Angela Dorsey’s Blog
Horses are GOOD Medicine…
Yesterday, I was sick and tired of sitting behind my computer screen, even though I was writing an exciting adventure story. I thought about strolling about the garden or reading a book or sitting on the deck and having a cup of coffee but none of these things seemed very fun, even though they’re supposed to be relaxing.
Then I realized what I needed - a nice long horseback ride. Wiley, the dogs, and I went out for a good run. It was awesome! Even though I’m stiff and sore today, it was totally worth it!
53 Responses to “Horses are GOOD Medicine…”
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April 16th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Haha! That does sound like fun! I’m glad you had a good ride! I bet Wiley enjoyed it too!
April 16th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I bet! Sounds like you had a great time. I wish I could go riding, but my mom doesn’t trust the car we have.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
LOL, but it’s true, they really are!
April 17th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Horses are the best medicine- and I’ve been deprived of it. I can’t WAIT until this move is over. Just wondering, when is the next writing story step going to come out? Congratulations to the name contest winners by the way!
April 19th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Yes, oh I’m sick right now. Got a sore throat. And in a week I’m going to perform on the Tensing (my choir) concert! I really hope I get better before then! I’m going to sing solo on a song called “angel”. And I’m Sleeping Beauty in the dramaclub. We’re holding two concerts in the weekend.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I hope that you start feeling better soon too, Anne-Line.
That’s so cool that you have a solo. I wish I could hear you sing!
April 19th, 2008 at 10:56 am
If we get to film the concert, I can send it to you
April 19th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Ooh, that would be great!
April 19th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Oooooooooh- sleeping beauty! What a fun part that must be! That sounds really amazing! I hope wherever we move there’s a drama club.
April 19th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Hope you feel better in time for the shows, too!
April 20th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
It is a funny part, Rachel
but its not the actual story about her. It’s a story we made up about a boy who dreams he is in Wonderland, and must save the fairytale-persons from an evil witch. She has cast a spell on Wonderland, that made Sleeping Beauty fall asleep again, the little mermaid(with swimflippers and divingmask 
) lose her voice, Aladdin’s carpet can’t fly, etc. And in the end, Sleeping Beauty is still sleeping, because she can (almost) only be saved by a kiss from a brave hero, but instead, the boy screams WAKE UP!!!! and shakes her in her shoulders. Not especially romantic, but really funny! lol 
But I’m still sick, got a real cold 
April 21st, 2008 at 10:04 am
It sounds so fun and entertaining, Anne-Line! I hope you’re feeling better soon!
April 21st, 2008 at 12:49 pm
That sounded pretty cool, Anne-Line.
My mom told me something that convinced me that I should actually finish my stories: a story can be what you want it to be. I read that somewhere before, but when she said it it actually made all the sense in the world
I’m slow sometimes… Sorry for getting off topic. 
April 21st, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I love it when you get off topic, Steph.
Your mom is so right!
I’m glad you’re going to finish some of your stories.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Thanks, Angela! I was going through the blog today, and came across an entry that said you had three more Guardian books to write. You aren’t going to finish the stories with Angelica, are you?
April 21st, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I am almost finished with them, Stephenie. It makes me sad, but PONY decided that they didn’t want more than 12 Guardian books. The one I’m working on now is the last one, called Wolf Chasm.
Next, I’m going to be working on a new series, Whinnies on the Wind, about a girl who can talk to horses. I think it’ll be pretty good too.
However, even though PONY says they don’t want to do any more Guardian books, I’m still going to present some new Guardian ideas to them, as soon as I finish the first book in the Whinnies series. I think they’ll change their minds.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Wow, some of us have been getting the Guardian books since they first came out. The new series sounds fun, and has a cute name!
April 21st, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Hehe, you are not the only one who gets off the topic sometimes, Steph, I just realized that I do it all the time.
I shall try to let it be.
I found out yesterday that if you don’t have a horse nearby, a dog can work as medicine too! We were dogsitters for our little friend Bob. He is just so adorable:D! Only our cat didn’t like him, (Bob was actually scared of the cat) :DÂ
I felt much better when he was there. But today I’m worse. I can’t breath through my nose. I hate when that happens, and I’m sure I’m not the only one
I can’t wait to read the new series, Angela. I have read almost all of your books, and I know these will be just as good, if not better.
but so sad that the Horse Angel series almost is finished. My little sister and I love them. She is going to be so sad when I’m telling her. Why didnt the Ponyclub want more than 12 HA books? I’ve seen series that have over 15 books.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:00 am
Yeah, we all get off topic every now and then.
I’m not sure why they don’t want more HA books, Anne-Line. Maybe they just wanted to try something different. Lots of readers like them though, so they may want more in the future. I hope so anyway!
I hope you’re feeling better soon!
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:14 am
Me, too!
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Oh… and those are my favorite books! But you’re such a good writer Angela - I’m sure when you present the new ideas they won’t be able to resist them! The new series has such a cute name!
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Awwww, I love the horse angel series…. I’ve been in pony since they first came out
Oh well, I’m sure your next series will be awesome, too! 
Can’t wait!
:)Â I hope everyone gets better!!! (those who are sick that is)
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Honestly, I think you’re right, Rachel. I think they’ll do more later on. I guess we won’t know for sure for a while though.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:03 am
Cooool! Did you gallop him?
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:18 pm
I certainly did!
May 16th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I love the idea of ‘Whinnies on the Wind’! They’ll be awesome! They’ll be awesome! Are all your books published by PONY? And what is PONY? I noticed it said that on Freedom’s Whisper and I got an ad for it in a horse magazine, but I don’t understand quite what it is.(I’m off topic too, what does PONY have to do with horses as medicine!?!?!?!)
