Review: H C White - A Dark Horse's Quest

-
As I worked on this book I can't review it, so thank you very much indeed to guest reviewer Sue Howes for standing in. Sue is the author of The Bay Mare, and has had her short stories published in Horse and Pony. She's also contributed guest pieces on self publishing to this blog.
~  0  ~
 My first impression on reading the blurb of this book was that it promised to be one of those ‘bonkers’ pony books, like Michael Maguire's Mylor, the Most Powerful Horse in the World, or John Thorburn's Hildebrand. I was intrigued, as I enjoy seeing where authors take their stories when the normal rules of life don’t apply.

Throughout the book I felt as if I were missing something, and now learn that there was indeed a previous book. I would like to read this, to see if Beth, the main human character, comes more to life. I didn’t feel as though I got to know her very well in this book alone. Harry, her talking horse, is another matter! He bounces off the page, a bossy, independent thinker. I think the author has got his voice spot on.



This book avoids many of the clichés prevalent in pony stories. Traditional difficulties, such as finding the money for an impulse buy of a horse at an auction, are not even presented. The only villains are minor characters, who make brief appearances to give Harry the chance to come to the rescue.

However, there are many sections where the author has included some sound advice on horse care and training. Occasionally this does jar a bit with the fantasy elements of the story, particularly in regard to the pace of the plot.

There were several pages on Beth learning how to jump. This was interesting and reminded me a lot of Tattles in Silver Snaffles, and it definitely merited being included in the book. But … only a few lines on what happened at the vet’s? When that episode was dangled under my nose as a prospect, earlier on in the book, I was looking forward to reading about it. I felt cheated, I wanted more!


Since the premise of the story is a fantastical talking horse, I would have preferred more of this, and less of the real world. It’s still an entertaining read, and the ending sets the author up nicely for the next book. I look forward to reading it, and hope it’s even more bonkers than this one.

~  0  ~

Wallisfarm Publishing, 2014, £4.99

Age of main character: 16
Themes: talking horses, adventure, minor romance



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rollkur and the blue tongue

-
I've been meaning to write about this all week, but reading the exclusive in Horse and Hound about the controversy tipped me over the edge. For my non-horsy readers, rollkur is a training/warming up technique used by some dressage riders. It basically involves riding the horse with its jaw pulled in virtually to its chest, in order to increase suppleness. Patrik Kittel , a Swedish competitor in Odense was videoed riding his horse in this way. If you watch the video , you'll see the horse's tongue hanging out - blue. It takes a while before the rider notices this. When he does, he stops, puts the horse's tongue back in, and carries on. There are two things which bother me about this. Firstly, I am fully aware large sections of the dressage world, and some of its brighest stars, consider rollkur perfectly ok, but the FEI guidelines state this practice should only be for short periods, allowing the horse to rest. Patrick Kittel apparently rode the horse for two hou...
Read more

Archibald, don't eat the bedclothes

-
Image
My friend Louise sent me this picture today. It's from a children's book with the rather wince-making title For The Wee Ones. I thought, when I read that (because I read the message before I looked at the picture) that the picture was going to be a typical winsome production from the school of artists who think (or who are paid to think) that the child is a thing sent from God and a blissful thing. They had obviously never met a child, and certainly not mine. I should have known Louise better. The artist responsible for Archibald, don't eat the bedclothes slipped this one past the editors. Just look at the poor, broken Mother Rabbit. She knows she has not the faintest chance of being listened to, and poor thing, she is stooped in the way of a mother to whom this is just the lastest in a long line of horror; with nothing good to come. And Archibald is obviously the spawn of the Devil. Just look at those eyes. He'll have the bed after he's finished the bedclothes...
Read more

Dick Sparrow - 40 Horse Hitch, and Neil Dimmock's 46 Percherons

-
Image
Here's a clip of Dick Sparrow driving 40 horses. It's an amazing sight, particularly when the shot changes to show the team from the rear and you get the great incongruity of modern American corporate architecture as a background to the wagon and horses. I love the anticipation in the video: the sense of something amazing being just round the corner is palpable. Thanks to Christina Wilsdon for telling me about this world record 46 Percheron hitch (alas just stills) but you get the idea.
Read more