By Fran Severn

What is it with women and horses? Why are so many women obsessed with horses, riding, and all things equine? With so many other activities available, what draws us to these great, sometimes mysterious beasts? Other people are dedicated to their hobbies, but not like us. Foursomes meet regularly to play a round of golf; Mahjong and bridge clubs toss tiles and bid fiercely every week. Some women attend their Zumba and aqua-aerobic classes with an almost religious fervor. But they rarely reach the level of total dedication that identifies horse lovers.

And it seems to be an all-or-nothing fascination. You are either born with this disposition for loving horses, or you are, at best, disinterested. Those who don’t share our passion don’t understand it, or us. And we don’t understand them.

There is little scientific research that explores why so many women love horses. Freud said it had to do with sexuality and how women really want to be men, but with Freud, everything had to do with sexuality and women wanting to be men. To be fair, there are fundamental differences between the physiological and psychological makeup of men and women. Women have a deeper limbic system. That’s the part of our brains that controls behavior and emotions. Our limbic system predisposes us to be concerned with bonding, reproduction, feeding, sheltering, and protecting those under our care. Our female brains are wired to be more intuitive and emotional. We are generally more empathic than men, and we pick up non-verbal cues and body language much more easily than they do. The guys are hard-wired for domination and action. Empathy is generally viewed as a weakness, and intuition is often written off in favor of concrete, provable evidence. Where horses are concerned, by and large, women prefer trail riding, dressage, or working with rescues, while men gravitate toward high-energy competition like rodeo sports or three-day events. One comparison often heard is that women love horses, while men love riding.

Read more: Women and Horses: Why We Love Them - an excerpt from "Riders of a Certain Age"

By Bob Velin

In the fateful early-morning hours of October 10, 2019, Errol Spence Jr.’s life changed in a flash.

Driving his $300,000 Ferrari 488 Spider at frighteningly high speeds in downtown Dallas, Texas, his hometown – he'd been drinking and wasn't wearing a seatbelt -- Spence, then 29 and in the prime of his undefeated boxing career, lost control of his car when he hit a median and was ejected through the windshield as the Ferrari cartwheeled multiple times and was totally destroyed. The entire crash was caught on tape by a nearby security camera, ironically called Knockout.

Miraculously, Spence, nicknamed “The Truth,” not only survived but suffered no broken bones and only some facial cuts and the loss of a couple teeth. Just a few weeks removed from successfully defending his welterweight titles against Shawn Porter, Spence quickly realized he had cheated death and lived to talk about it.

“I don’t know how or why I got saved, but thank God,” he later wrote on Instagram. “The thought of leaving my (three) little girls and them growing up without me still (messes) with me, but I’m triple blessed and must be here for a reason . . . My accident slowed me down and gave me a different perspective on (things) I was taking for granted.”

Armed with a new lease on life, Spence found that new perspective in a 60-acre ranch he purchased in DeSoto, Texas, just south of Dallas.

“I was just trying to find answers, you know? I needed to go somewhere new and start over and get out of that dark cloud that was downtown,” he said by phone recently, “and be in a better element, because I’m already like an introvert; I don’t like being around people that much anyway.

“The ranch life is way better for me because people can’t just hop upon me like in the city. So if you want to see me you really have to come out to see me. I’m enjoying the peace and quiet and being with my family. So yeah, I was looking for something different.”

While he may not like being around people that much, he discovered he very much liked being around horses. So much so that he eventually bought 10 of them. He also had some cattle that came with the ranch.

“I really can’t tell you why I bought (the ranch), it just came upon me to do it,” Spence said. “Once I did, I started buying horses and I bought more cattle and fixed the place up. It gave me a peace of mind after living downtown. And the serenity of being out there in my back yard . . . nobody bothered me. It was a beautiful thing after being in a high-rise where you always run into people in the elevator and you hear the cranes going in the morning.

Read more: After A Frightening Wreck, Errol Spence Jr. Turns to Horses to Find Peace

Reading an interesting book can be a highly enjoyable experience. Although many prefer a movie over a book, there are still a huge number of people who love nothing more than reading. For these book lovers, the movie versions can be less thrilling and exciting.

Below we have compiled a list of the best books for those who love horses and also like to talk about the runners at the Grand National.

1- Black Beauty (Anna Sewell)

<p;> Black Beauty is one of the best books that you can lay your hands on. It is an 1877 novel which was authored by Anna Sewell. The book became hugely popular and is considered as one of the top ten best-selling novels for children. The English author died only five months after the publication of the book.

