Vacationing Like a Researcher

with guest Stacy Henrie.

Years ago, I accompanied my husband on a business trip to Boston. While there, I was able to see a good portion of the sights and I took a bunch of pictures. However, if I were to try and set a book in Boston these days, I would still need to do a great deal of research about the city and its history, even though I’ve already been there. Why? Because too much time has passed since that trip and because I didn’t vacation there with a researcher’s eye for a potential book setting.

Since then, I’ve taken trips that were solely for research, where most of my time is spent collecting information for a planned story. But what about those regular, just-for-fun vacations with family or friends? Can those be turned into possible research gold-mines, even without a potential story idea in your head before you go? Absolutely!

Last month my family and I took a trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan—purely to see what we’d been told was gorgeous countryside. And it is! This trip wasn’t for a planned book of mine, but I came home with a wealth of information and pictures that may very well find their way into a future story. 

If you’re planning an upcoming trip or vacation that’s just for fun, here are some tips for approaching your time away as a book researcher.

Know Before You Go

Before our trip, I came up with a list of places and attractions I wanted to see while we were there. Being a historical writer, there were several museums on my list, but there were also places that are iconic to the area that I didn’t want to miss like Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. For my kids, there were things like a shipwreck boat tour on Lake Superior and a visit to a family-owned zoo. Nowadays, you can find lots of “Top Ten” lists of things to see and do as well as other travel blog posts on just about any place in the world. These can help you compile a list of things you want to see and experience on your trip. 
 

Ditch the Guidebook for the Camera

Several of the historical museums we visited in the UP had lots of valuable information posted on signs or plaques. So rather than purchasing a book from the gift shop about everything in the museum or on one central topic, I opted to take pictures of all the informational plaques I found interesting or I thought I might want to reference later. With a smart phone or tablet – or even a regular camera – you can photograph any pertinent information for free. And the more pictures you take of your surroundings, the more likely you’ll be able to call to mind the details of what a place looked and felt like.

Check out the Local Flavor

I’m talking about more than food here—although, sampling the local fare is also a fantastic way to immerse yourself in the place you’re visiting. What better way to know what your potential characters might eat, then to try the food yourself? The UP is known for its pasties (which we learned is NOT pronounced paste-ee. It’s called a past-ee). So we had them for dinner one night. I recommend the chicken ones. We also had fantastic fish and chips in a small town on the eastern side of the UP.

In addition to food, though, be sure to check out the haunts and hangouts of the locals. I’d read online about a café and bookstore in Munising, Michigan that had great ice cream. While the ice cream certainly turned out to be yummy, it was the ambiance of the café that proved to be the coolest thing about the place. Regular kitchen tables are set up around the room, which has walls lined with books. Patrons can eat at the tables or play one of the supplied board games or do both. At the far side of the room, a band was playing music. And nearly everyone sang along when they played “Sweet Caroline.” Having been there and experienced the local flavor of the place, I could easily recreate a similar café and bookstore in a future story.


Allow for Spontaneity

While it’s helpful to make a list of things you don’t want to miss on a trip or vacation, there is something to be said for having days or hours of flexibility. Time to make unscheduled stops and simply enjoy the beauty of the moment. It’s often in those moments that you can really connect with a place. 

One such moment for me was looking for agates along the south shore of Lake Superior. It was equally as fun to read an account, after coming home from our trip, about a woman in 1881 who also had a collection of agates from along the south shore. If I had to write about someone agate hunting on Lake Superior in early August, I could do it now. I could describe the gray day, the cold water, the smooth rocks, and the lake stretching out to the horizon. 

It’s these details, these in-person experiences, these pictures that can enhance a story—even if it’s one we haven’t yet created. 

Writers, have you taken a non-research trip or vacation that you later used as the setting for a story? Readers, do you like to plan out your vacation itineraries or do you like get to where you’re going and decide then?

Leave a comment today for an opportunity to win your very own ecopy of The Keeper of Her Heart! Winner announced in the Weekend Edition. 

The Keeper of Her Heart

A Girl on the Brink of Womanhood, a Country on the Brink of War

Even at a young age, Ada Thorne knew that she would marry only for love, never money. So when she finds herself irrevocably drawn to Ned Henley, the lowly gamekeeper on a neighboring estate, she defies her parents and society by eloping with him to London to build a new life.

