MISTS OF DARKNESS-Book Two of the Mist Trilogy

MISTS OF DARKNESS-Book Two of the Mist Trilogy has been released as a three month exclusive on Amazon's Kindle. So get out your kindle, down load Mists of Darkness and have fun reading about the evil unicorn, Hasbadana, as he attempts to rule the earth! You will love it.

VALENTINO- 2011 PATH Intl. Therapeutic riding horse of the year!

Some people are born into the worst of circumstances, poverty, abuse or neglect. Yet some of those people manage to rise above it all and, not only survive but contribute a positive light to the world. Some horses do the same.

One such horse is Valentino.

Valentino is a beautiful Tenessee Walking Horse Cross whose first few years of live were terrible. He had been abandoned in a field as a yearling. For over a year, he was all alone and neglected in this pasture. Some kind neighbors fed him and, finally called a horse rescue organization.

Meanwhile, Therapeutic Animal Partners in Spring Hill, TN, needed some new horses for its center to help handicapped riders. Director Terri Knauer watched Valentino in a training session at the state horse fair and immediately felt something special. He was, not only the right size for a therapy horse, and young enough to be trained for their program, but there was just something special about him...perhaps she knew he would be able to empathize with is riders more than others. She adopted Valentino and started training him for EAAT (Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies.)

He became the perfect Therapy horse...the one they could always "go to" with any need. Not only is he quiet and intelligent but he is so very patient! (Don't we wish we all had such virtues-in Behind the Mist, Nick struggles to develop the unicorn virtue of patience.) In her nominating letter to Path, Intl, Terri Knauer mentioned that "He loves toys and games and sometimes breaks a tense moment by pickiing up a toy in his mouth to help a frustrated rider." Another example: "One child came to the center missing the horse she used to ride at another center. On being introduced, Valentino gently blew on her neck then dropped his head so they could look into each other’s eyes, and the two held each other’s gaze for half a minute. That moment bonded these two and gave this young girl the hope that she could find love, trust, confidence and companionship with another horse."


Yes, horses are truly amazing! He really loves working with the handicapped riders. It's as though he is trying to teach them that they, too, can overcome life's challenges and reach the stars.

Valentino is a star!

Tell me about the noble and great horse that you know. Write to me at:

mjevansbtm@gmail.com

or find me on the Behind the Mist Facebook page.

Don't forget to get Mists of Darkness-Book 2 of the Mist Trilogy on Amazon's Kindle store soon! I will let you know the day it comes out!!!

MISTS OF DARKNESS IS COMING OUT SOON!

I have an exciting announcement for you! Mists of Darkness, Book Two of the Mist Trilogy is being released by the end of the month. It will be released first as an ebook with an exclusive on Amazon for three months. So, get your kindles out and add Mists of Darkness. You will love it. If you haven't read Behind the Mist yet, you can download it, too!

Mists of Darkness is the exciting story of the evil unicorn, Hasbadana, as he begins to carry out his plan to rule all of the inhabitants of the earth. A mysterious, thick, black mist descends upon horse venues all around the world. When the mist just as suddenly disappears, horses have vanished. Deep in the wilderness in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Hasbadana begins training his enslaved army.

 You will love reading about Nick and his horse Jazz who have now become members of the Legion of the Unicorn. Jazz has earned  his horn and a new name: Lazari. Nick is the first unicorn rider. They join all of the unicorns of light as they struggle to find a way to stop Hasbadana in his wicked plan.

WATCH FOR IT ON AMAZON!!!

MADISON WALLRAF- Future Unicorn Rider

In the sequel to Behind the Mist titled Mists of Darkness (coming out as an ebook soon!), young Nick becomes the first unicorn rider. Well, folks, I have a nominee for the next unicorn rider: a young teen named Madison Wallraf. Madison boarded her horse, "Red," at M and R Overlook Farms in McHenry, Illinois. The fifteen year-old was at the stable when she saw flames erupt in the barn. Thinking quickly, she started haltering not just her own horse, but as many as she could, and leading them through the smoke to safety. Then, she ran back into the barn to rescue more. Giving up on the haltering as the fire became too intense, she started just throwing lead ropes over their necks and pulling the panicking horses out of their stalls to safety. In all, twenty-five horses owe their lives to Madison's efforts. Sadly, sixteen horses didn't make it out in time.

