The Phantom Stallion

Phantom Stallion E-Newsletter November 2009

Dear Readers,

This newsletter is in honor of the real Ace, pictured with me above, on my first cattle drive. Ace was a wild horse and wore a BLM freeze brand to prove it.

October was a hard month for wild horses. Thousands were rounded up and lost their freedom forever, through death or life in captivity.

Lots of you write to me, asking what you can do to help. Since this is November, traditionally a month of Thanksgiving in the U.S., here are several ways to insure you'll have wild horses to be thankful for, now and in the future.

Some of you are also researching and writing school projects about the wild horses. Viewing the documentary I suggest, then following up with a call-to-action for your class would be a great way to turn an assignment into something that shows YOU can have an impact on issues you care about!

Watch STAMPEDE TO OBLIVION. This documentary includes everything from proof that the horse is native to North America to BLM's rough treatment of foals, to-the-point interviews and up-to-the-minute news reports from a top-notch investigative reporter. Click here Stampede to Oblivion to watch it now. When you see the screen in the upper right hand corner of the page, look under the picture and on the far right, click on the icon that looks like a TV. That will blow the movie up to fill your screen.
Then, go sign a petition to keep wild horses free: http://www.care2.com/news/member/100041282/1285816
EMAIL

Robert Abbey
BLM Director

Ken Salazar
Dept. of Interior

or write them letters and mail them to:

Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240

This just in . . .

Last month in Sam's Blog, you read: "I don't think Blue Wings hates me, but he hasn't forgotten the last time I rode him. And he hasn't forgiven me for it.

Something dangerous happened and now, well... "

Terri challenged you to remember or find out what that SOMETHING DANGEROUS was, and boy did you do it! Here's some readers answers to remind you:

"What scared Blue toward the end of the Phantom Stallion book #20, Blue Wings?" Well,I think the answer is the thin crust of the playa, which could crack under the weight of a horse and rider. -Amanda

"What scared Blue Wings was: when Sam, Ross, and Wyatt were riding across the playa, the phantom and the HAZARD BULL, the same one that gored Jen in the ribs, appeared! the Phantom and the bull were fighting over some food, but then the bull charged!! The Phantom got trapped in the quicksand, but SAM and blue wings came to the rescue!! YAY!!"

PHANTOM STALLION Breyer Models?

Many of you have asked Terri if there are models of the Phantom, Ace, Hoku, Black Lava and other PHANTOM STALLION and WILD HORSE ISLAND horses. Although there aren't yet, you can send your suggestions to :

Breyer Animal Creations
Division of Reeves International, Inc.
14 Industrial Rd.
Pequannock, NJ 07440

I LOVE MY READERS!

Isn't this a beautiful horse? He has a great story, too, as told here by his BFF, Missy:

His name is Eros. When I got him they were calling him Smoke and I just didn't think that such a boring name fit such a beautiful horse. I had my friends help me and eventually one of them suggested Eros, the Greek god of love. It just fit so well.

He certainly wasn't easy to get to at first, though. He wouldn't let me anywhere near him. He would barely let me touch his head, much less get anywhere near his back. Everything I did spooked him and made him wary. He wouldn't come anywhere near me. That continued for a week or two until my friend told me about a training style she used on horses she trained sometimes called Equus. She explained what to do and at first, it made me anxious. I thought it would be counter-productive. She told me to chase him around his stall keeping eye contact and changing his direction away from the gate until he lowered his head and began licking his lips. She told me that in a sense I would be playing out the part of the stallion pushing the young colt out of the herd and, when he submits with his head down and lips licking, that he was essentially saying "okay, maybe I don't want to be out here alone after all." I wasn't convinced at first, but I did it anyway. I didn't have anything else to go on.

It worked ! From that day forward I could walk as many circles around him as I wanted. He would halter immediately and follow me around his stall. From the end of July up until last month was just basic bonding and work. He didn't formally start training until last month around the 16th, I think. My trainer was the first to work him in the round pen because she didn't know what he would do (other than be exceptionally stubborn at a lot of points and refuse to move). She put the cercingle on him for the first time and oh my gosh it was a rodeo display. He reared to his full height and took off around that round pen bucking as hard as he could. After that, he calmed and from that day on he's been okay with the cercingle (though he still bucks every single time I lunge him. We don't get our next assignment until he stops). He stands about 15 hands at 4 so he's a little intimidating sometimes, but in the round pen makes everything a little less scary.

