I recently downloaded Starling Sanctuary on Kindle.  This short story explores rescuing horses that would otherwise be sold for slaughter.  It follows the daily life of Laney Matthews as someone who rescues horses and tends to their daily needs.

Although the story has a good topic, the length doesn’t seem to allow it to explore in detail what is involved in rescuing and caring for horses.  The reader gets to hear about Laney feeding horses and working with them but there is no detail about what they get fed or what she does when working with the horses.

The idea of rehoming horses instead of them being slaughtered is great and this is explored a bit.  The process doesn’t seem to be fully explored and assuring that owners are suitable owners doesn’t appear to come into the equation.

The topic of quarantine is raised also and although it is applied to the horses needing rehoming, it isn’t applied to the first three horses that Laney acquires in the novel which doesn’t seem fitting.

Starling Sanctuary is a short read that is fast paced and full of horses.  I’d have enjoyed it even more if it had given a little more detail rather than general horse statements.

Author: Hannah Conrad
Fiction – horse rescue
In my library? As an eBook it is!

I was chatting with a lady at church recently who was telling me of some health issues her cat had.  The medication and treatment that were required were only made possible through a setup known as VetPay.  As she explained it to me, they paid her vet bills and then she paid them back fortnightly, little by little, interest free until she had paid off the whole amount. And of course I got to thinking, why not a setup like EquinePay?

It could work similarly.  A horse may need medication or an operation due to an issue with its health – let’s say colic, laminitis or something else.  The overall amount may be a bit much for a horse owner to pay in one lump sum.  Cue: EquinePay.

The full amount is paid to the veterinarian.  Then over time with regular payments, the horse owner pays back what was first dished out for the health of their beloved equine.  This is done interest free.

I could imagine something like this working well in Australia, but even more so in third world countries where horse health and welfare is at times very limited.  Having a business that works with local veterinarians and helps to fund horse care and operations could greatly increase the quality of life for many equines.

Of course, this would need to be funded by someone who had access to plenty of finances and a heart for horses.  But who’s to stop that from being a possibility?  Perhaps in your future horse career, you can partner with others to setup something like this that will make horse care and operations more affordable to horse owners.  It’s worth a thought!

I downloaded 50 Things to Know about Caring for Your Horse on a Budget recently on kindle. This book is a part of a series of books that provide 50 tips in relation to various things: saving money, eating healthy, and so on.  Of course, this one was of interest to me because it relates to horses!  It should be noted that this author is not the same Amanda Wills who writes the Riverdale series.

You can definitely learn a lot about horses from people who have had them for a long time.  The same can be said about authors who write about horses because they know them.  And so this short non fiction horse book is a wealth of information that is factual and practical.

Readers are provided with tips on various ways to save money whilst owning and looking after horses.  There are some very simple but effective tips – like purchasing a horse in the winter months when they’re likely to cost that much less.  And then there’s the simple suggestion to use bailing twine that comes on your bales of hay for quick fixes, to tie up horses with and other various suggestions.

Overall the book provides advice on how to reuse different items that you will have in your life as a horse owner.  It also talks about how to save by buying items in bulk – like hay, by buying at particular times of the year and by purchasing second hand.  The chapters are short, to the point and of benefit.  For the horse owner – or soon to be horse owner – this book could save you a lot of money in the long run.  Recommended reading.

Author: Amanda Wills
Non Fiction – horse budgeting
In My Library? As an eBook!

For those who like a quick, easy read, the Cryptic Caper may be of interest.  I downloaded it for free on Kindle recently under a search of the word horse.  This is a short horse racing mystery.  Now when it comes to horse racing mysteries, I typically think of Dick Francis.  Though Bev Pettersen does a great job of mixing horse racing romances with mystery.  The Cryptic Caper is a short story that wraps things up nicely.

Although the story is based around horse racing and betting on races, it doesn’t really feature horses at all.  There is reference to the racetrack and horse’s names in the races but that’s about as far as the horse sections of the book go.

The book is an easy read that looks at the interactions between a writer who likes to solve mysteries, some bettors who make a living from racehorse odds and the bigwigs who have a lot of connections in town and a lot of money to bet on sure things.

Horse races are being thrown and it’s interesting to read about the way the message is presented to particular bettors.  The cryptic way the message is displayed was not one I had read about.

Doug Olsen’s bio indicates that he writes short stories that can be read and neatly wrapped up within half an hour.  The Cryptic Caper fits into that description nicely.  I would have loved to see more reference to the horse industry as it only appears on a superficial level.  That said, there was nothing incorrect or inconsistent about the horse aspects, which was nice to read.

Author – Doug Olsen
Fiction – mystery, stort story
In my library – as a kindle