A lot of fantasy stories seem to have horses as a main mode of transportation, at least for the common folk. Of course, wizards get their teleportation spells, and there are dragon riders, gnomish dirigibles and as many other ways of getting around as there are books and authors. But horses keep coming up as a common denominator for guards, troops, fleeing a city, traveling on a quest, and so on.
So, have you actually ever ridden a horse? The last time I did was when I was about ten. I remember the carrot that it spat into the dirt halfway through chomping it, and then its tendency to rub snot onto my hand as I tried to pet its muzzle. I remember the temporary panic as yon beastie lurched beneath me my first time in the saddle and the feeling that I was riding something uncontrollable should it decide to buck me.
Beyond that, and a smattering if basic terms like “saddle,” “reins,” “bridle,” and “don’t step in that,” I really don’t know much about horses. Yet I admit to using them in my stories. Albeit they don’t show up in much detail, but my characters have been known to hop on and ride into the sunset, or off a cliff, if I’ve plotted well.
The point of this barnyard ramble? The discovery of this handy research tool:
Horses for Writers by Elizabeth J. Baldwin
(writers? riders? get it?)
Purchase this ebook through Holly Lisle’s website. (Holly is a consummate world-builder and writer of excellent caliber herself. My favorites of hers are Talyn or the Secret Texts series, staring with Diplomacy of Wolves). As she puts it–
“This book [Horses for Writers] is spare, direct, and frequently funny, and every piece of information in it is something you can use immediately to make the horses in your books feel real and act real…and to save your book from being one of those quoted for idiocy on Horses In Fiction panels at writers’ conferences. Baldwin’s years of experience training, riding and keeping horses can save you from enormous embarrassment in your work.”
This ebook will save you a lot of research time, which, of course, will give you all that much more opportunity to write. That’s a good thing, remember? Those blank pages aren’t going to type themselves.
I see that smile.