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5 Things in Equine Fiction I’m Tired Of + Cover Love book tag

As a proud horse-lover and rider for over five years, I’ve read quite a bit of horse themed fiction in my life.

Enough to know what I like…and what I dislike. 

Today is about my dislikes. 😉 The cliches in the horse fiction world that I’m tired of…

01. Main character’s mother has died (most likely in a horse-related freak accident)

I mean really….

Probably 87% of horse books I’ve read, the MC’s mom is gone. Only the mom. Heaven-forbid that someone would defy this cliche and make it the dad instead. Or *gasp* even that the main character might have both parents still in her life!

I understand the need to make the reader somewhat sympathetic to the protagonist, but this is a way too common method in horse fiction.

 

02. The snobby rich girl (that rides English)

As a die-hard English-style riding fan, I might take slight offense at this. 80% (yes there will be a few percentages in this post. *nods* #maths) have a snobby rich girl.

And she rides English.

‘Cause only snobby people ride English.

And English riders are wimps and abuse their horses.

*tries very hard not to go on a rant about how false this is*

*fails*

ARG 99% (yup, another percentage) OF RIDERS ARE NOT AFRAID TO GET DIRTY, FALL OFF, DIE FROM HEAT STROKE, GET THEIR TOES STEPPED ON, MUCK OUT STALLS AND END THE DAY WITH BEING A SWEATY SMELLY MESS (both English and Western riders). This stereotyping of English riders get old fast.

*deep breath*

ahem…pardon me…

 

03. The snobby rich girl’s snobby expensive horse

‘Cause the horse has to match the rider’s personality right? I mean, if the rider is mean, the horse she bought is automatically going to be mean right? Also, the protagonist’s horse and the snobby girl’s horse are enemies.

And, if a horse is super expensive and from quality breeding stock, that automatically makes it a snobby, cranky, stubborn, sour horse.

*nods* it’s truth.

 

04. Horse that MC likes will connect with her within a few days, or maybe even instantly (and will hate everyone else)

I totally understand that people can hit it right off with an untrained wild horse. They just click and their relationship blossoms into being best buddies.

But most of the time…the trust process takes hard work and a long time. Whisper,  by Lauren K. Lotter gets this right pretty well. The protagonist had to work hard to earn an abused mare’s trust. It could take weeks (or even months) for an abused or wild horse to trust a person enough to even touch them.

 

05. Protagonist has to defy parent(s) or some other person in authority over her in order to ride favorite horse (probably in a competition)

I think this cliche is mostly in movies. But really…can’t the protagonist resist the urge to go against whatever person in authority over her whenever they tell her not to do something?!

Example time: In the movie Second Chances, the protagonist (Sunny Matthews or something-or-other) is getting over a bad leg injury from a terrible car accident. Her family moves next to a stable. She meets an injured horse named Ginger. Sunny recovers better based off the hopes of riding this horse. Doctor says it’s okay for her to ride Ginger. Ginger recovers too. Sunny rides Ginger.

They continue riding together under the instruction of Ben, the owner of the stable. One day riding, it begins to rain. Ben tells Sunny to stop riding as a safety precaution (see where I’m going now?). As soon as Ben is out of sight, Sunny goes right on ahead (’cause there’s a competition coming up, I think). And this is barrel racing, mind you. Not a good idea to do in a slippery arena, is my guess.

Long story short: Ginger slips in arena. Falls. Sunny falls. Both of them could’ve have re-injured their previously injured legs.

Sunny’s fault.

She should’ve listened.

But she didn’t.

BUT NO SHE JUST HAD TO RIDE BECAUSE SHE LOVES IT SO MUCH AND CAN’T STOP NOT EVEN TO THINK ABOUT THE HORSE’S SLIPPERY FOOTING OR THE FACT THAT THEY BOTH ARE GETTING OVER A BAD LEG INJURY! 

*shakes head sadly*

 

Now I’m sure you’ve been listening to me rant for too long now, so I’ll stop there. 😉 Who knows how long I could go talking about horses…

 

Now onto the tag!

The Cover Love Book Tag

I was tagged by the awesome Lilian @ Green Tea with Books. I was so excited to be tagged to do this, because I really love cover art. Despite the saying “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” I, uh, kinda do that. 😛

Rules:

  1. Thank the blogger that tagged you and link back to their blog (Thanks again, Lilian! <3 )
  2. Create 7 new #CoverLove questions or just use mine
  3. Answer the 7 questions your nominator gave you
  4. Nominate 7 other bloggers and let them know they’ve been tagged

 

 

01. Cover you loved the moment you saw it

fawkes book pic

FAWKES! (by Nadine Brandes). I love all the blue on it, and it looks so pretty sitting on my shelf with the other Nadine books. 🙂

 

02. A cover that makes you think of your childhood

little house book pic

I have to mention this again, even though I already have for the Bibliophile Sweater tag I did a while back. These books were a big part of my childhood reading and inspired me a lot as an early writer. I mean, I wrote a huge book when I was 12 basically copying their stories. XD

 

03. Aesthetic goals book cover

the blood race book pic

Lilian gave The Blood Race by K. A. Emmons as her answer, and I have to agree with her. I don’t own this nor have I read it (yet), but the cover is so epic.

