Captain Michelle Ruehl - An American Hero

Air Force Officer, Pilot, and teacher Captain Michelle Ruehl connects two of her passions in life: the military and horses. Equesse is very honored to bring you this spotlight interview with such a remarkable woman. With this, we also begin our series on “Today’s Warhorse” and explore how horses are assiting our veterans through the Wounded Warriors program and the Horses for Heroes program through NARHA. For now, however, please Meet Michelle Ruehl!

What was your childhood experience with horses? Were you a horse-crazy kid? What about your parents – did they recognize this interest?

As a child, I knew I would grow up to do three things: ride horses, fly airplanes, and become President of the United States. At age ten, I met my first goal. As children, my mother and her sisters went away to a wilderness camp in northern Michigan for years. When I was old enough to attend, I begged my mother to send me as well. On the brochure, I saw you could pick between different activities like archery, swimming, or horsemanship. I spent the summer of 1990 mucking stalls, and I loved it! I was about 4 ft. tall and couldn’t have weighed more than 80 pounds, but I never feared the horses. I felt at peace with the beasts that could crush me.
As I grew older, I took over the Camp Horsemanship Association riding program at Camp Cherith. I taught young girls how to ride western and bareback, how to groom, and how to set up overnight trail rides. By the time I was seventeen, I left home from the first day after high school let out until the day before we began again in the fall. My parents were sad that I chose to leave for months at a time, but they never told me “No.” The last year that I worked at the camp, we brought troubled inner-city girls up to the ranch to do a pseudo therapy program with them. We had no trained EAP instructors or anything, but we used a grass roots approach to building a program connecting girls with horses. It was the first time I witnessed the healing power of human-animal relationships. I watched as tough gangsters put down their knives and picked up a comb, or set down their marijuana to fill water troughs. I knew I would eventually find a way to revisit this concept later in life.

How did you choose to join the military? Did you have to give up riding?
 

I used to sit on my grandfather’s knee and look at airplane books. He flew B-24’s in WWII and always encouraged me to dream big. He told me girls could fly airplanes if they wanted to, and I believed him. I entered the United States Air Force Academy in the summer of 1999. While a cadet, we were very busy, and I did not have much time to ride. I dabbled a bit with the equestrian team, but I had to focus on my grades and sports (rugby) to earn a grade point average high enough for a coveted pilot slot. Near my senior year, however, I found time to drive 40 minutes outside of town to Pikes Peak Therapeutic Riding Center. I volunteered to be a side walker for a class of five mentally handicapped children who were doing hippotherapy. Again, I was astounded by the relationships formed between children and horses. Unfortunately, one sweet girl had witnessed her parents’ death in a car accident. Due to the trauma, she was mute. We spent months coaxing her to speak. She seemed to understand that if she asked her horse to “walk,” he would respond, but she lacked the courage to do so. After several months, we had a breakthrough. She whispered softly to her horse, “walk” and the horse stepped forward. I could not hide my tears. Her desire to ride overpowered her pain, and she learned to speak again.

How do you connect horses with the military now?

 

I graduated the academy in 2003 and spent several years with my nose in the books for pilot training. Once I earned my wings, I flew the C-130 Hercules. I moved five times, and longed for a chance to help or be involved with equine therapy again. I couldn’t find time to go to a ranch, but I did start an online Master’s program in psychology. I figured if I couldn’t put on my boots and ride, I could at least study things like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In 2008, I finally had the opportunity to go back to the Air Force Academy as a teacher. As soon as I got my orders to return to Colorado Springs, I called PPTRC and asked if I could volunteer again. I was excited to find out they had a new program called, “Wounded Warriors,” where they used the horses to help soldiers returning from combat zones with PTSD and traumatic brain injury.

What do you do with the soldiers and horses now?