Without her family’s support, life in the city is far more difficult than the one of ease and privilege Ada has always known. She’ll find herself relentlessly tested in ways she never imagined—especially when Ned, answering the call of duty, enlists to serve his country in World War One.

Alone and near poverty with a child to raise, Ada’s resolve will be strained at every turn. And as she struggles to remain true to her convictions and live life on her own terms, Ada will embark on a journey of courage, faith, and love that will surpass even her own humble dreams  . . .

USA Today bestselling author Stacy Henrie is the author of western romances, the anthology Love for All Seasons, and the Of Love and War series, which includes Hope at Dawn, a 2015 RITA Award finalist for excellence in romance. She was born and raised in the West, where she currently resides with her family. She enjoys reading, road trips, interior decorating, chocolate, and most of all laughing with her husband and kids. You can learn more about Stacy and her books by visiting her website at stacyhenrie.com.

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Can a man get so hopelessly lost...

I’ve been researching what I call Pathfinders for a while.

I am trying to get a real overview of what it was really like to try and get through the Rocky Mountains the first time.

Finding a route was a big part of the Louis and Clark Expedition. And they barely survived it and then only with the help of native people who were miraculously Sacagawea’s family.

John C Fremont was tasked with finding a winter passage through a farther south region of the Rockies, with Kit Carson. Okay, these guys were GOOD. But even good as they were, it took him three tries--three winters. 
On his first try he got eveyone out alive. 
His second, he lost ten men to cold and hunger and other dangers.
Third try...he made it through.

James Beckworth (or Beckwourth) was the guy who opened the California Trail. He found a way from Reno Nevada to San Francisco. This is just exactly where my story is set.

Jim Coulter and Sacagawea were with Louis and Clark. Coulter turned around at the end of the expedition and went back. He's believed to be the first man to see Yellowstone. But he was such a known story spinner no one believed him. FOR YEARS. When I research, all the maps you see are either too close or two far. All of them have major four lane highways. All of them have ME and my CELL PHONE.

Bridger walked the Rocky Mountains north from Southern Colorado to Canada. His story about leaving a man behind believed dead, is part of the movie (or a fictionalized version of the movie) The Revenant. 

Of course we don't have pictures and online bios of all the guys who did this and DIED.

My premise is, can a really trail savvy guy, in about 1850, get so lost he just plain can’t get out of the mountains? He ends up just living there. By the time he finds his way out he’s settled and doesn’t leave.

I’ve been reading about the Donner Party.

I’ve got a picture, taken at the museum beneath the St. Louis Arch that says something like, “Many pioneers headed west with directions that covered one side of a sheet of paper. That is IT!

Now most wagon trains had a guide, a trail boss, or scouts, men who knew where they were going. But what if somehow you ended up on your own? What if your wagon train was set upon by thieves and everyone died and you alone survived?

Mary Connealy would've fallen off the covered wagon and DIED.

What if the guide died or ran off?

The trail itself would probably be visible, wouldn’t it? Or are some of them less traveled? The Donner Party was trying a new and little known trail so we know it happened.

A man who knew the woods would find trails, but out there? With millions of acres uninhabited, those trails would be game trails. You could walk on them and they’d probably lead around cliffs and lead to water, but could you get anywhere? It’s a good bet a deer will never ever make a trail that leads to town.

Today, I'm talking research

Today I thought I’d talk about research, how I try and track these things down.

I always start with Wikipedia for research. I’ve heard not to trust Wiki as the final answer, but I’ve also found really invaluable sources through there. A lot of times they’ll mention where they get info.

One example: http://a.co/9xlgV3p The Reckless Breed of Men a twenty year old book about fur trappers, only available used now. I got my copy for about $7.

Another one I particularly loved, Jim White's Own Story: The Discovery and History of Carlsbad Caverns. Jim White is the man who discovered Carlsbad Cavern and it took him TWENTY YEARS to convince people there was really a huge cavern down this hole in the ground. It was so far from any road, this was in about 1920, so there were roads and cars around, but still no one would believe him.

