‘The Legend of the Great Horse’ trilogy – Page 12 – THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy

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:

» See All Excerpts from The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy.

» Read the 1st Chapter online.

» See the Media Kit for more information about the trilogy.

» Order Books

Check out the trilogy’s page on Facebook!

The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy - book cover images

Canadian artist Marti Adrian to complete the Great Horse series

Promise had grown into glossy youth and looked every inch a thoroughbred. Her slender neck swiveled as she eyed the crowd, velvet nostrils flared. The air around the delicate filly seemed to quiver.―Eclipsed by Shadow

Into the Dark - Book #3 of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy - Bookcover (straight-on, drop shadow) 142px by 203 px

Canadian artist Marti Adrian is soon to complete the Great Horse series with the horses from The Golden Spark!

The popular equine artist painted the special “miniatures” for the 1st and 3rd books of the Legend of the Great Horse trilogy with the plan of finishing–we anticipate new Adrian artwork soon!

The news is an inspiration to launch a series about all the Great Horses from the story … starting with the main horse, Promise, who takes to more than the air with the greatest of ease.

The Great Horse: Promise Promise is the main character Meagan’s horse, born at the beginning of the trilogy as a palomino foal.

She is an American Thoroughbred–a remarkable breed, one with inner fire and superhuman abilities to contain her spirit.

Meagan loved and took care of Promise from her beginnings as an orphan foal, but knew to respect her strength as the filly grew into a mare.

It is only unfortunate such love led Meagan to expect too much from Promise, so she forgot her horsemanship … much to her discomfort.

Eclipsed by Shadow (Book #1) excerpt: The Tournament Knight

This excerpt is from Eclipsed by Shadow, Book #1 of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy, an adventure through history―on horseback.

The scene is set in 1240, Eastern Europe, when Meagan first discovers she is riding with the Mongolian army of Genghis Khan.

“The great art of riding,” the Knight began in a loud voice,
waving his right hand as he spoke “is to keep…”
Here the sentence ended as suddenly as it began,
as the Knight fell heavily on top of his head
exactly in the path where Alice was walking.

– Lewis Carrol (1832-98) Through the Looking Glass

Qualifying rounds took place in the outer fields, where the tilting courts took all comers. It was Henryk’s chance, and Meagan did everything she could to help. Chouchou had never been sleeker and his old saddle had been soaped and oiled into new life. Looking at Henryk sitting on Chouchou, his blond head sticking out from borrowed chain mail that hung in loops, Meagan felt the glow of a horse show mother.

“Here, Henryk,” she said, handing up his shield. “And remember to keep your heels down. That’s why you keep losing your stirrups.” She took a dilapidated lance with peeling paint from where it leaned against a tree.

“Merci, Meagan.” Henryk adjusted the lance so it stood straight in the air, balanced on its stirrup rest.

There was only one thing left to do, and Meagan tried once more to persuade Henryk against it. “Do we have to, Henryk? It just seems so … well, stupid.”

“Tak! Meagan, please the foldblind.”

Meagan looked out over the fields filled with blindfolded horses. There was no barrier between the contestants as there would be in later years of the joust. At this point in history, two knights simply rode their blindfolded mounts together with all possible speed.

“It is just so dangerous, Henryk.” Chouchou scratched his massive head against Meagan as she tied the blindfold over his eyes. “It looks silly, too.”

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Links:

» See All Excerpts from The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy.

» Read the 1st Chapter online.

» See the Media Kit for more information about the trilogy.

» Order Books

Check out the trilogy’s page on Facebook!

INTO THE DARK: paperback published Dec 3rd

Galloping into view … the paperback version of Into the Dark, book #3 of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy is officially being published December 3rd!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Robert Hall
R_Hall@MicronPress.com

Into the Dark, Book III of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy by Award-Winning Author John Royce Releases December 3rd

LOST IN HISTORY: Equestrian heroine gallops home

BOSTON, MA – Nov 27, 2011 | Saddle up for another gallop across history! The paperback edition of Into the Dark, the third and newest installment in award-winning author John Allen Royce’s Legend of the Great Horse trilogy will be released December 3 through Micron Press.

The 280-page book continues the epic equestrian adventures of 17 year-old Meagan Roberts, warned by a mysterious elderly eccentric, named Mrs. Bridgestone, that her beloved filly, Promise, was a legendary Great Horse come to “wing its rider into the dark.” The young equestrienne and her horse find themselves catapulted back through history, relying on little more than Meagan’s intrepid horsemanship to help them survive, as they “jump” ever closer towards home and their own time.

Royce’s first two installments in the trilogy, Eclipsed by Shadow and The Golden Spark, chronicle – with historic and equestrian accuracy – encounters with 20,000 B.C. horse-hunters, 100 A.D. Roman chariot racing, 13th century Mongolian hordes, knights, conquistadors, and courts of the Renaissance. Into the Dark opens with Meagan, separated from Promise, leaving 18th century England just as she learns the secret to finding the filly and awakening in 1860s Texas, where she must continue her search for clues to the Great Horse legend.

The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy has won consistent praise and awards for storytelling interwoven with historic accuracy about peoples and lives of ancient times. The Golden Spark earned the 2012 Written Arts Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy and was a 2011 Independent Publisher Highlighted Title. Royce’s first Great Horse book, Eclipsed by Shadow, won the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Young Adult Fiction and Mom’s Choice Award for Young Adult Fantasy, earning praise from US Review of Books as “Thrilling and intelligent fantasy,” and “Page-turning… a vivid historical tale through the ages,” from the Historical Novel Society.

“I started writing these books from a long-standing desire to share horses with the public, mixed with a feeling of alarm over the loss of history in our society,” says Royce. The genesis of his Great Horses began with an equestrian-targeted television project that, he explains, “Never got off the ground. The story began to ‘take the bit between its teeth’ and become much more than I first imagined. Now I see the story as a way to show the fascinating partnership we have with horses and their deep connection to human history.”

Again illustrated by Great Horse cover artist Marti Adrian, the paperback edition of Into the Dark will be available in time for the holidays for just $16.95 through all major booksellers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

To learn more about the Great Horse trilogy and read the first chapter of Eclipsed by Shadow free, please visit TheGreatHorse.com.

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Media | Self-proclaimed ‘Equinista,’ L.A. Pomeroy, is an award-winning (2011, 2010 AHP Best Freelance Equestrian Journalist Print/Online, 2012 AHP Best Service to the Reader finalist, 2008 AHP Best Feature finalist) photojournalist, digital correspondent, style columnist and publicist specializing in compelling writing with a twist that celebrates the timeless allure of the equestrian lifestyle.