Melanie Nilles

This is really weird.  Here I am, done with my series, except for all the publishing side of it, and all the stories I was writing, except for a couple of unfinished works I left hanging.  It’s always harder to get back to something after some time off it, so until the right inspiration hits, those may continue to collect dust.

I don’t know what to do with myself now.  I have a dozen Equus and Practical Horseman mags to catch up on, though.  That’s a project in and of itself.  It’ll keep me reading for the week, anyway.

It’s hard to concentrate on writing right now.  I’m waiting to hear from a shipper to move my new horse to his new home with me.  I’m also hoping to sell Star, but that hasn’t gone well.   There are far too many people who think they want to ride horse but who can’t.  They need a machine, not an animal.  they have no concept of balance–their own–much less what reins are really for.  Poor Star gets so pissy now when strangers are around.  She dreads what the next rider will do to cause her discomfort, and so do I.  If I can’t find the right rider, I suppose I’ll keep her until spring, when prices tend to go up again.  I don’t have much of a choice.  I’m not going to give her away.  She’s too good to go to just anyone.

Sorry, it’s a sore spot of late, after watching strangers jerk my horse’s mouth around because they tense up so bad she goes faster than they want.  She’s highly responsive–trained to be that way–to the lightest aids.  Please, if any of you ever get on a horse, don’t pretend you can ride anything.  Just because you can make it go and stop does not mean you can ride.  True riding produces harmony between horse and rider, because the rider is communicating invisibly to bystanders and the horse is picking up on the subtlest of cues.  It’s like dance partners–one leads and the other follows, but each makes miniscule adjustments on which the other instinctively picks up and makes adjustments.  A good rider knows this.  An insensitive rider will never achieve this.

Getting off my soapbox now.  Sorry to rant.  I hate selling horses, because I’ve encountered this many times throughout the years.  It never fails.

Now that I have only the interviews to occupy me, it’s time for something new.  I’m waiting for the right inspiration to write, but in the meantime, I need to read.  Besides magazines, I need a good adventure.  I’ve read reviews of many books in the last year, and now it’s time to pick one…or two…or a series, and sit down and read.  I think a trip to the bookstore is calling me.  I may have to stop there tonight, after another likely disappointment finding the right new owner for Star.

In the meantime, I’m bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, anxious for the new horse, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, wondering when the shipper will call back, bored, bored, bored, bored, praying for a good home for Star, bored, bored, bored, bored, watching Bo’s video again, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored…you get the point. Okay, I’m going to go read my magazines.