Luke, the boy book critic reviews BEHIND THE MIST

You have to watch this darling little boy give his review of Behind the Mist!


Behind the Mist was written for the middle grade readers: 9 to 14. But this boy is just 8 so if you know of a precocious 8 year old, they will love it, too!

WAR ADMIRAL - Famous son of Man O'War

The picture above is of the most famous horse race in American History: the match race between the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral and the "people's darling" from the west coast: Seabiscuit. As you probably already know, Seabisuit won that race by four lengths.

However, dear readers, do not let that take away from the greatness of War Admiral! This wonderful horse was born in February, 1934 at the Lexington, Kentucky home of his father: Man O'War. The name of the breding facility is Faraway Farm. He was the sixth foal by Man O'War from the mare Brushup. The first five were fillies and didn't do great on the race track. But War Admiral was another story. In all, his owner: Samuel D. Riddle raced him 26 times and he won 21 of them. As I mentioned, he was the triple crown winner in 1937 and was named "Horse of the Year" that year. He was later elected to the National Museum of Racing and the Hall of Fame.

Unlike the movie depiction of him, he was a dark brown and smaller than average. The average race horse is 16 hands. His father, Man O'War was 16.2 but War Admiral was only 15.3 hands.

War Admiral went on to become a great sire. He fathered 40 stakes winners before he died in 1959 at the age of 25.

He is truly one of the noble and great horses and deserves to become a unicorn!


Here is the newsreal clip of War Admiral winning the 1937 Kentucky Derby, the first of the Triple Crown Races.

Send me the story of your noble and great horse. He doesn't have to be famous...just loved:

Email: http://mjevansbtm@gmail.com

or visit the Behind the Mist Facebook Page!

THE GREAT BUCEPHALUS-An important player in The Mist Trilogy

I started this blog one year ago. Since that time, thousands of you have visited and enjoyed the stories about famous horses. I am repeating this post because Bucephalus plays an important role in the third book of The Mist Trilogy: The Rising Mist. Plus, I think Bucephalus is cool!

One of the most famous horses in history is the black stallion, Bucephalus, mount of Alexander the Great. In the third book of The Mist Trilogy, The Rising Mist, the reader meets this amazing horse in his immortal life. I don't want to tell you any more about that or it might ruin the story. But I do want to tell you about the original Bucephalus. Much of what is written about him may very well fall in the category of folklore so I can't be sure of all of the facts. But I will tell you what is believed to be true.

Bucephalus was born around the year 356 B.C., the same time as Alexander The Great. He was bred by the great horsemen in Thessaly. When he was twelve years old, he was brought as an unbroken stallion to Philip II of Macedonia by a horse dealer. The dealer, Philonicus, was asking 13 talents for the horse. A talent was a huge amount of money, equaling 57 to 60 pounds of gold or silver. So, imagine the value of 13 talents! In any case, when Philip saw that none of his horsemen and trainers could ride the horse, he scoffed and asked to have the horse taken away. However, young twelve- year-old Alexander, who had been watching the attempts by his father's trainers, stepped forward and said: "I can tame this horse to ride. It only needs the right rider." The adults, of course, laughed him to scorn but he was not deterred. We can call Alexander the first "Horse Whisperer" because, as he had been watching, he noticed that the horse was frightened by the shadows cast by the men as well as their aggressive body and head movements. The young boy walked quietly up to the horse, speaking softly to him, and turned him to face the sun, thus casting the shadows behind him. Gently stroking his black coat he worked his way around to the horse's side and mounted the stallion. Off they galloped until boy and horse were one.(one famous mos

Alexander named him Bucephalus, which means "Ox head" because his head, which sported a white star and one blue eye, was extremely wide...as broad as a bull's.

At that time, bridles were used but not leather saddles or stirrups. Alexander and Bucephalus traveled thousands of miles with only a cloth laid over the horse's back. The two conquered the entire Persian empire from the Mediterranean Sea to modern day India, and south to Egypt. It is interesting to note that, on their march down to Egypt, Jerusalem folded without a battle. The people of Jerusalem quoted Daniel's prophecy found in the 8th chapter about a mighty Greek King that would conquer Egypt so Alexander left them alone and traveled on.

