Horse Sense: review of RELAXED & FORWARD

RELAXED & FORWARD

Relationship Advice from Your Horse

Anna Blake

$14.95 (our price $11.96)

This essay collection is from the author's blog of the same name and is perfect for riders who are struggling to progress in their horsemanship, but I daresay it might be entertaining for non-horsepeople, too. Anna Blake writes with wit and unabashed passion about horses and their people. Common sense being quite uncommon, the obvious sometimes has to be worded in just the right way to drill into the human brain; Blake has a gift for bringing a somewhat hazy concept into sharp focus.

As with many books about animals, the subject of this one could be expanded to include all sorts of relationships: your spouse, your children, your dog. But horses hold unique places in our lives partly because as riders, we must trust that they will not injure us (unintentionally, of course), and that as caretakers, we must honor their trust in us that we will not cause them harm—emotionally or physically. This makes for a complicated and profound experience. And anyone who has never sat atop a horse and asked him or her to move forward at a pace and rhythm of their choice would do well to give it a shot just once. (And I don't mean by sitting on a trail horse at a local stable. Those horses just do their duty with boredom and probably a little disdain, getting through their day.)

It would be inaccurate to call this delightful, funny, insightful book instructional, although it has plenty of expert riding tips. It is also a memoir, and a finger wagger at those of us who at one time or another claim to know more about our horse than we do (or than they know of us):

If humans are the more evolved species (and the jury is out on that, but going with that assumption) then it is up to us to move beyond our more limited senses and evolve our language to meet the horse. More importantly, if we want to progress farther with our horses, we have to communicate even more eloquently, just getting louder doesn't work. 

Communication with your horse involves the ability to stop, listen, and actually hear what your horse is telling you, and then being able to convey your plan and direction concisely, gently, and confidently. It also requires a hunk of honest self-reflection and a large dose of humor. If you can't laugh at yourself, stay away from horses—and every other animal.

Anna Blake lives in Colorado on her Infinity Farm where she and her husband raise llamas, goats, dogs, cats, horses, and Edgar Rice Burro. Her other books are STABLE RELATION and BARN DANCE.

Wild Women: review of TAMED AND UNTAMED

Tamed & Untamed: 

Close Encounters of the Animal Kind

Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

Paperback $17.95 (our price $14.36)

Each piece in this brilliant collection is short, sweet, and to the point. Some are funny, some poignant, but each offers some fine bit of history or factoid that may make you sit up and say, "Wow, really?" And each conveys the sad truth that humans, being the controlling animal, have made a mess of things.

Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas are both New York Times bestselling authors of books about animals and nature, and in Thomas's case, novels about pre-history, as well as a memoir of her time living in Africa. Although their subject matter is similar, their styles are distinct and yet complementary. Both focus on the beauty and brilliance of some of the most misunderstood (or under-understood) creatures in our midst. And they adhere to an ethical sense of duty to species as well as to individuals. Whether discussing water bears, chickens, or lions, they treat their subjects with respect, wonder, and reverence.

Take sharks, for example. Montgomery writes of accompanying a Massachusetts biologist in his study of the return of great white sharks to Cape Cod. Despite movies, books, and poor press, great whites, she learns, are anything but menacing. They're not interested in eating people, or even interacting with them. They like seal meat and they go where the seals go. The biologist called them "laid back," "calm," "beautiful," and Montgomery agreed when she finally got to see one up close off the coast of Mexico. "No wonder, then, that when the great white approached me in the shark cage, instead of fear, a great sense of calm swept over me. With him in charge, the ocean would be in good hands." Of course, that's the problem: we are in charge, not him.

In Thomas's book The Hidden Life of Deer, she attracted criticism for her practice of feeding the deer who visit her Peterborough, NH, homestead. Here she writes more about the controversial practice of feeding deer, why it can be harmful (even deadly), and how she manages to time her feedings just right so as not to interfere with their winter digestion, or attract deer to hunters. But overall her argument is simple, clear and so terribly logical:

Which brings us to the question of why help wildlife anyway? I do it because we're so happy to damage them. We destroy their ecosystems to build houses, we hunt them just for pleasure, and we kill them with our cars when they try to cross the roads. If during a harsh winter I can help a little in a responsible manner, whereby the same deer who came in the fall are there in the spring to hide their fawns in the grass on my field, I feel I've done some good.