Anyone who knows horses understands what a remarkable feat this was. Horses are naturally terrified of fires...as they should be! They will panic, causing them to bolt, rear or kick. Madison was kicked and knocked over several times as she tried to help the horses. This did not matter, she kept going anyway, only stopping when the roof of the barn caved in. The four foot, ten inch teenager was a giant that day. I hereby nominate Madison Wallraf to be given the title of Unicorn Rider and inducted into the Legion of the Unicorn. Congratulations Madison. You are an inspiration to all of us, horse-lovers or not!

ROANEY-Probably the oldest horse

When people come to meet my horses, a frequent question is "How long do horses live?" As I rub their faces and look into their eyes I respond: "Forever, Just read Behind the Mist!"

The answer to that question really varies. Domesticated horses usually have the advantage of better feed, veterinarian and farrier care and freedom from preditors that wild horses don't have. So, the horses that are lovingly being cared for by humans live longer than wild horses as a general rule. Small horses and ponys live longer than large horses...this is also true for dogs. Some breeds have a longer life expentancy. Arabians are known for living well into their thirties. I have a friend whose little arab is now 33. I wouldn't say she is going strong but she is still hanging in there. Thoroughbreds generally die in their twenties. I have a wonderful thoroughbred that is now 21 and is doing great.

The oldest horse I have ever heard about is Roaney, a mustang. Roaney was born in 1923. His first career was as a cattle horse on a ranch in Wellington, Arizona. In 1935 he was purchased by William S. Hart, a silent movie star where he was known for playing the part of a cowboy. Roaney became one of the many horses that he used in his movies. Hart was a close friend of Will Rogers and the artist Charles Russell.

Mr. Hart loved Roaney and provided well for him. He kept him on his "Horseshoe Ranch" in Newhall, California. On St. Patrick's day of 1966, Mr. Hart threw a 43rd Birthday party for Roaney, complete with a 60 pound cake! Several celebreties were in attendance. Hart stipulated in his will that Roaney would live out his days on the ranch and be buried there. Roaney lived to 45 years old (equal to 180 for a human!) He died on April 26, 1968. He now runs across the flower-filled fields of Celestia. (IF you don't know what that means, you need to read Behind the Mist!)

If you know about a senior citizen horse that deserves to be honored, send me an email at: mjevansbtm@gmail.com.

Behind the Mist is available now as an ebook!

Get it for our Kindle at Amazon.com, Your nook at Barnes and Noble or on Smashwords!

THERAPY HORSES EARN THEIR HORNS!

Staff Sgt. Aaron Heliker riding with Rainier Therapeutic Riding founding Debbi Fisher.

I have just started a job with PATH, International: Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship. It is in Denver and is the certification and training organization for the many wonderful horsemen around the country who are helping children and adults find valuable therapy through horses. A friend sent me this article written by Nancy Bartley for the Seattle Times. I know you will find it heartwarming. These horses and horsemen who help our injured service men are heroes...truly some of the "NOBLE AND GREAT" ones, as I call them in Behind the Mist.

Seattle Times: by Nancy Bartley:

After six tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Aaron Heliker's luck ran out.

A roadside bomb left him with third-degree burns, a traumatic brain injury and nerve damage to one leg. But the unseen wounds became the most disabling of all.

The 27-year-old who rode motorcycles, was a whiz at auto-body work and had wanted to be a soldier since he was old enough to ask his mother to "buy some army pants" could no longer tolerate being around people.

He was anxious, hypervigilant, expecting attack. Memories rushed in of his last tour in Afghanistan, the five-hour attack by insurgents his convoy fended off, the soldier he found bleeding to death but was unable to help.

To block out the memories and the surges of anxiety that made him feel always ready for battle, he began to drink. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and sent to a lockdown mental-health facility for veterans.

Faced with overwhelming physical pain, afraid of being close to anyone, and so mired in despair that he could see no hopeful future, Heliker didn't want to continue living.

Then he met Fred.

A white Frederiksborg gelding, Fred is one of the horses in Debbi Fisher's Rainier Therapeutic Riding program in Yelm, where servicemen are matched with horses they learn to groom and eventually ride.

