Horse Mad
A few weeks ago I had the great pleasure of taking a train ride from Newcastle to Sydney with an author friend. As a born and bred local, she was very familiar with the early landscape we passed through, triggering much reminiscing, most of which was about horses and her despair at never having one of her own.
She was one of us: that unique species of human born horse mad.
It’s a passion like no other – intense to the point of pain and, yes, sometimes madness. Sort of like the biggest teenage crush you ever had multiplied a thousand times. More perhaps. Yet there’ll be no recovery from this crush. Horse love is a love that lasts forever.
It can affect any sex, too, although I suspect it skews more female if my old pony club membership is anything to go by. Nor does it care where you’re from. A suburban child who’s never been near a horse can be just as afflicted as someone brought up with them.
Why this is so? I have no idea. All I know is the phenomenon exists and I’m a lifelong sufferer.
Horse Loss
Yes, a sufferer because after having my horse dreams well and truly fulfilled in childhood I later had to sell my horses and it’s a loss I still feel deeply. I consoled myself with the notion there’d be others. I was a country girl who happened to be doing a stint in the city. Life would move on and I’d once more have the room (and the finances) to indulge my passion. All I needed was patience.
Twenty-something years later and I remain horseless, but that doesn’t mean the situation won’t change. There are three well-oiled saddles packed carefully in storage, shelves of horse books in my office and a pair of short riding boots in the cupboard. Just in case. Besides, I’m not dead yet. I still have time.
An Optimistic Obsession
That’s the thing about being horse mad – it’s an optimistic obsession, even when you’re hurting with longing and loss. An attachment so powerful that hope refuses to die.
My friend never got a horse of her own. She had to rely on the generosity of others for rides and precious horse time, and it made me realise again how lucky I was to have had my passion indulged from a fairly early age.
Every day I was able to get close to these magnificent creatures. I felt the nuzzle of their velvety muzzles and smelled their special smell, cantered and galloped bareback along beaches and paddocks with the wind in my hair, whispered secrets into their sensitive ears, and loved with ferocity.
When it comes to horses, a little is better than nothing.
It seems inevitable that when I fulfilled my dream to become a writer (my other dream was, naturally, to be an Olympic equestrienne) horses would feature heavily in my stories, especially the early ones. Writing about horses and my characters’ passion for them came as naturally and joyfully as breathing.
I plan for that to continue too. I can’t and don’t want to stop because, as the title of this post points out, horses are forever.
Horses are in Cathryn’s blood… and her stories…
Here are a few of Cathryn’s more horsey books:
Cathryn’s latest release is Elsa’s Stand, (and what a gorgeous cover, says Lizzi Tremayne!) a rural romance set in western Victoria in the shadow of the stunning Grampians Ranges, and available now in print and ebook from your favourite online retailer.
About Cathryn
A South Australian country girl by birth, Cathryn loves nothing more than a rugged rural hero who’s as good with his heart as he is with his hands, which is probably why she writes them! Her romances are warm and emotional, and feature themes that don’t flinch from the tougher side of life but are often happily tempered by the antics of naughty animals. Her aim is to make you smile, sigh, and perhaps sniffle a little, but most of all feel wonderful.
From debut release Cathryn has been a multiple finalist in the Australian Romance Readers Awards and the 2014 awards also saw her in contention for Favourite Australian Romance Author. April’s Rainbow is her seventh rural romance, with more to come. She also plans to add more romantic adventures in the vein of The French Prize to readers’ bookshelves.
Cathryn currently lives at the base of the Blue Mountains in Sydney’s far west with her partner of many years, Jim. When she’s not writing, she plays golf (ineptly), cooks (well), and in football season barracks (rowdily) for her beloved Sydney Swans AFL team.
Find Cathryn
If you’d like to learn more about Cathryn and her books, please visit her website. You can also connect via Facebook and Twitter using @CathrynHein