Horses and Farms For Fiction Writers

By Jim MacLachlan

What is it like to own and ride a horse or live on a farm? How far can a horse be ridden in a day or a week? What is the difference between horse breeds & types or English and Western bridles and saddles? How do you pluck a chicken? Is milking a cow any different from milking a goat? Why are some fences made out of boards while others use rails or wire? These are all complicated subjects. Getting the details right can add depth and realism to a story. You’ll find the answers in this book along with links to sites and books that explore the subjects in greater detail.

The cover is Blue, a grandson of Secretariat, my wife's favorite horse. He's shaking off flies; a comical picture of a perennial problem.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jim MacLachlan
• Release date: Jun 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463884751

Jim MacLachlan

I grew up on the family farm with horses, sheep, cattle, fowl, dogs, cats, & a lot of other critters in north central Maryland. While the farm paid for itself, the family remodeling business was the steady income. I worked at that for about 15 years until an injury forced me to change my computer hobby into my career. It was tough at the time, but a great career move from an economic standpoint.Now I'm the entire IT department for a small manufacturing company in Louisville, KY. My wife of 35+ years & I have a small hobby farm with horses, goats, dogs, & a cat. Taking care of the farm, woodworking, & various fiber arts take up my free time.

Book preview

Introduction

This is a glimpse into the basics of horses and country life to help authors know what they are really like. It’s certainly not a complete reference since the subjects are just too big and diverse, but there is plenty of material to add depth to your novel and show the difference from the movie caricatures and city or suburban life. Readers can only suspend their disbelief to a point. Getting the basics right allows authors more room in their fictional worlds.

I discuss books a lot on GoodReads.com where the same questions and complaints about how horses and farms were handled in novels came up so often that I started keeping a list which I expanded into this book. Some of what I’ll relate is gross, explicit, and may even horrify you, but it is part of everyday life for horsemen and other farmers. Many of the anecdotes happened while I was writing this and you’ll see some pictures of my farm, family, and animals.

I’ve spent my life riding and laboring around horses from shoveling manure to building and repairing fences, barns, and homes. I was raised on farms in New York and Maryland, as well as a ranch in Colorado. I now own and live on a farm in northern Kentucky. Most of my friends and neighbors are farmers. I had my own pony before I entered school. I met my wife while we were working at a Thoroughbred racing stable together. My mother still lives and works on a horse farm where she rides several horses daily, even though she's in her late 70s. We ride English, mostly hunter-jumpers, just one of the many types of equine usage. It differs from Western riding and isn’t much like driving (driving a horse attached to a cart) either in the equipment or the types/breeds of horses, but they all share some basics.

Riding is an uncertain form of transportation at best. Our convenience has no part in the life of a horse. Equines are the spawn of Murphy (If it can go wrong, it will, and in the worst possible way.) and yet they have been so crucial throughout history that stealing a man’s horse was a hanging offense with no judge or jury needed in many areas.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe the horse was lost.

For want of a horse the rider was lost.

For want of a rider the message was lost.

For want of a message the battle was lost.

For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

In novels, questing adventurers seem to spend their downtime whetting their daggers to a finer edge, but I think it more likely they'd discuss and take care of their horse and tack. After all, those are their most critical, expensive, complex, and problematic pieces of equipment. We discuss ours all the time even though our horses are just a hobby. Their antics, injuries, & progress give us seemingly endless fodder for conversation.

Some authors know horses well and that gives their stories depth and unique characters. Janny Wurts makes horses the centerpiece of To Ride Hell’s Chasm where she uses the type of horse and how they’re treated to say volumes about characters, their surroundings, and circumstances even to those who know nothing about horses. She uses just enough jargon and related trivia to lend a lot of realism to a wonderful fantasy story.

Dick Francis was a jockey and portrays them and the UK's horse racing world well in his murder mysteries. While no book can give you his hands-on expertise, I've tried to cover the main points with easy to read text as well as hyperlinks to Wikipedia and other stable, relatively safe sites which expand on a lot of subjects. Some are videos that will teach you more in seconds than a chapter of text. Still, there’s a lot of trivia, such as an entire chapter on hooves. That’s too much information for most, but I barely scratched the surface of this critical and much discussed part of the horse. I suggest you skim through such chapters and come back to them later.

