Your Essential Companion

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  I wonder how many of us will say yes: did you play with horses when you were a girl? You know we had real ponies and horses when I was growing up—we had to clean out stalls before we took our morning showers before school. (And I still have a scar on my leg from a rambunctious ride that did not end well. ) 

Not mine--but I definitely had these!

I also had about, well, fifty million plastic ones, of all sizes and types. Mostly hunters and jumpers and dressage, but also some with Western saddles and gear.   And I read every horse book, from the Connemara McGuire books (Golden Sovereign and Silver Birch? And more? Did you read those?) to the Black Stallion and Misty and Flicka and I know you will all remind me of more.

I can’t wait to hear what you all thought of horses when you were..11? Ish?  But some of us were lucky enough to maintain our equestrian life as adults.  How cool is that? And I am so delighted to introduce you all to the amazing Kari Bovee.  And her pals. And how horses changed her writing life!

 My Essential Companion

By Kari Bovee

I’m so excited to be with you here on Jungle Red! Thank you so much, Hank, and the rest of you lovely Reds for inviting me spend some time with you and your readers.

I’ve just come inside in beautiful Corrales, New Mexico where I have been playing with one of my beloved horses. I honestly don’t know what I would do without these amazing creatures in my life. They have consoled me, inspired me, excited me, and at times took me wayyyyy out of my comfort zone, for which I am grateful.

My love affair started with horses when I was very young. My father traveled quite a lot for business, and he would always bring home a present for my brother and me. I don’t remember what my brother received, but for me, it was books. One time, he brought home Misty of the Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry, and I was spellbound. Several more of her books later, I also became enchanted with Walter Farley’s Black Beauty series. These reading adventures set me on a course that would forever change and enhance my life in ways I never imagined.

Although I loved reading about these majestic creatures, I had no desire to ride them. They were other worldly to me, and quite scary. But, my mother, seeing how much I loved the books, decided I would benefit from riding lessons. So, she marched her terrified eleven-year-old daughter to the neighborhood stables. My instructor assured me I would come to no harm, and she set me upon her prized horse, an Arabian mare named Fahar. And then, the magic happened. I was in love!

From then on, I ate, drank, slept, and dreamed of horses. After a year of lessons, I got my first horse, and there have only been a few years in my life since that I did not have at least one equine companion. I’ve competed in almost every horse showing discipline, and have also spent the last decade studying natural horsemanship, horse behavior, and equine psychology. And, I still have so much to learn.

It was only fitting that I should feature horses in my novels. When I started researching the iconic Annie Oakley for my Annie Oakley Mystery Series, I found that she did oftentimes perform on horseback, but it was never clear if she had a special horse in her life. So, I decided to bestow one upon her with the creation of Buck – a buckskinned beauty who was fashioned after one of my horses, Hi Handsome CCR, an Arabian Quarter Horse Palomino. 

Handsome is what we in the horse biz refer to as “my heart horse.” I have had the pleasure of being his human for almost fifteen years, and he has taught me so much about love, compassion, patience, and most importantly, about myself. Horses are often a mirror—and in them we see the parts of ourselves that we can rejoice in, or in many cases, what we need to work on.

When I was writing Grace in the Wings, the first book in my Grace Michelle Mystery series which takes place in New York City, 1920’s on Broadway, I wanted to somehow incorporate a horse into the story. So I sent Grace on a transcontinental train trip out West, where she encounters a lovely Palomino named Golden Ray of Light. I won’t give any spoilers here, but suffice it to say, the spritely mare makes an impact on the talented costume designer turned Ziegfeld star.

It’s hard to imagine what life, or my books, would be without horses in them. These spiritual, magical beings have infused themselves into my heart and into my soul. They are where I go when I am jubilant and inspired, or when I am disheartened and need to escape from some of the harsh realities of life. And, they have made me a more complete and fulfilled person, which is really what this journey of life is all about.

Is there someone, or something, that you cannot imagine having in your life? That very special person, animal, or thing that rounds you out as a person and is completely essential to your well-being? I’d love to hear about it!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Oh great question! Love this, Kari!  What say you, dear Reds and readers? Horses? Past of present?  Or who’s your essential companion?

 About Kari Bovée

Empowered women in history, horses, unconventional characters, and real-life historical events fill the pages of Kari Bovée’s articles and historical mystery musings and manuscripts.

An award-winning author,  Bovée was honored as a finalist in the Historical Fiction category of the 2019 Next Generation Indie Awards for her novel Girl with a Gun. The book also received First Place in the 2019 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards in the Mystery/Crime category, and received the 2019 Hillerman Award for Southwest Fiction. She was also a finalist in the 2019 Best Book Awards Historical Fiction category for her novel Peccadillo at the Palace. Her novel Grace in the Wings finaled in the unpublished Romantic Suspense category of the 2012 LERA Rebecca contest, the 2014 NTRWA Great Expectations contest, and the RWA 2016 Daphne du Maurier contest. The novel was released in September of 2019.

Bovée has worked as a technical writer for a Fortune 500 Company, has written non-fiction for magazines and newsletters, and has worked in the education field as a teacher and educational consultant. She is the author of the Annie Oakley Mystery Series and the Grace Michelle Mystery Series.

She and her husband, Kevin, spend their time between their horse property in the beautiful Land of Enchantment, New Mexico, and their condo on the sunny shores of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.