 

Currently, there is an Army unit called, The Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Carson, Colorado. Some of these solders opt to work with PPTRC. They come out to the ranch and spend an hour and a half with the horses. They groom, tack, and ride a specific horse each week. I am on the road a lot for the military, but when I am home, I volunteer as much as possible with the program.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In five years I plan to be working on a Ph.D. in psychology, specializing in equine therapy and still flying airplanes. The Air Force Academy is looking into starting their own hippotherapy program. I won’t be able to stay that long (we change assignments every couple of years), but I hope to stay in touch with the program and contribute in any way that I can. I could come teach some classes, give seminars, or better yet, branch out and set up a therapy program at the next Air Force base I move to.
How about ten?
In ten years, I plan to leave the military, start my own horse therapy center, and run for United States Senator. I know that sounds lofty, but I can’t seem to shake my childhood goals. If I could find a way to combine horses and flying, that would be even better. I envision creating an organization where I can fly patients in a medical airplane to my therapy center. We could sponsor families who do not have enough money to buy plane tickets, and we could reach out to patients with severe medical complications, who wouldn’t normally be able to fly. Once at my center, we could sponsor their food, accommodations, and therapy. In my spare time, I’d stay involved in local politics until the timing was right to step onto the bigger stage.

Do you have any advice for women who have their own dreams about horses?

I would say that you can never dream too big. People will tell you that you have lofty goals or that you need to have a back-up plan because you might never reach them. I would say that you should dream as big as your heart and mind can imagine. You can have a plan A, a plan B, and a plan Z. Anytime plan A doesn’t work, you can be ready to try the next one. If you are always ready and motivated, when opportunities arise, you will be the one person who can step in and make things happen. Also, I would say that having one dream doesn’t mean you can’t have another one that is completely opposite. In my case, I thought I would have to choose between the military and horses, but I actually found the perfect combination.

Catch the Horse and Get Back On: Metaphor for Life

By Jan Butler Loveless, PhD

In recent years, I’ve acquired three Quarter Horse mares from my father’s estate. They’ve produced foals, and our herd has grown. I enjoyed horseback riding with my dad while growing up, but I’d never before had complete responsibility for the care of any horse, much less pregnant mares. I had to learn, and learn fast, if I wanted to become a successful horse owner—or, as my husband might say, a person owned by horses.

In my current work, which I enjoy, I run the J-Bar Ranch Center for Experiential Learning, employing equine-facilitated learning to reach at-risk kids failing in school and adults in transition. In my previous “day job,” I taught English at a community college, specializing in the “developmental” courses that prepare students to succeed in higher ed. My students were immigrants new to the language, mid-lifers back in school after dead ends in work or love, teenage mothers struggling to get off welfare.

What do horses have to do with teaching of English, academic success, and my learning in other aspects of life? Everything.

Since September 15, 2001, when my dad’s first Texas-bred mare stepped off the van onto California soil, I have immersed myself in reading books about horses, watching videos, e-mailing my network of equine contacts. I’ve discovered equine-facilitated learning, and I’ve soaked up HEAL, Epona and Adventures in Awareness workshops. I’ve joined NARHA and the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association; I’ve served on their board and continue to help edit their newsletter.

My favorite activity is taking a horse to the round pen for a mutual learning session. As trainer Mark Rashid advises, even when I have specific horse-training goals, I’ve learned to “reward the try,” in the horses and in myself. I model this philosophy for my students, who are as green at academic pursuits as I am, reconnecting with horses as a mid-life novice.

I know I can trust my horses to have lessons for me, and that fairly frequently, I’ll learn through failure. These lessons invariably apply to the rest of my life, outside the round pen. One lesson from my past that rings newly true is that much-maligned old saw…“Catch the horse and get back on.” Admittedly, to those of us who want to bond with horses, this advice smacks of breaking horses, of that era in which too many horses were treated cruelly. It calls up the image of horses “rid hard and put away wet,” in Texas vernacular. Or it suggests ignoring the fear that invariably comes from falling or being thrown.

