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Great Horse Stories - poem by Caspia

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CASPIA chestnut filly Rider: Prince Ochus I am Caspia, named after the sea where they found me orphaned and small. They gave me to Aura, who had milk for her lost foal – a curse on Alexander by the Persian god, they said. So that makes me a blessing, I guess. I am Caspia, friend of Prince Ochus, who lost his mother just like me. Together we crossed mountains, high and cold, breathing ice while men and horses died And Alexander looked for the edge of the world. I am Caspia, joker of the herd. Wearing elephant skin, the other horses took fright so I lay in the mud and made everyone laugh. Alexander did not fear elephants, they said. The Indians would die when they battled us. I am Caspia, who fought at the Indus, where Bucephalas fell and did not get up. I smelled elephants so I lay in the mud but forgot Prince Ochus, whose spirit I crushed. The day was lost and the rain never stopped. I am Caspia. I only tried my best. They discharged me from the army

Great Horse Stories - Zephyr's Story

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ZEPHYR dun mare Rider: Philotas Philotas was the one who named me Zephyr. Before that, I was just “the dun mare”. I don’t have pretty dapples like Aura, and I’m not a mare-who-thinks-she’s-a-stallion like Harpinna. I’m the sort of mare nobody notices. Maybe that’s why Bucephalas never made a foal with me? Philotas grumbles it’s the same for him. “Nobody notices how bravely I fight,” he told me one day at the start of the war with Persia, back when we were still part of Alexander’s special Guard. “I’m just 'General Parmenio’s son'... and I don't think Alexander likes me.” I whinnied in sympathy, because we all knew Alexander didn’t like old Parmenio very much. That’s probably why he threw me and Philotas out of the Guard as soon as he could get away with it and gave us some Greek cavalry to command, whose horses wouldn’t mind being bossed about by a dun mare. Philotas was pretty pleased with his promotion at first. But he soon worked out we were always ordered to fight

Great Horse Christmas Story - Zoroaster's Story

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ZOROASTER White gelding Rider: none I am the Sacred Horse of the Sun, named after the prophet Zoroaster, which makes me immortal – so this is going to be a happy story with no horses dying in it. I travelled with the Persian King Darius, until Alexander captured his camp after the battle of Issus. I survived in Bucephalas’ herd because I was gelding and not expected to fight. Then, a few hundred years after Alexander died, I carried a small white kitten out of Persia hidden in my mane ( thank you, catdownunder !) and joined the Magi, who were following a star into the west. Their camels were laden with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for a newborn king, and they took me along as their fourth gift – a beautiful white horse for the young prince to ride when he was grown. I wore my finest tasselled cloth and a bridle of soft red leather, with silver bells plaited into my mane and tail, just like I was on parade. They make such a pretty tinkling when I trot. Soon we came to a l

Great Horse Stories - Xanthus' Story by Alzrith

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Xanthus Chestnut stallion Rider: Craterus Today the Muse is delighted to bring you a story written specially for this blog series by Alzrith, who chose to talk to Xanthus... enjoy!   My name is Xanthus, and you should know right away that I'm no Black Beauty ― No, that isn't proper. It's Bucephalas' line. I should think of a better one to impress those fools of horses leaning over the wooden rails to reach the carrots the grooms dangle teasingly before our eyes. Some horses manage to reach carrots and crunch them with their teeth, but most squeal softly in frustration. I stay in the middle of the ring of wooden rails. To me, it's prison. I ignore some grooms whistling like birds to me, dangling some carrots. I’d rather eat the dirt inside my hooves. My coat is the colour of glittering yellow metals from the deepest mines, but that’s where the resemblance stops. I have a big head well-proportioned to my muscular, equine body; most of my scars are etched foreve

Great Horse Stories - poem by Borealis

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BOREALIS Brown stallion Rider: Leonnatus I was named after the North Wind, but crueller winds blow on me today bringing ice from the edge of the world to chill my pale bones Which haunt the trail where I lay down to rest during our march up and over the highest pass of the Hindu Kush. My friends trotted down into the mist leaving me with a mane full of snow. If I wait here long enough they will return for me, I know. Leonnatus will bring me a warm cloth, honeyed oats and a bridle of gold - See, here they come now all in a froth from climbing the trail so steep and cold. I greet them with a whinny of delight, and watch my bold friend Bucephalas rear up high and pick a fight with King Alexander, no less. Oh, he is acting wild! And now the other horses are taking fright. I can't understand why they won’t pass, until I get out of their way at last. Now Alexander jumps off to take the lead and approaches me, all squinting and slow. “Borealis?” he whispers, “Are you still here?”