This collection isn't just intended to finger point and blame humans for harm to nature and animals. We don't really need any more books to tell us what we've done; thoughtful humans understand this already. Rather, Montgomery and Thomas give us glimpses into their lifelong studies of animals in the hopes that by sharing their discoveries, we may be inspired look a bit deeper at our own world, and not be quite so quick to condemn or dismiss the creatures around us. There is more in the animal world that joins us than separates us, and that is the message of this wonderful book.

Stage Fright: review of DOG DISH OF DOOM

Dog Dish of Doom

A Mystery

E. J. Copperman

$24.99 hardcover (our price: $19.99)

Kay Powell is the owner of Agent to the Paws, a one-woman entertainment firm in New Jersey representing animals and, by default, their people. Kay's newest client, Bruno, is truly exceptional. Bruno is an unusual looking dog, "a hairy ottoman," highly intelligent, and a natural actor. His audition for the part of Sandy in a revival of Annie goes swimmingly, and a contract is offered by a world-renown director. But the director tells Kay that part of the contract includes keeping Bruno's humans away from the theatre during rehearsals and performances.

Kay is surprised by the animosity between the director and Bruno's "parents," Trent and Louise, but also agrees that both are more than a little annoying. She is ambitious, however, and a bit hungry for clients, so she does her best to move the relationship forward and get Bruno into the part. Trent, however, is livid, and berates the director, vowing never to allow Bruno to be part of the production.

The tension is strange, Kay agrees, but she is determined to find a way. Until Trent is found dead, a knife in his back, and his head face down in Bruno's water bowl. Then things get just a little bit dicey...

This is a fun, fast read, full of red herrings, and with a suitably surprising outcome. There's also a bit of romantic tension that obviously will be continue to build as the series gains momentum. These days, a bit of comic relief is, well, a relief, so don't pass up an opportunity to smile. Any fans of David Rosenfelt, Spencer Quinn, or even Janet Evanovitch will get a kick out of this new series.

In Extremis: review of ARTHUR

ARTHUR

The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home

Hardcover, $24.95

 

Mikael Lindnord

Adventure Racing is the kind of sport that most of us mere mortals find inexplicable. Why would anyone want to run, bike, paddle, ski, hike, etc., for several days or weeks, through unmapped terrain, risking one’s health and life, like some sort of weird global masochistic exercise? As Mikael Lindnord writes, “I think suffering is a skill I have.” And he shares that skill with a surprising number of other athletes who choose to torture themselves in these competitions.

During the Ecuador Championship, Mikael and his team found themselves facing a different challenge. After five grueling days, the team rested at a transition stop, preparing for what the organizers had warned would be the most difficult stretch: a trek through nearly impenetrable jungle, full of “biting creatures,” and muddy bog holes that would slow the racers to a crawl, and then finally a rigorous stretch of kayaking to the finish line. As they settled uncomfortably at the transition area, hoping for a couple of hours of sleep, Mikael decided they all needed an extra dose of protein and carbohydrates. He warmed up two packs of meatballs with pasta, what he considered a “five-star dinner in the world of adventure racing.” The meal provided needed calories to help them face the torture to come.

Amidst the chaos of the transition area, however, Mikael spotted a dirty, yellow dog who quietly watched him. He was filthy and had a wound on his back, and yet was calm and thoughtful, staring into Mikael’s eyes from across the room. Having no experience with dogs, or any desire to approach a disease-ridden stray, Mikael nevertheless was drawn to this creature. He spooned out a couple of precious meatballs and walked over to the dog, placing the food before him. The dog wolfed it down in an instant.

Mikael returned to his resting teammates, and began preparing them mentally and physically for the test to come. He thought no more about the dog, except to hope he would be OK. He knew the fate of strays in this part of the world, and he wondered how this quiet, pensive fellow would survive.

