The August Give Away Winner & a Bit About Pepper

Thanks to all who entered the August Give Away - it was fun to see how much interest there was in the book about Pepper and the other guide dogs her former partner has had.

I got the Kindle edition the day the book was released on Amazon. I haven't finished it yet, but I did skip ahead and read the parts about Pepper - it was fun to see Sarah's view of her and to hear about the work they did together.

Congratulations to the winner of the August Give Away!

Didn't win but still would like to read the book? It's available in Kindle and paperback here.

Sarah's book talks about Pepper's excellent guiding and the caring that she had for Sarah. And when Pep came to live with us, that devotion was transferred to me. These unpublished photos of Pepper give a glimpse of that devotion.

The back story? I'd been in an Indianapolis hospital for a week having a precancerous mass removed from my pancreas along with my spleen and a lot of lymph nodes. It was the hardest surgery I've ever had. 

The surgery was hard on Pepper, too. Being separated from me for a week, even with Craig home with her and Lisa caring for her when he was with me, was very, very difficult for her.

When I got home, she could not get close enough to me. She even tried to crawl up into my lap but, of course, that was not possible because I had such a large abdominal incision.

And so she curled up on my feet, leaning against my legs, just so she could be close to me. I snapped that picture as she snuggled in against me, and I was grateful to be with her again, too.

As I healed and she couldn't be the lap dog she preferred, she would take her place at my feet, holding one of my legs between her front paws,

or curling up for a snooze, but always, always touching me in one way or another.

Pepper's walk with me is different than the walk she had with Sarah, but to the two of us, it is every bit as meaningful and absolutely full of love and joy. 

I am blessed to have this girl in my life.

The March, 2025 Give Away Winner

Who will be our winner this month? Spin the wheel to find out!

Congratulations! I'll pop Millicent's book into the mail to you tomorrow or Thursday.

I'm also going to let Millicent know that her book was the March give away prize - she will be happy to hear that.

Thanks for playing, everybody. There will be another give away next month so stay 'tooned!

Sharing a Mish Mosh of Things

It's early January, so this isn't really a surprise.

In fact, it's rather pretty and with it not being bone chillingly cold (at least, not yet), it was lovely to stand outside early this morning and watch the snowflakes fly.

I don't think that Pepper was quite as enamored of it as I was,

but she still completed her "rounds of the grounds" despite the falling snow.

With about three inches of snow expected today, it will be a good one to stay inside, continue going through my collection, and pull out more pieces to sell. As I suspected, the Susecion and LeFire set sold quickly yesterday, which was heartening because the model horse market seems to be a little slow right now.

(We will see how today goes - I will be putting up two unusual pieces and they will be priced to sell. Check back here at 10:00 AM EST if you are interested in checking them out.)

There is a mish mosh of things I wanted to share today. First, another horsey gift I received for Christmas. Sent by Mountain Mama Jessica, I had seen this book before but never read it.

It's an unusual story (the author has written about his surprise at its success) but very touching and with a lot of symbolism.  It's a book to read more than once as you will find different things with every reading. (Breyer carries it if you are interested in having your own copy.) There is also a short animated film; find the trailer here. 

School has resumed and so we are back to our routine of having Teacher Daughter Lisa's dogs all day a couple of days a week again. Yesterday was our first time back together since they'd stayed with us while Lisa went to Houston with Frank over Christmas. Nash and Molly were absolutely ecstatic to see us again. (We'd missed them, too!)

Nash prefers men over women and will follow Craig everywhere he goes. (He follows me only if Craig is not home or if I have a ball or, even better, food in hand.)

Molly (aka Mama; she answers to both) grew in leaps and bounds confidence-wise during her extended holiday stay with us. 

Here she is asking me to share my lunch with her. (She was having an allergic reaction, hence the goopy eyes and muzzle scabbing.)

Along with Pepper, Mama follows me all over the house, including up to the sewing room

and my office/horse room. I don't mind her around my collection (she's not nearly as big or playful as Nashie),

but I did get a teensy bit nervous when she changed positions and laid down by me as I worked, her backside and SWISHY TAIL right next to the bottom shelves of vintage models!

Fortunately there were no domino affects, and in all honesty, I'm willing to sacrifice a few models in her behalf - having her this confident and wanting to be close to her people is a huge step forward for her. It was only this summer, after five years with Lisa and us, that she finally ventured upstairs. Five years!! Good girl, Mama, and I will pick up any models you accidentally knock over.

Again, two more models will be posted here on the blog and my Facebook page at 10:00 AM EST. Check back if you are interested!

New Marguerite Henry Book!

 I am thrilled to announce a brand new book about Marguerite Henry, Marguerite, Misty, and Me!

