As of earlier today, The Magical Pony School: Jane's Transformation hit #8 in its Kindle category and #41 in its category overall!
I'm so grateful to those of you who have already bought it - don't forget to review the book on Amazon if you enjoy the read, and keep passing the word. This is so exciting for me.
It is time to take a writing retreat and get my first draft of Book Two: Fiona and the Waterhorse!
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Tuesday's Treasures
Tonight while my son was in class, I wandered back to the free book cart to see what might be there. Thus far, there haven't been any books of interest, particularly when I am focused on clearing, not collecting. But tonight there was a treasure:
A translation of Alois Podhajsky's The White Stallions of Vienna. Although the dust cover was torn, the photos inside are perfect, and include many whole page photographs as well as photos that were hand-tipped by the printer.
I couldn't quite believe it, but here it is, in my bedroom, where I've been sitting and enjoying the many photos of the white stallions.
What a treat!
I also found my camera on my desk with two videos of a painted pony. Alas, the battery was 1 minute from dead so it has to recharge before I can even think of uploading.
Other great scenes this week:
A red-tail hawk flying in huge circles over the barn and paddock and then the back field.
A very naughty Corgi with husband's on-call smart phone in his mouth, running in circles in the back yard. (with a very annoyed husband chasing him)
A determined Salina with ears pinned backing her butt down the barn aisle to let Cody and the pony know they were not to come through. (always fun to see a near-1200 lb. QH spin and leave the scene when that big black mare is telling him to move it! not to mention the pony assessing whether or not he has room and time to dash past her without getting nailed - he didn't, today)
I read today that we could have 80 degrees here by week's end. Here come the flies! And I don't even care. I'll wait 'til July to complain about that!
A translation of Alois Podhajsky's The White Stallions of Vienna. Although the dust cover was torn, the photos inside are perfect, and include many whole page photographs as well as photos that were hand-tipped by the printer.
I couldn't quite believe it, but here it is, in my bedroom, where I've been sitting and enjoying the many photos of the white stallions.
What a treat!
I also found my camera on my desk with two videos of a painted pony. Alas, the battery was 1 minute from dead so it has to recharge before I can even think of uploading.
Other great scenes this week:
A red-tail hawk flying in huge circles over the barn and paddock and then the back field.
A very naughty Corgi with husband's on-call smart phone in his mouth, running in circles in the back yard. (with a very annoyed husband chasing him)
A determined Salina with ears pinned backing her butt down the barn aisle to let Cody and the pony know they were not to come through. (always fun to see a near-1200 lb. QH spin and leave the scene when that big black mare is telling him to move it! not to mention the pony assessing whether or not he has room and time to dash past her without getting nailed - he didn't, today)
I read today that we could have 80 degrees here by week's end. Here come the flies! And I don't even care. I'll wait 'til July to complain about that!
Monday, February 14, 2011
oh, happy days! donkeys and dust circles
It's been so wet and so mushy here for so many weeks... but finally, after some sunshine and temps above 60, with a little wind to help with drying things out, I noticed yesterday that Rafer Johnson and Redford have been able to construct not one but two dust circles in the back field!
In case I missed it, Redford followed me out the back trail with the muck barrow and rolled in one of them while I stood and watched. It amazes me how the circles are so perfect in form, and how fine and soft the dust gets after only a day or two of donkey rolling.
The perfect texture for maintaining a donkey's coat, and also creating a lovely little dust cloud that can only mean one thing: there's a donkey in full roll!
Between Salina shedding, donkey dust circles, and sunshine, we are having a lovely start to what looks like a beautiful week here on November Hill.
*******
And over the weekend, book one in my Magical Pony School series, Jane's Transformation, was in the top 100 titles in its category on Amazon both Saturday and Sunday! It has slipped down some today but hopefully it will sell some more and climb back up. The top 100 titles tend to get more attention, so I'm hoping it hits that magic number again and eventually stays there awhile.
I appreciate any and all support from readers here in helping get the word out about this series. While I feel the same way about my adult fiction, these magical pony school novels are very special to me and I really want them to do well out in the world.