Great Horse Stories - Harpinna's Story

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HARPINNA Roan mare Rider: Ptolemy Harpinna here. I might be a mare, but I’ve never been much interested in foals. When Ptolemy chose me to be part of Alexander’s guard, I saw my chance to learn from the great Bucephalas, who has seen more battles than any of us and has the scars to prove it. I’ve fought at his side in the mountains of Thrace, outside the thick walls of Thebes, and at the battle of the River Granicus… where he finally he noticed me. While we were having a breather at Halicarnassus, he broke his tether to visit me in the night. I thought he’d come to do mutual grooming with me, like he does sometimes with his best friend Petasios. But I was in season, so he’d come to make a foal with me instead. I fought him like a stallion, with my hooves and teeth. He won, though, and little Hoplite was born on our way down the coast. Don’t ask me where. It was a quick birth, and we marched on as soon as my colt could trot after me (which wasn’t very long, because all foals can w

Great Horse Stories – Bucephalas’ foals.

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Bucephalas took time off from fighting to sire three foals: Electra, Hoplite, and Indus. Now they are grown, the Muse is delighted to bring you this exclusive interview with them. Q. I know Bucephalas fathered all of you, but who was your mother? Electra : Psylla. She’s dead now, but she was really brave. She was smaller than me, but she carried Alexander at the Battle of Granicus after Bucephalas got captured by the Persians, and she died fighting. I am determined to fight like her and make Bucephalas proud of me! Hoplite: Harpinna. She’s got silly white speckles in her coat and she passed them on to me, so I’m not all black like Bucephalas. Alexander says I’ve inherited her bad temper, too. He can talk. Indus : Aura! She had a stillborn foal before me, so she’s really protective. When the horsemaster tried to steal me in India, she got really fierce and reared up and knocked him over. Her coat’s white with age now, but I gather she was quite a looker when she was younger. Q.

Great Horse Stories - Apollo's story.

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APOLLO Palomino stallion Rider: Perdiccas They call me Apollo after the sun god, and (as you can probably tell from my portrait) I was not born to be a warhorse. It’s obvious King Philip bought me for my beauty. When the sun shines, my coat glows gold and my mane gleams pale as ripe flax. When the grooms comb it out properly, my tail ripples like a banner AND I can carry it just as high as any silly Persian gelding! I should have been Prince Alexander’s royal horse. We should all have stayed at home in Pella and taken part in parades, where everyone would have thrown rose petals over us and cheered, without us having to fight any bloody battles in the wilds of Asia. But then Bucephalas turned up, and the silly boy decided he’d rather ride a battle-scarred old warhorse than a handsome parade horse like me. Of course Bucephalas made himself huge and pranced about like an overgrown colt, which went to Alexander’s head. Pretty soon all his friends started talking about war, and befo

Great Horse Stories - Psylla's Story

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PSYLLA Dark bay mare Rider: Hector My name's Psylla, and I was the first of our herd to have a foal by Bucephalas! True, Aura was away at the time, or it might not have happened. But the new horsemaster didn’t realize I was in season when he turned me out in the pasture, and Bucephalas had not run with a mare for years, and… well, one thing led to another. Anyway, eleven months later I gave birth to a beautiful black filly. She was big like her sire, so it wasn’t easy getting her out, but I’m a determined mare and managed it in the middle of the night without any help. I do so hate to make a fuss. It was hard to leave my sweet filly behind when we left for Persia, but she was much too young to fight. The grooms called her Electra, and promised she would join us just as soon as she was old enough to be ridden. I didn’t know I would not live to see that day. The Persian army was waiting for us at the River Granicus. Though it was after sunset, Alexander immediately galloped Bucep

Greek National Literature Translator Award

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The Muse interrupts the Great Horse stories to bring you some exciting news… we have just heard that the lovely Anna Vasileiadi-Dardalis has been nominated for the National Literature Translator Award by the Greek Ministry of Culture for her fabulous translation of “I am the Great Horse” into the Greek language. For an interview with Anna, see this post . Congratulations, Anna! Wishing you the best of luck in the next stage.