Anyway, when I bought this book, old, used, it was

SIGNED by Jim White. I just loved that.

So Wikipedia leads me to other sources, and that includes books and also other websites.

I also use Google Maps and transform it to Google Earth so I can get a look at the terrain.

I find old maps online—I use maps of old trails a lot. You can find them with Oregon Trail, California Trail, Santa Fe Trail and all sorts of off shoots of each. I open them and modern maps and try to compare roads now to trails then. Did you know that I-80 that cuts all the way across the country, follows the Oregon Trail? The Oregon Trail followed the Platte River, then the Transcontinental Railway followed the Oregon Trail until it curved off and followed the Mormon Trail. And now Interstate 80 follows the Oregon Trail.

People went that way not because someone had broken a trail, but because it WAS a trail. Does that make sense? They went the way that worked. They used the same passes because there were passes.

I will go to Amazon and search up say…Jim White’s book, after finding there is a book through Wikipedia, then I buy that book and good old Amazon wants to help me spend my money so they’ll toss other books at me and I can hunt around.

I’m working in the Sierra Nevada Mountains right now near Lake Tahoe and I found out Mark Twain lived and worked near Tahoe for quite a while. Reading his writing about it has really helped me get the big picture.

I also like to find novels. Yes, fiction, that is set in the place I want my books. The Louis L’Amour books in our local library all have maps in the front.

When I’m buying these books I remind myself that it’s a lot less expensive than a research trip…which I never EVER get to take!!!

What I’m really having trouble with though is the VASTNESS. It’s so hard to quite imagine the brutally hard work of riding a horse or a wagon over a mountain.

The original Oregon Trail had no passage wide enough for a wagon, a horse could get through, but not a wagon, so they’d have to lower the wagons over cliffs on ropes. 

It would be days of hard labor to get wagon after wagon lowered. And maybe the whole train would make progress of about 100 feet in three days.

I don’t mind doing this. I have always loved research but in some ways I hate it too, because it’s such a time sink. I can get lost for hours tracking down details and not get a word written in my book. But I justify the time now because I realize I’ve gotten a lot of ideas for the NEXT series while researching the current one.
In fact I think I've gone on too long in this post and I apologize for that, but it's hard to imagine that ANYONE isn't fascinated by this. And yes, it's possible, I live in my own little dream world. 

What do you do for research? Where do you look? Is it on line? Or do you set your books right near you so you know what things are like? Does ANYONE ever get to go on a research trip?

Let’s talk about all the tricks of the trade in researching a book.

Leave a comment to get your name in a drawing for a signed copy of my latest release.

LONG TIME GONE

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Connealy Combines Western Action and Charming Historical Romance
The Boden clan thought their problems had ended with the death of a dangerous enemy, but have they truly uncovered the real plot to take their New Mexico ranch? Rancher Justin Boden is now in charge. He is normally an unshakable and rugged man, but with his brother, Cole, shot and in mortal danger, even a tough man faces doubts. And it doesn't help that Angie DuPree, the assistant to the doctor trying to save Cole, is as distracting a woman as Justin ever laid eyes on.

Ride-Along for Researching The Contemporary Novel

What an exciting week. Sandra here, to tell you about my research for my current work in progress (wip).

If any of you follow my Facebook page, you will know that my hero is a county sheriff for Yavapai County in Arizona, which includes the Sedona area. I have family members who have or are working in the police force and county sheriff’s office in the city. But it is very different in this sparsely populated county that is 8152 square miles. Many of those miles are rugged red rock canyons and cliffs. Tourists attracted to the famous Sedona area often venture out beyond their experience level and become lost. This keeps the sheriff deputies busy and provides wonderful grist for the plot and story.

View of Sedona from Airport Mesa Trail

My story starts with an Alzheimer’s patient from the heroine’s adult day care center wandering out into the desert. He is an avid hiker so was able to travel far when he wandered out of the facility. The hero is the deputy who finds him. Well I certainly need to know the procedures taken for search and rescue.

I got to sit in the front seat. Very exciting.

To learn more about the extraordinary work of my hero, I went on a ride-along with a Yavapai County sheriff’s deputy.  Guess what our first call was? A mountain bike rider was lost in the desert outside of Dead Horse State Park. Within the park, there are miles of trails and they connect with trails into the adjacent national forest and he had ventured out and become lost.

