Horses and books in my mailbox; what a delight!

It is not often that I experience excitement at the opening of my mailbox. But this morning as I pulled out the mail I caught sight of an image of a cowgirl* astride a brown horse with three wild horses running before her – a bay, a black, and a dappled gray. Yes, the sight of horses, inked on paper, can make my heart beat faster. I didn’t name my site, A Love for Horses, for nothing.

I then looked at the return address on the package and saw the name, Linda Hines, an author, and knew the package held a treasure of books. I couldn’t wait to get the package open to check them over.

Books – I love books, always have from the time of young childhood when my mother would sit with us on the bed and read until we or she fell to sleep. Books containing artwork and poems have always been a top favorite. So I was delighted when I flipped through the two books and saw both laced with black and white artwork by a multitude of wonderful artists and quotations and excerpts of poetry and prose from 18th and 19th century authors: Goethe, Lord Byron, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, among others.

Even as I have grown a custom to reading books on the computer screen, I still adore the good old paper versions. I love the heft of books, the feel and smell of the paper, even the sound of my fingers flipping the crisp pages. So many positive emotions evoked from past books that just the lifting of a books is pleasurable to me. OK, you may say I have an book addiction. I confess that I own about six large bookcases filled with books and magazines.

Linda Hines sent me her first two books, Alteza, The Metairie Saga, Book One and Phantom Suns, The Metairie Sage Book Two. My horse art, “The Enchantress” is used on the cover of “Alteza”. Some of the cool black and white horse and cowboy silhouette artwork in these books are from EZArt Graphics.

The first book:

Alteza, The Metairie Saga, Book One
by Linda Hines

How passionate the Nineteenth Century! When daring ideas sparked modern innovations; discontent sparked European revolutions; and need for inspired leadership spurred Thomas Carlyle to ponder the qualities of “Great Men.” Yet the American frontier had its own visionaries ‚Ķ and the Metairie Saga is a tempestuous tale of their daring spirits, devoted hearts and forbidden desires.

Inspired by Goethe’s “Dream no small dreams,” this exciting new series often parallels cultural and historic European events, while literary details enhance and inspire its pages. Surviving Chicago’s Great Fire, Galen Metairie returns to Alteza, his family’s cattle empire in the Territory of New Mexico. But can the love of his young bride surmount the bond her mysterious husband and his brother’s wife still share? Or will a ruthless renegade prove a greater threat? Because if Moor is involved, the issue is never cattle or land or even wealth; but vulnerabilities ‚Ķ and one man’s power over another man’s heart.

*Artwork on the package: The artwork may actually be a depiction of a cowboy with long hair, but my first thought was cowgirl, I guess I automatically put myself in the saddle. But you can be the judge (leave your guess in the comments). This same artwork is also in the book, “Alteza” in black and white on page 209.

Archive.org has free horse books that you can read online or download

I typed in ‘horses’ in their search box for ‘texts’ and received 230 results! My goodness I found a huge range of equine books. From horse training books, horse health books, horse diseases, equine veterinary books, horse management, horse story books, horse poetry, equine feeding, horse farrier books, horse history, horse tack, horse jumping, horse taming books, Calvary, and more! Many of the books are illustrated with horse graphics and horse pictures. This is a great book collection that all equestrians should find useful.

Short quote and illustration from the book: “The handbook of horsemanship”

THE Horse is an animal of great spirit and strength, very docile, delicate, and sensitive; therefore harsh treatment is not only unnecessary, but injurious. Habit forms the disposition of the horse, and guides his instinct; gentle treatment encourages and divests him of fear, a feeling which is often mistaken for obstinacy, and called restiveness. If you can convince a horse that he is not in danger, he will obey, and his memory being very retentive, instruction always succeeds with him, by a kind and persevering repetition of the discipline required to inure him to whatever he is to perform.

The archived books come in different file formats some you can view right on the Internet or you can download and print the PDF version. I love the Flip Book format that you view over the Internet and the pages flip just like a real book. But if you are on a slow Internet connection you may want to read the text version of the books.

P.S. Archive.org seems a busy site so if you have connection problems try again when not as many people are trotting around the site – like late a night or first thing in the morning.

If you want to find even more Free Books you will want to check out this web page for a TON of links to other free book sites!

Horse poem from the book, Songs of horses by Robert Frothingham…

SONGS OF HORSES

When my feet is in the stirrups
And my hawse is on the bust,
With his hoofs a-flashin’ lightnin’
From a cloud of golden dust,
And the bawlin’ of the cattle
Is a-comin’ down the wind –
Then a finer life than ridin’
Would be mighty hard to find.

Just a-ridin’, a-ridin’ –
Splittin’ long cracks through the air,
Stirrin’ up a baby cyclone,
Rippin’ up the prickly pear –
As I’m ridin’.

I don’t need no art exhibits
When the sunset does her best,
Paintin’ everlastin’ glory
On the mountains to the west,
And your opery looks foolish
When the night-bird starts his tune
And the desert ‘s silver mounted
By the touches of the moon.

Just a-ridin’, a-ridin’ –
Who kin envy kings and czars
. When the coyotes down the valley
Are a-singin’ to the stars –
If he’s ridin’?

When my earthly trail is ended
And my final bacon curled
And the last great roundup J s finished
At the Home Ranch of the world
I don’t want no harps nor haloes,
Robes nor other dressed up things –
Let me ride the starry ranges
On a pinto hawse with wings!

Just a-ridin’, a-ridin’ –
Nothin’ I’d like half so well
As a-roundin’ up the sinners
That have wandered out of Hell,
And a-ridin’.

- by Badger Clark

Yep, heaven on earth – to just be a-ridin’.

An Equine Book ONE DAY EVENT for November 15th, 2007!

Nancy Bailey’s inspirational and captivating horse book, “Clifford of Drummond Island,” tells the true story of a horse with a sense of humor. The crooked-legged runt colt came into her life after the demise of the “perfect horse”. The adventures that followed with the inimitable Clifford, his dog friends, wild birds and animals led to this modern day classic.

You already have a copy of the book? That’s great, so do I, but am still planning to participate in this special event because…

Nancy wants to make “Clifford” a nationwide BEST SELLER on Amazon.com. So, she’s making this very special offer. . . Purchase another one for family or friends for only $14.95 USD on November 15th and Nancy’s going to give you over $350.00 in bonus items! PLUS, for this day’s sales event, a portion of the profits will benefit participating animal organizations. So, feel free to order several copies for your family and friends. Or do what I plan to do with my extra book and donate it to one of my favorite horse rescue organizations!

But, this special event last only 24 hours for the day of November 15th! So be sure to tell everyone you know about it.

Here’s is a sampling of the wonderful bonus items… Read the rest of this entry