My friend, the historical author, Julia Ross, once contacted me for my opinion on some horse stuff. She was speaking at a RWA nationals workshop, and she wanted my take on a few things.
Can you say flattered?
She rides classical English; I ride only western.
My expertise comes from a lifetime of riding and coaching horse knowledge bowl teams. Julia is an accomplished horsewoman herself, even taught community college classes on horses. But I digress...
We talked about the differences between English and western riding...colors of horses, styles of riding, etc. But we agreed completely on one thing-- all good horsemen have some things in common, whether it be riding in an dressage saddle or an old roping saddle.
One thing she said that I took away from that conversation and carried with me ever since is about heroes in romance novels.
Julia said, "A hero who abused a horse would abuse the heroine, if even off camera."
I agree.
I hadn't thought of it until that conversation, but I have never liked a hero (or heroine) who whips, spurs, yanks or jerks on a horse in any way.
Romance authors often use the abuse of a horse (not intentional) to show their characters' angst. You often see a fuming gallop, a hard yank, a spur to make the horse whirl because the character is upset. While this is good for drama, it turns me off.
A lot.
It makes the book an instant wall-banger for me.
While the author probably has no idea how bad that makes her hero or heroine look, any of the above actions are extremely abusive and leaves me with no sympathy for the character. In fact, I generally detest them from that point on.
It's funny, authors often use cats and dogs to show their characters' softer side, and they would no more have their character yank a dog's leash or kick a cat than spit at the moon, but that same author has no problem jerking, spurring or galloping a horse hard.
Odd when you think about it.
very true, D'Ann. I don't write animals into my work very often, even though I love horses and dogs and chickens and turtles. Not sure why..maybe I'll change that!
ReplyDeleteHi D'Ann~ Since I write about horses in my stories (hehehe in a sense) I wouldn't have someone perform the jerk & pull at any time.
ReplyDeleteLike you, our family competed with our horses. We saw some disgusting things outside the eyes of judges. For us, it was easier to train the horse to tuck his head than forcebly restrict their movement with a tie-down. Our spurs are nubs, not spiked ear cleaners. And my husband made it to the World Show twice before he hung it up.
If you have to beat on a horse - or any animal - it screams to one and all that the animal already has you beat.
Kudos on speaking up and bringing this to the writer's attention.
I absolutely agree. It has always puzzled me why a hero when upset, would ride his horse hell-bent-for-leather over land riddled with ground squirrel and prairie dog holes. If the hero needs to run, fine, but his horse doesn't need to.
ReplyDeleteJacquie
Not being horsey, I never gave it any thought, but I'm glad to know it. If I ever DO use horses, I'll know better.
ReplyDeleteI didn't grow up with horses, and I became a horse-lover later on. But I definitely agree that a hero/heroine who mistreated any animal gets my goat. Instinctively, it feels wrong when the hero/heroine is described as putting spurs to a horse or whipping him.
ReplyDeleteYou ever see Kirk Russell in Tombstone? There's a scene when he takes a strap from a man hitting a horse and slaps the man with it. Then he says, "Hurts, doesn't it?" I love that line.
ReplyDeleteD'Ann,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. I don't like h/h to be abusive to animals in anyway.
And I appricate all of that horse knowledge too... I have no idea where I'd be without it. Because before this Central PA farmgirl started writing Westerns, she could have fit all of my horse knowledge in a teaspoon and still have room for water...
Sara
It's funny because I've seen all of these in movies before and didn't realize that it would be abusive. Makes sense after reading your educating post, though. Thanks for the knowledge. Don't see Bix climbing on any horses soon, but you never know :)
ReplyDeleteI think an author who writes spurring and beating, into a scene, really doesn't know what they are writing is abuse. As a child I thought the jockeys were beating the horses in the derbies. We are all more familiar with cats and dogs because most of us grew up with one or the other. And yes, I would make a book a wall banger if any animal is abused by a hero or heroine.
ReplyDeleteHi D'Ann, A friend passed your blog site info over to me. I am also a horsewoman and I am published in contemporary romance and women's fiction. One of my novels, Hot Flash, is full of horses! Where can I find out more about your books?
ReplyDeleteClare Austin @www.clareaustin.com