Horses can't just be parked. They need to exercise and train with their riders. Riding is a partnership that can vary from a drunken brawl to a walk in the park with your soul mate and/or everything in between, sometimes all in the same ride. It depends on you, the horse, your moods, and the circumstances. Like any team, you need to learn to work together and stay in shape, too. If we take a couple of weeks off and then go for a long ride, we’re both sore for a few days.

Horses are simple and tough, yet also incredibly complex and delicate. Like vehicles and people, horses have their own particular set of quirks and limitations for all their size, strength, and speed. I wouldn’t think of racing my farm truck in the Indy 500 nor do I expect a horse to win races, carry the hero around on an epic journey, and then joust in a tourney. A few remarkable ones might, but generally horses tend to be somewhat specialized. Besides, the poor destrier or courser isn't built for speed and would be too tired to joust well after lugging the hero’s butt and baggage around for weeks.

The knight's riding horse could be a palfrey and the pack 'horse' might be a mule. Their mundane labors allowed the warhorse to save its energy for running around with hundreds of pounds of knight-in-shining-armor when needed. While some had to make do with less, it would slow their journey and be a source of irritation and concern.

All equines are full of opportunities for humor and drama. A nip can pinch the butt of a prig or remove a pound of flesh, while a kick can put a bully in their place or kill a good man. David Eddings often skirts my limits of hyperbole in the Elenium trilogy, but Faran's intelligence, loyalty, and propensity to bite grooms makes him a great supporting character. I’ve known a lot equine characters with similar traits.

Propriety and decorum are for people. Horses have the appetites and morals of an uninhibited teenager. Watching a couple of horses play or grooming each other is a touching sight, although they bully others regularly and romance rarely has any place in their sex lives. Galloping a horse is exhilarating as long as it’s under control, but it’s terrifying when one takes off in rage or fright. Getting nuzzled can be sweet unless they conclude with a booger-spraying snort or slobber gook in my ear and down my neck. When one dies, it can tear my heart out, while there are others I’d gladly shoot. They're individual characters almost as complex as people.

The basic attributes of the horses are as important as any other character or piece of equipment. The people that use the horses can't be oblivious to their natures nor treat them as if they’re as interchangeable commuter cars. Even if a character knows nothing of horses when they start riding, they will have to pick up the basics quickly or they’ll pay in pain. Riding a horse isn’t easy, it just looks that way.

Farms vary a lot depending on area and what they’re trying to produce. The small family farms I grew up on in the east didn’t resemble the ranch I lived on in the Rockies very much and neither is anything like big commercial farms. Those I was raised on had people, cows, and horses, but the differences in altitude, terrain, soil, and water changed priorities and our life style a great deal. In the east, we need an acre or two per cow or horse for field grazing. The cattle were bred to be docile and horses were usually for pleasure. Out west, the stock often needed twenty acres or more each. Most of the cattle were feral since they had to fend for themselves on the range as did most of the horses. The horses kept on the ranch full time were generally hard-working animals that had to earn their keep.

I don’t think the cowboys were any tougher than the Eastern farmers, but there’s certainly a difference in style. All of them were wise in the ways of their land and stock and I’ve never met a handier group as a whole. Even today, it's a long way to town and there's usually plenty of room to store anything that might come in handy later, which it often does in some astonishing ways. What is now called 'recycling' or 'upcycling', we called 'making do' and we've always done it because we had to.

Farmers are often frustratingly insular and stubborn. Many aren't well educated, traveled, or sophisticated, but it doesn't mean they're stupid. They're incredibly self-sufficient and knowledgeable in their areas of expertise. It’s often impossible to tell the owners from the help by the clothes they wear or their speech. Few farms pay well, so everyone is working hard taking care of their land and stock to the exclusion of all else. A night out or a day with no chores is a rare treat and that can mean there’s an excess of steam to blow off or it might be a great time to catch up on sleep. A lot depends on the season.

Climate is what we expect, but weather is what we get. Farmers and ranchers face that great unknown every day. Not only do they have to work in it, but they have to raise their product despite its vagaries. Bad weather might mean they lose everything, but good weather can mean a surplus, so prices are depressed. They often can't win for losing, but they do it anyway. Why? Perhaps you'll understand after reading this.

Table of Contents

Section 1: Horses

What is a horse? Size, type, and breeds

Ponies and horses are the same species, meaning they can breed with each other and produce fertile babies, for all their wildly differing looks and sizes. There are conformation (how they’re built) differences between them, but with so many breeds and types of each, that’s tough to generalize except in the case of height. For the most part, if they’re 14.2h (58 inches or 148 cm) or taller at the withers (the point where the back and neck meet directly above front legs) then they’re a horse. If they’re shorter, they’re a pony.

