Writing Horses by Judith Tarr

ISBN: 9781611380309

All too often when writers tackle the arcana of the equine in their novels and stories, they miss the nuances of the terminology.

This is a short enough little book aimed at a very specific audience; those who will be writing books with horses in them, yet don’t know very much about horses. Now, I’m not a writer, and I know a fair amount about horses, but I still found it an enjoyable read. Tarr gives us the do and don’ts in a very entertaining light-hearted way.

As I said it is a quick enough read, if you are interested in the subject matter, I finished it in one evening. If you aren’t interested in horses and the mistakes some authors make while writing about them then I wouldn’t bother to pick it up. While Tarr’s style of writing is very easy to read unless you have some interest in the subject I can’t imagine that you’ll find it to your taste. Tarr covers all the basics of horsemanship; from the colours of a horse, to the difference between a gelding and a mare, and right up to what your character may, or may not know about horses given their situation in life. And indeed your book’s setting.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that Tarr takes advantage of the fact that this is an ebook and she links to other references and pictures. Including one not for the squeamish which shows what happens when a horse stands on a bare foot. I haven’t read many ebooks, so maybe this is a feature more authors use and I just hadn’t come across before.

All in all, I found it an interesting read.