having James purchase Ghost and the second horse he later gives Lucy as a wedding present from a friend who has something of an experimental breeding stable.

This is a great way to deal. Fanwank has taught us well.

Arabs (who are now generally overbred and scary-looking) about a hand shorter?

Everything I came to love about Arabians I learned first in King of the Wind, where a good horse measured equally from withers to nose, and withers to tail.

Thanks, Deb. I was hoping it would work that way.

Thoroughbred Heritage's Foundation Sire section.

Racing sites *are* the best way to get information on the oriental influence on English horseflesh. The breed-specific Arabian sites are head-up-the-ass romantics about it.

Maybe I should change "seventeen-hand hunters" to just "tall hunters" or somesuch. Other than that, I'm happy to say I think I've successfully avoided all of those horse pet peeves. For example, I'm so sick of heroes on big black stallions that no one else can control that I deliberately gave James a 14.2- or 15-hand gray mare that, although fleetfooted and spirited, is good-natured, promiscuous in begging for carrots and sugar lumps, and could be managed by any experienced rider.

Everything I came to love about Arabians I learned first in King of the Wind, where a good horse measured equally from withers to nose, and withers to tail.

My favorite book as a child, that was.

I think mine was probably Twenty Gallant Horses, or Thoroughbred Breeding and Nicking Patterns.

I was (more than I am now), extremely pedantic on the subject of equines, read far more fact than fiction or fictionalized accounts, and would on occasion get into knock-down drag-out brawls as a result.

Hmm. Went to Amazon to look for Tweny Gallant Horses. Three used copies, all ex-library. The "good" copy is $78. The "very good," $177.

Beverly, go bid on this.

[link]

Also, check out [link] which has a copy for as low (!) as $40.00.

Never, ever use Amazon as your sole source for a used book.

No, Betsy is smart about this.(And of course, bunches of other things, too.)

Thanks, Betsy! I have it marked and I'm "watching" it. We'll see how the bidding goes.

I never use Amazon as the only resource. But it's useful for getting a ballpark price, an ISBN, and if I'm lucky, a synopsis and some reader feedback. I should probably be ashamed of how I use Amazon's resources cavalierly, and then so seldom purchase from them.

But Amazon's "ballpark price" is really, really high. You'd be better off using Half's ballpark price.