"I really liked him so I postponed my death for a week," Heliker said. "In an office I feel cornered but out here (at the farm) I feel at peace."

Horses are ideal partners for traumatized service members because "they're kindred spirits," Fisher said, and have similar fight-or-flight reactions to perceived threats.

Training a horse not to jump away at a blowing piece of paper, for example, becomes a model for the soldier's own life. Fisher takes 75 soldiers a year — both active-duty and veterans — without cost to them or the government.

When it comes to helping with rehabilitation, equine-assisted therapy has become well known across the country. Texas' Horses for Heroes started in 2007 as a model, and nationwide a number of groups have followed, Fisher's included.

Search for purpose

Fisher, 53, has spent 40 years riding and training horses. After her first husband, an Air Force pilot, died in a car crash in 2006, she felt lost.

Seeking a purpose, she knew there was a need for helping soldiers with physical and emotional difficulties, and had heard of the Horses for Heroes program. The idea of starting a program took off after she married Bob Woelk, who became the co-founder.

The program was just what Heliker needed. Nothing else had worked, he said, not treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington, D.C., not therapy at a clinic in Texas, not the lockdown PTSD treatment facility in Oregon — not even his beloved service dog, Chopper, his companion to help with anxiety.

Fred's ability to mirror Heliker's own emotional state, requiring him to calm himself in order to do as little as brush Fred, has made it possible for Heliker to get used to staying in control.

Not long after meeting Fred last June, Heliker canceled his plans to die, and over the course of nine months went from taking 42 pills a day to four.

As far as Dr. Murray Raskind, a psychiatrist at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, is concerned, programs that get service members exercising and out among people are excellent.

"All of those things are good," he said. "Physical exercise relieves depression, anxiety and stress. It gets people out of their isolated state from being in their 'bunkers' ... and gets them interacting with other human beings and (in the case of the riding class) connecting with an animal. Many people feel more comfortable around animals."

But, Raskind said, it's not a substitute for conventional therapy.

Fisher started her program in 2010, the same year Madigan Army Medical Center closed its PTSD program, and when 18,000 service members were returning to Joint Base Lewis-McChord from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Soldiers are referred to Fisher's program by the Warrior Transition Battalion at the joint base.Other recreation programs are offered as well, but the riding program is among the most popular.

At Rainier, each rider starts slowly by learning to groom the horse, leading it and eventually riding.

Sessions last eight weeks and run four times a year. Participants can repeat sessions and remain in the program as long as they want. Ninety percent are active-duty soldiers, the rest veterans. Some stay on as volunteers, including Heliker.

"Through this equine-therapy program, I've seen soldiers building relationships, confidence and their self-esteem," said Phyllis Lang, an occupational therapist with the Warrior Transition Battalion.

Fisher donates the use of her eight horses and operates in donated arenas. She says the program costs $700 per rider, which she raises through donations.

Class awaits

Two times a week, Fisher arrives with a caravan of horse trailers. Heliker and other volunteers help unload horses, saddle them and lead them into the arena with a class of waiting service members — many who have faced the worst of war but are now uncertain about the 1,200- to 2,000-pound animal before them.

Heliker, who has spent nine years in the Air Force, stays in a camper on base. Living in a barracks is uncomfortable right now because he feels safest when alone or with a few trusted people.

While he continues to take part in therapy through the Wounded Warrior Battalion, he volunteers much of the week — mucking stalls, feeding horses and helping other service members. On Wednesdays, he rides with the advanced class.

He knows how easy it is to go the way some older vets from the Vietnam era did — disconnecting from everyone. So he talks to one, Ed Wilus, who also rides in the program. Wilus tells him how he gave up a family and job and spent years avoiding his problems by drinking. He ended up living under bridges.

Heliker began building a relationship with Fred when he realized the horse needed to trust him or the animal wouldn't cooperate. On days when Heliker was angry, Fred reflected it. Heliker had to calm himself down to get the horse to work with him or face spending the afternoon chasing Fred around a field.

Gradually, Heliker grew calmer all day long, not only trusting the horse but also forming a close bond with Fisher, whom he regards as a second mother. He is also rebuilding his relationship with his mother, whom he shut out of his life after he was injured.