Yet I hear my father’s voice in my mind. My dad, head of the Animal Science Department at Texas A&M University during my formative years, was both my riding instructor and my mentor as an active learner across the disciplines. When I was a fifth grader, light enough so that I wouldn’t hurt the backs of young horses, but skilled enough to ride with a smidgen of confidence, he began to have me ride his young horses early in their training. He hadn’t been schooled natural horsemanship-fashion, but he was a good and intuitive horseman, with pragmatic ways. He’d ride beside me in the pasture on Cindy, an older, steadier mount, while I rode a two-year-old, maybe our sorrel Quarter Horse filly, Red Jo Dexter, whom we called “Charm.” My dad knew I was nervous that a jackrabbit would pop out of the mesquite underbrush, or that something else would startle my filly. He’d coach continuously: “Keep your heels down and your horse’s head up; remember, a horse has to get its head down to buck.” Then, if my horse did spook and buck, he’d advise calmly, while I attempted to stay on: “If you’re going to bail out, fall to the side, so your horse won’t run over you. Relax when you fall. That way you won’t get hurt. Then dust yourself off, catch your horse, and get back on. If you don’t, you’ll always be afraid.”

I remember being thrown many times. The falls did frighten me. More often than not, after I’d picked the goat-heads and cockleburs out of my jeans, I had to choke back tears to see my mount clearly enough to catch it. But once I had, I was proud if I completed the next part of the ride. And my dad was right. If I took some deep breaths, stood beside and stroked the horse, centered myself (not terminology we’d have used in those days), tightened the cinch, then remounted and rode, communicating better with my mount–I didn’t nurture fear.

My calm young gelding unloaded me on a recent summer morning, surprising me with a spooking-and-bucking episode an hour into a trail ride. I sustained a concussion, a couple of broken ribs, and I just wasn’t able to catch my horse and get back on. I was lucky, in fact, that my husband, who was riding with me, could help me into the house and tend the horses. Sure enough, I felt afraid of riding afterwards. I needed to heal my mind as well as my body before I could climb back on. Today, in my early sixties, I know I need to use fear as a message, the way Leigh Shambo teaches, to dialogue with it. I don’t rush the next ride, as my dad used to encourage me to do.

Meanwhile, though, I’m keenly aware of the kernels of wisdom in my dad’s advice. How true it has been for me, figuratively. “Catching the horse and getting back on” is an essential component of mastering anything new. Persistence requires acknowledging fear, honoring and grasping its meaning. Then, when one is ready, it calls for going ahead, no matter what failure or hesitation a dedicated learner needs to “dust off.”

That’s why the “horse catching” lesson sang so loudly to me, as I faced realities of a different sort. Thirty faculty members hired over the previous three years were told that January that we might be pink-slipped on March 15, then terminated on May 15 because of the looming California state/college budget crisis. The decision was beyond my control, and would have nothing to do with my performance. My “day job” fed our horses and my penchant for workshop-taking. How could I nourish my own dreams without it?

The afternoon I heard that news, I pulled into the driveway of our small ranch with a heavy heart, bullying myself for credit card debts in such tenuous times. As I turned off the motor, my gaze fell on the back pasture, where I saw a strange and beautiful sight. Stealth, the tall gray Quarter Horse gelding with whom I’d been doing groundwork for weeks, was actually waiting for me in the round pen, by choice. It was about the time we had our daily session, so he’d interrupted his grazing in the pasture to nose open the round pen gate. I wouldn’t need to catch him that day. He’d caught me.

Stealth stood in the center of the round pen, relaxed and dozing, one hind foot cocked. He was just a few minutes early for our appointment. I knew when I saw him that I sorely needed his lesson. I wondered how he’d known I needed him—and if he understood how grateful I felt for his presence.

I rushed into the house, slipped into my jeans, then joined Stealth. He nickered and nuzzled me in greeting; we played for an hour in the spring sunshine. I realized that afternoon, as I interacted with Stealth, how rich I was, outside my job. I had Stealth and our other magical horses. I had my spouse of more than 40 years, supporting my dreams. I had my health. And I had our ranch. These were the things that mattered.