Most countries now use centimeters to measure horse height. That’s practical, but that takes the flavor out of it for me. When using ‘hands’ as the unit of measurement of a horse’s height, it's never directly compared to human or any other height, just to other horses and ponies. It's their own special niche. I've never heard a horse person say their pony is four-foot- nine or 57 inches in the US. Instead, we say they’re fourteen-one, written as 14.1h (or 14.1hh) which means 14 hands 1 inch. A hand ('h' or 'hh') is four inches (about 10cm) and where they're measured is understood, as is the unit of measurement in conversation.

Ponies are broken down into size categories today:

Below 8h is a miniature, although some are miniature horses because of their conformation, breeding, and registry rules. A Shetland pony under 8h is usually just a miniature pony, though.

8h to 12.2h is a small pony. Shetlands are typically small ponies, but their breed rules allow them no taller than 10.2h.

12.2h to 13.2h is a medium pony. Speedy, our Welsh pony, is right on the line at 12.2h, so can be either a small or medium pony. If his feet are well trimmed and his head is held down as he's measured, he's a small pony. A set of shoes guarantees he’ll measure in as a medium pony. It can be an important advantage in some competitions.

13.2h to 14.2h is a large pony, although from 14h up, they are often part of a 'horse' breed such as Appaloosa (App), Arab, or Quarter Horse. I consider Chip, my 14.1h App, a pony, but it depends on the frame of reference. Some, like the Arab, are always considered horses.

Over 14.2h is a horse for the most part.

Hard and fast rules are hard to come by in the horse world and they can change over time. Welsh ponies are 11h to 16h, but I think they’re often considered cobs at the tall end, not horses. It seems to vary by area and I’m sure there is some controversy about what is proper. I remember ‘cob’ being a size designation from 14.2h to 15h which competed against large ponies in some local horse shows when I was a kid. I think it was just a local designation and haven't heard it used in years. A cob is actually a type of horse in the British Isles around this size, but there are other conformation points involved.

Thoroughbreds average about 16h tall, generally ranging from 15.2h to 17h. We have three that used to race, so they’re Off the Track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs). Blue and Topaz are about 15.3h tall and weigh about 1200 pounds. Cutter is about 16.1h and weighs about 1300 pounds. He seems much bigger than the others when I'm on him, but some of that is due to his aggressive energy.

Some horses have size designations, but these are usually limited to their particular type. For instance, draft horses have size/weight classes when they’re in pulling contests. Horses can get up to about 20h and 1.5 tons (3000 pounds or 1361 kg), although that’s unusually large. 20h is 80 inches or 6 feet-8 inches tall, the height of most interior doors. Remember, that’s just at their withers. Their heads can rise a few feet higher with all four feet on the ground.

The size of the horse is often critical to the work done. While it's nice to have huge horses pulling around wagons full of beer, bigger isn't always better. A cowboy working cattle has to get on and off his horse quickly so he doesn't want one that is too tall or it makes mounting difficult. The horse has to have the muscle to carry him around and the size to brace against a roped steer, yet be small enough to be agile. That puts the height around 14h - 15h and requires a stocky, well-muscled frame.

It's not just height that determines if a horse is a good fit for a man, but also their barrel size. I'm of average build; not quite six feet tall, 175 pounds, and my pants have a 32 inch inseam. Chip fits me comfortably. At 14.1h and about 800 pounds, he’s perfect for a cow pony. His girth takes up my leg nicely which gives me a solid seat, but the girls say he is too wide for them. Rascal, our Welsh cross, is 14h, only an inch shorter than Chip, but very narrow and he doesn't take up enough of my leg, so my seat isn’t stable. Topaz, a Thoroughbred, is 15.3h or 6 inches taller than Chip, but a lot of that extra height is made up of his long legs, so he's not much bigger around in the barrel and they can use the same girth. While he also fits my leg well, Topaz has a pronounced backbone that makes bareback riding painfully dangerous while Chip is as comfortable as an overstuffed chair.