Later that night, as the team struggled through the first stretch of snake-invested bog, they were surprised to find a new member joining them: the yellow dog had followed them into the thickest, muddiest, most dangerous part of the jungle, and would not leave Mikael’s side. His perseverance became an inspiration to the team. They could not abandon him, even if he gave them a chance to, which of course, he did not.

The race continued, with Mikael’s team dropping further behind, but their mission had changed from coming in at the top third to helping their newest, four-legged teammate. By the time they crossed the finish line, the dog had a name, Arthur, after the legendary king, and a growing presence on social media. He and his team were greeted by cameras and fans, much to the dismay of the winning team. The publicity turned Arthur into an overnight celebrity. But even such a celebrity status couldn’t guarantee a safe passage out of the country to Mikael’s home in Sweden. Bureaucrats and swindlers smelling potential money to be made threw obstacles in the path of Arthur’s emigration, as if this previously undesirable, neglected, and abused soul was now somehow of vital national importance. Mikael, true to his nature, did not give up. Nor did Arthur. It took a great deal of finagling and money to finally get Arthur to Sweden where, unfortunately, he then faced quarantine. Still, he was safe, and is now living happily with his family.

Arthur is now the namesake of a foundation set up to help other Arthurs in the world by promoting immediate rescue and adoption, and long-term changes, such as laws making it criminal to mistreat animals. To donate and read more about this foundation, go to www.arthurfoundation.org. And to watch a video about Mikael and Arthur, go to http://arworldseries.com/arthur-a-distance-of-6455-miles-doesnt-begin-to-measure-the-journey-one-dog-made/

He is only one dog, but Arthur has proven what it means to survive and not ever give up. He is the elite athlete of this story, and deserves every possible accolade.

New Review: THE RIGHT SIDE by Spencer Quinn

THE RIGHT SIDE

Spencer Quinn

$26.00 hardcover (our price $20.80)

Spencer Quinn is the beloved author of the Chet and Bernie mystery series, starring a brilliant, if at times distracted, white-eared dog, who relays the confusing and annoying antics of the humans around him with openness and unintentional humor. Quinn’s gift for mind-melding with a dog in a way that is both believable and entertaining is not restricted just to animals, but to people as well, as this new novel proves.

The long, apparently never-ending struggle our troops are fighting in Afghanistan has created many heroes, and many broken minds and bodies. The Right Side presents us with a hero, in every sense of the word, and her struggle to fight the derailing of her mind after being nearly blown up during an operation in Afghanistan.

LeAnne Hogan awakes in Walter Reed Hospital with a blinding pain in her head and a blackness on her right side. Her right eye is gone, and there is shrapnel in her brain, but that last bit of info continually eludes her. The loss of her eye, however, is ever present and unforgettable. She had been an accomplished athlete (pole vaulting), before joining the military, where her strength, intelligence, and courage were leading her on a trajectory of success. Her personal life was blossoming with her new love. Life was complicated and intense, but LeAnne thrived. But now she looked upon her ruined face and diminishing strength with bitterness and despair. Here Quinn’s ability to become his protagonist, whether a dog or a woman, is startling and brilliant, but only as an afterthought. Reading, we become entangled in LeAnne’s shattered thoughts and are passengers on her journey, embedded like a civilians in a war zone.

LeAnne’s roommate at Walter Reed is a recalcitrant amputee named Marci. Their friendship is hardly warm and fuzzy, but becomes fiercely intense. With their battle-scarred minds, they manage to make each other laugh, and tiptoe into the depths of despair the injuries and traumas have sent them. Marci tells LeAnne of her first marriage to a kind-hearted man she should have stayed with, and her second to an abusive mistake, with whom she had a daughter. The eight-year-old Mia was living in Washington state with Marci’s mom. What will become of her daughter if something happens to her? she asks LeAnne. Something already has, LeAnne answers. They both laugh.

