Mankind: The Story of All of Us. . .Including Horses

The new History channel show, Mankind:  The Story of All of Us, features horses and how man came to use them.  Click here for a preview.  "The heavy cavalry of the Mongols really could do some amazing things. . ."

They Really Do Remember Us!

A study has shown that horses really do remember people who have shown them kindness.  I found this very gratifying, as I've been accused of anthropomorphosizing my horses.  But they like me, they really like me!

eBay pony commercial

This is a goofy commercial about a little girl who thinks she wants a pony for Christmas.  Things don't go as expected.  Does anyone else detect a very real subtext about buying horses when you're not ready  or experienced enough for them?  Click here and let me know.

The Older Horse

By Kitson

I stumbled upon this beautiful online photo exhibit by photographer Isa Leshko this morning, while looking for some images of older horses for a fiction project. In my story, the past-his-prime horse hero looks something like Leshko's subject, Pumpkin (photo #5). Here's an NPR story about it, including a short video about her project.

Sergeant Reckless

This Veteran's Day, I read some pieces about a horse named Sergeant Reckless.  She was "a Mongolian mare who won two Purple Hearts and earned the rank of staff sergeant for carrying ammunition in battle," according to the NYT blog about her.  I am drawn to the story because it is amazing--a Saturday Evening Post article about her rallied Americans to bring her home--but also because there is an author out there named Robin Hutton who is writing a book about Reckless.  I've got the same obsession with the racehorse Exterminator.  It made me think--is there someone out there for each of these famous horses of the past?  Each one of them has one of us--a writer, bound to find out more, preoccupied with Reckless or Exterminator or the many others that we know contributed to the world. . .here's to you, Robin Hutton.

And most of all, here's to Reckless.

War Horse. . .the real story

Here's a piece from Great Britain about the real story behind War Horse. . .click here.

NY Times and racehorses

More from the NYT on racing today. . .here is a piece about racehorses who are bound for slaughter.

Update on Chincoteague Ponies After Sandy

By Kitson

Check out this nice video from the Washington Post about how the wild ponies on Assateague fared earlier this week during Hurricane Sandy. The Virginia ponies (closer to Chincoteague) are kept off public areas with fences, as opposed to the Maryland side where they have the run of the island.