Over the next month or so I'll begin some focused marketing, which includes getting myself Skype savvy so I can make myself available to book and reading groups. Keep me in mind if you'd like your group to read a book and have the author visit via Skype for a discussion. I love to talk as much as I love to write! :)
In case I missed it, Redford followed me out the back trail with the muck barrow and rolled in one of them while I stood and watched. It amazes me how the circles are so perfect in form, and how fine and soft the dust gets after only a day or two of donkey rolling.
The perfect texture for maintaining a donkey's coat, and also creating a lovely little dust cloud that can only mean one thing: there's a donkey in full roll!
Between Salina shedding, donkey dust circles, and sunshine, we are having a lovely start to what looks like a beautiful week here on November Hill.
*******
And over the weekend, book one in my Magical Pony School series, Jane's Transformation, was in the top 100 titles in its category on Amazon both Saturday and Sunday! It has slipped down some today but hopefully it will sell some more and climb back up. The top 100 titles tend to get more attention, so I'm hoping it hits that magic number again and eventually stays there awhile.
I appreciate any and all support from readers here in helping get the word out about this series. While I feel the same way about my adult fiction, these magical pony school novels are very special to me and I really want them to do well out in the world.
Over the next month or so I'll begin some focused marketing, which includes getting myself Skype savvy so I can make myself available to book and reading groups. Keep me in mind if you'd like your group to read a book and have the author visit via Skype for a discussion. I love to talk as much as I love to write! :)
Friday, February 11, 2011
ups and downs on Friday
While the horses were finishing their feed tubs this morning, I invited the pony to join me in the arena. He looked interested until I started trotting down center line, and he decided to leave the open gate just in case I got more serious about him joining me. A little bit of a down.
But Rafer Johnson came in and stopped by the mounting block, waiting, just like he might if he were tacked up and I was getting ready to mount. I walked over and sat down on the block, and told him I'm sorry I'm too big to ride him, because I bet it would be a very nice ride.
Instead, we had one of Rafer's "love bug" sessions, where he lays his head in my lap, on my shoulder, and in my hand, and puts his very quiet eye by mine so we can gaze as he gets his neck and ear and face scratches.
That was definitely an up. I moved on after a little while to let Keil Bay out. Keil rubbed his nose across my hand and headed out to the water trough, and as I put his feed tub out to be licked and then rinsed, I noticed my hand was covered (well, not totally) with bright red blood!
I followed Keil Bay out to the back field, where I quickly realized he had blood inside his nostril. It wasn't dripping out - it was up in the curved area - but each time I wiped, blood came back. I walked up to the barn, mostly to give myself time to think. When something isn't right with Keil Bay, I get more upset than when something is off with the other horses. Which, if you know how upset I get about *them* means I'm pretty upset when Keil Bay has any problem at all.
I decided to check out his stall, in the manger where he'd eaten breakfast, and look at the feed tub to see if I could find any blood. There wasn't any, but I realized when looking at his tub (it's one of those meant to be put into the corner of a stall) that as much as he tends to bang it around when done eating, inside the manger, that edge might have poked up into his nostril and scratched him.
So I went back out to the field and sure enough, when I wiped his nostril out again, a clotted string of blood came out and when I angled him toward the sunshine I could see the white scratch. Whew!
Fortunately I did not take the time to come inside and start googling nosebleeds in horses - there is no telling where a little information and my imagination might have taken me.
That was a down and then a very sharp up.
I had some business chores that needed to be done today and although they weren't truly terrible it was a down to have to do them on such a beautiful day. So, a mild dip down again.
This afternoon was mostly up. I took a look at the full muck barrow, decided to HELL with chores, and proceeded to groom and ride Keil Bay. We had a very nice ride, with him very much in front of my leg, and although we mostly did walk and "big walk," the little bit of trotting we did was truly lovely. We did some shoulder-in, turns on forehands and haunches, and broke all that up with very big, stretchy walks across the diagonals.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love Keil Bay. He is absolutely and without question the horse for me. And that is the biggest up of all.
But Rafer Johnson came in and stopped by the mounting block, waiting, just like he might if he were tacked up and I was getting ready to mount. I walked over and sat down on the block, and told him I'm sorry I'm too big to ride him, because I bet it would be a very nice ride.
Instead, we had one of Rafer's "love bug" sessions, where he lays his head in my lap, on my shoulder, and in my hand, and puts his very quiet eye by mine so we can gaze as he gets his neck and ear and face scratches.