I’d always found a way to fund true priorities, and surely, with divine help, I could still do that. I remembered the title of a book I’d read years earlier, We Are All Self-Employed. If I opened myself to possibilities, I didn’t need to be defined by or dependent on any employer. If I lost my teaching position, I would follow my father’s advice and my horses’ inspiration. I’d “catch the horse” (or allow myself to be caught), center myself, and “get back on.” Equine-facilitated learning would continue to be my new lifework.
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Jan Butler Loveless, PhD, offers equine-facilitated learning workshops and school-year courses at J-Bar Ranch, LLC (www.jbar.com) in Visalia, CA. “Horse and Reader,” her pilot course for Native American 3rd through 5th graders failing to pass CA state tests in language arts, won praise from external evaluators last spring. With her Lakota colleague Tracy Easter, Jan will do a presentation on “Horse and Reader” at the 2010 Equine Guided Education Association conference in late January.

Meet Kim McElroy

Equesse is very excited to spotlight world renowned equine artist, Kim McElroy.Through this feature, Kim answers questions in her own words about her life with horses and how the spirit of these beautiful animals comes to all of us through her art.  For more about Kim, please visit www.spiritofhorse.com Also, be sure to view the trailer for Kim’s new DVD entitled “The Secret to Drawing Horses” by clicking on the video at the end of this article.

Equesse: What was your childhood experience with horses?Family structure?Access?Location?

Kim: I didn’t have access to horses as a child, but I drew them from the moment I could hold a crayon. I look back at those drawings and it is amazing to me that I always drew Bay horses, and a Bay horse was my first horse, Darma. I believe I knew in my soul that I would meet her someday.

I grew up in an upscale area near the beach in Long Beach, California, so there weren’t any horses in my life except for early childhood experiences with ponies at the school fair. Some friends we knew in nearby Palm Springs would take us horseback riding on rental horses, and when I was 8 my parents responded to my continued requests to have a horse, by signing me up for riding lessons at a stable they found about an hour away.

My legs weren’t long enough for the stirrups, and my feet were always coming out of the stirrups. I was supposed to keep my heels down – but that seemed impossible.Riding around in circles… at those times the horses didn’t seem like horses to me but rather a task I had to endure.

My parents were supportive of my artistic endeavors and allowed me to take classes in every hobby I pursued. But my wishes for a horse of my own didn’t materialize. Interestingly I wonder if I had become an avid rider in competitions, with goals – perhaps having a horse would have seemed to have a purpose and they might have gotten one for me.

In looking back I realized that I didn’t really want to be a rider, I just wanted to be among horses, and there was no other place to do that. My favorite times were just being with the horses in their stalls, brushing them and braiding their manes. They were very patient with me, and sweet. I think they enjoyed my company.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a place where children could just be with horses, instead of having them always in a school type environment where they and the horses are put into pre-determined boxes of “what we do with horses”?

Equesse: You mentioned that you actually believed you were a horse at times when you were little. Can you describe this feeling?

Kim: My sister and brother were out of the home by the time I was born – being 15 or more years older than me, so I was on my own a lot as a child. I was a sensitive child and spent a lot of time playing by myself because I didn’t find many friends who were like me who loved animals. From the time I can remember I would run around on my hands and knees through the house. I would sometimes get rug burns on my knees! I imagined myself as a wild horse that couldn’t be tamed.

Unlike many girls who played horse with other girls, I only had one or two friends in my childhood who liked horses, so I didn’t play being a horse as much with other kids. I also played with my Breyer model horses, and those horses were real and alive in my imagination to me too.