 

#4: Your favorite cover on a book you hated

defier book pic.jpg

‘Hate’ is probably too strong a word for my answers, but Defier, by Mandy Fender. This cover is what really pulled me in (all of the covers in the series look super cool). I really wanted to like the story, and though I appreciate the Christian elements, it felt poorly written, and the ending was completely ridiculous.

 

05. A book that hasn’t come out yet

romanov book pic.jpg

Romanov, by Nadine Brandes. This cover is just….*sighs* I just want it, guys. I’m not really into the magic stuffs, but I would buy this just for the purpose of seeing the beauty on my shelf. #bookishcrazy

 

06. A pink cover

storm book pic.jpg

Storm, by Evan Angler. This is honestly the closest thing to pink I have on my shelf. I’m not a big fan of pink, so book covers with this color dominating the front usually don’t interest me too much. 😉

 

07. A cover of an autographed book (or one you’d like to get autographed)

merlin's shadow book pic.jpg

Merlin’s Shadow, by Robert Treskillard. I got this and several others autographed at the Realm Makers conference I went to.

 

And that is all! Here are the questions I made up, or you can use the ones I did.

  1. A book cover with the main character on the front
  2. A blue cover
  3. A cover with a seasonal theme
  4. A cover you love on a book you haven’t read yet
  5. The worst cover you’ve ever seen
  6. The cover of a book by an author you met in real life (or really want to)
  7. A cover with your favorite instrument on it

Now I’m tagging…

Hannah @ The Catwing Has Landed

Mariposa (& Aberdeen 😉 ) @ Dino’s Digest

Penny @ Southern Bell With Stories to Tell

Jane @ Jane Maree

Abigail @ Books, Life & Christ

Gray @ Writing is Life

J. A. Penrose @ Annette of Hidden Knowledge

I hope you enjoyed this tag! 😀

 

Write on,

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Are you tired of some of these cliches too? What changes would you like to see in horse fiction? What’s your favorite horsey book? What’s your most anticipated read releasing in 2019?

Cliches in Horse Fiction I'm Tired Of-PINTEREST GRAPHIC (1).png

 

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26 Comments

  • Reply Aberdeen the Authorosaurus

    *humbly thanks you for the tag* 😃 I look forward to participating—tags are such fun! 😊

    And even though I don’t read horse books, I can sympathize with all these cliches because that’s basically every horse movie I’ve seen. 😆

    January 26, 2019 at 8:39 am
    • Reply Jenna

      You’re welcome! I look forward to seeing your answers. 😀
      *nods*

      January 26, 2019 at 10:02 am
  • Reply Meredith

    Those cliches are so true! I feel like they’re in every horse book/movie I’ve ever seen! Great job!

    January 26, 2019 at 9:06 am
    • Reply Jenna

      Yes, we need somethin’ different goin’ around in the horse fiction world. 😉 Thank you!

      January 26, 2019 at 10:02 am
  • Reply Penny Wood

    BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I feel these horse clichés on a personal level here XD I’ve read lots of horse books and have watched a ton of horse movies and have always been interested in horses in general. (One day I’d love to learn how to ride.) But seriously every one of these cliches are SO true and need to be changed ASAP. Someone should write a book that turns all these clichés on their head and write a book that really shows what it’s like to be an equestrian (is that the right word?)
    Also, thank you!!! You’re the sweetest for tagging me!!! I super appreciate it dear!!! ❤❤❤❤❤

    January 26, 2019 at 9:53 am
    • Reply Jenna

      YES, I KNOOOOOW! They are getting SO tiring. And yes, equestrian is the right word 😉 You should definitely learn how to ride some day! It’s super duper fun!
      Your’e welcome! I hope you enjoy it. 🙂

      January 26, 2019 at 10:01 am
  • Reply Lilian

    OH MY GOODNESS THIS POST ahhhhh! I agree with you so much- I get SO tired of reading these cliches that I don’t… read horseish books anymore. xD But recommendations, please? if you have some good ones. 😀

    and AHHH YOU DID THE TAG! I loved reading your answers. <3

    January 26, 2019 at 1:45 pm
    • Reply Jenna

      I totally get that; I don’t read much horse fiction anymore either. But if you’d like some suggestions, I really like Marguerite Henry’s books. And the Winnie the Horse Gentler series (but that isn’t totally free of these cliches 😉 ).
      YES, IT WAS FUN! 😀

      January 26, 2019 at 1:53 pm
  • Reply Ariel Ashira

    Haha, I LOVE THIS POST SO MUCH!!! ITS SO TRUE! This is a lot of the reasons I dont like to try reading much horse fiction. I like Marguerite Henry a lot, though!