The equine’s size is the most obvious conformation point, but there are many others. These descriptions are full of rich, interesting phrases and jargon such as goose-rumped, sickle-hocked, swaybacked, pigeon-toed, and swan-necked, to name a few. The phrases can vary quite a bit by area, type, breed, and use of a horse. U.K. English conformation terms will vary from what a kid is taught in 4H here in Kentucky, but the 4H manual is a great way for anyone to learn the basics. While Wikipedia has a fairly long list of equine terms and does note when they're specific to a region, it's certainly not complete.

Just for fun: Get a couple of horse people together and ask them what conformation points you should look for in a horse for some sort of endeavor such as jumping, cutting, racing, or whatever. You'll hear all sorts of expert opinions on the length of the back, angles of the legs, length of the pasterns, and many others. Take notes and then watch an event. Odds are good that the winning horse will disprove most of the expert opinions. Don't rub their noses in it. It’s complicated.

‘Wild’ horses probably aren’t. The Mustang of the American west and Australian Brumby are actually feral mutts, the survivors of escaped domesticated horses. Przewalski's horse was once thought to be the last wild horse, but now they think they went feral a long time ago. Besides, they died out back in the 1960s and the current ones were reintroduced. Some are fussy about the distinction. I’ve read that if the mane stands up straight, they’re wild, but if they’re laid over, they’re domesticated or feral.

Donkeys (burros or asses) look something like long-eared ponies and they are of the same genus, but a different species. There are still a few species of wild asses around the world.

A mule is the result of a jack, male donkey, crossed with a mare, a female horse. A hinny is born when a stallion, male horse, breeds a jenny, a female donkey. Both are usually sterile. I’ve read that mules were easier to breed and that’s why they're more common than hinnies, but I’ve also heard that mules tend to have the strengths of both species while the hinny tends to the worst traits of each.

Zebras look like striped ponies, but none of the species have ever been domesticated as a whole, although some have individually. There are a number of theories as to why, but most agree they're generally more trouble than they’re worth and thus didn't make the domestication cut; the Anna Karenia principle. They have a reputation as vicious biters.

Camels aren't much like horses, but they're a similarly important form of transportation in some areas. Lulu, Queen of the Camels is a really interesting article about breeding racing camels and more. They're fascinating creatures.

Some breeds and types of horses break temperaments into three categories. A warm-blood is a cross between a cold-blood, generally big, steady horse like a Clydesdale, with a hot-blood horse like a Thoroughbred, Barb, or Arabian, which are smaller and tend to be quick of foot and flighty in temperament. What folks are looking for in a warm-blood is a horse that is built more strongly with more sense than the hot-blood, but has more agility and speed than the cold-blood. Lipizzans and Hanoverians are warm-blood breeds that were created over generations.

I've heard that crosses should be 'blood on bone' meaning the hot-blood should be the stud and the cold-blood the mare or else you’ll wind up with a really big, strong nut-job; the worst of both breeds. I've also heard the opposite, but have no direct knowledge. Either way, the phrase has a ring to it.

We informally type the temperaments of our horses whether the breed does or not. Apps vary greatly in temperament depending on the line, so when I write that Chip has a cool disposition or is a cold-blood, it just means he acts and is built something like one. He's slower to spook, less energetic, and has a bulky build while others in the breed can be quite different. Indy, Marg's current horse, is a hot-blooded Quarter horse, another breed that varies greatly by the line. There is no question with the Thoroughbreds. Some are more or less high-strung and athletic than others, but they're always hot-bloods.

A horse's 'type' is more general than the breed, even though horses within a breed can do multiple types of work. Their build and their temperament determines the work they’re best at. Stock (cow or cutting), sport (racing, hunting, polo), and gaited (ambling) horses are all specific types based on what the horse does. Driving horses are an even broader type including all those that haul around wagons, carriages, and plows. No single breed of horse would be good at all the tasks within such a broad type. Wikipedia has a list of horse and pony breeds with pretty good explanations. Most of the breed names are hyperlinked to a more detailed article, often with links in the reference section to the breed registries. There are also links to categories and types that might be of more use to you in finding horses with which to populate your novel.

Compare correctly! I read a book set in the 15th century where the man rode a stallion while the lady rode a palfrey. It’s an attempt to differentiate the horses, but 'stallion' is a sexual characteristic while 'palfrey' is a type of horse so there is no comparison since either could be both. It’s like saying the man drove a pickup while the lady drove a Ford. If he rode a stallion, she could have ridden a mare or gelding. Her palfrey should be compared to his courser, rouncey, or some other type of horse in the Middle Ages.