All calls in the county show on the computer in the car.

We answered the call and I was able to meet the deputy in the Forest Unit, which is the unit that conducts search and rescue. I observed and learned first hand the procedure for searching and rescuing a lost victim. How about that for “asking and receiving” exactly what I needed for my wip.

I didn’t even know they had a unit designated specifically for search and rescue. It makes sense, especially in an area where so many inexperienced tourists venture out on trails, unprepared for the high desert and the rugged terrain.

Back pack gear and First Aide kit ready for search and rescue operations.


After the ride-along, I was privileged to have lunch with the Lieutenant in charge of the region. He was a wealth of information. I learned what my hero will need to do to become a lieutenant, what it means to be a sergeant. We also discussed some of the major issues in this region.

The Lieutenant presented me with an official Yavapai County Sheriff coffee mug.

Join me for a cup of coffee.

Did I have to go on a ride-along? Did I have to visit the Sheriff’s substation in Oak Creek Village?

Sub-station in Oak Creek Village

No, I could have gotten most of the information by researching on the Internet. But for me, it makes it more real to be there. I loved riding in the car. The beeps and sounds of the computer would not be in the Internet. Nor would the reaction of the deputy when a hot tone sounded. The hot tone was an alert to a dangerous and serious situation and he explained that whenever he heard that tone, his adrenalin pumped.

Swat helmet and vest ready to go.

We traditionally think that we need extensive research when writing historical novels. We do. But we also need extensive research for contemporary novels as well.

Here are some quick tips that are a help to follow when doing research:

1.     Find out all you can about the setting.

·      Go there if possible.

·      Or call on someone who lives there. If you belong to RWA or ACFW, there are bound to be members in the area.

·      Look at photos, travelogues, weather reports, etc.

·      What you find out can turn into a plot twist. Or conflict.

2.     Research the occupation of the major characters:

·      Interview people in that occupation.

·      Find out their motivation to pursue that occupation.

·      Find out the procedures to achieve positions in that occupation.

·      Ask about the difficulties they face and the rewards they receive.

·      This will give you ideas to deepen your characters and plot.

·       

Can you share some exciting research events you have experienced that changed your manuscript?  Please comment and share. Your name will be put in the sheriff’s mug for a chance to win a surprise package of Seeker books.

Sandra Leesmith writes sweet romances to warm the heart. Sandra loves to play pickleball, hike, read, bicycle and write. She is based in Arizona, but she and her husband travel throughout the United States in their motorhome and enjoy the outdoors. You can find Sandra's books here on Amazon. Three of Sandra's most popular books are also audio books at Audible. You can read more of Sandra's posts here.

In Search of Verisimilitude

By guest Lynne Gentry

I’d just finished sharing my vast knowledge of the Roman Empire at a writer’s workshop when a lady raised her hand and said, “It’s obvious you’ve done your research.”

I glowed. “Thank you. Research is one of my favorite parts of writing.”

“I write contemporary.” She straightened her shoulders and went in for the kill. “I don’t think I have to waste my time doing research like you, do you?”

The hairs on my neck bristled. I wanted to say, “Not if you know everything about everything, which you obviously do.” Instead, I just smiled. “As long as you create verisimilitude I think you’ll be fine.”

Recalling her blank face still makes me chuckle.

VERISIMILITUDE is a literary device that gives a story that true-to-life feeling.

It is the art of taking a reader into another world, whether that world is located in a Roman colosseum, a beauty shop in a small town, a frozen kingdom in a dystopian future, or a cul-de-sac filled with lonely housewives.

Verisimilitude builds a believable framework that will convince a reader to suspend their disbelief. It transforms a pretty good story into: Wow! That was so real I could taste the dust of Rome.

I love reading stories that whisk me into another world. I want to learn to write these kinds of tales. In my quest to acquire the skill set of authors who successfully transport readers, I’ve discovered many of these storytellers have one thing in common: RESEARCH. Lots of it. They combine hours of reading, observing, interviewing, and life experience into the creation of their unique, yet believable worlds.

Before you think you know everything about research and click back to Facebook—hear me out.