Sometimes I played these games at school with small toy animals with a friend, and the other kids would make fun of us because it was a make-believe world we created and they were only interested in playing on the bars and jumping rope. Looking back there wasn’t much nature around. Concrete sidewalks and asphalt streets everywhere, and homes with landscaping but not nature. Even the beach was surrounded by a breakwater so it wasn’t like a real beach with waves and shells and marine life.

Equesse: When and how did you first discover your connection to horses?

Kim: That is a really good question. I guess it was so natural to me to love horses that I always had the connection. When I wasn’t playing horse I was drawing them, and I continued doing that all through my life. Then when I was 20 I had an epiphany about how being connected to horses had a purpose in my life. I was in Art College at the time. During Spring break I was visiting the home of a family friend who had Arabian horses, and I was attempting to draw them but they were napping in the stalls and the sketches I did of them weren’t very inspiring. Our friend offered to let them out into the arena. I had my sketchpad ready and the horses came running out, snorting and pawing, and they were completely transformed into the magical beings I envisioned they could be. In looking back I realized this was the first time I had seen horses at liberty. Previously the only horses I’d seen were at stables – being ridden or lunged, but never free. I was very excited by their dynamic energy, but as I tried to sketch them at first I was very frustrated because I couldn’t record their spontaneity on my paper in time to see what they were doing with their bodies. Then I remembered a technique I had learned in school called “Gesture Drawing” where we would sketch a model in poses of a few seconds, and so I started drawing lines rather than forms, and things began to flow and I felt more in sync with the horses, and I lost track of trying to draw a certain way. It all happened in a matter of maybe 10 minutes, but it was magical. When the horse’s energy calmed I looked at my sketches and I realized the drawings that had emerged looked very different from anything I had done before. Then our friend who was an artist admired the drawings as very innovative and she even recognized one of her horses in the abstract sketch. That was the beginning of my shift from pursuing becoming an illustrator of other’s ideas of what subjects to paint, to becoming a fine artist creating what was meaningful for me.

Equesse: When and how did you first realize your artistic talent? When did you realize that you were going to pursue your passion as a career?Was there a conscious decision making point?

Kim: I always drew and painted and my parents were very supportive of my talent. Interestingly I think in being a good artist, I was given the most positive attention in school and fortunately I had really great art teachers, especially Mr. Connelly in Jr. High who helped me submit a portfolio and I was accepted into an accelerated art program in high school where I was transported to another school for art. That was so wonderful for me and I was studying with students older than me and we did advanced art like silk screening and acrylic painting, and more conceptual art.

After my parents separated when I was 13, she and I moved to Washington State. My mom continued to be supportive of my art talent, and for my schooling after high school a perfect opportunity presented itself when a local Art School started only 15 minutes away. When I realized my dream of painting horses, my mom was also enthusiastic and she and I decided to go into business together and called our business, “The Fire Horse” after my birth sign in Chinese astrology – to be born under this sign can indicate a person with great artistic talent who achieves success at a young age

Equesse: What have been some of your biggest challenges in your life with horses?

Kim: Within my art the biggest challenges have been to stay true to painting what is in my soul rather than what I feel are expectations from others. To not “sell myself short” when I feel the need to make a living doing my art. When I would compromise my heart and soul’s needs in painting what wasn’t my true inspiration for money – I paid the price emotionally much more than the financial gain was worth. Every time I have come back to my true purpose, and have found the courage in stating this truth to others, my pursuits are rewarded and the people who resonate with what I am creating are drawn to my work.

With my horses, I took on some big challenges.When I did finally realize my dream of owning a horse, it was when I fell in love with a thoroughbred racehorse filly named Darma. Darma was injured on the track and she became mine, and thus began many joyful and painful lessons on horse behaviors and in my own self-awareness. Darma’s huge presence and profound needs for her own physical, spiritual, and emotional healing, required me over time, to mature from being a dreamy horse loving girl, to becoming an empowered woman, capable of making my own decisions for our mutual benefit, rather than following the advice of others. I had to learn how to advocate for her and trust her, and how to trust in the wisdom guiding me, and not allowing others who had an agenda to influence me in my decisions for her. Among the hardest lessons were when I was seeking spiritual and emotional healing, was not to collapse myself into putting a healer or someone with psychic gifts on a pedestal, thinking that someone I visualized as more spiritually evolved than me – had better answers or even Darma’s or my well being at heart.

