Accomplish Anything with Horses: How Good Riders Get Good - Daily Choices That Lead to Success in Any Equestrian Sport, by Denny Emerson and Sandra Cooke

Written with Chronicle of the Horse's "One of the 50 Most Influential Horsemen of the 20th Century" - international gold medalist eventer, Tevis Cup winner, and former USEA president Denny Emerson - and featuring profiles of 23 jaw-droppingly accomplished riders in nine internationally celebrated equestrian sports, you'd think that How Good Riders Get Good: Daily Choices that Lead to Success in Any Equestrian Sport would be a practical how-to-make-it manual for those high-octane riders who dream of winning at the Olympics, Worlds, or Medal-Maclay. And it is. But How Good Riders Get Good is also an essential guide for any rider, riding instructor, and rider parent or spouse, because it isn't only a book about how the world's best riders become the best, it's a book about how every rider can become his or her best.

Success in riding isn’t based on talent, wealth, or plain old luck, Emerson explains, it’s the result of a rider’s choices. Outlining seven Areas of Choice – “your horse sport, your life circumstances, your support network, your character, your body, your knowledge, and your horse” – he describes how riders of any age, background, and ability level can take up – or take back – the reins of their riding lives and move purposefully toward their goals. It can be challenging to be that frank about our circumstances, priorities, and choices, but it's also freeing. Once you know what success truly means to you, it’s easy to take great strides toward becoming a "good" rider.

I would know: at first, this book stopped me and my horse, Pegasus, in our tracks. I couldn't simply read it as I'd planned; I started going through the questions myself. I was shocked to discover how much my goals have changed since I first brought Peg home ten years ago. At that time, I planned to compete him at Preliminary level in eventing, and gallop to a constellation of one-star wins. What happened? Job changes, family changes, moves, injuries. Somehow my nearly-seven-year-old horse had become nearly-seventeen, and for me, success had come to mean something very different. What I truly want most, I realized, is to help Pegasus have a decade or two of healthy, happy senior years, and for us to have fun together through them.

So I thought: What would it mean for me to be a good rider now? Paging through Good Riders, I decided that I'd need to be fitter and more sensitive in the saddle, so that my riding could be more like gentle yoga for Peg's aging joints and muscles. I'd have to find a sport or two that my old campaigner could enjoy with a minimum of risk. And I'd definitely need to know as much as possible about every aspect of caring for a senior horse.

The right choices - for me - were suddenly clear. I added a weekly longe lesson on one of my instructor's horses to improve my seat. I signed up for the free fitness analysis our local health club offers, and I'm sticking to the exercise program they gave me. (Would I do it for myself? Maybe. But what wouldn't we do for our horses? :) ) I also found a hunter pace and a trail ride Pegasus and I could attend this fall. Most importantly, though, I asked our (wonderful!) vet to give Peg his first annual "healthy horse" ears-to-tail checkup, asked her a million questions, and have been following her recommendations for his feeding and care.

Don't get me wrong: these changes have created a mountain of work, they've demanded some tough choices, and I know they're only the beginning. But with Peg's bright eyes and smiling muzzle greeting me every morning, and How Good Riders Get Good sitting on my tack box for inspiration - which echoes even when the Nationals-bound riders borrow my copy! :) - I know it will all get done, and I feel confident that it will all be “good.”

Want to accomplish anything with horses, and get a leg up on any success you want to achieve in life? Read Denny Emerson and Sandra Cooke's How Good Riders Get Good. The only question the book doesn’t answer is the question just for you: How successful do you want to be?

A New Horse Movie! The Lone Ranger 2012 and One Horse who Will Play Silver, via the Chicago Tribune and Trib Local

The Chicago Tribune and Trib Local spotlight Phoebe, a rare white Thoroughbred, who will be one of five horses to co-star with Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp in a new Lone Ranger movie by Disney, to be released in 2012.

Could your horse be in the movies? Check out Christopher Beam's Slate article, "The Life of an Equine Movie Star" and find out!