    January 26, 2019 at 5:58 pm
    • Reply Jenna

      😀 YES, HER BOOKS ARE THE BEST! 😀

      January 26, 2019 at 6:03 pm
  • Reply Merie Shen

    yes that is TRUTH right there!! Too much of these horse fiction tropes these days! I was just ticking off all the modern horse books I’ve read and I can’t believe HOW right you are 😉

    January 26, 2019 at 7:41 pm
    • Reply Jenna

      I know, they’re EVERYWHERE! 😉

      January 26, 2019 at 7:44 pm
  • Reply Chelsea R. H.

    As a horse crazy kid, I always loved reading horsey fiction, but honestly, every single one of these clichés have pretty much driven me away from reading about horses. Though, I think you forgot the drunk/cynical horse trainer who becomes a better man through the teen girl who may or may not be his granddaughter trope.
    I’ve always liked reading boy horse books though. The Black Stallion was always one of my favourite, and War Horse and Marguerite Henry’s books. The Silver Brumby is fantastic as well, though it leans much more to a realistic and occasionally brutal version of things (I’m not sure how available it would be in America, but if you could find a copy on Amazon or something, I completely recommend it! So good, and so Australian!)
    And in regards to the taking months to gentle a horse, I have a race horse we bought five or six years ago now and he is still terrified of men and will only come within touching distance of my mum, my sister and I. My mum is the only one who can really work with him. He’s really nervous and scarred by whatever the racing industry did to him and I doubt some thirteen year old with an attitude problem would be able to change that 😛 Also, there’s another good Australian book called The Broken Saddle, where the barefoot kid trains his horse over quite a long period of time (only to ride bareback as well). It had a sad ending though 🙂

    January 27, 2019 at 7:23 pm
    • Reply Jenna

      Yeah why do authors have to make it so horse-loving people don’t want to read horse fiction? Well, I guess it’s up to us writers to change the cliche trends. 😛
      Yes, I really liked The Black Stallion too! (and the movies, but they’re not as good as the books). I first saw the War Horse movie, THEN read the book, but I love them both. 🙂 (the movie makes me cry, for goodness sake…) I’ll have to look up The Silver Brumby and The Broken Saddle though; I haven’t heard of those.
      Oh, I don’t think I knew you had a race horse! That’s so cool. Hopefully he’ll continue to make progress with getting used to people, poor thing.

      January 28, 2019 at 11:57 am
  • Reply Chelsea R. H.

    Also, might I steal the Cover Love tag, please?

    January 27, 2019 at 7:29 pm
    • Reply Jenna

      Sure! 😀

      January 28, 2019 at 11:58 am
  • Reply Eliza LeBlanc

    As a fellow horse-lover, I think you hit the nail on the head with this one 😆. I steered clear of cheap horse novels when I was younger and devoted my time to Misty of Chincoteague and The Black Stallion, something I’m very thankful for after reading your thoughts!! 😂

    And I love this tag. I’m definitely one of those cover-judgers too…hehe!

    January 29, 2019 at 2:00 pm
    • Reply Jenna

      Awesome! *high fives fellow horse-lover* Yes, I LOVED the Misty of Chincoteague books too. I probably read them several times. 😀

      January 29, 2019 at 3:35 pm
  • Reply Esmeralda

    Also being a reader of tons of equine fiction and a on and off rider and horse owner, I totally agree with you observations! I have ridden both western and english and love them both for different reasons, I drives me crazy when people think one is better then the other (which unfortunately most riders of either style are absolutely certain their style is the best) so I could rant with you. 😀

    Great tag as well!!

    Esmeralda

    February 19, 2019 at 12:31 pm
    • Reply Jenna

      Glad to find someone else who agrees with the whole riding style pride thing! 😉 Both styles are equally cool and have their own unique aspects. 🐎

      February 19, 2019 at 1:28 pm
  • Reply H.S. Kylian

    I’d like to add the movie Dreamer to the mix…and RACING STRIPES YOU DON’T GET A PASS EITHER. I know, it’s about a zebra…BUT STILL.

    February 25, 2019 at 10:36 pm
    • Reply Jenna

      AH YES! I’ve seen both of those; know what you mean!!! 😂

      February 26, 2019 at 9:47 am
      • Reply H.S. Kylian

        Honestly though, someone needs to write a story where it goes in the complete opposite direction! Now THAT I’d read!

        February 28, 2019 at 11:52 pm
        • Reply Jenna

          Yeah, totally! I’d definitely read that too. 😉

          February 28, 2019 at 11:57 pm

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