May 16th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I’m glad to hear that you think you’ll like Whinnies! I know I’m really going to enjoy writing them.
Pony is a bookclub for girls where you get a package in the mail each month. There are always two books in the package and there are other things too: jewelry, or horse figurines, or games, things like that. Most of my books are published by Pony (which means, sadly, that they’re not in the bookstores) but I have one published by Scholastic (A Horse Called Freedom) and now the first four of my Horse Guardian series will be in the German bookstores. Yay! I hope that Scholastic will do more of the Freedom books too!
Hey, about the off-topic thing, we ALL do that here! We’re terrible!
May 17th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Ok. I guess that’s why the library only has A Horse Called Freedom, if that’s the only one in bookstores. I really want to read Abandoned and the Horse Guardian series.
May 17th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Is there any way to read Abandoned or the Horse Guardian books you don’t sell?
May 18th, 2008 at 11:29 am
I think you might be able to find some on used books sites in the USA. If you’re not in the USA, they’re harder to find unfortunately. If you go to the Contacts page on my website, and look at the bottom of the page, there are some used books sites. I hope you can find the books!
May 18th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Thanks.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Yeah, thanks! I was wondering that, too!
May 20th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Yippee!!!!!!!!!! I just visited one of the sites (www.alibris.com) and found I think 17 copies of Abandoned! For less than $3! Although I guess there would be shipping fees, too…anyway, I’m going to try and get a hold of it as soon as possible! I should check for the Horse Guardian books, too.
Oh, and Angela, how come Freedom’s Echo is suddenly a Horse Guardian book? I thought it was part of the Freedom series…not that it is really a series…well, yeah, I guess it sort of is. It’s a trilogy.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Oh, thanks so much for telling me about that! I haven’t had time to check all the changes that the website company did, and now I’ll email them and get them to change it!
May 20th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
I read the summary of Freedom’s Echo in What’s New and it looks AWESOME! Are you going to sell them, too?
May 20th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I hope to, when they come out! Of course, they may come out in the Canadian bookstores too. Keeping my fingers crossed that Scholastic wants to publish it!
May 20th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Trust me, I am crossing everything that I can possibly cross - fingers, arms, legs, hands, feet, toes…eyes…
May 20th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Ouch, that sounds painful!
May 21st, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Not really, it just makes it a little harder to fall asleep at night……
May 21st, 2008 at 4:59 pm
You forgot your tongue, Tavia. And don’t do that in a riding lesson.
May 21st, 2008 at 5:52 pm
LOL
May 21st, 2008 at 6:12 pm
You got me there, Kate. If there is ONE thing that could get me to uncross myself (beside Freedom’s Echo being accepted by Scholastic) it is a riding lesson. Although I suppose I could ask to try sidesaddle…
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Does your riding stable have a sidesaddle? I didn’t see one when I rode there…(I only rode there twice but still!)
May 22nd, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I have no clue. But I could just sit sideways on an ordinary saddle. I know it’s not nearly the same thing…I have done it before, but not at anything fast than a walk. Or maybe a trot, once. The other person in my lesson slid off that time.
I almost did, too.
May 24th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Not nearly the same thing! I saw one, once, but I didn’t get to sit on it. I got to sit on a Western saddle, though!
May 25th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I have ridden Western before, but I usually (like, ninety-nine percent of the time) ride English. I have heard it is easier to switch from English to Western than from Western to English. I don’t know why that is, though.
May 26th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Yeah. I was just wondering…. you can compete in Western, English, most things on horseback. Can you compete bareback????????
May 26th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I used to barrel race and do other gymkhana events bareback. Comanche (my horse) and I won a lot of ribbons and prizes. Some people complained about it, saying that I had an advantage because my horse didn’t have to carry so much weight and that’s why we kept winning - so the last year that I competed we had to use a saddle. Comanche and I still won!
May 26th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
That sounds great, Angela! I would love to ride bareback more often - I have never gone much faster than a trot (bareback), and even then it’s a bit hard staying on. I am part boarding a horse (well, pony, actually) for three weeks in June. I am SO excited!!!!!!! Maybe I will work on bareback riding then. Do you have any pointers?
May 26th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
The main thing is balance and moving with the horse. If you start losing your sense of balance, then grab some mane and slow down until you’ve regained it. With your legs, I found the best way was to have my legs hang down from the knee rather than grip the horse with my lower legs. However, if you go faster than a trot, you have to grip a bit more - lean forward over the withers and bend your lower legs back, and grip with your entire leg. But not too much - its easier to stay on if you work more on balance and less on gripping. The gripping can pop you up like a cork! Its fun and challenging to ride bareback. The only down side is if your horse gets sweaty.
That is so cool about your 3-week pony, Tavia. Tell us more about him or her!
May 27th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Actually, Emma and Kate have ridden him too, when we all went riding during spring break at the stable I go to. His name is Scooter and he is 15 years old. He is 13hh but I am not sure what breed he is. Scooter is gray…although non-horsey people would probably call him white! Scooter likes to go fast but is very steady and reliable. The reason that I get to part board him is because my mom likes the idea of me riding a small little innocent pony. She didn’t like the idea of me riding a high-spirited Thoroughbred (named Anna) who is currently the only horse that I have ever fallen off of! I love both Anna and Scooter (although not as much as a horse named Ace who I am hoping will come back to the stable next year) plus all of the other horses there! I feel like the luckiest girl ever to be able to part board Scooter.
Oh yeah - thanks for the advice about bareback riding! I will try it out as soon as I can!!
May 27th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Scooter sounds awesome, and very cute!
May 30th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Yeah, Scooter’s really cute! I rode him when Tavia, Emma, and I went riding together. He was great, my second favourite equine! My favourite is the horse I ride regularly, Luna.