Horse Reading Goals

by Christine.

How quickly the year is progressing!  Have you set any resolutions / goals?  How are they going?

I am aiming to read 150 books this year, and although not all will be horsey, many will be!  As with all horse books that I read, they will be reviewed on equus blog and I already have a few reviews up for 2016!

Horse Country by Christine Meunier

I love to read.  I guess in a way that is how I became a writer.  I love to get caught up in a story, learn new things and be entertained.  Of course, a delightful romance doesn’t go astray, either!  In spite of the fact that I now invest time in writing, this doesn’t stop my desire to read and get caught up in a good story by someone else.

As a writer – or aspiring writer – I encourage you to never stop reading!  You can always enjoy more stories; learn from other writers – what works, what doesn’t?  What did you enjoy, what surprised you, what did you really struggle to read?  The more you read, the more you learn about what makes a good story.

If you write horse stories or aspire to write them, consider the value in reading as many of them as you can.  On that note, what horse novel(s) have you read that you felt were really well written?  I’d love to add them to my reading list!

Getting Ready for 2016

by Christine.

A short post from me to say that Free Rein books 4 and 5, Learning to Fall and A Dollar Goes a Long Way have been on Kindle over 2015 and it has taken me a lot longer than I hoped to get them sorted as paperbacks.  That said, they are now available in paperback form!

In Free Rein news, I am currently working on book 6 of the series and for those interested, updates are posted first over at http://www.freereinseries.com/ - you can also sign up for my author news!

For the adult reader, I am also working on a new novel set in Australia on a trail riding property.  For details on this, stay tuned to http://www.horsecountrybook.com/ - 2016 is planned for the release of two new books from author Christine Meunier.

I am also setting myself the goal of reading 150 books in 2016 and anticipate a lot of these books to be horse related - I can't wait to discover some new horse authors, read from some favourites and learn more about horses along the way!

What are your horse reading / writing plans for 2016?

Around the World with Horses

by Christine

One thing I love about horse novels – and indeed fictional works – is that you can travel around the world with horses and learn different cultures and hemispheres way of doing things.  There is so much to learn about horses!  Books can greatly increase your knowledge of them.

Me (far left) on a trail in South Africa

I thought I would focus this post on taking part in a blog hop titled Horse Travels over at Equus Education.  So I thought I’d focus on how we get to travel with horses in books.

In my debut novel Horse Country – A World of Horses, I explored four different women working in the horse industry or studying horses and their travels about the world.  Although the story was based in Australia (as I am), one character (Wes) travelled to Ireland to study horses and another (Maddison) travelled to England for awhile to work.

Because I have studied horses at the Irish National Stud in County Kildare, it was easier to write about the differences from Australia as I had experienced them.  Likewise, I had experienced working in a racing stable and was able to bring this into the novel.

In the Free Rein series I write for pre-teens, I explore running an agistment (boarding) property in Victoria as this is an area of interest and knowledge for me, too.  Currently I am also working on a new adult novel that explores running a trail riding business in the high country of Australia.  Updates on this novel are available through my Horse Country website.

The question of the blog hop is:

“If you could travel anywhere in the world for something horse related, where would it be and what would you do?”

I choose to travel to different parts of Australia that enable me to explore some of my favourite aspects of the horse world.  So in light of the question, perhaps you’d like to answer it?  Where would you travel and why?

Writing Educational Horse Books

by Christine Meunier

Horse Country by Christine Meunier

When I was a young girl, I loved to read any horse book I could get my hands on.  I loved to read, period.  But as someone who didn't yet have a horse, I was learning horses via my reading.

Today I try to provide the same for readers of my books.  My debut novel Horse Country - A World of Horses, explores the lives of four women working in the horse industry - two as instructors, two in the thoroughbred breeding industry.  The book is very factually based, as I wanted readers to recognise what it is like working with horses.  I also wanted them to learn about these two equine related careers.

This was able to be written as I travelled North East Victoria in Australia, working on thoroughbred studs, as well as at a couple of riding schools in Melbourne, Victoria.  A stint overseas at the Irish National Stud increased my horse breeding knowledge and practical skills.  This knowledge went into my debut novel.

New Beginnings, by Christine Meunier

The same can be said for my Free Rein series.  Although aimed at younger readers (8 - 12 year olds) and a lot more fiction than fact, it is still factually based and contains realistic information with regards to keeping ponies, their care, and riding them.

I struggle when I read a horse book that isn't correct factually, so it's my hope that as horse crazy readers journey with me by reading one of my novels, that they will enjoy the storyline, but also enjoy the learning that comes with reading about horses.

For me, it's important that books although fiction, are realistic with any facts, whether they be about history, animals or a particular career.  I realise that even in horse books, terms can be misunderstood or different depending on the country the author originates from: my first horsey reads were the Saddle Club and once I joined pony club, my Australian riding mates were surprised to hear me talking about posting to the trot! (In Australia, it's known as the rising trot).

In a way, this is another thing I love about reading horse books - learning new terminology!  I needed to learn quickly in Ireland that the horse box was the vehicle we used to transport horses (a float in Australia) and not a stall that we house them in for a time!

What horse book or series have you read and learnt from?