Write that Horse

With at least two million horse people in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau) any writer that puts a horse in their book has to get it right. Otherwise they risk having their book become airborne when the reader is jerked out of the story because of an obvious, to the horse person, blunder.

Finding good accurate information can be more difficult than many writers imagine. This is not because of lack of information, but because of too much information. It is easy to drown in information about horses and still not get the exact bit you need to authenticate your story. I wrote my book, Horses For Writers, to address some of the mistakes that, over the years, had aggravated me.

Now, there is another book available to help writers in their quest for good, accurate information about the world of horses. The 33 Worst Mistakes People Make About Horses by Sue L. Huffman is a book any writer who might put a horse in their book needs in their reference folder.

Ms. Huffman began teaching riding and training horses in her teens. While she has indulged herself in many aspects of horsemanship, she joined AERC, American Endurance Ride Conference, and learned a great deal about how things really work when you are out in the wilderness with your horse.

Other horse activities she has done are jousting, mounted archery and mounted shooting. This gives her a unique perspective on some types of riding that most people do not have. She passes the information to others in this book.

Sue L. Huffman has raised and trained her own horses for these sports. She has also participated in 4-H, barrel racing and dressage. All of these make her a person whose information can be trusted to add that realistic touch to a writer's novel.

She explains why a stallion is unlikely to be the mount of choice for your protagonist. She also tells writers how to use specific character traits to show what sex a horse is without having to fall back on trite explanations that are over used and frequently wrong. Her explanation about why a mare would not carry her rider into an ambush is spot on.

She tackles the subject that frequently has horse people yelping at movies, TV shows, and books. Simply, horses are not cars. They cannot go on forever without adequate food and rest. Her experience in endurance riding lends credence to her descriptions of how to ride a horse for a hundred miles. After all, she's done it many times.