Following on with one excerpt a month, today we’re looking at an excerpt from the first book in the Thoroughbred Breeders series, New Blood. Enjoy!

If you’re interested in reading excerpts from my children’s series, then head on over to http://www.freereinseries.com/ ?

1. Tuesdays
Savannah Reynier couldn’t decide if she liked Tuesdays or not. On the one hand, she was working with horses – like any other day – so how could she not? On the other, Tuesdays were farrier days. Each Tuesday on the stud she worked on, the farrier was booked to do whatever horses needed a trim at that time.
Today it was the yearling fillies that needed their feet looked at. Standing half the day holding horses for the farrier wasn’t high on Savannah’s list of favourite horse chores. When the class of horses needing a trim was barely handled, this task fell a little lower down the ladder.
She wondered which apprentice would be along with Rick and Jay this time.
Hopefully not Flynn again.
He was a terrible flirt. Plus, her workmates had so much fun teasing her afterward no matter what she did around him. She’d tried being polite. Then she’d tried ignoring him. Rudeness hadn’t discouraged him either. She wondered if she could swing things so that her co-worker Kathy ended up holding for him.
If he comes.
It seemed that Rick and Jay had a different apprentice each week. It made sense she supposed, that they would take on as many as they could.

As the cars pulled to a stop outside the holding yards Savannah made her way into the first yard. She was able to catch one of the fillies by moving slowly and talking quietly to the dark brown with a star on her head.
“Hey sweetie,” she said, rubbing her gently on the neck, “the quieter you stand for the man, the quicker we get this done.”
“Not to mention that the man would really appreciate it, too,” an accented voice said from not too far behind her.
South African, Savannah decided as she turned to face the latest apprentice that had obviously been dumped on her. She tried to school her features to an indifferent glance as she felt her stomach do flip-flops. She nodded politely as she took in the scruffy brown hair, small amount of stubble and curiously green eyes.
Wow.
“These girls have been handled on a regular basis, but they are yearlings…” she found herself offering and then felt her face warm as he grinned at her.
He can probably tell that for himself.
“They do look young, but it’s their feet that really interest me,” he offered, stepping closer to offer his hand to the brown filly.
She sniffed at him before looking toward the other horses, disinterested in the man before her. The exact opposite of Savannah’s sentiments. She grinned at the thought before quickly schooling her features again as she realised she had an audience.
He was looking at her with a brow raised in question. Savannah internally sighed.
Awkward.
“So I’m Craig and you’ll have to put up with my lack of social skills – but not farrier skills – for the next couple of hours, I’m sorry,” he said by way of introduction.
This immediately endeared him to Savannah.
A self deprecating farrier – who would have thought it? Then again, false humility works well for some…
With a start she realised he was waiting for her to introduce herself.
Now who’s lacking in social skills?
“Everyone calls me Anna,” she responded quietly, thinking if Craig didn’t start trimming, she was in for a ribbing from her workmates for sure.
“Well, almost everyone,” she muttered, more to herself as Craig ran his hand down the filly’s near fore to pick up her hoof.
She couldn’t help but take in his frame as he worked. He was easily taller than her, but not too much so. His shoulders were broad and arms strong. She stared at his back, refusing to continue her perusal.
“So who doesn’t call you Anna?” a voice interrupted her thoughts.
It took a second for the question to register – and then for her to realise that although the comment hadn’t exactly been made for him, Craig expected an answer.
“Aah… my boss. Nev calls me Savvy.”
She could hear him clipping off excess toe before he picked up his rasp and started around the edge of the hoof.
“Because of your knowledge and ability with horses?” he asked with a grin as he put the filly’s hoof to the ground and assessed how it sat.
Clever with words – check.
“I’m sure Nev would agree with that statement because it makes him look particularly clever when people discover my full name happens to be Savannah.”
Craig’s eyebrow rose again and Savannah questioned what he was thinking. That she was rude in the way she talked about her boss? That Savannah wasn’t a common name?
Probably that he still has three feet left to trim.
As if sensing her thoughts, Craig moved around to the other side of the filly, running his hand down her off fore. Following him, Savannah made sure she was standing on the off-side of the horse before he continued his work.
Why didn’t he do her hind leg?
Of all the farriers that she had seen trim feet, they went in the same order. Start with the near fore, move onto the near hind. Following this, complete the off fore and then finally the off hind leg.
Surely he’s not that new to trimming feet that he hasn’t been taught that.
She assumed it was something they got taught anyway, much like people getting taught to mount horses from the left hand side.
Not that the reason why is relevant to recreational riding.
Mustering up some semblance of courage, Savannah decided to ask.
“So I tend to like learning all I can about horses…” she started, unsure how to ask without seeming stupid – or like she was trying to make him look so.
“Mmmhmmm…” came the response from under the horse.
“Is there a reason why you’re doing both forefeet first?” she asked before she lost her nerve.
Craig finished rasping the hoof before letting the filly stand on all fours. He gave Savannah a grin before checking that the hoof was balanced on the ground.
Dimple – check.
“You think I should have done them in a different order?” he asked her, still smiling.
She frowned, wondering if he was teasing her. Eventually she shrugged.
“I suppose you can do them in whatever order you see fit. I’ve just noticed a particular pattern that farriers seem to follow,” she responded as he moved onto the off hind leg.
“When I’m doing most horses for the first time, I do their front feet first. You never know how well handled they are going to be and I’ve had a couple of incidences where I get one foot done, move to the back and all hell breaks loose. For whatever reason, it’s impossible to get the back foot done and by this stage the horse is so worked up, they won’t let me touch their other front foot. At least this way if there are issues with the hind feet, the horse is balanced in front.”
Savannah pondered this as Craig finished the off hind before moving back to the filly’s left side. He made short work of her near hind before declaring he was finished.
“Thanks for telling me the reason,” she responded lamely before going to get another horse.
Craig had finished before the other two men. Savannah wouldn’t have been surprised if he paused for a cigarette like the majority of the other apprentices seemed to. She was pleased to find that instead he stepped up to the group of skittish fillies and kept them from breaking away from the corner while she worked to get a head collar on one of them.
“Thanks,” she breathed as she led the young horse toward the gate out of the yard to where there was more room for him to work.
Craig ducked through the rails and then held the gate open for her. Savannah decided in her next glance that he was somewhere in his mid twenties.
Old for an apprentice.

