Hold your Horses!

I'm being a litle parochial here (that's the bonus of being one of the bloggers) in saying wasn't it great to see Mark Todd and equestrian sports on the front page of the Herald yesterday. The interest and publicity he has garnered for the sport simply by announcing he wants to ride at one more Olympics has been phenomenal. I was talking to someone a couple of weeks ago who is involved in the Puhinui Three Day Event in March and she said we would not believe how busy her phone and email were after the news was announced. Check out the story at the NZ Herald website.

We have a huge horsey community in Rodney (and a very talented one) and we cater for all horselovers at Rodney Libraries. If you are a beginner rider check out books like First Riding Lessons (Sandy Ransford) or if you are more advanced a good book is Fitness for Horse & Rider (Jane Holderness-Roddam). You can find up to date news in the Horse & Pony Magazine, read about famous horses and riders in our sports section under number 798.4 (such as Mark Todds biography) and get information on a wide range of horse sports.

There is plenty of fiction for all ages in the library. Young readers are well catered for with plenty of series fiction. Have a look at the new Kiwi series Pony Club Secrets by Stacey Gregg. The first book is Mystic and the Midnight Ride. For older readers Dick Francis is as popular as ever but if you have read all of his books, try John Francome or Lyndon Stacey. I have just finished an excellent audio book of the latter called Outside Chance (which we also have in print).

For all our different books, dvds and videos on horses (fiction and non-fiction) go to our Rodney Libraries catalogue and enter a subject or keyword search for "horses" (or ponies) - or click here where we have done that for you.

The other reason why horsey things spring to my mind today is that I took my horse for a ride to the beach last night. I can report that the storms over the weekend brought lots of sea grass and debris onto the sand. I can also report that it is very soft. How do I know this? The instant and sudden dislike and refusal of my mare to take one more step and her spinning retreat from the vicinity. I got awarded an 8 for my dismount, roll and recovery from some spectators with an extra .5 for presentation as I came up smiling. It would apparently have been a 10 if I hadn't needed to go on a short jog up the road to retrieve my mount. Maybe I need to check out some of those instructional books and videos myself.

Have a good day.