Something interesting about him that the farrier noticed (that's another story, though. He got his feet done for only like the second time in his life and that was a bolting/rearing nightmare) is that he'll get this wild look in his eyes, but it softens immediately. He's a super sweet horse. A huge handful sometimes, but he means no harm. He'll go out of his way to avoid hurting me. Often times he'll spook backward away from me instead of forward into me. It's a little nerve-racking leading him around anywhere big though. When he spooks, he spooks. Many times his spooking leads to him going up at least partially into a rear. But he's getting better. He's really good about his training bridle. He's no worse about the bit than a lot of well trained older horses and he's much better about his ears than many. I could go up to him and rub his ears and he wouldn't care.

Oh and his previous owner told me he's a Spanish Mustang and that his brother competes in endurance. Probably not what I'm going to do with him (his agility's going to make him an AMAZING gymkhana horse), but it's an option I know he'll have. I hope to be riding him by the time I (I should probably say we since he's coming with me!) go to college next year. He's going to be a challenge! We've had a long journey from when we both started together, but it's been fun and it's going to keep getting better. Especially since I know for a fact he'll never know a bad hand. With help from my trainer, I'm training him as much as I can by myself. Training a mustang is a lot more challenging than the quarter horses I helped train several years ago, but it's a lot more rewarding. I'll send a picture of him soon as I can get one uploaded. I think he's absolutely the most beautiful little horse in the world.

Thanks for letting us make this journey with you and Eros, Missy!

Sam's blog

This morning, Jake looked up at the sky even as he was climbing out of the truck he shared with the other Ely brothers, and before he starting working with Teddy Bear.

I was raking out Tempest's corral, but I watched the two of them in the round pen. In a way, it's too bad Teddy Bear's owner doesn't have time to build on the training Dad and Jake put into the curly mustang. In another way, I'm always glad to see the little gelding come back to Riverbend Ranch, and to watch Jake and Dad work with him.

Where is Terri Farley?

Want a weekly update on authors visiting your area? Go meet them, look at and discuss their books. If they're not too busy, maybe even talk about the life of a working writer.

Here's how

Go to BOOKTOUR.COM
Look at the upper right, top of the page and find EVENTS NEAR YOU AT ______ (enter zip code)
Then, look to the left of the page for HOW TO USE BOOKTOUR, click there and on the next page, look down and you can find a place to arrange for a weekly email update of authors in your neighborhood!

I can't wait until the author in your neighborhood is me :)

Thursday, November 5, 7:00 PM
Edmonds Community College Writers workshop and round table
20000 68th Ave W , Lynnwood, WA 98036-5999

Saturday, November 7, 2 -4 PM
Barnes & Noble (author signing)
10317 Silverdale Way NW, Silverdale, WA, 98383

Friday, November 13, 2:00 PM
SCWBI Conference (workshops)
Down town library, 210 East 400 South, Salt Lake City, Utah,

School visits: North Whidby Island middle school, Lowell Elementary School, Pine Crest Elementary School and Silverdale Elementary school, all in the Seattle area

Hold Your Horses! Author Terri Farley, creator of the 'Phantom Stallion' books, presents a program showing mustangs in the wild, their capture and adoption. Learn how Terri got the idea for her books while on a real cattle drive and see the real Phantom Stallion in his new home.

Wednesday, Nov. 18, 4 pm, Sierra View Library
Thursday, Nov. 19, 4:30 pm, South Valleys Library, starring CHIP the beautiful black mustang!
Friday, Nov. 20, 4 pm, Sparks Library

Saturday, January 30, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Writing Workshop at COWBOY POETRY GATHERING
Western Folklife Center

Authors Terri Farley (the Phantom Stallion and Wild Horse Island series) and Suzanne Morgan Williams (Bull Rider) team up to inspire young writers with their images of the west. In this workshop, students age 10 through high school will develop characters and a plot line from western settings and will leave with a plan for their own story.
For ages 10 - 18.

June 10, 2010
ORLANDO, FLORIDA
SCBWI workshop & available for limited school visits

A NOTE FROM TERRI: Please watch your email closely in the next few days for a special something you can share with your parents, teachers and librarians. It will be called DANCES WITH WORDS!

Buy Phantom Stallion

Terri's books are available as ebooks!