It's easy to confuse a type of horse with a breed. A palfrey isn't a breed of horse, but a gaited type which could amble; a pace about the speed of a trot, but more comfortable for the rider. It was prized for its ability to cover a lot of ground quickly and smoothly. Today, there are gaited breeds such as the Tennessee Walker and the Saddlebred.

People find the traits they want and breed for them. If enough agree on the package, they can create a breed registry, which vary quite a bit in their requirements and rules. I generally think of a breed as a distinct line, as it usually is in dogs. You mate two German Shepherds and that’s what the pups are because it is a closed registry. It can work like that with horse breeds, but doesn’t always and it can change over time.

Thoroughbreds started off a few centuries ago when three hot-blood stallions were bred to a bunch of English mares. Once they got what they wanted, they closed the registry. If you have a Thoroughbred today, both its parents were for umpteen generations, although they’re further limited since they can't be the result of artificial insemination, a common practice among other stock.

Other registries are open registries meaning they allow in any horse that meets their standards. Horses can usually belong to more than one registry of this sort. Palominos, a color breed, have several registries, and some allow in any horse or pony of that color no matter whether its parents were registered or not. Some don't consider these horses part of a breed, but say they are a type.

Still other breed registries are partially open. The Appaloosa Horse Club allows a foal in if at least one parent is registered with them and the other is on a short list of other breeds, but the horse has to conform to the breed standard. Even with two fully registered parents, the foal may not be eligible for full registry. For instance, a mature App has to be 14h – 16h. If it is under 14h, they can probably register as a Pony Of the Americas (POA). If they’re over 16h, they can get pink papers, meaning their foals have a chance of joining the club, but they’re not full members and never will be. They may be able to participate in some App competitions, depending on the rules of each event and what extra fees the owner is willing to pay.

It takes a lot of cooperation, communication, and record keeping to create and maintain a man-made breed. Arabians are the oldest recognized breed dating back about 4500 years, but more often people bred for types of horses like the palfrey. They probably recognized parental lines, but most only locally. Many breeds are relatively new, so be careful of naming breeds in historical novels. For instance, there were no Hanoverian horses until the late 1800s. While there have been tiny ponies for years, it wasn't until 1978 that the American Miniature Horse Association was formed.

Breeds can change over time for a variety of reasons such as insider fighting and sometimes that will spawn a new, similar breed. I believe the Appaloosa folks have had a few go-rounds, but I'm more familiar with those in the dog world. There was quite a dust up among the Jack Russell folks when some wanted to register them with the American Kennel Club. Now we have two breeds; those in the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America and the AKC registered Parson Russell. The last being a court ordered name change. There are still a lot of hard, strong feelings between the two camps. For instance, a JRTCA member recently told me with great conviction that they breed for solid working dogs while the AKC people just breed for looks.

Labrador Retrievers had to be black originally, yellows and chocolates were culled, but that changed about a century ago and now those colors are popular. It's still one breed, but the differences between the show and trial lines are so big that an outsider would think they're different breeds at a glance. Some feel that the breed should split because the requirements for both are so different. They might someday, but the majority of the members don't seem to feel the need now.

A breed-registered horse has papers similar to your birth certificate and they'll vary in the information they contain. Rascal is registered as a Welsh, but we don't know his sire or upper line. The sire is listed first on his papers, thus his father's breeding is his upper line, the dam's (his mother) is his lower line. Those are terms that often show up in conversation. For instance, "That goose rump shows up in his lower line." Rascal's lack of information is fine for us since we don't compete in breed specific shows. We’re pretty sure Speedy is a Welsh simply because he’s the epitome of the breed, but he has no papers. He may have had his name changed several times in the years prior to us getting him.

Our Thoroughbred race horses can trace their genealogy back centuries and it's illegal to sell them without their papers. They have a number tattooed inside their upper lip that is registered with the Jockey Club. Naming them is subject to a lot of rules and there are many names that can't be used. Blue's grandsire, Secretariat, is so famous that his name is reserved and will probably never be allowed to be used again. I don't think any horse breed registry allows his name to be used. That's not unusual when there is a lot of money, fame, and prestige at stake. Due to naming restrictions, registered horses often have long strange names, so they get nicknames for everyday use and those don't always make sense. Cutter is registered as Cuts Like A Knife which makes sense, but Blue, a bay, has a registered name of Thin Promises. When my wife got Blue, there was another horse around named Promise, she wanted a different name to avoid confusion. She had just heard Dylan singing Tangled Up In Blue, a song she loves. Blue quickly learned his new name and kept it for decades.