Because you’re worth it? What an author REALLY earns...

Since the Great Horse stories are obviously boring people to death, I have decided to blog about money this week for a change. Last weekend, the Guardian magazine carried an interesting article on typical earnings for various professions. My author (who is permanently panicking about the state of her bank balance) was glued to it! Here they are in ascending order of earning power: Cleaner: £5,000 Alternative Therapist: £5,000 Waiter: £9,000 Small Shop Owner: £9,600 - £12,000 Milkman: £15,000 Architect: £25,000 Cartographer: £20,000 + 1% of sales Canon (church): £22,000 + rent-free vicarage Mechanic: £23,400 Pub Landlady: £25,000 Landscape Gardener: £28,000 Police Constable: £28,000 Oxfam Head of PR: £40,000 Psychotherapist: £40,000 Pharmacist: £40,157 Speech Therapist: £40,050 GP: £51,000 Dentist (private practice): £57,500 Criminal Barrister: up to £60,000 Member of Parliament: £65,738 Reality TV Director: £67,000 Airline Pilot: £120,000 Journalist: between £18

Great Horse Stories - Petasios' Story

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PETASIOS Chestnut stallion Rider: Hephaestion Hi there! My name’s Petasios, and I was meant to be Alexander’s warhorse. The royal horsemaster picked me out himself and paid good money for me – well, it was the king’s money, but I think that’s all right since he was buying me for the prince. He ordered the grooms to give me the best stable and polish my coat until it shone fiery red like the rising sun. I got the best oats with herbs and honey, and the best of care. The only bad part was when the horsemaster took it upon himself to train me personally. He’s the sort of rider who expects immediate obedience. As long as you behave yourself, everything’s fine, but if you don’t… look out. Anyway, I’m a well-bred horse and not one to pick a fight, so we got along well enough until the day Bucephalas saw me practising my battle leaps on the riding ground. He was being led out by his groom, Charmeia. She’s a girl-filly and not very big, so it was a bit much to expect her to hold on to Bucep

Great Horse Stories - Aura's Story by Katherine Roberts

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AURA Dapple grey mare Rider: Demetrius My name’s Aura, and everyone notices me. It's a grey thing. I’ve carried queens and princes. I even once almost carried Prince Alexander, only Bucephalas got there first. Just as well, really. Can you honestly see the Persian army running away from me ? I don’t even nip people from behind when I’m in season, like some mares I know… mentioning no names, Harpinna! I believe in doing my best for every rider, prince or slave. So the night before our big battle against the Persian army, when the moon went out and all the other horses were scared, I stood quietly for the dark-skinned man who fumbled with my bridle. His hands trembled as he untied me. I could smell the fear in his sweat. “Please,” he kept sobbing. “Please don’t buck me off, little mare.” He obviously didn’t know me very well. I must admit I was a little surprised when he led me out of the horse lines and scrambled on my bare back. But we horses can see well enough in the dark,

Great Horse Stories – short story challenge

Bucephalas is very headstrong and Katherine had a hard job controlling him, which is why “I am the Great Horse” runs to 500 pages. But he is not the only horse in the book! Inspired by NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), the Muse thinks it’s only fair to give the other horses in Bucephalas’ herd a chance to tell their own stories. He is therefore launching his very own MuWRiMo (Muse Writing Month) for those of you who don't have the time to write a whole novel. Your challenge is to choose a horse from the list below and send in a story or poem and/or artwork inspired by that horse’s character. For example, you could write about their life as a foal… imagine what it would be like to ride them yourself… bring your favourite horse into the modern world… or retell one of Alexander’s battles straight from the horse’s mouth... it’s up to you! The Muse will add authors’ names to the list below as horses are chosen and post the stories between now and 21st December (which is Nation

Great Horse 14 – Finally, a book trailer!