Phantom Stallion books are available at your local bookstore and online at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound.org


	Newsletter \| Newsletter Archive
	Phantom Stallion E-Newsletter November 2009 Dear Readers, This newsletter is in honor of the real Ace, pictured with me above, on my first cattle drive. Ace was a wild horse and wore a BLM freeze brand to prove it. October was a hard month for wild horses. Thousands were rounded up and lost their freedom forever, through death or life in captivity. Lots of you write to me, asking what you can do to help. Since this is November, traditionally a month of Thanksgiving in the U.S., here are several ways to insure you'll have wild horses to be thankful for, now and in the future. Some of you are also researching and writing school projects about the wild horses. Viewing the documentary I suggest, then following up with a call-to-action for your class would be a great way to turn an assignment into something that shows YOU can have an impact on issues you care about! Watch STAMPEDE TO OBLIVION. This documentary includes everything from proof that the horse is native to North America to BLM's rough treatment of foals, to-the-point interviews and up-to-the-minute news reports from a top-notch investigative reporter. Click here Stampede to Oblivion to watch it now. When you see the screen in the upper right hand corner of the page, look under the picture and on the far right, click on the icon that looks like a TV. That will blow the movie up to fill your screen. Then, go sign a petition to keep wild horses free: http://www.care2.com/news/member/100041282/1285816 EMAIL Robert Abbey BLM Director Ken Salazar Dept. of Interior or write them letters and mail them to: Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington DC 20240 This just in . . . Last month in Sam's Blog, you read: "I don't think Blue Wings hates me, but he hasn't forgotten the last time I rode him. And he hasn't forgiven me for it. Something dangerous happened and now, well... " Terri challenged you to remember or find out what that SOMETHING DANGEROUS was, and boy did you do it! Here's some readers answers to remind you: "What scared Blue toward the end of the Phantom Stallion book #20, Blue Wings?" Well,I think the answer is the thin crust of the playa, which could crack under the weight of a horse and rider. -Amanda "What scared Blue Wings was: when Sam, Ross, and Wyatt were riding across the playa, the phantom and the HAZARD BULL, the same one that gored Jen in the ribs, appeared! the Phantom and the bull were fighting over some food, but then the bull charged!! The Phantom got trapped in the quicksand, but SAM and blue wings came to the rescue!! YAY!!" PHANTOM STALLION Breyer Models? Many of you have asked Terri if there are models of the Phantom, Ace, Hoku, Black Lava and other PHANTOM STALLION and WILD HORSE ISLAND horses. Although there aren't yet, you can send your suggestions to : Breyer Animal Creations Division of Reeves International, Inc. 14 Industrial Rd. Pequannock, NJ 07440 I LOVE MY READERS! Isn't this a beautiful horse? He has a great story, too, as told here by his BFF, Missy: His name is Eros. When I got him they were calling him Smoke and I just didn't think that such a boring name fit such a beautiful horse. I had my friends help me and eventually one of them suggested Eros, the Greek god of love. It just fit so well. He certainly wasn't easy to get to at first, though. He wouldn't let me anywhere near him. He would barely let me touch his head, much less get anywhere near his back. Everything I did spooked him and made him wary. He wouldn't come anywhere near me. That continued for a week or two until my friend told me about a training style she used on horses she trained sometimes called Equus. She explained what to do and at first, it made me anxious. I thought it would be counter-productive. She told me to chase him around his stall keeping eye contact and changing his direction away from the gate until he lowered his head and began licking his lips. She told me that in a sense I would be playing out the part of the stallion pushing the young colt out of the herd and, when he submits with his head down and lips licking, that he was essentially saying "okay, maybe I don't want to be out here alone after all." I wasn't convinced at first, but I did it anyway. I didn't have anything else to go on. It worked ! From that day forward I could walk as many circles around him as I wanted. He would halter immediately and follow me around his stall. From the end of July up until last month was just basic bonding and work. He didn't formally start training until last month around the 16th, I think. My trainer was the first to work him in the round pen because she didn't know what he would do (other than be exceptionally stubborn at a lot of points and refuse to move). She put the cercingle on him for the first time and oh my gosh it was a rodeo display. He reared to his full height and took off around that round pen bucking as hard as he could. After that, he calmed and from that day on he's been okay with the