THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy | Blog – Page 9 – Eclipsed by Shadow • The Golden Spark • Into the Dark

The Great Horse Nero

“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.

Shorty and the Hounds

“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, the reluctant Knight’s destrier

“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.

The Great Horses: Targa, the Mongolian warpony

“Her grandfather had a saying: sometimes you can trust a horse and sometimes you can’t—
and sometimes you have to.”

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.

The Great Chariot Horse

“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 Great Horse: Scythian Royal Escort

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.

Horse sacrificed in a Scythian tomb (700 BC) from Eclipsed by Shadow, Book #1 of THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy

The Great ‘Cave’ Horse

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.

The gray "cave" mare from 20,000 BC in THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy (Book 1: Eclipsed by Shadow)

20,000 BC: The Cave Horse

The unusual thing about the first Great Horse Meagan meets in history is that it isn’t unusual at all. Meagan doesn’t realize at first that she has traveled time or that she is dealing with a prehistoric herd of horses.

Humans could have tamed horses tens of thousands of years earlier than actually occurred, because horses evolved much earlier than modern man. There was no inner difference between a horse Meagan would have encountered in 20,000 BC and a horse today: it is humans that have changed.

In the growing light, Meagan could see the horse was a mare. The animal’s round belly was tucked into thin, drawn quarters and her cream-colored coat was mottled with patches of darker gray. The scrubby mane and tail were chewed off in spots, and her coat was covered in scars and puffy lumps.

“Poor thing, no one’s taking care of you.” Meagan’s voice was loud in this quiet place and many small eyes were quickly upon her. She decided to rinse off her coating of dust and grime, and knelt in the cool water to gently splash her arms. She inhaled deeply, drawing in rich scents of animals and earth.

Warm breath smelling of cut lawn blew on her neck. Meagan blinked in surprise but did not move. She thought of something else her grandfather used to say: “Horses are as unpredictable as people, only they have more sense.”

Meagan let the flutter of horse nostrils explore her hair as she reached slowly for the mare’s shaggy withers. The small gray horse half-closed her eyes as Meagan scratched gently to imitate the nuzzling greeting of equines. “A horse got me into this,” she told the mare softly. “Maybe you could get me out…”

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy.

Eclipsed by Shadow (Book #1 of the trilogy) won national awards including the Eric Hoffer Award for best Young Adult Fiction, and the Mom’s Choice Award for best family-friendly Young Adult Fantasy.

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Links:

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