Two years ago author Susan Friedland reached out to The Misty of Chincoteague Foundation, shared her ideas for this book, and asked if we might be interested in supporting the project. We have been a part of the project ever since. Sunday I received an email from Susan with the news that the book will be launched at BreyerFest.

Susan will be in attendance all three days doing book signings and she has asked that the board of directors of The Misty of Chincoteague Foundation share the news. I am happy to do that, so below is a note to fans of Misty and Marguerite with a link to information about Susan's newest book.

A book launch is a great way to begin BreyerFest week!

---

Hi Marguerite and Misty fans,

I wanted to reach out and thank those of you I got to speak with last year as I researched for my bibliomemoir Marguerite, Misty and Me. I've got great news:

This week Marguerite Misty and Me will launch at Breyerfest (I'll be at the Taborton Books booth doing signings all three days).

The following week I will be on Chincoteague for Pony Penning. I've been asked to speak at the library and Museum of Chincoteague. This is all very exciting, and the enthusiasm for my book proves people still love Marguerite Henry!

All the pre-orders have been shipped (to both individuals and brick and mortar). I've been enjoying selling direct from my Shopify store so I can nurture a relationship with readers, but the book is also up on Amazon.

I love the cover and think the whole thing turned out so pretty! Please take a look. https://saddleseekshorse.shop/products/pre-order-of-marguerite-misty-and-me

As a former little girl who dreamed of having a horse of my own (but the answer was always no), Marguerite gave me the gift of being with horses on the pages of her book. When a family friend who lived in Wayne, IL invited me to come ride her field hunters, I graduated from books to the saddle. It was very cool to me back then (and still is) that I rode a chestnut quarter horse on the same trails, over the same fields where Marguerite rode when she lived at Mole Meadow. 

And as a former English teacher, it's special to bring to the forefront the talented writer and beautiful human she was. 

Horse Illustrated recently featured the backstory of this book and the upcoming August issue of Sidelines magazine is going to promote it as well.

It would mean so much to me to have additional support from each of you in spreading the word. As you know, book recommendations from friends are the best for finding a next read.

Thanks again for your support and I hope you are having a fabulous July!

Susan Friedland Author | Blogger | Educator SaddleSeeksHorse.com

Holiday Horsiness: Winter's Gift

This week I have been pulling out all my holiday decorations and decorating our home. In one tub were all my Christmas books - I always stack them out on the coffee table so the Pony Pals and Cowpokes can enjoy them. (Many are from my own childhood.)

Winter's Gift by Jane Monroe Donovan is a new addition to that pile of books. If I remember right, I read a review in The Chronicle of the Horse about horse-centered holiday books, and this was one they took a look at.

The first time I read it, I did not like it very much, but after several readings it began to grow on me.

The story takes place on Christmas Eve on a farm at the edge of a small town that has just experienced a heavy snowfall. The main character (who is never named and simply called "the old man" throughout the book) is sad and depressed despite it being Christmas.

Many of the illustrations have a horse in them - see the cross stitch horse sampler framed on the wall?

Life no longer holds any meaning for him as his wife had died the past spring and he is still grieving her loss.

One of their Christmas Eve traditions was to go out into the woods and cut a tree, then bring it back to the house and decorate it together. An old and very beautiful star that was kept in a wooden box was aways the last thing they would put on their tree.

But now his wife is gone and he has no interest in celebrating the holiday.

That night, a wild horse trudges from the woods and into a clearing behind the old man's house. She has become separated from her herd and is lost. 

Tired, cold, and hungry, she finally gives up and with a loud groan, falls onto her side in the snow.

The old man is washing his supper dishes and hears the groan. Curious, he puts his coat on and heads out into the night. (See the brass horse in the window?)

He encourages the mare to her feet and takes her into the barn where he gives her feed, water and a dry stall.

Tired himself, he then ends up falling asleep on the hay that is stacked in a corner.

During the night, the mare gives birth, and to the old man's surprise, the foal has a perfect star on its forehead, just like the star in the wooden box that he and his wife hung every year on their tree.

The mare and foal give purpose and meaning to the old man's life and while the story doesn't give any details, the illustrations show him contentedly patting the mare in the springtime.

Winston Churchill said, "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man," and no doubt that is why this story grew on me. 

Advent calendar - December 3

Two bales of hay.

Holiday Horsiness: Sleigh Bells for Windy Foot

Sleigh Bells for Windy Foot by Frances Frost is a childhood favorite. The second book in a series of four, it's the story of a boy named Toby and his pony Windy Foot as they celebrate Christmas together.

As a girl, I loved to read this book just before Christmas as the book begins on Toby's last day of school before Christmas vacation.

Toby's friend Tish and her father are coming to spend Christmas with them. Toby met Tish in the first book (Windy Foot at the County Fair) where a friendship grew up between the two families. 