Alexander believed that both he and his horse would be immortal (A fact attested to in the third book of The Mist Trilogy) and when his horse died at the age of 28 or 30 (depending on the source,) Alexander gave him a state funeral and named a city, Bucephala, after him. Some say that the horse died in Alexander's last battle, other say he died of old age.

Bucephalus has been immortalized in art, literature and movies. In fact, Walter Farley's Black Stallion was loosely based upon this story. If you watch the movie carefully, you will see the father of the boy, Alec, give him a tiny statue of Bucephalus when they are on the boat.

Check out the clip below from a movie about Alexander the Great.

Send me the story of your Nobel and Great horse that deserves to be a unicorn someday and it may get published on the blog. Email me at:

mjevansbtm@gmail.com

To purchase the first of the Mist Trilogy: Behind the Mist, go to:

www.behindthemist.com

SHERGAR - Kidnapped and killed now runs free in Celestia

I have a sad story to tell you. It is a true story but very sad none-the-less. In 1978 an exceptionally beautiful, bay thoroughbred colt was born in Ireland. His name was SHERGAR. His owner and breeder was a wealthy Muslim prince named Prince Karim Aga Khan IV. The colt grew up to be a kind and gentle stallion with a distinctive white blaze on his face. He won nearly all his races as a 2 and 3 year- old, including the famous Epson Derby. A side note: The Epson Derby is the original Derby. It began in Epsom, England in 1780. The British pronounce it "Dah-be." He won that race in 1981 by a record ten lengths and became a national hero in Ireland. He was named the 1981 European Horse of the Year.

Things looked great for Shergar at this point. He was retired to become a stud. When he arrived in Newbridge in October, 1981, her was greeted by the town band and school children waving green and red flags, the Aga Khan's stable colors, as he was paraded up Main Street.

The first year Shergar stood at stud at the Ballymany Stud Farm in Kildare County, Ireland, he produced thirty-five foals. Things were looking promising for the people who bought shares in him.

But things changed quickly. 1983 was in the middle of the decades-long struggle by the Irish Republican Army. The IRA was a paramilitary organization whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and establish a Socialist Republic by force or Political persuasion. On a foggy night, the 8th of February, 1983, a stolen horse trailer (called a "horse box" in Great Britian,) pulled into the unsecured farm. The groom who lived on the grounds with his large family sent his son to answer the knock on the door. He entered the room to see his son sprawled on the floor and masked gunmen in the room. They forced the groom, named James Fitzgerald, to take them to Shergar's stall and load the beautiful horse in the trailer. Shergar was never seen again. His body was never found and it wasn't until twenty-five years later that the sad truth about his brutal ending from machine gun fire was revealed. The ransom was never paid and a beautiful horse became the innocent victim of man's infighting.

Shergar now runs free across the fields of Celestia as a member of the Legion of the Unicorn.




Send me the story of your Noble and Great Horse.
Write to me at:

http://mjevansbtm@gmail.com

or on the Behind the Mist Facebook Page.

Update from Unicorn Rider: Debbie McDonald

I met Debbie McDonald yesterday at the Rocky Mountain Dressage Society Championships at the Colorado Horse Park in Parker, Colorado. She is as nice a person as one would guess by the way she rides. (Some people may not understand that statement but I do!) The update about Brentina is that they are not planning on breeding and harvesting any more embryos from Brentina and just be happy with the two foals they have.

RADIUM - A Unicorn from Down Under!

themisttrilogy.blogspot.com

Radium is one of the most famous Campdraft stock horses in Australia. "What is a campdraft horse?" you say. Well, a campdraft horse in Australia is just like one of our American cutting horses. Have you ever been to a stock show and watched the cutting horses segregate one steer or calf from a herd? Cowboys do this to separate a calf that needs branding or medication or for some other reason.

