Connecticut Author Writes For Horse Lovers

By Nancy K. Crevier

Growing up in Lordship, Conn. on the shore, Ann Jamieson always wanted a horse of her own, but had to settle for taking riding lessons from the age of five and falling in love with the many stable horses that she rode. After her family moved to Long Island, she finally bought her first horse, Odie, at the age of 17. “Horses just give back so much,” said Ms Jamieson, “and I found that out with my own two horses, Odie, who lived to be 29, and the horse I have now, Tucker.” Her horses have provided her with opportunities, unconditional love, and many tales of big and small adventures, she said. Her love of horses has also segued into a career.

She writes for Today’s Equestrian Magazine and is a horse show judge, traveling over a good part of the country all year long evaluating riders and their horses. As a judge, she has the opportunity to talk with horse owners and horse lovers. “People were always coming up to me to share their stories about their horses, or about a horse they had met, and I would think, ‘Someone should be writing these stories down,” said Ms Jamieson. “It took a while, but then I realized that here I am with a degree in English from Hofstra University and I’m a writer, and that I was the one who was supposed to be writing these stories,” she laughed.

So following four years of collecting horse stories, turning them into short stories, and editing the tales, Ms Jamieson published For the Love of the Horse in 2005, and For the Love of the Horse, Volume II in December 2007.

The book is a collection of brief tales, each meant to be read in just five or ten minutes, said Ms Jamieson. “I had a vision for the book and wanted to stick to it. I know that horse people don’t have a lot of free time, so I wanted it to be something they could just sit down and enjoy a story in a few minutes,” she said. She found that the publishers she contacted wanted a book of just one or two long stories, but she felt that her audience would be frustrated by a long book. “It was frustrating and way more difficult than I expected to find a publisher. I actually shelved the book a couple of times, but the stories kept calling to me,” she said.

She decided to self publish and could not be happier with the results. “It is totally my book,” she said.

For the Love of the Horse opens with a love letter to Odie, and like its sequel, continues on with inspiring accounts of horses who have touched the lives of the people who own them, the people who ride them, and the people who meet them.  Many of the stories that she wrote resonated with her, but in particular said Ms Jamieson, the stories of Soldier and Iroquois continue to stand out. “Soldier was a horse purchased for an elderly man with some physical problems. This horse just accommodated himself to his rider, picking up a hip if he needed to so that the rider stayed centered, whatever it took. He was amazing. Iroquois was literally being weighed for slaughter when he was rescued and went on to become a show jumper. He tries so hard for his owner. You know he appreciates what she has done for him,” she said.

The nearly forty stories in For the Love of the Horse are geared for horse lovers of all ages, said Ms Jamieson. “Parents even read them to kids that can’t read yet, and how special is that? I am so thrilled to think that my books are helping parents and kids bond.”

 “My goal is also to have some of the stories appear on public television or as an internet show,” said Ms Jamieson. In the meantime, she has continued to collect horse stories and is working on Volume III of For the Love of the Horse. “I am looking for uplifting stories. I want people to feel good after reading the story,” she said. Potential contributors can contact her at loveofthehorse.com.

The first volume of For the Love of the Horse is available at loveofthehorse.com or at tack shops in Connecticut, said Ms Jamieson, including Bit of Tack at 99 South Main Street in Newtown.