The illustrations in the book are line drawings but they aren't simple - see that frog in Windy's raised hoof?

This photo makes me think of Breyer's  black point dapple grey Proud Arabian Stallion.

Written in 1948, the book is very much a reflection of the times. Horses are used for work around the farm and the family cooks on a wood stove. (One of Toby's chores is to keep the wood box full.)

It's a gentle, peaceful story with popcorn stringing, barn chores, and trips into town for holiday shopping as Toby and his family enjoy the days before Christmas together.

During the story, Toby fixes up an old sleigh to fit Windy Foot. After shining up some old sleigh bells found in the tool shed, he's ready to take Windy Foot out for some fun.

I've been lucky enough to go sleighing in a horse drawn sleigh and the experience is like no other. (Snowmobiling cannot even compare!) It is exhilarating, joyful, a little chilly, and so much more.

No doubt Sleigh Bells for Windy Foot is one of the reasons I love sleigh bells so much.

And since sleigh bells are a symbol for the season, it's another way I can slip horses into my holiday!

Horsemanship - How Times Have Changed

A lot of my early learning about horses came from the books that I read. I devoured anything about horses, both fiction and nonfiction, and subscribed to Horse and Rider and other magazines, anything to feed my passion for horses.

At first, I accepted everything that I read as true, but as I gained more knowledge and experience, I began to be able to sort out correct information from that which was not.

One book that I read was The Big Book of Horses by Edward L. Chase. While out looking for HSOs last Friday, I found a copy of it in good shape.

I already had my childhood copy of the book, but at only $3.50, it would make a nice show prize for Happy  Trails or a donation to someone else's show, so I purchased it.

Published in 1951, The Big Book of Horses is sixty-eight years old. As I leafed through it, I could tell that some of the information it contained was old and outdated. (I love this illustration!)

This sentence about it going to take a long time for machines to replace the work horse caught my eye right away. Nowadays, aside from Amish communities and a few others, you rarely see horses being used as work horses in the fields.

The purpose of using a heavy western saddle would be to make myself look like a cowboy and would then categorize me as one of "the worst riders"? An English saddle is the one to use when learning to ride as opposed to a western one? Reining and western dressage are only two disciplines using western tack that have put paid to those remarks! 

The page titled "Don'ts in Horsemanship" had some information that I disagree with now and disagreed with when I was just a girl trying to learn.

The author's focus on horses was quite different from mine. How could I not fall in love with each and every horse I have owned? Or those that were not mine but who were under my care? I was smart enough as a girl to know that this was not an instruction that I would follow. Ever.

The horse world has done a lot of changing since this book came out in 1951. Still, it was fun to take a look back into my own horsey history as I paged through the old book. And, I discovered that there was still something for me to learn from it - not only has the horse world come a long way, but I have, too.

Nancy's Book - My Ponies

Continuing on from yesterday and going to a more personal note, here is some more about Nancy Kelly's newest hobby book, Exploring the Model Horse Hobby. Thanks again to Nancy for giving me permission to post photos of the inside of her book.

What else would I bring to Nancy Falzone's gathering to share but circus ponies? When she asked me to come, she told me that I was free to bring models of any medium, so I brought a Freeman-Leidy, my Steha, two Animal Artistry pieces, a Japan, and three Hagen Renakers.  

My table with my checkbook at the ready for some horse trading. (Kristina Lucas Francis had brought a few Sleeping Fords and Okaptopus and I brought home one of each.)

The Japan was my very first model ever, given to me by Santa Claus in 1963. (Santa clearly had no idea what he was starting...)

 Beat up as poor Brownie is, he made it into the book.  I saw his picture as I flipped though the book when it arrived, but I didn't know that his story had also been included in the text of chapter five until I had time to read more carefully.

My father supported my horsey-ness until the day he died, and so I am happy to see him acknowledged here in print.

My Freeman-Leidy can be found on page 95 in chapter nine, Hobby History,

and my Hagen Renaker Adelaide on page 29 in the chapter about various ceramic horses.

 Steha Leihas are difficult to find in good condition, so I counted myself lucky when I found this circus pony on eBay several years ago. (page 94) Like the Freeman-Leidy, he is a favorite of mine.

 Nancy prepares to take his picture.

The photo booth was in one of Nancy Falzone's extra bedroom, and we all took turns bringing our horses back there for their turn in the booth. (You can see the Freeman-Leidy on the bed beside Nancy, and if you look closely just below the notebook, you can see Brownie's hooves and legs.)

Nancy, thank you for the honor of including a few of my models, especially dear Brownie and all the tender memories he holds for me.

Tomorrow, a final post on Nancy's book with my thoughts on why I think the books is so important to the hobby at large.