cercingle (though he still bucks every single time I lunge him. We don't get our next assignment until he stops). He stands about 15 hands at 4 so he's a little intimidating sometimes, but in the round pen makes everything a little less scary. Something interesting about him that the farrier noticed (that's another story, though. He got his feet done for only like the second time in his life and that was a bolting/rearing nightmare) is that he'll get this wild look in his eyes, but it softens immediately. He's a super sweet horse. A huge handful sometimes, but he means no harm. He'll go out of his way to avoid hurting me. Often times he'll spook backward away from me instead of forward into me. It's a little nerve-racking leading him around anywhere big though. When he spooks, he spooks. Many times his spooking leads to him going up at least partially into a rear. But he's getting better. He's really good about his training bridle. He's no worse about the bit than a lot of well trained older horses and he's much better about his ears than many. I could go up to him and rub his ears and he wouldn't care. Oh and his previous owner told me he's a Spanish Mustang and that his brother competes in endurance. Probably not what I'm going to do with him (his agility's going to make him an AMAZING gymkhana horse), but it's an option I know he'll have. I hope to be riding him by the time I (I should probably say we since he's coming with me!) go to college next year. He's going to be a challenge! We've had a long journey from when we both started together, but it's been fun and it's going to keep getting better. Especially since I know for a fact he'll never know a bad hand. With help from my trainer, I'm training him as much as I can by myself. Training a mustang is a lot more challenging than the quarter horses I helped train several years ago, but it's a lot more rewarding. I'll send a picture of him soon as I can get one uploaded. I think he's absolutely the most beautiful little horse in the world. Thanks for letting us make this journey with you and Eros, Missy! Sam's blog This morning, Jake looked up at the sky even as he was climbing out of the truck he shared with the other Ely brothers, and before he starting working with Teddy Bear. I was raking out Tempest's corral, but I watched the two of them in the round pen. In a way, it's too bad Teddy Bear's owner doesn't have time to build on the training Dad and Jake put into the curly mustang. In another way, I'm always glad to see the little gelding come back to Riverbend Ranch, and to watch Jake and Dad work with him. read more Where is Terri Farley? Want a weekly update on authors visiting your area? Go meet them, look at and discuss their books. If they're not too busy, maybe even talk about the life of a working writer. Here's how Go to BOOKTOUR.COM Look at the upper right, top of the page and find EVENTS NEAR YOU AT ______ (enter zip code) Then, look to the left of the page for HOW TO USE BOOKTOUR, click there and on the next page, look down and you can find a place to arrange for a weekly email update of authors in your neighborhood! I can't wait until the author in your neighborhood is me :) Thursday, November 5, 7:00 PM Edmonds Community College Writers workshop and round table 20000 68th Ave W , Lynnwood, WA 98036-5999 Saturday, November 7, 2 -4 PM Barnes & Noble (author signing) 10317 Silverdale Way NW, Silverdale, WA, 98383 Friday, November 13, 2:00 PM SCWBI Conference (workshops) Down town library, 210 East 400 South, Salt Lake City, Utah, School visits: North Whidby Island middle school, Lowell Elementary School, Pine Crest Elementary School and Silverdale Elementary school, all in the Seattle area Hold Your Horses! Author Terri Farley, creator of the 'Phantom Stallion' books, presents a program showing mustangs in the wild, their capture and adoption. Learn how Terri got the idea for her books while on a real cattle drive and see the real Phantom Stallion in his new home. Wednesday, Nov. 18, 4 pm, Sierra View Library Thursday, Nov. 19, 4:30 pm, South Valleys Library, starring CHIP the beautiful black mustang! Friday, Nov. 20, 4 pm, Sparks Library Saturday, January 30, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Writing Workshop at COWBOY POETRY GATHERING Western Folklife Center Authors Terri Farley (the Phantom Stallion and Wild Horse Island series) and Suzanne Morgan Williams (Bull Rider) team up to inspire young writers with their images of the west. In this workshop, students age 10 through high school will develop characters and a plot line from western settings and will leave with a plan for their own story. For ages 10 - 18. June 10, 2010 ORLANDO, FLORIDA SCBWI workshop & available for limited school visits A NOTE FROM TERRI: Please watch your email closely in the next few days for a special something you can share with your parents, teachers and librarians. It will be called DANCES WITH WORDS! Buy Phantom Stallion Terri's books are available as ebooks! Phantom Stallion books are available at your local bookstore and online at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound.org