That was definitely an up. I moved on after a little while to let Keil Bay out. Keil rubbed his nose across my hand and headed out to the water trough, and as I put his feed tub out to be licked and then rinsed, I noticed my hand was covered (well, not totally) with bright red blood!
I followed Keil Bay out to the back field, where I quickly realized he had blood inside his nostril. It wasn't dripping out - it was up in the curved area - but each time I wiped, blood came back. I walked up to the barn, mostly to give myself time to think. When something isn't right with Keil Bay, I get more upset than when something is off with the other horses. Which, if you know how upset I get about *them* means I'm pretty upset when Keil Bay has any problem at all.
I decided to check out his stall, in the manger where he'd eaten breakfast, and look at the feed tub to see if I could find any blood. There wasn't any, but I realized when looking at his tub (it's one of those meant to be put into the corner of a stall) that as much as he tends to bang it around when done eating, inside the manger, that edge might have poked up into his nostril and scratched him.
So I went back out to the field and sure enough, when I wiped his nostril out again, a clotted string of blood came out and when I angled him toward the sunshine I could see the white scratch. Whew!
Fortunately I did not take the time to come inside and start googling nosebleeds in horses - there is no telling where a little information and my imagination might have taken me.
That was a down and then a very sharp up.
I had some business chores that needed to be done today and although they weren't truly terrible it was a down to have to do them on such a beautiful day. So, a mild dip down again.
This afternoon was mostly up. I took a look at the full muck barrow, decided to HELL with chores, and proceeded to groom and ride Keil Bay. We had a very nice ride, with him very much in front of my leg, and although we mostly did walk and "big walk," the little bit of trotting we did was truly lovely. We did some shoulder-in, turns on forehands and haunches, and broke all that up with very big, stretchy walks across the diagonals.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love Keil Bay. He is absolutely and without question the horse for me. And that is the biggest up of all.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
observations and lessons from the herd
This morning I was out in the back field with the horses and the donkeys. We have Keil Bay, who is the acknowledged herd leader; Salina, the only mare and the boss mare; Apache Moon, the pony, who seems to always be on the move to move up in the herd; Cody, who is the lowest status herd member in most ways but a very good friend to Keil Bay and also showing a few signs of moving up in status lately; Rafer Johnson, our miniature donkey who seems almost neutral in his status (he seems to enjoy the benefits of higher status but at the same time doesn't push anyone around); and Redford, miniature donkey with what I would call Total Spunk.
After breakfast tubs the equines filed out to the back field where their hay piles were spread in a long swath. The three horse geldings clustered closely together to eat, while Salina and her donkey guardians went further down and spread out a little.
I was in and out between the two groupings, moving the muck barrow and generally just enjoying the sunshine. It was a quiet, peaceful time.
Suddenly, out of the blue, the pony charged Cody with no warning, moving Cody away from that area of hay. The sounds of the scuffle were loud and intense, but I noticed that Keil Bay, who was right in the midst of all that movement, didn't even lift his head from eating hay. The donkeys looked, much further away, but Salina didn't lift her head either.
Keil Bay gave enough time for things to settle down, i.e. Cody resumed eating hay in a new location, and the pony resumed eating the hay he'd moved Cody off of, and at that point Keil Bay sauntered over, very quietly and with absolutely no fanfare, and moved the pony off the hay he'd just stolen from Cody.
We read and hear a lot about ourselves as humans becoming the "herd leader" for our horses. And although to some degree I think we are in that role, and should always feel our personal space is being respected, I like to think of myself as the kind, easy-going, benevolent leader that I see in Keil Bay. He didn't try to surprise the pony - he lifted his head, looked at the pony, and then casually walked over. His ears were not back at all, he didn't flag with his head, and there was absolutely nothing but good will in his demeanor. However, somewhere in his demeanor there was the message: move away. But the communication was done quietly, with no malice or harshness, and with a very quiet confidence.
The most interesting thing happened next: the pony went and joined Cody, making it very clear as he approached that this time he was NOT trying to take over, but simply wanted to be close and eat hay side by side. This even though there was more than enough hay and more than enough space to steer completely clear of any other equine.