Black Beauty recounts the story of a horse that goes through difficult phases of life and encounters many hardships along the way. It is narrated in the first person as an autobiographical memoir. Each chapter of the novel gives a lesson to the readers by recounting an incident in Black Beauty’s life.

Read more: The Four Best Books About Horses

An excerpt from Happy Trails: A Pictorial Celebration of the Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans by Howard Kazanjian and Chris Enss.

Early in Roy Rogers’ career as a Western star, Republic Pictures created a fictitious promotional campaign to introduce him to the public. Press agents decided it would add to Roy’s appeal if they told potential moviegoers that he was a real cowboy born in Cody, Wyoming. Citizens in Wyoming and Ohio wrote to the studio protesting the false reports. Within a few days an accurate biography of Rogers was released.

The studio sent Roy on press junkets after each of his films was released. According to Republic executives, Roy came across much better in person than on the screen. They felt his eyes were more expressive and his shy smile more appealing. Fans agreed, and his personal-appearance tours proved to be profitable ventures.

Roy was grateful for his success and went out of his way to show his gratitude to his family and friends. With a portion of the money he earned, he purchased his parents a home in California and got the Sons of the Pioneers a contract working with him in all his Westerns. He felt a deep sense of satisfaction to be doing something for those he loved and those who had befriended him in the lean years.

While actors Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes, and Dale Evans and members of the crew were waiting to shoot a scene in Helldorado, Gabby entertained everyone with humorous stories of his vaudeville days. Dale was listening to the tale while sitting atop her horse. When the story ended she let out a loud laugh and in the process dug her heels into her ride’s side. The horse took off like a shot, and Dale tried desperately to regain control of the spooked animal.

Roy quickly recognized that Dale was in trouble. Her horse was at full gallop and despite her screams, the steed would not stop. Roy quickly jumped on Trigger and took off after Dale. Once Trigger caught up to Dale, Roy reached out and scooped his costar off the frightened horse.

No one associated with a Roy Rogers movie was surprised at the actor’s heroics. Roy was a great deal like the characters he played on the screen: daring, helpful, and as patient as Job. In a letter home to her parents, Dale explained the daring rescue. She wrote that Roy was a courageous family man who talked constantly about his wife and two children. She believed that she had never met a more giving person in her life.

Read more: Three Stories of the King & Queen of the West: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

By Margaret Ransom

Margaret Ransom, an award-winning writer who has worked in the horse racing industry for decades, moved from California to Texas and started The Bridge Sanctuary in 2021. Its mission is to bridge the gap from forgotten horses to forever safe horses. Here’s the latest installment.

I wanted to update you all on Blanche, the pregnant Tale of the Cat mare pulled from a last-chance-before-slaughter auction back in September.

Great expectations

Since she got here, everyone at The Bridge Sanctuary maintained a palpable excitement for Blanche’s bundle of joy arrival, me especially, like an expectant grandmother for my daughter who had had trouble conceiving. Blanche is inherently sweet and kind and trusting and I looked forward to putting my arms around Blanche’s belly at least once every day to talk to the little one growing inside, telling it how much I couldn’t wait for its arrival and that I loved it. I was always concerned knowing what I knew about her past, but the pregnancy for Blanche seemed to be going swimmingly. Until it wasn’t.

It was an unseasonably warm December day for Texas, and it started out ordinary and routine, just like every other. At each meal, morning and night, all the horses, ponies, donkeys and goaties who call The Bridge Sanctuary home get a customary once-over, my eyes searching for any bumps, scrapes and cuts and abrasions or, God forbid, blood. Blanche always got a little extra time, my eyes searching for any signs a baby was coming. We knew she had previous foaling issues and it felt like I was always on alert for something that said she might deliver early. Up until and including that day, there were none. No bag, no wax, no discomfort. Nothing.

“Nope, no baby today,” I said to her as I walked back to the tack room and exhaled with relief. Now foaling out mares is not my forte, I have done it a few times and always successfully in my past, but I had made plans for Blanche to go down the road to our veterinarian, Dr. Jackie Rich’s Deer Haven Farm in nearby Lott, or to my friend Donna Keen’s farm up in Burleson. While I’m not exactly a foaling rookie, it had been a long time and things here at The Bridge weren’t exactly ideal for foaling, at least up to that day. And I wanted Blanche and her baby to be with other mares and foals, not the handful of seniors, ponies and donkeys who call the sanctuary home. But God had other plans that Thursday…

Read more: Heartwarming Tale Of Blanche: First Grief, Then Good Fortune

By Robert Dover

Today, I get asked two questions all the time:

• “ How can I become successful and make my riding dreams come true when I do not have the money I need for horses, training, and competing?”