LeAnne clings to Marci, needing her friendship like a salve for her ravaged face. So when Marci unexpectedly dies, LeAnne’s weak grip on sanity loosens even more. She sneaks out of the hospital and begins a cross-country trip to Washington in search of Marci’s past life and her child, or maybe in search of her own past. Her memory is short-circuited, and her days drift by in mostly drunken oblivion.

It’s not until about three-quarters into the novel that the dog appears. She’s a stray, large and dark-eyed, mysterious and not particularly friendly, but she attaches herself to LeAnne and will not let go. LeAnne tries to find a home for her, but the dog, whom she eventually names Goody, will not release her hold. Strangely, Goody seems to know to walk on LeAnne’s right side to help guide and protect her. When LeAnne finds out that Marci’s daughter has gone missing, Goody becomes all the more important in the search for the little girl. 

LeAnne finds herself on a mission. She becomes obsessed with finding the little girl and with belatedly rectifying Marci's messy life, and perhaps figuring out her own future. 

Our concepts of right and wrong blend at times, with ethical and moral choices becoming less clear, especially in war: thus the ambiguous title of this fine novel. But as LeAnne finds her path, Goody knows which side to walk on. 

Incredible Journey: review of A DOG'S WAY HOME, by W. Bruce Cameron

A DOG’S WAY HOME

W. Bruce Cameron
$24.99 Hardcover (our price: $19.99)

In the footsteps of the classic stories of a dog finding his way back home, W. Bruce Cameron (author of A Dog’s Purpose, The Dog Master, and others) treads confidently, using the dog’s perspective and voice to carry us along. He also addresses the controversial dangerous dog laws that have resulted in far too many gentle dogs being put to death because of their resemblance to so-called dangerous breeds, most notably pit bulls. Likewise, he manages to insert gay marriage, care of mentally ill veterans, heroin addiction, and use of therapy dogs into this canine adventure tale.

If the human characters come off at times a bit two dimensional, such a perceived flaw can be easily erased by the depth of understanding for Bella, the heroine and narrator. Using first person (first canine?) as a device has pitfalls for most authors, but Cameron is quite a pro, given his spectacular achievement with A Dog’s Purpose. Of course, he’s not alone. Sewell, Terhune, and Cameron’s contemporary, Spencer Quinn, all produced stories with momentum and emotion while staying true to what we believe would be an animal’s thought processes.

Thus, in A DOG’S WAY HOME, when Bella hears certain words she recognizes, she responds as we’d expect. But of course, it would make it a boring book if she didn’t veer away at some point from the expected. And this tale is anything but boring.

The story begins when Lucas Ray, a young man living with his mother and struggling to find a purpose in life, discovers a puppy among a family of feral cats in an abandoned building. Lucas has been feeding the cats, and fighting the developers who were threatening to destroy the building and any unfortunate animals hiding there. The puppy’s own canine family had scattered, and she found solace with the mother cat and the kittens.

Lucas rescues the puppy, Bella, bringing her home to their apartment where pets are not allowed, in a city (Denver) where pit bulls are not allowed. (Whether or not Bella is actually a pit bull is never completely decided, but she apparently resembles one, and that’s good enough for the authorities.) Lucas teaches his puppy to do No Barks, and Go Home on command in case the dog catcher spots them out and about. It’s the Go Home command that is particularly important. Since he is afraid to leave her alone during the day, he takes her with him to the VA hospital where he works, and discovers that she is a wonderful comfort to the patients there suffering from emotional and mental disorders brought on by military service.

It is clear early on that Lucas and his puppy are doomed to be separated. As trouble heats up, Bella is sent to live in a foster home 400 miles away while Lucas and his mom, scramble to find a more friendly place to live and work.

Bella is distraught and confused, and when she hears anything about “home,” she is determined to do what Lucas taught her to do: Go Home. Her long, arduous journey back to Lucas is at times heart-breaking, frustrating, frightening, and occasionally funny. W. Bruce Cameron’s wit and obvious love of all things doggie shine brilliantly here. Bella’s story is compelling, and will make a fabulous summer read for dog lovers.