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The final post in this series must go to fan  Jaguar Jedi , who has created this fabulous book trailer on YouTube to tell Bucephalas’ story: CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER Along with other horse footage, this trailer uses promotional clips from Oliver Stone’s film “Alexander”, which came out at the end of 2004, just after I had delivered the manuscript of "I am the Great Horse" to my publisher. Already a fan, I drove 20 miles to see it on the big screen. I was eager to experience Bucephalas’ battles close-up, but also a bit anxious in case I had got something glaringly wrong. In the event, I needn’t have worried. Although the film concentrates more on the human characters than the horses, everything seemed just right, especially Alexander’s stormy character. I was fascinated by how the film cuts back and forth through his life in the way of a literary type of novel, whereas my book tells the story in linear form that might have made a more obvious film script... which

Great Horse 13 - Greek translation by Anna Vasileiadi-Dardalis

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This week the Muse is delighted to introduce Anna Vasileiadi-Dardalis, who translated "I am the Great Horse" into Greek for the fabulous Greek language edition pictured here. Anna is also an author herself, so Katherine was very excited when she agreed to an interview. This is what she has to say about the Great Horse and translating books into other languages... KR: Since I do not read Greek myself, I find the Greek edition very mysterious. When you translate a book, do you translate it word for word or edit the text as you go? ANNA: I suppose you must be feeling the same way I feel when I read Japanese – or even German! They say that a translation is like a woman… hasn’t to be faithful in order to be good. Of course there are differences between two languages. Being an author myself, I feel that need of keeping as strict to the original text as I can. At the same time, by reading the book as from the first time, I try to sink in the original author’s mind – you, at t

The Snow Queen - over at 7 miles of Steel Thistles!

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A quick nudge from my glittery horn! In case you think my author is being lazy letting her editor, illustrator and translator post on this blog, Katherine is guest blogger this week over at  Seven Miles of Steel Thistles  as part of Katherine Langrish's fairytale series. So if you like magical worlds of snow and ice, devilish mirrors and adventurous heroines, climb into your sleigh and head on over to read what Katherine has to say about her favourite fairytale THE SNOW QUEEN , where you will also find more fabulous fairytale posts by a selection of your favourite fantasy authors. (The illustration is from a 1937 reprint of the 1920 original edition of My Book House, edited by Olive Beaupré Miller, believed to be in the public domain .)

Great Horse 12 – Illustrating maps: Brian Sanders

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words… and when you’re talking about maps, a picture can be worth a hundred thousand words! There is just one map in this book, but it tells you all you need to know about Bucephalas’ epic journey with Alexander. So this week the Muse is delighted to introduce talented artist Brian Sanders, who created the beautiful map you see at the front of “I am the Great Horse”. Brian has been a professional artist for five decades, during which time he has worked in every area of the illustrative arts ranging through book publishing, magazines, newspapers, government agencies, film, television and art education. Although he loved to draw maps in his childhood, he has only recently been asked to produce them for books, and the commission for "I am the Great Horse” came from book designer Ian Butterworth, with whom Brian has worked over many years. The project began with a rough sketch of the historical area supplied by Katherine, together with a dr

Great Horse 11 – Titles

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At last we come to the title. You might be wondering why it took so long to get to this point, but titles can be trickier than you think. Sometimes they come straight away and everyone loves them – like the first book of my Seven Fabulous Wonders series, which I knew would be called “The Great Pyramid Robbery” before I wrote a single word. But more often the published title comes after much discussion with the editor, and the author’s original ideas can usually be improved upon. This might seem overly fussy, but the title is probably the most important word(s) in your book, because title and cover image taken together must inspire a potential reader to pick it up in the first place. They may then turn it over to read the back cover “blurb”, or leaf through the pages to get a feel for the story, but if your book is shelved the traditional way in a bookshop then chances are people won’t even see the cover image, only the spine with title and author’s name. So unless you are a celebrity