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Horse Heaven is one of my all time favorites! I haven't read her  
latest, but will look for it-

Steph

On Jan 11, 2010, at 5:12 PM, Kristen A Fisher wrote:

> Thanks Cheryl - I really like this author. A Year at the Races is a
> non-fiction chronicle of her own horses over the course of a year.  
> Horse
> Heaven is a fictional novel that parallels some of the horses she  
> has known.
> Both are great reads!!
>
> Make me want to go re-read them ;-)
> Kristen
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Randy or
> > Cheryl Winter
> > Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 5:18 PM
> > To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [RC] Thoughtful insight
> >
> > Thought I would share this with ridecamp.
> >
> > Cheryl
> >
> > Following is an excellent quote from Jane Smiley"s book  " A
> > Year at the Races" Most horses pass from one human to another
> > - some horsemen and women are patient and forgiving, others
> > are rigorous and demanding, others are cruel, others are
> > ignorant.  Horses have to learn how to, at the minimum, walk,
> > trot, canter, gallop, go on trails and maybe jump, to be
> > treated by the vet, with sense and good manners.  Talented
> > Thoroughbreds must learn how to win races, and if they can't
> > do that, they must learn how to negotiate courses and jump
> > over strange obstacles without touching them, or do
> > complicated dance like movements or control cattle or
> > accommodate severely handicapped children and adults in
> > therapy stables. Many horses learn all of these things in the
> > course of a single lifetime.
> >  Besides this, they learn to understand and fit into the
> > successive social systems of other horses they meet along the
> > way.  A horse's life is rather like twenty years in foster
> > care, in and out of prison, while at the same time changing
> > schools over and over and discovering that not only do the
> > other students already have their own social groups, but that
> > what you learned at the old school hasn't much application at
> > the new one. We do not require as much of any other species,
> > including humans.  That horses frequently excel, that they
> > exceed the expectations of their owners and trainers in such
> > circumstances, is as much a testament to their intelligence
> > and adaptability as to their relationship skills or their
> > natural generosity or their inborn nature. That they sometimes
> > manifest the same symptoms as Romanian orphans - distress,
> > strange behaviors, anger, fear - is less surprising than that
> > they usually don't. No one expects a child, or even a dog to
> > develop its intellectual capacities living in a box 23 hours a
> > day and then doing controlled exercises the remaining one.
> > Mammal minds develop through social interaction and
> > stimulation.  A horse that seems stupid might just have not
> > gotten the chance to learn!
> >                   Take care of your horses in 2010
> >
> >
> >
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