I’m slowly plugging away at this, Raudi’s story, told from her point of view. I’m halfway through the final self-edit –I’ll next have Pete read it. I recently read The War Horse, which is another book from the horses’ point of view. The question I had when reading it was, am I able to suspend disbelief? The horses’ voice was authentic, and I had no doubt about it. But the plot seemed kind of thin. I also was unsure of where the horse was at times. Being in battle, he moved around a lot.

Raudi, Siggi, and Tinni’s voices are all consistent and believable. I have also written this in such a way as to point out how Icelandic horses and their owners view things. It is different than how big horses and their owners view things. A part of it has to do with size. The label pony often wrongly gets affixed to Icelandic horses.

Lately, I’ve been thinking that many Icelandic horses are treated like ponies—and so the energy level drops. They become docile, like dogs, and just shuffle along. It’s important then, for people to see and treat them as animals who are up for meeting big challenges. Our trip last summer reinforced this idea in my mind.

There is considerable hardship in War Horse – less so in Raudi’s Story. But there’s some. She’s willful, and I’m an inexperienced owner, so we, ahem, have our moments. It will be interesting, after this is done, to return to my version of the story, and see how the two differ.

I’m going to explore publishing Raudi’s Story as an ebook. Self-publishing is starting (I think) to be considered a possible option for upper and mid-food chain writers. I might also attempt to publish Road Songs: Essays on Exploring New Zealand by Bicycle as an ebook.

Time spent writing takes time away from being with the horses. And time spent being with the horses takes time away from writing. The horse/writing relationship IS synergistic – I just fail to see it on days when one or the other is neglected.

Next: 86. 3/3/12: Animal Teachings