THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy | Blog
Eclipsed by Shadow • The Golden Spark • Into the Dark
A new page has been created to display all the bookcover artwork! The artwork series offers a journey through history.
Marti Adrian Gregory is the trilogy’s artist and creator of all the original historical figures from the story … each of the Great Horses can be seen together, now that the work is complete.
Author Note: This is one of my favorite Great Horses, Dover Beach (“Beecher”) … the horse that did anything you asked. Maybe because equine generosity is the sacred truth at the center of true horsemanship, or maybe I’m reminded that some of the greatest horses live in memory alone now. Yet how joyfully alive when they return! Horses are always, also, a metaphor.
“Meagan tried to be nonchalant as she looked around the new setting and realized she still wore the pink dress! … A nudge pushed the small of her back. She turned to see the grizzled muzzle of a horse poking between the rails of a fence. The muzzle withdrew and the animal put its head over the fence, nickering softly. It was an aged horse, coming to the end of his working life.”
“Meagan & Beecher” by artist Marti Adrian Gregory for The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy. The Canadian artist has illustrated each era in Meagan’s journey.
In this final artwork for the trilogy, the artist illustrates both the scene and theme of the story: the horse has been the same throughout history. The settings changed, not the relationship … not the love.
You can see more artwork by Marti Adrian Gregory on her own website: http://www.martiadrian.com/
“Noah and Moses” …. 1820’s English farm team at a Horse Pull, by artist Marti Adrian Gregory for “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy.
The Canadian artist has illustrated each era in Meagan’s journey, researching the different periods to ensure historical accuracy.
You can see more artwork by Marti Adrian Gregory on her own website: http://www.martiadrian.com/
“Surging, the music rose and Nero gathered himself and … exploded into the air! Aloft in a mercurial arc, the horse struck backward with both feet as if to kick himself asunder. He pulled the earth under his hooves and rose again, ripping the air behind him in a display of disciplined power…”The premier of NEW artwork by Marti Adrian Gregory for The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy! The scene is from The Golden Spark (Book 2) … Meagan restores a mistreated dressage mount to the manège (dressage arena), where he becomes a star performer.
“For riding out in the field, Meagan’s favorite mount was a smoke-colored dun gelding she called Shorty, for the obvious reason. The horse’s stubby legs and thick neck allowed only so much of the flexibility needed in dressage. Though he ambled around the sand arena gamely, Shorty only came into his own when galloping across open fields.”The premier of NEW artwork by Marti Adrian Gregory for The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy! The scene is from The Golden Spark (Book 2) … Meagan’s borrowed 17th-century mount is spooked by dogs who give chase.
“Chouchou started down the Lane with promising speed, but when he scented the carefully laid turf—obviously a thoughtful buffet—he stopped and dropped his head.”Marti Adrian Gregory‘s miniature of the 13th-century knight Henryk and his trusty steed, Chou Chou, is a humorous rendition of what Meagan calls the “dynamic duo.”
Chou Chou means ‘teacher’s pet’ in French, a name knight Henryk bestows upon his dream mount―a Great Horse of Europe, a destrier―who goes very slowly.
“Her grandfather had a saying: sometimes you can trust a horse and sometimes you can’t—The 4th Great Horse Meagan meets in history is a no-nonsense Mongolian warpony she dubs ‘Targa’ … the two bond together in an era when a good horse could make the difference between life and death.
This miniature artwork by Marti Adrian Gregory captures the close partnership the pair develop as they try to outrun the Mongol army and survive medieval life in Europe.
“An eruption of applause broke the spell, swelling as the Imperial team galloped onto the arena floor.”
This striking and highly-detailed miniature artwork by Marti Adrian Gregory shows the personality of each chariot horse from the story! The 3rd Great Horse in history is part of the Emperor’s Quadriga (4-horse chariot).
The team is intentionally made of stallions, according to the custom of the times. The horse on the right, the iguales, is a fleet-footed, skittish stallion of early Arabian blood named Saxon … eager Ajax and trusty Helios are teamed to the yoke … and the terror of the Circus and source of the Emperor’s trouble is the leftmost horse, the popular funales called Cerberus.
The 2nd historic Great Horse wore a headdress according to Scythian custom, but Meagan (and readers) never know him: the animal was sacrificed with a tombful of horses and human attendants to be an escort for a Scythian chieftain in the after-world.
The first historic Great Horse from the trilogy is a gentle prehistoric mare. At first, Meagan doesn’t know she is dealing with a ‘cave’ horse–equine nature has not changed in many thousands of millennia. It is humans who have changed.