The papers contain a detailed description of the horse, not only their sex, color and pattern, but the markings specific to that horse. Don't confuse color patterns with markings. Color patterns are often specific to the breed. This is most evident when it comes to the color breeds like the Pinto, Paint, and Appaloosa. The American Paint Horse Association recognizes color patterns like Overo, Tobiano, or Tovero and even has a guide for the genetics behind them.

Markings are usually white spots on the darker coat and make a good deal of sense. For instance, a stocking goes up the horse's leg higher than a sock. Markings and color can change somewhat over the years. Many horses gray or get a lighter coat as they age and some will pick up injuries that can have white hair grow back in. Appaloosas can change considerably in color after they're born and shed their baby hair.

Horse colors can be stunning, confusing, and are one of the most noticeable features of a horse. They've become more exact, stifling quite a bit of strident controversy, with DNA testing and standardized coat color genetics. Not all breeds have all colors. For instance, there are no dun Thoroughbreds, but they do have quite a variety, far more than even I realized until I started looking around.

Not all colors are what they seem to be at the first glance of a novice. For instance, most white horses are usually gray. That’s a big deal since a truly white horse has no pigmentation in their skin, although I've read they can't truly be albinos since their eyes turn blue, not pink. Thankfully, it’s uncommon because they have a lot of health issues and usually die at or shortly after birth. Black is more common, especially among some breeds, but most I've seen are dark bays not truly black. Many think Cutter is black at first glance, but he’s a dark bay and anyone who has seen a truly black horse wouldn’t make the mistake. Topaz is a blood-red bay who is roaning, which means he has white hairs sprinkled thinly and evenly across his body. It used to be difficult to see them unless you were really close, but it's getting easier as he ages. Roan is a very complicated color with many variants.

While many breeds can be distinguished easily, with others it’s simply a matter of paperwork. A dun (not Dun) horse has its hair and fur in a combination of certain colors and patterns which is often confused with buckskin. It’s not always a cow pony, even though Zane Grey used it often in his westerns and it’s sometimes used that way colloquially. Other types and breeds can have the dun coloring. Someday a bunch of folks might get together and create a breed registry for them as they have with the pinto color creating a Pinto breed, but as I write this ‘dun’ is just a horse color that can show up in a variety of breeds.

Does all this sound like a confusing mess to you? It is, but real horse people live and breathe this stuff. They can argue, even physically fight, about the finer points, so do a little research before you call a horse a name other than endearments or cuss words. You might just be surprised at what the name means to your readers that have any knowledge of the subject.

Table of Contents

Horsemanship

Before we delve further into horses, it's important to know a little about the people that work with them. Horsemanship is a quality of the person dealing with horses; how to train, work, and maintain them. It's a simple concept, but complex practice. The horseman has to deal with them in many situations and moods. They’re often betting their health, even their life, on their judgment.

True horsemen don't just use horses, but work and live with them. Often horses are their lives since they require a lot of attention. Horses often return it to some extent, although they're not as cuddly as a dog or a cat. Hobbyists usually have a retired horse or three around and still spend copious amounts of money, time, and attention on them. Everything revolves around the horses which seem more important than our kids. It’s an all-consuming hobby for us and we work off the farm to support our pets while spending a great deal of our 'free' time taking care of them.

For others, horses are livestock, another piece of equipment that must earn its keep or be sold off to make room for an animal that can perform. When the horse is your main form of transportation, one that is lame too often isn't worth keeping any more than a car that constantly breaks down. Actually, it’s worse, because you can't just park a horse. It costs more as you try to nurse it back to health while making do with its backup or without one at all. Folks of this sort usually can't afford the time or the emotional attachment of the hobbyist. Some extraordinary animals can sneak up on them emotionally, though. If they didn’t basically like animals, horses in particular, they probably wouldn’t work with them. It’s a tough job with long hours and rarely pays well. Read this Help Wanted ad and you’ll get the idea. It’s funny and true.

Attitudes about horses, indeed all animals, have changed a lot in recent years. In the past, many thought they didn't have souls, so couldn't experience pain or loss the way humans do. They treated them as living machines, forcing them into work and situations they weren't comfortable with by means of main strength and pain. Many were literally broken in spirit and forced to work until they dropped. It was often more cost effective just to kill them rather than attempt to heal them. Of course, attitudes varied, but even the best were often incredibly cruel by our standards today.

