May the Horse Live in Me

One of the less than lovely things about writing a book is acknowledging that your favourite lines of enquiry sometimes just don’t fit into the finished product. They are the wildest, most fascinating goose chases, but they just will not bend and be shaped into that book thing you’ve built. They won’t be twined into …

What Behoofs You

I hope this is a hoax. The Mail is reporting that Betfair have commissioned some “limited edition” boots in the shape of horses’ hoofs to mark the 100th anniversary of the Cheltenham Festival. Click here for hideosity. UPDATE: a commenter on the Guardian points out that they look like a bad rip-off of these artworks.

The Pony Cull

UPDATE: I’ve added a second post here with a historical perspective on ponies on the moor. A tip off about the mass culling of Dartmoor Hill ponies appeared on Horse and Hound On-Line yesterday, and appears to have been taken up by “Daily Mail Reporter”: Over 700 Dartmoor hill ponies have been killed in the …