This has it had been the case with one other of my horses, Mystico, a Paso Fino Gelding.I rescued him as a very troubled 4 yr. old stallion, whose ultra sensitive nature and mismanagement from humans had created an emotional crisis in him. I was very daunted at the prospect of trying to help him, but my heart and soul was drawn to him and when I met him he responded to me more than any other human, as if he knew we could communicate, and that gave me hope that I could help him heal.

My first impression of him was that he looked exactly like a painting I had done 15 years before called “Mystic” . I named him Mystico after the painting. So again I followed my faith and it was a long and sometimes bumpy road, but the vision of who he was in his heart became a reality once he released the anger and fear that had become his way of being in the world.

Kim: In my art career, my biggest joy is when someone finds in one of my own compositions a deep personal meaning as if it was created just for them. With my commissioned portraits it is the feeling I get when someone witnesses their portrait for the first time. When the painting takes their breath away and they can’t believe that their beloved animal is right there on the paper.

Equesse: What are some of the biggest ways that horses have enriched your life?

Kim: Horses have changed my life so profoundly. When I stepped up to the challenge of creating a life for Darma, my mare, that I hoped would give her the happiness she deserved, I ended up created that same life for myself and my husband. We bought property, and created a farm, and began giving homes to various animals that came our way. Because of my belief that all animals need their own kind, led to us giving homes to many animals. I felt that especially the horses needed companionship, and over time and circumstance I met certain horses that I felt strongly drawn to. Some we knew we were the best hope for, like our gelding Patches who came to us foundered and blind, and our mare Meadow who had never been ridden regularly and at the age of 21 her previous owners considered donating her to 4-H kids. At our peak year we had a total of 21 animals including 7 horses, three llamas, four goats, two pot-bellied pigs, two dogs, two guinea pigs, and a cat.

In 2002 I began attending workshops hosted by Linda Kohanov and some of her instructors, and those experiential healing workshops with horses changed my entire life. I healed emotional issues that I had been carrying that were hindering me from my happiness. I began to learn what it was like to trust myself and listen to my own inner guidance. I became more self confident and empowered in making decisions. The horses at these workshops all were so generous and wise, and I learned to understand more about myself from the ways they interacted with me.

These experiences made all my dreams of who horses are and what amazing healing gifts they offer a reality, and gave me even more purpose in my art.

Equesse: Can you describe your personal process of creating a horse-related work of art?

I also do Soul Essence paintings, which are created from a meditation with the horse in which I ask for imagery to convey their special message for their person. In this process I experience complex and vivid imagery which I then create in a work of art.

I have thought a lot about the process of creating. I just released a dvd called The Secrets of Drawing Horses, to share the process I discovered of how to feel what you are drawing rather than merely seeing it. I believe the secret to my art is that my feelings are in every stroke of the pastel, and therefore those who see it receive those feelings at a level beyond our conscious understanding.

My paintings have a life of their own. I feel very humble because my art is created from a process which is guided by my love and my desire to communicate. My artistic skill is linked to my desire to perceive. My paintings not merely decorative, they are intended to connect to the viewer with the horse itself.

Equesse: What is your goal/mission with Spirit of Horse?

Kim: The goal of all my art is to bring awareness to humans of the sentience of horses. To bring healing energy to people who seek the horse as their guide. To help others like me who feel there is something about horses, to remember what it was they were looking for.

Equesse: What is some advice for women who love horses?

Kim: For women who own horses or who have horses in their lives, I would invite them to consider what would happen if in your relationship with a horse, if you began to perceive that the horse is always right. One of the best things I ever learned was that misbehavior is a form of communication.