If you’ve been using research simply to avoid mistakes, you’ve missed a wonderful opportunity to build a world so enticing readers can’t wait to go there. Research is more than getting your facts straight so your inaccuracies won’t get dinged in those pesky reviews.

Research can help you to discover rare gems that build a more believable story.

In RETURN TO EXILE, the second book in my CARTHAGE CHRONICLES series, I needed to find out how long it took a third-century Roman freighter to sail from Rome to Carthage. Since I had no Mediterranean sailing experience, I had to do my research. During the process of looking up ancient transportation, I stumbled upon a law forbidding wheeled carts inside the city limits of Roman cities during daylight hours. Here’s the shortened-condensed version of the recorded reasoning behind this strange law:

One day an ox broke away from his harness. He was chased through the narrow streets by his owner. Others joined the pursuit. They followed the ox up an outside staircase. The terrified beast, now trapped on the flat roof of a three-story apartment building, suddenly wheeled and leapt to his death. His fall killed five rubberneckers watching the circus from below. Hence, the law: No wheeled carts in the city until all the pedestrians are off the street.

I was so fascinated by this real life story I pondered how to surprise my readers by adding a totally unexpected, yet factual element from the Roman world. What if the character I’d planned to kill by plague in RETURN TO EXILE died by ox? Here’s a peek at the fictional passage I created from non-fictional research. (The character’s name has been removed.)  

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Somewhere ahead of them, the crack of an oxen whip sounded. The snap of chains and panicked shouts followed. Hooves thundered over the cobblestones. Lisbeth looked up to see a frightened ox. Horns down, he charged straight toward them…The giant animal plowed into XXX. The velocity ripped her from Lisbeth’s grip…powerless to stop what happened next, Lisbeth watched as XXX hit the pavement directly in the ox’s path. Hands clamped across her belly, XXX churned beneath a thousand pounds of thrashing, stumbling animal. A paper doll in a shredder.  ~Return to Exile

I’m spellbound by the world George R.R. Martin created in his epic saga GAME OF THRONES. Did you know Martin built his seven kingdoms story world brick-by-painstaking-research-brick? According to articles I’ve read, the idea for the story came to Martin while visiting Hadrian’s Wall in Scotland. He stood atop the ancient stones and wondered what it would be like to be a watcher on the wall. But the actual story came from:

-Reading Tolkein as a kid (restrained bits of magic from Lord of Rings).

-Becoming a history buff obsessed with War of Roses (1455-1485).

-Investigations into many world religions. The Faith of the Seven is based on his Catholic roots.

-And his famous Red wedding scene was actually inspired by two real-life events in Scottish history, The Black Dinner and the Glencoe Massacre.

Research pumped Martin’s creativity to award-winning levels. Over twenty million copies of GAME OF THRONES have sold because people are willing to suspend their disbelief and embrace the imaginary fate of Westeros.

Want to write a story readers are dying to read? Go in search of the great nuggets of fact that could enhance your stories. Readers crave an opportunity to escape their everyday worlds. Let’s give readers a ride they’ll never forget.

I hope you’ll join me on the quest for verisimilitude.

