Equine Injury

This is Red, the current herd boss.

Unfortunately he doesn't  look quite so spry at the moment because he picked up a puncture wound in a hind fetlock joint that somehow stove in a cubic centimetre of bone and then became infected.

Horse people will know that bad damage to a leg is potentially fatal to a horse. Fortunately we have reasonably locally the services of a first class equine specialist veterinary practice. They performed keyhole surgery to flush the infection.



After his period in hospital Red is now home again and on compulsory box rest because excessive activity with all that missing bone might set him back to square one.

Red hates this. During the day a rota of companions has been organised for him in our centrally-divided double stable. He's a good patient, all things considered, but he doesn't mind letting me know how displeased he is by a periodic ears back or a longing look at the field into which others are unfairly allowed.

He doesn't necessarily believe it's for his own good.

Kids, huh?

Horsepower

Appropriately enough, shortly before my story 'The Black Horse' is published in a few days' time, I was able to pay a visit to the Horsepower show at The Helix, Falkirk (above), home of the famous 'Kelpies' scuplture.

From the hugely popular pony rides to the vigorous re-enactment of fight scenes by Outlander stunt riders (left), there was something to interest spectators in a wide variety of non-competitive equestrian endeavour. The occasional shower failed to dampen the enthusiasm, though it probably added to the takings in the sales and refreshment tents.

Heavy horses were at work logging, pulling agricultural implements, and on the towpath of the Forth Clyde Canal (right).


The grand finale in the main ring was the hugely popular jousting tourney (below).

We have to remark that not every competitor displayed perfect chivalry.  A certain amount of cheating seemed to be going on, none of which had the slightest connection with the large bag of gold allegedly deposited for safe keeping with the judge by the eventual victor.

A large crowd had a very good day. Many thanks to the organisers and participants who deserve much credit for ensuring everything went well.

The Black Horse

I'm pleased to announce that my story The Black Horse is to appear in the forthcoming Third Flatiron anthology Strange Beasties, out later this month. The anthology is available for pre-order on Amazon.

I love writing about the legends of localities where I've lived or which I know well. This is a tale of the North Yorkshire Moors in the late eighteenth century.

All the village names of this part of the world still bring nostalgia for my university years when a group of us made regular trips to attempt The Lyke Wake Walk.

It's also a tale of horse racing and of course I've done a fair bit of that too, so I feel on safe ground here, which is more than can be said for the story's protagonist!

This is my second sale to Third Flatiron. Some readers may recall that the first, Time's Winged Chariot, subsequently did well in a reader poll, so we'll hope the new story will enjoy similar success.

Third & Starlight!

An anthology of 14 tales of wonder by award winning authors, finalists, and semi-finalists (e.g. Writers of the Future, Hugo, Cambell, Aurealis, and others). This year's collection of science fiction and fantasy stories from these impressive new talents:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Back and Foreword----------- Robert B. Finegold, MD
The Memory of Huckleberries -------------- Rebecca Birch
The Temptation of Father Francis ----------Nick T. Chan and Jennifer Campbell-Hicks

The Waiting Room ------------------  Philip Brian Hall

Last Time For Everything -------------------- K. L. Schwengel
Skinners ----------------------------------------  Rachelle Harp
Amma's Wishes -------------------------------  M. E. Garber
Three Flash ------------------------------------  Dustin Adams
A Green Tongue ------------------------------   Frank Dutkiewicz
A Matter For Interpretation -----------------   M. Elizabeth Ticknor
The Root Bridges of Haemae --------------- Sean Monaghan
Red is the Color of My True Love's Hair -- William R. D. Wood
Bad Actors -------------------------------------   Julie Frost
In the Heart of the Flesh --------------------   Scott Parkin
Shattered Vessels -----------------------------  Kary English and Robert B.Finegold, MD