By that time I had moved up to clean the water tub, and the pony decided it was time for a drink. He walked up and in every way revealed himself to be a pony with only good will in mind. He drank for a long time, periodically lifting his head to stand with me (I was filling as he drank) and when Rafer Johnson approached the tub made no claim on the space at all.
Then, Salina decided SHE wanted a drink, and my expectation was that she would approach and flag the pony away. But she decided to take the much longer walk to the main tub in the paddock, leaving Apache free to finish his drink. She was immediately flanked by her donkey boys, who accompanied her to the big tub and stood with her while she had her drink. On the way back out to the field, they went ahead of her, showing her that if she walked along the edge of the very muddy paddock, the footing was firm and easier to manage. She followed right behind them.
This morning's observations came on the heels of my reading a thread about dressage riders and the "volume" of the aids. I've realized over the past six years that every equine here responds best to quiet aids, both on the ground and in the saddle. But the surprising thing is that the "loudest" equines seem to truly need the quiet aids to form a partnership. The tendency is so often to get louder than they are - and I'm thinking specifically of the pony here, but what works the best is to get very very quiet.
Today I saw Keil Bay do that very thing, and in one graceful and well-timed move, he seemed to set ripples of peace and good will through the entire herd. There's no question in my mind that we humans have so much to learn from our horses.
After breakfast tubs the equines filed out to the back field where their hay piles were spread in a long swath. The three horse geldings clustered closely together to eat, while Salina and her donkey guardians went further down and spread out a little.
I was in and out between the two groupings, moving the muck barrow and generally just enjoying the sunshine. It was a quiet, peaceful time.
Suddenly, out of the blue, the pony charged Cody with no warning, moving Cody away from that area of hay. The sounds of the scuffle were loud and intense, but I noticed that Keil Bay, who was right in the midst of all that movement, didn't even lift his head from eating hay. The donkeys looked, much further away, but Salina didn't lift her head either.
Keil Bay gave enough time for things to settle down, i.e. Cody resumed eating hay in a new location, and the pony resumed eating the hay he'd moved Cody off of, and at that point Keil Bay sauntered over, very quietly and with absolutely no fanfare, and moved the pony off the hay he'd just stolen from Cody.
We read and hear a lot about ourselves as humans becoming the "herd leader" for our horses. And although to some degree I think we are in that role, and should always feel our personal space is being respected, I like to think of myself as the kind, easy-going, benevolent leader that I see in Keil Bay. He didn't try to surprise the pony - he lifted his head, looked at the pony, and then casually walked over. His ears were not back at all, he didn't flag with his head, and there was absolutely nothing but good will in his demeanor. However, somewhere in his demeanor there was the message: move away. But the communication was done quietly, with no malice or harshness, and with a very quiet confidence.
The most interesting thing happened next: the pony went and joined Cody, making it very clear as he approached that this time he was NOT trying to take over, but simply wanted to be close and eat hay side by side. This even though there was more than enough hay and more than enough space to steer completely clear of any other equine.
By that time I had moved up to clean the water tub, and the pony decided it was time for a drink. He walked up and in every way revealed himself to be a pony with only good will in mind. He drank for a long time, periodically lifting his head to stand with me (I was filling as he drank) and when Rafer Johnson approached the tub made no claim on the space at all.
Then, Salina decided SHE wanted a drink, and my expectation was that she would approach and flag the pony away. But she decided to take the much longer walk to the main tub in the paddock, leaving Apache free to finish his drink. She was immediately flanked by her donkey boys, who accompanied her to the big tub and stood with her while she had her drink. On the way back out to the field, they went ahead of her, showing her that if she walked along the edge of the very muddy paddock, the footing was firm and easier to manage. She followed right behind them.
This morning's observations came on the heels of my reading a thread about dressage riders and the "volume" of the aids. I've realized over the past six years that every equine here responds best to quiet aids, both on the ground and in the saddle. But the surprising thing is that the "loudest" equines seem to truly need the quiet aids to form a partnership. The tendency is so often to get louder than they are - and I'm thinking specifically of the pony here, but what works the best is to get very very quiet.
Today I saw Keil Bay do that very thing, and in one graceful and well-timed move, he seemed to set ripples of peace and good will through the entire herd. There's no question in my mind that we humans have so much to learn from our horses.
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