Jay and Craig ended up with the last two fillies. Savannah wasn’t surprised to find Rick observing the apprentice as he worked away.
She knew she would have been intimidated by such a gesture but decided Craig didn’t seem the least perturbed. Instead he continued working whilst talking with his boss about the filly’s feet. Savannah listened keenly, eager to pick up any new bits of knowledge. Plus, she decided, Craig’s voice and accent were extremely pleasant to listen to.
Gorgeous accent – check.
Savannah concluded that once all the trims were complete and the two familiar vehicles made their way back down the drive that Tuesdays had drastically improved. In fact, she would go so far as to say that she liked Tuesdays.

Like what you’ve read? You can purchase New Blood at Amazon.

Hi everyone!

I am so excited to be starting 2017 with a new release!  Recessive, book 3 in the Thoroughbred Breeders series is now live on Amazon.  You can purchase it via this link!

Whilst you’re at it, why not add it to your Goodreads list?

Have you signed up for my author updates mailing list?  If you do, then you’ll be the first to know about new releases and any freebies I might have on offer!

Christine

Hi everyone!

After a rush of inspiration, I have recently finished the third book in the Thoroughbred Breeders series! This is to be titled Recessive. It needs to be edited and the cover has just been designed, so stay tuned!

While you’re here, why not check out the blurb?

Hi everyone!  Happy New Year!

Once a month this year, I have decided to provide an excerpt from one of my horse novels aimed at mature readers, or one of my non fiction horse books. If you’re interested in reading excerpts from my children’s series, then head on over to http://www.freereinseries.com/ 🙂

Below is an excerpt from my most recent release, No Hoof, No Horse, book 2 in the Thoroughbred Breeders series.

