Saturday 3 August 2019

Animal Magic






Meet the animals who’ve been disrupting my writing this month.

The gorgeous horse at the top there is Lexi, my 15’2 mare. She’s beautiful and sweet, and was bought for my daughter to ride in XC competitions – that’s cross-country to non-horsey types.

Unfortunately, soon after we bought her, despite a full 5-stage vetting before purchase, it became clear Lexi was suffering from tightness on one side, making it hard for her to bend and stretch. Pretty crucial if you want to soar across jumps.

Normally when a horse finds it uncomfortable to be ridden, they kick up a fuss as they’re being saddled. Some bite, some buck, some run away. Lexi is such a patient mare she never did any of those things so it took a while to spot. When she tossed her head around and swished her tail, we put it down to youth and exuberance.

Thankfully, we had her checked out by a fully qualified equine physiotherapist. She spotted the problem right away; Lexi was stiff through her neck and back, probably as a result of being broken in too young and having a badly-fitting saddle before we bought her.

She’s now had ultrasound and massage (yes, there is such a job as horse-masseuse!) and is much more limber.

But my animal woes were not over. Meet Freddy.

He’s a young swallow we found flapping around pitifully on the roadside during a family holiday in the Lake District. Freddy had damaged one of his wings, and was unable to fly. So back he came to the holiday cottage with us.

I was supposed to be using this break to put the finishing touches to the third book in my Daughter of Kali series. Needless to say, taking care of Freddy took precedence. (I should add, I have no idea if Freddy is an appropriate name. It could be Frederica for all I know, but the kids named it and it stuck.)

We spent two days trying to tempt Freddy with seeds and grains before discovering what he really likes is insects. The livelier the better. Wriggly mealworms and skittery crickets go down a treat. You haven’t lived till you’ve hand-fed creepy-crawlies to a hungry bird.

Freddy put on weight, his wing seemed to get stronger, and by the end of the holiday he was managing short flutters across the room. He’s now with a lovely foster family being prepared for his return to the wild.

And so finally, I can turn my attention to the third book. It’s very nearly finished, it just needs some final tweaking and polishing.

If only I can get a few days to myself without an injured animal to deal with…

Daughter of Kali: Infernal Destiny will be published later this year. Books 1 and 2 available on Amazon now.