• “How can I get a sponsor?”

These are both legitimate questions, especially in a time when a great horse may cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. I always consider the person who asks me these questions and that rider’s ultimate goal, whether it is the Olympics or to be a good professional trainer in a specific area of the country. I explain the hard work, dedication, focus, humility, sense of humor, honesty, and grit required of anyone seeking to be excellent in any endeavor in life. I also emphasize the need to love and embrace the road being traveled—its highs and lows, successes and failures—in order to find true happiness along the way.

Finally, I tell it like it is, explaining that there are normally two reasons someone chooses to sponsor a rider: Either the sponsor has an emotional attachment to that person and wishes to help as a parent might help a child, or the sponsor is attracted to the prior and potential achievements of the rider and wants to become a part of that success story.

Read more: Three Ways to Find Your Way - An Excerpt from "The Gates to Brilliance"

By Chris Lombard

The dirt road to the farmhouse was dark and tangled. I turned on the dome light to look at the directions she had given me. The windows were down, letting in a cool breeze and the sound of car wheels over gravel. Like a flashlight in a cave the headlights lit the road and the walls of thick Maine woods to each side, and I watched the farm appear out of the darkness. I hoped the drive would be longer, just a bit more road. I wanted time. Maybe to think about what I wanted to say.

Maybe to just delay the inevitable.

As I walked up to the front door, I felt like I was going into the job interview of a lifetime.

“Did you find the place okay?” Allison asked as I stepped inside.

“Yes,” I said. I was nervous, that twist in my stomach like when we were on our first date. Her hair was down over her shoulders. Long, dark, with that slight curl at the bottom it sometimes had. Usually in the mornings. Perfectly spread over the pillow beside me.

She was house-sitting, taking care of the farm and its animals. She asked if I would like something to drink and then silently showed me around, going through the motions as if we were mere acquaintances. Neither one of us made the move to talk, letting the thickness in the air grow. And then, like she didn’t know what else to do, she said it was time to take care of the horses…I could come with her to the barn if I wanted.

Allison fed the two horses while I sneezed and rubbed my itchy, watering eyes. Hay fever. It hit the moment I even thought about going near a barn.

“Wow. Horses are big,” I said, nose all stuffed up.

“They are but they don’t know it,” she replied as she filled their water buckets.

I stood there, eyes feeling puffy and red. The horses were beautiful in their form; I couldn’t believe this was the first time in my life I had seen one up close. I suddenly felt foolish for not ever doing this before. I liked their sounds and motions while they ate. It made me feel good. They would grab a bite of hay and then raise their heads to look at me while they chewed, then grab another bite and raise their heads again to look at me, all very content in… their world.

Read more: In Their Eyes - Book Excerpt from Land of the Horses

As a credentialed member of the press, we’re happy we covered the 2021 Equine Affaire Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA on November 11th – 14th. Equine Affaire is North America’s premiere equine exposition and equestrian gathering . . . a unique celebration of the horse offering unparalleled education, entertainment, and shopping opportunities.

Here are some of our favorites from this exciting exposition and trade show. And check out the VIDEOS on our YouTube Channel!

See the PHOTO GALLERY Equine Affaire 2021

By Andrea Kutsch

The problem with most horsemanship instruction is that the reader can interpret the written word in many ways. In addition, every person who is involved with horses interprets horse behavior in a different way, according to the person’s own experiences. It is, therefore, very important that we agree on a “common denominator” and accept something that has been scientifically examined and proven: Horses fundamentally do not mean us any harm.

The equine nervous system processes signals that affect the horse incredibly quickly, especially on an emotional level. The human nervous system tends to act more on a strategic, planning level. Horses need to act quickly to ensure their survival. One wrong decision can have fatal consequences. When confronted with an external stimulus, horses have to decide whether to leave the situation—take flight—or to stay and wait to see what happens, focus, and attack if necessary. They have the option of driving away the stimulus or the person influencing their behavior.

Emotionally relevant external stimuli that have an effect on the horse have been scientifically proven to also have a major direct influence on the release of hormones controlled by the brain. These hormones then have a lasting impact on how the horse will behave in similar situations in the future.

Read more: Horses Can’t See Ghosts - an Excerpt from "From the Horse’s Point of View"