Alone
It was on the third thoroughbred property that Craig had been to on his second Tuesday of trimming with Rick and Jay that he decided he liked the area. This property was small for a thoroughbred stud – 200 acres in size and nearly as many horses – and it appealed to him just fine. The owner/manager Nev was laid back and seemed to have a good sense of humour, at least judging by the way he interacted with Rick and Jay when they arrived.
There were three other staff members – two females and one male. It was the youngest female staff member who caught his attention.
Savannah had taken him completely by surprise. At first it was her looks – he’d never met a dark skinned person with blue eyes before. Thinking back over his years in South Africa, he couldn’t recall any time when he’d seen a black person with blue eyes. Not that she was black, more like a chocolate brown.
He also liked that her questions focused on the horses rather than him. It was refreshing. He was used to female attention but not like what he was getting in this small town made up of horse properties. It was a little embarrassing and Rick and Jay had already had a hell of a time teasing him.
He’d since then decided that he would introduce himself as someone who lacked social skills. This was in the hope that it would discourage talking and he could just focus on the horses. It seemed funny to him that it hadn’t worked with other females who held horses for him. And when it had worked with Savannah, he’d not wanted it to.
He noted that she handled the horses well and was entirely focused on them when she needed to be. She was also polite, but not overly chatty. He didn’t know if this was because he was new to her, because of the way he’d introduced himself or if it was just her.
Either way, he felt that he could have a real conversation with her, not one based on a female trying to get his attention or something else superficial. Pity he wouldn’t see her that often. Either way, by the time he’d finished trimming on the property, he had decided he would do his best to get to know Savannah… Anna… Savvy, whenever the opportunity arose.
After the first visit to this farm, Craig was thankful to find out that they visited the property every Tuesday for trims. Sometimes it was a morning visit, other times after lunch but Nev had booked the men in for every Tuesday during the season and at other times if an emergency arose – like one of the stallions throwing a shoe.
The following week when they were heading down the road to the farm, Craig had eagerly anticipated having Savannah hold for him again. He’d considered things he might say to draw her into conversation and had eventually concluded that rather than rehearse lines, he should just see how things played out.
After all, she was the one female who had held horses for him who hadn’t shown any interest in him. Although that made her more appealing than it should, he knew that he should entertain the idea that she wasn’t the remotest bit interested in him.
As they’d driven past the main gate to the farm Craig had frowned in surprise. When he looked over at Rick, his boss had a knowing smirk on his face. At least, it seemed that way. Craig chose to keep silent.
“There’s another farm up the road that has a few spellers that need a trim. I thought we’d get them out of the way first.”
And then we’ll go back to Nev’s place?
Craig didn’t voice his question. He nodded instead. In the side mirror he noted that Jay’s car turned into Nev’s place.
I guess we are going there, then.
Rick and Craig continued up the road, hung a left and pulled into another driveway. Off to the right in a yard, stood half a dozen fillies. Three-year-olds, Craig guessed. He looked at their feet as they stepped out of the car.
Simple trims.
Apparently Rick thought so, too. He introduced Craig to the man waiting to hold horses for them.
One man?
Craig was surprised when Rick indicated that Craig could do the six fillies. Jay and Rick would do the horses at Nev’s, then come pick Craig up and continue onto another farm half an hour down the road.
Craig nodded his acquiescence, and got started. After he’d done half of one filly’s feet, Rick said farewell to the men and headed back in his car and down the road. Craig realised he wouldn’t get to see Savannah that day after all.
“Gotta say, kid, he must like the way you trim,” Rob, a 60-something gentleman commented as Rick’s car disappeared from view.
Craig finished rasping one hoof, let it drop to the ground and assessed it before looking up at Rob with a smile.
“It does appear that way, doesn’t it?” he questioned, thinking of the last time someone had called him kid.
“Take it as a compliment. I don’t know of many apprentices that Rick will leave to their own devices while he’s elsewhere.”
The two men chattered easily as Craig worked. Craig was able to find out a little more about the men he worked for as well as local properties. Every now and again his mind slipped back to what he felt he was missing whilst not trimming at Nev’s.
He was able to find out a bit about the farm down the road and its casual owner/manager, but Savannah didn’t make it into the conversation. Craig hoped that the day’s events were a one-off and he’d get to help trim at Nev’s place the following week.

Like what you’ve read? You can purchase No Hoof, No Horse at Amazon.

Hi everyone! Did you know that if you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow my books to read for free? Just thought I’d let you know!

I’m happy to make sales on my books, but am also happy to know they’ve been borrowed and read! So if you’re looking for a new horse adult novel to read, consider my latest series, Thoroughbred Breeders or my earlier release in 2016, B and B or my debut novel Horse Country.

If you are interested in non fiction horse books, then you can also check out 52 Steps to Kick-Start Your Equine Career and Equine Passive Income Streams.

And for those who are looking for a horse series for their pre-teens, then be sure to check out the Free Rein series. All of these books can be read for free as an Amazon Prime member.