Looking to get into my new equestrian series? Curious what equestrian fiction is all about? Think cozy fiction with barns and horses and people who care about animals. I have a new novella set in the Heart Compass Stables series that would be a delightful way to dive in. Meet the first boarder at the stable, get to know Morgan and Alina a bit more, and discover what it’s like to build a boarding stable from the ground up.
A quick easy read that’s designed to leave you with warm fuzzy feelings, and maybe just a bit of horse hair on your clothes.
Blurb
When Morgan created Heart Compass Stables, she had a new vision. A place where horse owners would be accepted regardless of whether they rode or not or what discipline they chose to pursue. A place where everyone would be united by the love of the horse and doing what was best for them. She finally has a place to begin building agility obstacles so she could work with her mare. Between getting her horse used to the new objects in the arena and her first boarder’s uncertainty, Morgan isn’t sure she’s done the right thing. But when a mare needs a soft landing and Morgan meets a new potential boarder, she learns the heart isn’t wrong. Sometimes it just takes some agility to navigate the path forward.
Author’s note: This novella takes place immediately after the first book in the series, The Heart Guides The Way, and right before Holiday Compass. It can be read as a standalone story to introduce you to the series.
Download this story from my website or Bookfunnel.
Excerpt
The chestnut mare looked as if someone had taken parts from a few different horses and put them together. The large roman nose and feathering on the fetlocks testified to draft horse breeding at some point, but the shoulder angle was rather steep and the withers too sharp to make a smooth riding horse. She needed more muscling over her hindquarters, and though her owner had called her a teenager, Morgan wondered if the mare shouldn’t have some blood work done.
She was well-enough tempered, happy to hang out in the quarantine pen, able to hear Desi and Dorada but not come into contact with them. Two more weeks and she could be turned out with them, and Morgan worried that she’d be too laid back. Desi, now that she didn’t have to compete with other horses, had settled herself right at the top of the pecking order, though comfortable enough with Dorada that the two mares didn’t fight over food.
Morgan stared at the pool noodles and PVC pipes laid out on the lawn in front of her. She’d been trying to put together this agility obstacle for an hour now, and for some reason the pool noodles just wouldn’t stay on the pipe. She’d even put it together with T joints so that there would be something to hang the pool noodles on before securing them to the uprights. Even so, the top pool noodle slid down at an odd angle and just didn’t look right.
She played the video on her phone for what had to be the tenth time. The video made it look easy; it wasn’t. She prided herself on being able to take care of mechanical things, had even done some construction in the barn. And yet, this just wasn’t working.
She glanced at Desi grazing in the pasture. She’d hoped practicing agility would be something they could do together, a way to keep the mare engaged without riding her. Finding cones and poles had been easy. She’d even put together a bridge and bought some jump blocks to make a small cross rail. The obstacle to walk through—sideways pool noodles—proved to be more difficult. And she needed to have everything set up before she practiced. She didn’t want to be halfway through setting up a course and then discover she needed to build an obstacle.
Maybe she should give it up for today. She got the obstacle mostly built. Perhaps doing a web search might come up with ways to fix it. She stood and started to gather up her tools. Then she had an idea. There was a roll of wire in the garage. It was thin, bendable, and she didn’t know what it had been used for, but it might be the exact stiffness she needed to hold the pool noodles straight.
She hurried to the garage, grabbed the wire, then also found a pair of wire cutters and even a small nail punch that would probably make a perfectly sized hole in the pool noodle. She returned to her spot on the lawn and get to work. After thirty minutes she stood up the pvc pole, making sure it still remained upright under its own power. The pool noodles stood straight out like a turnstile, forcing her and Desi to have to walk through them.
“Aha!” She exclaimed. “I fixed it.”
Desi looked up from her grazing, snorted, then resumed eating.
“Fine. Don’t be impressed, but I fixed it,” she told her horse, then started laughing at her silliness.
She glanced at the new mare again. Her name was Honey, and it seemed to suit her. They’d arranged for pasture boarding, with Galina, ‘Lina to most everyone, providing the grain she was supposed to receive each day, and she hoped ‘Lina stopped by with another bag of feed because they were getting low.
Morgan had consulted with Alina about the mare, and they’d agreed that hopefully with good quality hay and the grain that the mare would put on weight. Her vet records said that she’d had her teeth done a few months ago, and the mare didn’t give any signs that her teeth bothered her when she ate. She’d been on a good deworming regimen and was up to date on her vaccines. It was possible wherever she’d been before she just hadn’t gotten the feed she’d needed. The mare’s skinniness bothered Morgan. She hated to see ribby horses and hoped they’d be able to find out the reason soon. She thought about suggesting to ‘Lina that maybe they should draw some blood to check for Cushings.
She finished her work on the obstacle, then put her tools away. She carried the obstacle in pieces to the barn, then set it up in the open area that she was going to turn into an arena. It looked like it fit there next to the cones and flags, the poles and bridge. She was getting quite the assortment of agility and trail obstacles together. If nothing else, she’d be able to offer those amenities to her boarders. She’d had a few calls for people looking to board their horses, but as soon as they heard about the lack of heated stalls or any arena space, they usually passed. She wished she could offer them those things.
