This may be the best question of them all! The title of the book Many Brave Fools is based on a mnemonic taught to riders in order to remember letter markers in a dressage ring. What does this title mean to you and how does it capture the heart of your memoir? This memoir had …
MBF Q&A: Putting Life Into Perspective
Love this question... In your book you follow your evolution from green horse girl to competitive rider, often focusing on the frustrations and the falls along the way. What is important about recognising your perceived failures as you set yourself this new set of challenges? Unlike the rest of my life, whether it be in …
Chris Pratt Talks to Raptors the Way I Talk to Horses
BLAST FROM THE PAST Here's a post from 2015; my reaction to Chris Pratt's 'dino whispering' is still strong. #LOL *** 'WHAT DID I JUST SAY?' As a media professional, I should probably know more about Jurassic World than I do, which is mainly not much, which is because I squealed and jumped and hid …
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MBF Q&A: What Is Codependency?
It's not just about horses; another theme is living with someone else's substance misuse, and how to heal from one's own addiction to control. Many Brave Fools you give us a glimpse into the chaos of your marriage to an addict as well as detailing your growing understanding of your own struggle with codependency. What is …
#10YearChallenge: Better Late Than Never
Late to the 2009-2019 party, but this is pretty cool. Yep. Ten years: That's how long it took to get offa my computer and into your hands. On the left: the very beginning stages of chapter three. On the right: the printed page. Ten years doesn't feel like a long time right now, and in …
MBF Q&A: Horses as Self-Help
This is interesting: one of the main things I learned in 12-step, and one of the first things I learned as a horsewoman was not to force solutions. Here, I talk about how self-help and the programme worked out for me in the end — largely once I realised that I couldn't make them work... You …
The Arrival of the Book: A Storyboard
Ugh: hate getting those 'sorry we missed you' notes from the postman. I was going to go and collect it before I went into work last Thursday but, certain it was the actual embodiment of spam [while I no longer review books, I still occasionally get the odd sportsman memoir] I didn't bother. I'd have …
MBF Q&A: Why horses?
I'm delighted to share some insights as to why I wrote Many Brave Fools: A Story of Addiction, Dysfunction, Codependency... and Horses. I'll be posting several excerpts from a Q&A I did with my publishers, Trafalgar Square Books ; here's the first! When you decided to “ride horses,” you were 42 and had never been …
Getting Better: What Is, Or Who Are?
We've had three Wednesday lessons so far this year and they have been blisteringly excellent. At the end of every lesson we've been like, 'That was good' and then tried to dissect exactly why it was: 1] So much work done! Warming up in open order has gotten productive (not just mooching around behind another horse …
Good Choice
Gale force winds greeted us, our first Saturday back. I don't exaggerate: Things get pretty blowy round here, and speeds of up to 100km/hour are a feature of January. These weren't quite that strong but still; the elements are always an element when you've got a lesson outside. There are two lessons every hour of …
MANY BRAVE FOOLS 