For others who are drawn to horses but don’t have them in their physical vicinity ~ I would invite them to seek ways of experiencing horses in your daily life either through experiencing them in art, or drawing them yourself. Find ways to be with horses. There is a reason horses are in your heart, and the quest to understand that reason is a wonderful journey of discovery. But remember it is not about seeking answers, it is about asking more questions.

Meet Tami Hoag

As a writer and rider, author Tami Hoag has all the “write stuff.” When she’s not astride one of her grand prix dressage horses, she can most likely be found buried behind a keyboard working on her next mystery. She is world renowned as a New York Times best selling author and the Chicago Tribune called Tami, “One of the most intense suspense writers around.” In her horse life, Tami is a top adult amateur dressage rider competing internationally. Equesse spoke with Tami, to find out more about her intriguing life and her love and involvement with horses.

Equesse: You have written 14 mysteries that have landed on the New York Times bestselling list and two of them revolve around horses. Tell us about those.

Tami: Dark Horse and The Alibi Man take place amidst the horse world in Wellington, Florida, which is part of the Palm Beaches. Every winter I spend a couple of months in Florida competing and it is certainly a world unto itself. In my earlier books I kept my riding separate, but in these novels I let the two converge. My heroine in both books is Elena Estes, a very complex character with a privileged upbringing. She has a falling out with her family and goes to work for the sheriff’s office. People always ask me if I am Elena, and I am not. I did, however, enjoy incorporating the horse world into these books. It was natural for me, as horses have been my life since I was a child.

Equesse: Were you a typical horse-crazy child growing up?

Tami: I grew up in a non-horse family, but that didn’t stop me from dreaming of having a pony of my own. I asked my parents for a pony every chance I got, and my dream became a reality when they bought me a Shetland Pony named Dan. Dan was a wise old soul, and would never do anything he believed was beyond my capability as a rider. For the first year I had him, he would NOT canter. No matter how I tried to coax him, irritate him, beg him, bribe him, he absolutely would not canter — until I became a better rider with better balance and was in no danger of just falling off. He really was my best friend and constant companion.

I didn’t own a saddle for Dan at first, but I did have a cart and I learned to hitch Dan up myself and drove him all over town. I drove him in parades and hung advertising for local businesses on my cart, which earned me money to save up for a new saddle. When I had saved up almost a hundred dollars — a fortune to a nine-year-old — I became obsessed with the idea of the new saddle. My oldest brother was getting married around that time, and one weekend my mother was going to go shopping with his fiancé to look for a dress. When I overheard them planning to go to a bridal shop, I got all excited and asked, ‘Do you think they might have saddles, too?’ Typical horse-crazy little girl, that was all I could think about.

Equesse: Now you are a top adult amateur dressage rider, how did that come about?

Tami: For 30 years I tried a variety of equestrian disciplines, before settling on dressage. I love the precision, accuracy, beauty and elegance of dressage and for me it really is a fabulous sport. My first partner, D’Artagnon and I made our debut as a team in the show ring in June of 1999 and I haven’t looked back since. I started training with Betsy Steiner then, and I still train with her today.

Equesse: Tell us about your horses.

Tami: I have an 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding named Rush Hour 4 and a 10-year-old Westfalen gelding named Fhilosopher. Rush Hour and I are competing at the grand prix level. By nature Rush Hour is a very high-strung horse, and in the past he has been very tense in the ring. This is his first season at grand prix, and he has limited show experience to begin with. So we are working at his coping with the stress, and I am really pleased with his progress. It is a process with him and I am finding it very rewarding. Fhilosopher has grand prix potential and is a very elegant horse with a tremendous amount of charisma and talent.

Equesse: You obviously have to do a lot of research for your books, how do you accomplish that?