In the 1960s, rural people still often drowned or otherwise killed unwanted puppies and kittens even though Humane Societies had been established a century before. The local dog pound was simply a place to take unwanted animals to have them killed by the state, usually in less than a week. While they'd take cats, most didn't bother. Spaying a cat or dog was rare and neutering a male was considered heresy by many. Robert A. Heinlein, a well know science fiction author, shows this attitude in several of his books from that time.

Farmers of any sort have a restricted social life since their schedule is dictated by farm chores. Leaving for a day or more is a major event requiring careful preparation. We recently spent a few days away for the first time in over a year. Our daughter took over and reported at least daily to my wife how the animals were as she dealt with small issues that came up. During one conversation, I overheard that Erin had done a lot of cleaning. Visions of mopped floors and dusted bookshelves in the house danced through my head. Silly me. Erin had moved everything in the feed and grooming areas of the barn to sweep up well and get rid of the cobwebs. She takes after her mother. Marg bought the house vacuum for me. Hers is a fancy two motor job in the grooming area of the barn and used exclusively for cleaning the horses’ coats.

The all-consuming love and need my girls have for horses is daunting at times. In many ways, it resembles a drug addiction. They get depressed when denied contact with horses and I’ve seen them calm down just from the smell. When you add that to working with big, demonstrative animals, it’s not surprising that many horse people are real characters. "...All people go a bit funny in old age but horse people are the worst. Cut above even mad cat ladies..." as Katharina Marcus points out in Eleanor McGraw, a Pony Named Mouse and a Boy Called Fire. I won’t argue that. ‘Eccentric’ just isn’t a strong enough word for many horse people I’ve known.

The few people I’ve met that lasted around horses without understanding and communicating well with them either had a low-level job with limited responsibilities or copious amounts of money and good help. Again, Marcus portrays this perfectly when an employee says of the stable owner, "You see, he doesn’t really do horses, our Mr. Greaves. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very athletic and a good enough rider but he’s not a horse person." It's an innate skill, a spark of empathy that only true horse people have. The people that have it can communicate with them on an almost instinctive level.

Race horse exercise riders and jockeys have that skill and get the best out of almost every horse. The way they sit, their legs, hands, voice, and attitude lets the horse know they have a real rider on them. This gives the horse confidence in and respect for the person directing them. Exercising and racing horses are jobs that don’t tolerate error. The rider is on a highly energized, aggressive animal, pushing them hard from a precarious position. Exercise riders are often training young horses as well as getting them in shape. Many get paid by the horse and ride a dozen or so each morning, sometimes at several different farms or tracks. A few words from the trainer and the short ride from the paddock to the starting gate is all the familiarization many jockeys have before they race, so they’re either really good or they don’t last long. It is one of the most dangerous occupations.

Confidence is needed, but getting overconfident and not taking proper precautions is a sure way to get hurt. Horses can suddenly act out of character, just like people, although it’s more likely something will startle them. If you don't stay prepared, you’ll earn you a painful lesson and it could be your last. It’s especially common with people that have only worked with a few, calm, good-natured horses for a while. A different horse, situation, or day can make all the difference, but it happens to all of us when we get complacent or just unlucky.

When I wrote this, Mom couldn't ride. A horse that never kicked before did when she walked behind him. He knocked her into the stall wall hard enough to stun her. Luckily, he nailed her on the inner thigh and didn't hit a bony place so nothing was broken, but the swelling ran down into her knee, so it didn't bend well. She was riding a week later, although she’s in her late 70s. Horse people are a pretty tough bunch.

Riding is what we spend the least amount of time doing. For every pleasurable ride, there are many more hours taking care of the horse and their equipment: grooming, mucking stalls, cleaning tack, fixing barns and fencing, mowing fields, and more. I'm pretty handy and we call my wife 'Doctor Mom', but we still spend an inordinate amount of money on the blacksmith, vet, tack repair, feed, hay, and many other services and goods. If we didn't love horses and everything about them, they wouldn't be worthwhile to keep.

One of the romanticized images I run across is the rider taking care of the horse before themselves, but it’s just common sense if you want the horse to keep on working for you. ‘Ridden hard and put away wet’ is an expression meaning hard, irresponsible usage. It truly is. If you ride them hard, you need to spend time walking them so they cool off without seizing up. Runners don't start off at a sprint, run as