Top Ten: Best Summer Books and Beach Reads for Horse Lovers

If you're looking for a great horse book for a long car or plane ride, a lazy afternoon at the beach, or a warm, bright summer evening that just begs you to read one more chapter, try these equestrian favorites from yesterday and today!

10. The Wonder-Book of Horses, by James Baldwin: (Kids, Teens, Adults) Waltz with the dancing horses of Sybaris and ride over the rainbow with eight-hooved Sleipnir in these eighteen spellbinding short stories of famous horses from world history, myth, and legend. You can leap into this book today: download it and read it for free at The Baldwin Project!

9. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis: (Kids, Teens, Adults) Three of the Narnia books include the stories of unforgettable horses. The Magician's Nephew introduces Fledge, the first winged horse of Narnia. The Horse and His Boy stars two Talking Horses, Bree and Hwin, who must try to save the boy, Shasta, the girl, Aravis, and all Narnians from a treacherous plot to conquer and destroy their kingdom. In The Last Battle, Jewel the Unicorn leads the charge not only into the final battle for Narnia, but also into a surprising beyond.

8. The Man from Snowy River, by A.B. "Banjo" Paterson: (Kids, Teens, Adults) A valuable racehorse colt escapes his pasture to run with the brumbies, Australia's wild horses, and a group of cowboys chase them through the Great Dividing Range. The rough terrain and the wily herd defeat the riders and their horses, except for the man from Snowy River and his tough little horse, who gallop on alone to try to capture the colt and bring him home. You can read the poem for free online at Project Gutenberg, or turn to it in any collection of A.B. Paterson's poetry. But you'll also find it in an unusual place: a section from the poem in Paterson's handwriting, along with an image of Paterson and the wild brumbies, appear on Australia's ten dollar bill!

7. The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse, by William Saroyan: (Kids, Teens, Adults) In this short story, two Armenian boys spend a summer befriending and learning to ride a mysterious white horse. The story, which won the O. Henry Prize in 1938, appears in Saroyan's book, My Name is Aram, and several anthologies, including Roger Caras's Treasury of Great Horse Stories.

6. Triple Crown, by Dick Francis: (Teens, Adults) Some horse stories appeal only to horse people, but Dick Francis's horse-themed mysteries pack so many thrills, twists, and white-knuckle rides that he's been called "the best mystery writer in the genre." Triple Crown contains three of Francis's best mysteries - Dead Cert, Nerve, and For Kicks - but every time I take these fantastic stories on vacation with me, I end up with a fourth mystery: figuring out who stole my book!

5. All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot: (Kids, Teens, Adults) Apply extra sunscreen before reading this book, because Herriot's hilarious and heart-warming stories about the human and animal characters he meets as a Yorkshire vet - from workaholic John Skipton, who keeps two retired horses, to Tricki Woo, a letter-writing Pekingese - will make you laugh until you cry, and cry until you're out of tears. The stories are great for reading aloud, though younger readers might also enjoy tackling Herriot's Treasury for Children and Bonny's Big Day themselves.

4. Horsefolk Are Different, by Cooky McClung: (Teens, Adults) Mix seven kids, a dozen horses, ponies, dogs, cats, and errant farm animals, a sailboat-loving dad, and one horse-crazy mom, and what do you get? Fifty side-splitting short stories about life as a "horse-wife" on the family farm! Pieces like "Needs Fixing? Grab the Twine" and "The Laundromat Game of Chance"will remind you why you need your vacation, and "The Christmas Gift that Keeps on Taking" and "From Sailboats to Snaffles in One Easy Marriage" (admit it, you didn't really think he'd keep the boat, did you?) will help you remember why you fell in love with horses and draw you right back to your home barn. Horsefolk Are Different is currently out of print, but it's worth your while to track down a used copy to keep your own herd laughing throughout your travels.