Tami: There’s nothing like hands-on research. I always learn something, and often pick up some unexpected detail that will later prove important in a book. Over the years, I have done a lot of hands-on research with various law enforcement agencies — from homicide detectives to sex crimes detectives to the FBI. I recently went to a fundraising auction and bid on and won the chance to ride with the Palm Beach Sheriff for a day. It’s great research for future books.

Equesse: What would you say to women who want to ride but because of family, time or financial obligations can’t fit it into their schedules.

Tami: It isn’t always easy to squeeze in time for our needs, but as women we truly need to. For me, horses are my passion away from my work; they are my joy, refuge, therapy, salvation and comfort. Several years ago I was thrown from a sale horse and broke my back in five places. While I was recuperating, I didn’t know if I would ever be able to ride again, and certainly didn’t know if I would be able to ride at the Grand Prix level. I discovered that it wasn’t the excitement of competition, or the thrill of winning a big class, that I would have missed if the accident had kept me from getting back in the saddle. What I would have missed the most would have been the partnership with my horses. The day-in-day-out work with a horse that builds an understanding and trust between you. As women, we need that.

Equesse: Your horse life has had a few upsets, including losing your wonderful mare Coco Channel.

Tami: Sadly, Coco Channel was humanely eunthanized from a devastating spinal cord injury that occurred in a freak accident during the summer of 2007. Betsy Steiner helped me find Coco Channel in Germany, and even though I still mourn her loss I have beautiful memories of the mare that I call a “lady” and a “special one.” Every day with Coco was a joy. She could be very exuberant, and expressed herself with a sudden squeal and by springing with all four feet straight up off the ground — usually when I had her on the buckle!  When she landed, I would gather the reins, scold her a little, and she would walk on with the sweetest look on her face, as if she hadn’t done a thing wrong. Coco had never done a freestyle when I got her and at first she had reservations about it. When the music was added, Coco seemed to “get it” and I count riding freestyles on her as a highlight of our career together. My favorite memory will always be of our Pas De Deux with Betsy and Feliki (my other grand prix mare) at the Challenge of the Americas. Coco loved nothing more than the spotlight and a big audience — and Feliki is the same. It was such a blast to go out on that field and really let her shine. She was in her glory with a standing ovation.

Equesse: Your fans are eagerly awaiting your next thrilling and heart-stopping book, Deeper Than The Dead. Tell us about this next novel that is sure to keep us all on the edge of our seats.

Tami: Deeper Than The Dead, will arrive in bookstores on December 28, 2009. Set in 1985 in an idyllic California college town, Deeper Than The Dead opens with four children running through the woods and literally falling upon the body of a murder victim. The investigation is headed by hotshot young detective Tony Mendez, and joined by one of the FBI’s pioneers of criminal profiling, still a fledgling science at the time. Also drawn into the investigation is the children’s fifth grade teacher, Anne Navarre, who must protect her students and at the same time try to delve through family secrets that run Deeper Than The Dead.

For more information on Tami Hoag, or to see a list of her novels, visit her website at www.tamihoag.com.

You have a gift.

For as long as you can remember, you have had a passion for horses. When you were little, you drew or cut out pictures of horses.  You had plastic models all over your room, and you knew the names of every horse in the movies or on TV.  Any time you could be next to a horse, or even catch a glimpse of one, was like a dream.  And the smell of hay and manure – forget about it!  You were in heaven. Many people may have thought you odd.  As your life progressed into adulthood, however, you may or may not have been able to pursue the lifestyle that fulfilled your passion.  Yet, it still remains, stronger than ever.  You have a gift – it’s called Equesse.

Equesse is the wondrous connection that so many women have with horses.  It has a language all its own that only certain women can understand.  It is a part of your soul that can bring deeper understanding of yourself and of the world.  Equesse should be celebrated for the wonderful joy it brings to your life –through something as simple as looking at a beautiful photo or painting of a horse.  You can find that connection here.  Equesse is not just about horses.  Equesse is about you.  This is just the beginning of a new and exciting discovery of a power that has always been
very much a part of you: your gift of Equesse.