his house, and later when I was at the computer, he meowed several times from down on the floor. There he was , the ball in his mouth for me to throw, a game he used to play with me when he was a kitten. He played fetch down the long upstairs hall at my house even batting it into another room at one point, until I had to go back to the demanding computer. A happy little experience for Autumn and for me thanks to Dr. Grandin's book.

Horses and My Family

2009-02-09T08:40:00.000-06:00

Horses and my family go back a long way. My maiden name was Coultous, which a University of Edinburgh professor informed me meant "Colt House." How cool is that? I had relatives long, long ago, centuries probably, who kept horses. And here is a picture I treasure from my family archives of my relative holding a darn big horse who doesn't really look that happy!

The Omak Suicide Race Kills Animals and People

2009-02-03T08:50:00.005-06:00

Of the many rationalizations for this race, its description as "spiritual" by its defenders is the stuff of which delusion is made. It is not spiritual, or if you prefer, sacred, to put either horses or their riders into a terrain so steep and so rough that a death or injury is just about guaranteed. It is not sacred to make animals gallop so fast down the steeply pitched slope that they tumble over themselves and break their backs, or their riders die from being thrown. It certainly does not speak to things of the spirit for the townspeople to keep this horrific spectacle going year after year because they're making money. To read about the Suicide Race, go to this article: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118678342614494614-M49PZaSriaBsYASGQhdKeSlj5OU_20080810.html?mod=rss_free .

If you can stand to see a taste of it, watch the video here:

Go to my Protecting Horses page to read my article.

Welcome!

2009-01-25T16:38:00.002-06:00

Welcome to my blog where you'll hear from me often about horses, about me, and about my writing life.

A New Study Demonstrates a Powerful American Horse Industry

2008-06-28T17:46:00.000-05:00

The American Horse Council’s study, The Economic Impact of the Horse Industry in the United States, was released on June 28.

Among the fascinating facts: the American Horse industry supports our economy to the tune of $39 billion and provides 1.4 million full-time jobs. There are an estimated 9.2 million horses in the United States. And quarter horses lead in the estimated number of horses by breed at 3,288,203, followed by Thoroughbreds at 1,291,807. http://www.horsecouncil.org/

Bipartisan House subcommittee - horse racing

2008-06-18T13:09:00.000-05:00

Good news--maybe. A bipartisan House subcommittee is supposed to meet on June 19 to investigate the problems in horse racing. The ambitious witness list is made up of vets, owners, trainers, breeders, and officials. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25105381/

My article on Equestrian Ink Blog

2008-06-06T02:10:00.000-05:00

Blogwatch: If you enjoy fiction about horses, you'll want to go to . This is my guest article on the exciting new blog Equestrian Ink, hosted by six excellent writers: Laura Crum, Jami Davenport, Kit Ehrman, Toni Leland, Mary Paine, and Michele Scott. Lots of good reading suggestions and inside information about writers who love and respect horses.

You can read my guest article at http://equestrianink.blogspot.com/2008/04/youre-writing-novel-about-what-by-guest.html

Comments from reader

2008-06-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

A mention of a correspondent who wrote to say she is enjoying my novel. She represents people to whom this website is dedicated, those who have a lifelong love of horses and are devoted to their well-being. Mary writes, "I am 83 years old and have had horses all my life and showed Tennessee Walking Horses from 1950s to 1970s."

Big Brown - Triple Crown at Belmont Park

2008-06-04T17:05:00.001-05:00

This Saturday, June 7, Big Brown will run the third leg of the Triple Crown at Belmont Park. He's won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and has a chance to be the 12th Triple Crown winner, the first since 1978. It's a thrilling prospect, but at the same time, we know that American race horses are in trouble, breaking down in increasing numbers and sometimes having to be euthanized, the tragic fate of Eight Belles, the second-place winner of the Kentucky Derby. If you'd like to read my thoughts on the danger racing horses face and what should be done, click on Protecting Horses on my website.

If you'd like to respond to my article, I'll pick the best letter, and the winner will get a free copy of my novel, The Case of the Three Dead Horses. I'll reprint the letter for everyone to enjoy and react to but withhold the full name of the winner for security purposes. Please feel free to disagree with me or bring up new points.

The contest ends July 4, 2008.

Stem cell help for horses?

2008-02-09T11:13:00.000-06:00

Wonder if stem cells can help horses with bad legs? Click on Protecting Horses on my website.

Good news and Bad: slaughterhouses

2008-02-03T09:14:00.000-06:00

First the good. The three slaughterhouses in the United States that killed horses for their meat to export to European and Asian markets are all closed. Courageous state legislators brought about the downfall of the Beltex Corporation, Ft. Worth, Texas; Dallas Crown, Kaufman, Texas; and Cavel International, DeKalb, Illinois. All were foreign-owned. The Animal Welfare Institute tells us that over 100,000 horses died in 2006 in these three factories.
The bad news is that horses are still dying for their meat, transported into Canadian and Mexican slaughtering facilities. To read more, go to www.awionline.org/legislation/horse_slaughter/index.htm

American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act

2008-02-03T09:00:00.000-06:00

The AHSPA legislation is still mired in the ponderous movement of legislation in Congress. Readers remember that this law ends the killing of horses for their flesh and forbids "the domestic and international transport of live horses or horseflesh for human consumption." On September 7, 2006, the House of Representatives approved the legislation (HR503) by a vote of 263-146. While introduced into the Senate that year (S311), senators failed to act on it by the end of the year. Then on April 25, 2007, the bill was reported favorably by committee to the full Senate, but is not scheduled for a vote. Later last year, on August 2, 2007, the House passed an amendment to the 2008 Agriculture Appropriations bill that took away funds from the federal program that required horses intended for slaughter be inspected. The reasoning is that without this inspection, horses cannot be killed. The amendment, which must still go to the Senate, is considered only a temporary solution while the sponsors of the AHSPA fight to make it permanent. www.awionline.org/legislation/horse_slaughter/index.htm.

Attention, everyone who has a Cushing's horse:

2008-02-03T08:30:00.000-06:00

My excellent correspondent, Tamara, wrote to me about how she cares for her rescued Morgan who suffers from Equine Cushing's Syndrome, This is a hormonal disorder that causes horses to grow abnormally thick coats and shed in an equally abnormal way. Read what Tamara has to say by clicking on Protecting Horses above. We hope her letter helps all those who own ECS horses.