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Tell me the most outrageous fact you’ve discovered while poking around in a musty libraries or interviewing an expert, you’ll be entered to win a copy of VALLEY OF DECISION.

~~~~~~~

Lynne Gentry has written for numerous publications. She is a professional acting coach, theater director, and playwright. This inspirational speaker loves spending time with her family and medical therapy dog.

The Carthage Chronicles Series blurb:

A twenty-first-century doctor. A third-century plague. A love out of time.

Filled with gripping action and raw emotion, The Carthage Chronicles follows the unexpected adventures of Lisbeth Hastings, a twenty-first-century doctor, as she finds herself dropped into third-century Carthage in the middle of the fledgling early Christian church as they battle Roman persecution and a historic plague. Even as Lisbeth seeks a way back to her time, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to Cyprian Thascius, the charismatic Roman noble trying his best to keep the church together in the midst of impossible obstacles.

Can Lisbeth and Cyprian find their way to each other through all that stands between them? Or are the 1800 years that separate them too far of a leap? Follow this incredibly compelling adventure of star-crossed lovers in the electric series The Carthage Chronicles.

This ebook boxed set contains the first two novels of The Carthage Chronicles, as well as two e-novellas and a sneak peek at the final novel, VALLEY OF DECISION.

You can find Lynne Gentry at:

Website: http://lynnegentry.com/books/
Facebook: Author Lynne Gentry https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Lynne-Gentry/215337565176144
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lynne_Gentry
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lynnegentry7/
Simon & Schuster: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Lynne-Gentry/412732530

Series Video Trailer/Author Interview:

https://youtu.be/3yo8tmLK0DM

Saddle Up for Writers! If there’s a horse in your story, here’s some stuff you might need to know!

Whether you’re writing a historical romance about cowboys and the American West, a contemporary novel about a dressage competitor, or any story in which a horse may turn up at some point, you’d better know a hock from a forelock and a cinch from a bridle.

It's been quite a while since I've been on a horse, but as with many subjects, I know just enough about horses and riding to be dangerous. However, I do know it stops me cold when I read a novel where a heroine who’s never ridden before climbs onto a stallion for a leisurely trail ride. Or when the hero leads his horse to the pasture, then turns him out without removing the halter (unless it’s a breakaway type!). Or when a book cover depicts a supposedly "real" cowboy riding in English tack.

So, for what my limited experience as a wannabe equestrian is worth, here is a basic primer on horses and tack.

(FYI, in order to read the labels more clearly in the photos below, you may need to click the image to open in another window. And yes, that IS me!) 

My first and only dressage schooling show, April 2005.

Horse parts—what do you call them? 

Some terms you might need to know:

• muzzle: the front part of the nose including nostrils
• poll: the spot between and just behind the ears
• throatlatch: kind of what it sounds like, the neck area running from behind the jaw to behind the ears, where you’d buckle a bridle strap
• withers: the tallest point on the horse’s back, located at the base of the neck
• chest: the front of the horse (below the neck and in front of the forelegs)
• barrel: the round part of the horse’s body behind the forelegs and where you find the horse’s ribs
• elbow: joint at the top of the foreleg; points toward the rear of the horse
• knee: the front-facing joint on the foreleg
• cannon bone: the long bone between the fetlock and the knee or hock
• fetlock: the ankle on both front and back legs
• pastern: the joint between the ankle and hoof on both front and back legs
• loin: the rearmost part of the horse’s back; the area behind where the saddle would sit 
• croup: the hindquarters area between the loin and the tail
• flank: where the hind legs join the body
• stifle: the large rear leg joint, similar to the human knee; a common injury location for horses
• hock: the rear-facing joint halfway between the stifle and the ankle

Check out these websites for more detailed information: 

http://www.lovehorsebackriding.com/horse-body-parts.html 

http://www.habitatforhorses.org/kidscorral/vocabulary_I.html

Western, English—what’s the difference?

Now that you can refer to the main parts of a horse by their correct names, you need to know what kind of tack your characters will need. A saddle is just a saddle . . . right?

WRONG!

Okay, maybe you’ve figured out there’s a basic difference between English and Western tack. But to complicate things even more, there are important tack differences for each riding discipline within those two broad categories!

English Tack

Let’s start with English tack, which is what I’m using in these photos. This is a dressage saddle, with long, straight flaps and a deep seat. It enables the rider to sit erect, and the longer stirrup length (actually tucked up in this photo so it doesn't bang the horse’s sides) offers freedom of leg movement for the subtle cues the dressage rider uses to influence the horse’s gait, direction, and body position. 

For a complete explanation of the sport, visit this site.