Sue Heliker, who lives in Grand Valley, Pa., said the son who had been the family clown disappeared on the battlefield, replaced by the lost soul she saw at Walter Reed in January 2011.

He had stopped talking to her about convoys along the dangerous Highway 1 south of Baghdad — the stories had become so familiar to her, she felt she had traveled the highway.

He had stopped speaking of July 4, 2009, his birthday, when he was the lead gunner on a convoy going over a mountain pass in Afghanistan and his group was ambushed and trapped by small-arms fire for five hours. He didn't even tell her he had suffered a small stroke on his sixth deployment.

So when he was hospitalized for PTSD at Walter Reed last year, his parents gathered around him not knowing how to make things better.

"Look at me, Mom, look at my eyes. I'm dead," Heliker told his mother.

"I looked at him and knew there was no way I could save him," she said.

When he ended up at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and was referred to the riding program, his mother wondered if it would do any good. But after just three months, she could hear the change in him over the phone.

"You sound so peaceful. You're like the boy you were before you went into the military," she said. "How does a horse do that?"

"When I'm around the horse, he reminds me of a giant puppy dog," Heliker said. "You can hug him. You can talk to him. ... It's just relaxing. There's no pressure, just you and your best friend."

Even though he's sad his military career is ending — he expects to be discharged soon — he's beginning to think of new possibilities, such as training to become a horseshoer. For the first time in a long time, he's thinking of the future, and of horses that will be in it.

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PHAR LAP - A unicorn from Down Under

While the US struggled through the great Depression and pinned its hopes and dreams on a funny looking little hero of a horse named Seabiscuit, our friends in Australia and New Zealand had their own hero to carry them through the Depression. Their National Icon was a large, chestnut thoroughbred named Phar Lap.

Phar Lap was foaled on Oct. 4, 1926 in Seadown in the South Island of New Zealand. Sydney trainer, Harry Telford convinced wealthy American Businessman, David J. Davis, to buy him as a yearling, sight unseen based upon his pedigree. When he arrived in Australia he was a gangly, awkward colt with warts all over his face! When Davis saw him he was so angry he refused to spend another penny training him. So, Telford offered to train him for nothing in exchange for 2/3 of his winnings...if there would ever be any! Telford had him gelded so he would concentrate on his training better.

His first race he came in dead last and he didn't even place in his next three. However, as he matured, his achievements slowly started to accumulate and so did his reputation. In fact, criminals tried to shoot him early in the morning of Nov. 1, 1930. They missed and he went on to win the Melbourne Stakes that afternoon. Three days later he won the Melbourne Cup. In 1931, he won fourteen races in a row!

Eventually Telford had enough money to become joint owner of Phar Lap whose name comes from a Thai word that means "Lightening."

His nicknames included "Big Red," just like Man 'O War and Secretariat,) and "Australia's Wonder Horse."

In 1932 Davis insisted upon bringing Phar Lap to America to run in some races. He ran his last race in Tijuana Mexico for the largest purse ever offered in America. He was then taken to California.

On April 5, 1932, Phar Lap died by Hemorrhaging to death. A necropsy revealed that hte stomach and intestines were severely inflamed. Since that time, theories have abound as to his cause of death, the most sinister of which involves U.S. Gangsters who poisoned him so he wouldn't mess up their bookie businesses. In 2006, a team of researchers in Australia concluded that it was almost certain that Phar Lap was indeed poisoned with a large dose of Arsenic. This supported the Gangster theory. However, Arsenic was a common tonic in those days and most horses were given it in small doses. In 2008, a study of six hairs from Phar Lap's mane suggested that he was given a massive dose of arsenic 30 to 40 hours before his death. Very Suspicious I would say!

Phar Lap's remains have been divided up between his two countries. His Hide is in the Melbourne Museum, His Skeleton in in the Museum of New Zealand and his enormous heart, like Secretariat's, is in the National Museum of Australia.

He is an icon in both Australia and New Zealand and a worthy nominee for Unicornhood!

Here is a clip from the 1983 movie about Phar Lap titled "Phar Lap: Heart of a Nation."