3. Misty of Chincoteague, by Marguerite Henry: (Kids, Teens, Adults) This Newberry Honor winning book, based on a real wild mare and foal from Virginia's Chincoteague Island, tells the story of young siblings Paul and Maureen Beebe, who set out to tame the heart of the wild Chincoteague mare, Phantom, and her filly, Misty. If you get hooked on the book, check out Henry's four other Chincoteague stories: Stormy - Misty's Foal, Sea Star - Orphan of Chincoteague, Misty - The Wonder Pony, and Misty's Twilight.

2. The Last Unicorn, by Peter Beagle: (Kids, Teens, Adults) In this enchantingly-told fantasy, a unicorn discovers that all of the other unicorns in the world have vanished, and she sets out on a quest to find them. With - and sometimes despite - the help of a floundering magician named Schmendrick and the fearless Molly Grue - she confronts the monster, the wizard, and the terrible curse that promises to imprison not only the unicorns, but all magic and dreams, forever.

1. Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes: (Kids, Teens, Adults) The ultimate summer read! After reading countless tales of knights and chivalry, Alonso Quixano comes to believe they are true. Naming himself Don Quixote, he puts on his family armor, mounts his ancient horse, Rocinate, and invites his neighbor, Sancho Panza, to be his squire. Together, they journey across Spain, piling mishap upon misadventure as Quixote struggles to be an ideal knight in the real world. This is the book the modern word, quixotic, comes from, and the scene where Don Quixote jousts with giants - or at least he thinks he does! - is the scene that gave rise to the phrase, "tilting at windmills." It's a great book for summers or vacations both because it's a fun and entertaining adventure and because it always asks that summer-and-vacation question: who do you want to be when you find yourself in the real world again?

You can read Don Quixote in English or in the original Spanish at Project Gutenberg. Young readers can download and enjoy James Baldwin's adaptation, The Stories of Don Quixote Written Anew for Children, at The Baldwin Project. For print editions, I love the Signet Classic (left), if only because the cover is my favorite piece of Quixote artwork, Picasso's Don Quixote!

Have you read any horse books this summer? Which one was your favorite?

Go on, Change the World: National Geographic's 2011 Emerging Explorers

National Geographic has announced their 2011 Emerging Explorers! Meet these fourteen "uniquely gifted and inspiring young adventurers, scientists, photographers, and storytellers" who have turned their passion for nature, wildlife, and humanity into innovative projects that are changing the world.

His Mane a Stormy Cloud: The Fall of Troy, by Quintus Smyrnaeus (Quintus of Smyrna), translated by A.S. Way and Alan James

...As some swift horse
Is reined in by his rider, when he strains
Unto the race-course, and he neighs, and champs
The curbing bit, dashing his chest with foam,
And his feet eager for the course are still
Never, his restless hooves are clattering aye,
His mane is a stormy cloud, he tosses high
His head with snorting, and his lord is glad…
- from The Fall of Troy, by Quintus Smyrnaeus, translated by A.S. Way

Quintus Smyrnaeus is a shadowy figure in the halls of history. Even scholars don't know much about his life. In the third - or maybe the fourth - century AD, there lived a boy named Quintus. He probably - but not certainly - lived in or around the coastal city of Smyrna, in what is now the country of Turkey. He might have been a shepherd, or he might have been a young scholar himself.

What we do know is that the boy Quintus grew up to become a poet and composed the fourteen volume epic poem, The Fall of Troy. In the poem, Quintus describes the end of the Trojan War, the legendary ten year battle between an army of attacking Greeks and the citizens of the city of Troy, fought over the kidnapping - or perhaps the willing elopement - of Helen, a Greek queen and the most beautiful woman in the world, with Troy's young and handsome prince, Paris. The story of the Trojan War is most famously told in Homer's Iliad. But Quintus continues the story, describing the end of the war and the fate of the people and horses caught up in it, from the glorious but doomed Achilles - the hero of the Greeks - and his weeping chariot horses to the crafty general Odysseus, who toppled the city at last with his wooden Trojan Horse.