Check out this Wikipedia article as well. 

The other type of English saddle is the hunt seat, which places the rider more forward in the saddle for jumping over obstacles, either cross-country or in an arena. The stirrup length is shorter, giving more bend in the knee. Since I have ZERO experience with hunter/jumper riding, let me refer you to an informative article on the discipline. 

This Wikipedia article may also be helpful. 

Giving one of the grandsons a ride at my lesson arena, also around 2005.

Here is what a basic English bridle looks like. There are variations related to type of bit (usually a snaffle, meaning two sections connecting at a center joint), single or double reins, martingale attached, etc., but those are topics best left to someone with a LOT more experience! This article from Dover Saddlery offers further explanation.

Western Tack

This horse was ready for her Special Olympics rider.

There are several variations on the Western saddle, so you need to know what kind of work your cowboy will be doing. As with English saddles, some seats are deeper or flatter, some allow closer leg contact, and some are made especially for comfort over long trail rides. Here’s an overview. 

Fort Worth Stockyards, cowboy herding longhorns in the parade.

The Western bridle is slightly different from the English bridle. Most do not have nosepieces. Instead of a full browband, some bridles are one-ear or two-ear headstalls. The curb bit (straight shank) is typical.

Reins may be closed or split, depending on the type of riding.

Here is an overview of different types of bridles and bits. 

Do you know your horse colors?

• Chestnut or sorrel: Both refer to a reddish-brown horse. For some reason, English riders tend to use “chestnut,” while Western riders use “sorrell.” Radar, the horse I’m riding in these photos, is a chestnut.
• Bay: A brown or reddish-brown horse with black points (muzzle, legs, mane, tail, tips of ears).
• Gray: Commonly mistaken for white; if the horse’s skin is black, it’s a gray. The variations include dapple grays, flea-bitten grays (speckled with black or brown), and steel grays.
• White: A true white horse (Dominant White) has pink skin, hazel or brown eyes, and white hair. 
• Black: Pure black with no brown or other colors (other than white markings).
• Dun: Sandy yellow or light reddish-brown, usually with darker legs, and always with a dark stripe down the middle of the back.
• Buckskin: Similar to the dun but without the dark stripe; all black points.
• Palomino: Gold coat with white or cream-colored mane and tail.
• Roan: Solid color with single white hairs mixed in.

For more complete descriptions of horse colors along with photos (and including the grulla as described in Mary Connealy’s Now & Forever), see this site.

Okay, your turn. 

Hey, Seekervillagers, do you have experience with horses and riding? If so, share a little about your background. Also mention if you’re willing to serve as a resource for other writers.

Non-horsey-types, what questions do you have that our Seekervillager horse experts could help with?

Read any good horse stories lately? Share some of your favorites.

Today’s giveaway!

For a chance to win the three-book set of Myra’s Horsemen of Cross Roads Farm series, mention your interest in a comment and we’ll drop your name in the horse trough! 

A Horseman’s Heart. North Carolina’s a long, long way from Texas, but horse trainer Kip Lorimer needs to get out of town fast because the woman who long ago destroyed his last remnants of trust has just caught up with him—again. Special-ed teacher Sheridan Cross has trust issues of her own, so when Kip shows up with a horse to donate to the family’s equine therapy program, she can’t help but be suspicious. A cowboy a thousand miles from home and living out of a horse trailer? What’s wrong with this picture?

A Horseman’s Gift. Filipa Beltran is tired . . . sick and tired of living out her parents’ dreams. After years of guitar lessons and the seemingly endless string of part-time jobs to pay for them, Filipa makes a drastic decision to abandon the hope of becoming a professional musician and move forward with her life—on her terms. The past year has been nothing short of crazy for Nathan Cross. Once set on becoming a big business mogul, Nathan is headed back home to carry on his late father’s legacy running an equine therapy program. . .and trusting God to sort out his future. When Nathan discovers childhood friend Filipa is also back in town—to stay—he finds it hard to swallow. Maybe she wasn’t the girl he thought, or else she wouldn’t sacrifice everything her parents dreamed of for her. Can Nathan and Filipa find contentment in their God-given gifts?

A Horseman’s Hope. Love is definitely out of the question for Grace Lorimer while she works her way through college to earn her occupational therapist certification. Besides, her mother’s string of failed relationships and broken promises proves romance is not worth risking her heart—even when she begins to care deeply for single dad Ryan O’Keefe. Four years after his girlfriend, Shana, became pregnant, Ryan still can’t believe he’s a father. . .and can’t imagine being anything else. His daughter is the light of his life. Now if only Shana could embrace motherhood and the three become a real family. . . . Then Ryan receives shocking news about Shana, and his world is torn apart as he faces losing his daughter. Suddenly old feelings for Grace resurface, but is a whirlwind marriage of convenience the answer?

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Myra Johnson