Tevis Cup Magic: Taking on the World's Toughest 100 Mile Endurance Ride

by Merri Melde

Winner of Best Book at the 2016 American Horse Publications Equine Media Awards

Every horse endurance ride has its challenges and difficulties, but the Tevis Cup has 100 miles of it. It's extreme, challenging, relentless, frantic, exhilarating, heart-breaking, exhausting, exasperating, beautiful, treacherous, insane, exciting.

Merri Melde’s dramatic story of her unplanned and unforeseen attempt at the Tevis Cup, the world’s toughest 100 mile endurance ride, will put you in the saddle, gripping the reins, racing the clock to cross the finish line in the 24 hour time limit, on a beautiful, gallant gray horse.

Available on Amazon as ebook and soft cover

Soul Deep in Horses: Memoir of an Equestrian Vagabond

by Merri Melde

Clinging to a four-legged rocket ship among the Pyramids in Egypt. Riding a racehorse on the Curragh in Ireland. Winning a first endurance ride in Texas. Flipping a packhorse down a cliff in California. Flying on a Lord of the Rings horse in New Zealand. Cowgirling it in Idaho.

All of these serendipitous equine adventures, and more, are disparate pieces of a puzzle that have merged to create the eclectic, nomadic lifestyle that Merri Melde lives every day with horses. And none of them might have happened if she had not first met the racehorse Fred, who taught her how to fail spectacularly at her dream job.

It's not the destination of new dreams but the journeys toward them that allow Melde, by chance or by divine intervention, to experience such diverse escapades and to come to know and love such magnificent horses as Harry—a fire-breathing dragon who gives her a great gift; Zayante—one of the country's best endurance horses; Jose—an Avatar and Kindred Spirit; and Stormy—The Most Beautiful Horse On The Planet.

In Soul Deep in Horses: Memoir of an Equestrian Vagabond, Merri Melde paints a vivid portrait with her moving words of a unique life irrevocably entangled with horses—the beauty, the humor, the thrills, the fun, the fear, and above all, the love that goes deep down into the soul.

Part memoir, part travel and horse-riding adventure book, this heartfelt narrative packed with excitement and emotion will appeal not just to horse lovers, but to anybody who has ever experienced failure and success in following their dreams, and anyone who has ever lost their courage and rediscovered it once again.

Available on Amazon as ebook and soft cover

Tales From the West: Four Seasons in the Owyhee Country

by Merri Melde

From the author of Soul Deep in Horses: Memoir of an Equestrian Vagabond and the award-winning Tevis Cup Magic: Taking on the World’s Toughest 100 Mile Endurance Ride comes a collection of essays that take place in the present-day Wild West: southwest Idaho.

In these keenly perceptive, and often humorous lyrical word portraits of nature, animals, local history, and horse rides and hiking adventures in the Owyhee country, Merri Melde gives readers a look at four seasons of a unique outdoor life.

From experiencing wild thunderstorms, flash flood and wildfire, to horseback riding on cattle drives, among wild horses, along trails of old gold miners, and through a biblical swarm of Mormon crickets, to startling and entertaining encounters with cows, birds, rattlesnakes, and cougars, Melde’s remarkable observations and experiences reveal a life in the West that isn’t that far removed from life as it was 150 years ago.

“In case you’re wondering, it’s the southwest corner of Idaho I’m talking about. It’s nearly 7700 square miles of high desert sagebrush, rabbit brush, the Owyhee mountains, pronghorns, deer, cows, and a few herds of wild horses.

If you’re charmed by the ways of the Old West, it’s easy, when you’re out riding a horse or hiking, to imagine you’re still part of that time period. Squint your eyes into the sunlight, and you’ll see the dust from the old cowboys chasing the cows or rounding up the broomtail horses.

Life in Owyhee means a life steeped in Western lore, Wild West adventures, horses, Ravens, and nature. It means beauty in every corner, under every rock, in every storm, spring, summer, fall, and winter.”

Available on Amazon as ebook and soft cover

Turn Right at the Sarcophagus: An Egyptian Adventure

by Merri Melde

Despite being a seasoned solo world backpack traveler, Merri Melde discovered a divine new way of traveling after snapping up the chance to visit Egypt with friends, staying with an expat and her countless entertaining rat terriers in her home in the countryside outside of Giza near Cairo.

Taken from her travel journals and photos, Melde uses her unique story-telling ability to recount a visit there as an inside-outsider, helping to put on a horse ride in the desert (where the trail turned right at a random sarcophagus), visiting the famous Giza Pyramids, experiencing the famous Khan Al-Khalili market, exploring the backroads of Giza, touring the Sinai, experiencing sunrise in a Bedouin camp under Mount Sinai, and galloping a horse through the desert around lesser-known pyramids and ancient tombs.

Told with humor and insight, this delightful chronicle of Melde’s unplanned Egyptian adventure gives readers a glimpse of both native Egyptians’ lives and the lives of a diverse expat community, who all have riding horses as their common bond.

Author of numerous books and short stories, Turn Right at the Sarcophagus is the first of Melde’s travel journals put into print.

There’s never been a better time for Armchair Travel! From the author of Soul Deep in Horses: Memoir of an Equestrian Vagabond, the award-winning Tevis Cup Magic: Taking on the World’s Toughest 100 Mile Endurance Ride, and Tales From The West: Four Seasons in the Owyhee Country.

Available on Amazon as ebook and soft cover

The Alphabet According to Stormy: A Delightful Horse Coloring Book

by Merri Melde

Coloring is not just for kids, and not just for adults. It's perfect for both, and what better way than to color with your kids and grandkids, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, friends and school chums?

Stormy the horse and his friends present you with the 26 letters of the alphabet and images to inspire you with a mix of simple and intricate designs of hilarious animals, enchanting nature, and a few humans. Perfect for learning, laughing, relaxing, meditating, entertaining, and best of all for spending time with your family.

Available on Amazon as soft cover

AND THERE'S MORE!

Visit Merri Melde's Author Page to see all her published works