You can read A.S. Way's 1913 translation of The Fall of Troy at The Theoi Project, and check out Alan James' The Trojan Epic for a modern-day translation that also includes a fascinating introduction and commentary, book-by-book critical summaries, and detailed notes. To introduce the events, heroes, and horses of the Trojan War to young readers, trot on over to The Baldwin Project and read or download James Baldwin's The Fall of Troy.

Disney's New Equestrian Princess, Merida: Brave, directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman

Hot on the heels of the success of Tangled, Disney's musical retelling of the Rapunzel tale which featured the spirited and swashbuckling Maximus (Max) the horse, Disney's animation studio, Pixar, has just released the teaser trailer for the summer 2012 movie, Brave, starring Merida, a red-haired princess of the Scottish Highlands, and Angus, her Clydesdale-ish, Highland Pony-ish mount.



Explore Disney's Brave website to learn more about the story, and visit the International Museum of the Horse to meet the Highland Pony and the Clydesdale, two of Scotland's famous and beloved horse breeds!

Firecrackers and Independence: Firehorse, by Diane Lee Wilson

"...All I had was my reputation? I was nothing more than an amorphous cloud of someone's version of "good"? Hah! I was more than that. I had steady nerves ...And a way with horses. And ...knowledge."

- from Firehorse, by Diane Lee Wilson

Fifteen year old Rachel Selby is a firecracker: red haired and fierce willed, she races locomotives riding bareback astride her beloved chestnut mare and swears she'll grow up to be a veterinarian. Trouble is, it's 1872 in America. Women don't even have the right to vote, and Rachel's own father passionately insists that no woman - including his wife and daughter - should do, say, or think anything but what she's allowed to - or told to - by men.

More trouble flickers on the horizon. Rachel and her family move to Boston, which, in 1872, is a rickety tinderbox of a city on the brink of being consumed by the real Great Boston Fire. In Firehorse, Rachel discovers that the local fire station's best engine puller - or "firehorse" - a grey draft mare called The Governor's Girl, has been so badly burned that the fire chief is ready to put her down. Across the city, other firehorses are falling to a disease called distemper, dying faster than the veterinarians can reach them, much less begin to heal them. Worst of all, it seems like an arsonist is on a demented spree, setting fires that threaten humans and animals alike. When the Great Fire ignites, Rachel and Governor's Girl must decide: what can a misfit girl and wounded horse really do when the world goes up in flames?

Firehorse is a bright and spectacular blaze of a book, an essential read for girls ages 9-15 and a beacon of inspiration for those of us older "mares". Wilson's story is dramatic but believable, a portrait of tough, temperamental human and equine characters whose determination to do what they think is right will not only change their lives, but may also affect the fate of their city and touch the future of their nation. The text is explosive, hypnotic, and flies across the page in a full-out gallop, fearless and beautiful, with the kind of tailwind that kindles the new, young sparks - or old embers - of your spirit. It's a book that makes you cheer from your reading chair and leap up to lend a helping hoof, particularly when you read the conclusion of Wilson's author's note:

"As a woman living in the twenty-first century, I'm lucky to have had spirited women pave the way for me. Yet even in these times of "equal rights," I've been told on more than one occasion that women can't or shouldn't venture into certain areas reserved for men. I don't believe that. This story is for all those girls who have been told "you can't" and still decide for themselves that "I can."

Celebrate independence of all kinds with Firehorse. On Independence Day, pair it with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's horse-powered poem, Paul Revere's Ride, and a visit to the National Archive's online exhibits on the Declaration of Independence and the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. And be sure to check out Diane Lee Wilson's other award-winning horse-centered historical fiction for tween and teen readers, the novels I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade, Black Storm Comin', and To Ride the Gods' Own Stallion!

Looking for more great horse books for tweens and teens? Browse Great Books for Horse Lovers' Teen/YA listings, and gallop, don't walk, to the Whitebrook Farm blog, which offers a first look at upcoming horsey books for teens and fresh, laugh riot reviews of horse-themed books and movies. I found Firehorse there - what might you find that will light the fire in your heart?