While Radium died in 1947 at the age of 29, he still has his own Facebook page...That's a pretty with-it horse, I'd say! This is what it says on his facebook page:

Radium was an outstanding Australian bred campdrafter and very influential ancestor of Australian Stock Horses. He was a bay stallion bred by Donald Beaton of Levedale, Gloucester, New South Wales. This son of the outstanding campdrafter, Cecil (1899, by Red Gauntlet from Meretha II) from Black Bess by Hukatere (1882) was foaled on 11 November 1918. Beaton took great care in the breeding of his horses requiring horses with ability and stamina, for which he culled heavily. Radium’s sire, Cecil was so successful that in 1913, his owner, Arch Simpson was asked to leave his champion campdrafter at home in order that other competitors had a chance to win the campdrafting event at Geary’s Flat Bushman’s Carnival.

Radium was broken in by Archie Grant and Billy Tout when he was a two year old, after which he had several trips to the Cooplacurripa area. He began to show his exceptional ability as a stock horse as he developed and matured. Donald Beaton often drove long distances to compete at bushman’s carnivals with Radium tied behind the buggy. Radium would then compete in the campdraft, often winning and if he was going well, round off his success with an exhibition of campdrafting without a bridle.

In circa 1928, Radium was sold to Herb O’Neil, who, as a friend of Donald Beaton, had ridden the horse in competitions for Beaton when he had been unable to get away from his property. Herb O’Neill competed extensively with Radium, winning over a large area of the state. Just prior to the Second World War (WWII), Radium won a Championship Campdraft at Kempsey, New South Wales with the next ten placings going to Radium’s sons and daughters. Radium was also highly successful in led contests for the best type of Stock Horse. During WWII, at a Dungog Bushman’s Carnival over 20 horses were competing in the led stock horse class. In this event Radium received the first placing with the remaining four all being his sons.

I especially liked the part about Radium being "Towed" to shows tied to the back of the buggy. That reminds me of myself as I pull into Dressage shows and park my rusty stock trailer next to the huge, fancy multi-horse-with-living quarters-trailers! Go Radium! And now you have left your mark on Australia's stock horse breeds. Enjoy galloping around Celestia and cutting cattle in the Animal Kingdom! (If you don't know what I am writing about you need to read Behind the Mist!)


Here is an informative video about cutting horses that you will enjoy and learn from!

Send me the story of your Noble and Great horse!
email: http://mjevansbtm@gmail.com

DIA'S DEMON HORSE - Inspiration for Hasbadana

If you have read Behind the Mist already, you will know that Hasbadana is the ultimate BAD HORSE. Whenever I would write about him, I would be picturing the 32 foot tall statue that "greets" travelers as they arrive at or depart from Denver International Airport. It is mounted on a concrete and steel slab between the lanes along Pena Boulevard. You can't miss it...fortunately or unfortunately, depending upon your definition of art. In any case, "Mustang" as the City of Denver art commissioners call it or "Demon Horse" as I call it, was my inspiration for the evil Lord of the Dark Kingdom: Hasbadana.

Workers installing the Demon Horse in February, 2008

The story of the Demon horse is very interesting, while at the same time very tragic. The sculpture was commission by the City of Denver in 1992 to be the crowning piece for their new, overly expensive but beautiful airport. In Behind the Mist, DIA is referred to as the "white peaks on the plains" in reference to the canvas mountain-like peaked roof. Luis Jimenez from New Mexico was selected to complete the work and was offered $300,000 to do so if he completed it by 1996...one year after the completion of the airport. Jimenez's son said that from the onset, the artist and the horse had a "love-hate" relationship. Sixteen years, four missed deadlines, two lawsuits and one death later, the long-awaited "Demon Horse" was finally corraled.

In June of 2006, the fiberglass torso portion of the sculpture swung out of control and fell on Luis Jimenez while it was being hoisted in the artist's Hondo, New Mexico Studio. The City of Denver immediately claimed ownership of the sculpture and spent another $350,000 to rehab it, ship it to California for completion, ship it back to Colorado, install it and dedicate it. I don't know about you, but I think the dedication was necessary at this point!

On You-tube I found the the perfect song for the evil unicorn, Hasbadana:

http://youtu.be/rN2U5wkhRWc

The real thoroughbred of sin is Hasbadana! If you haven't learned to hate him yet, please buy a copy of Behind the Mist...you will be glad you did!

Purchase your own copy of Behind the Mist on its own website:

www.behindthemist.com

or wherever fine books are sold!