TEXT: Hold on 
   to Your    
     Horses
  Written By
  Illustrated By
  
  Hold on 
    to Your 
        Horses
  About this pdf:
  Hold on to Your Horses exists because my daughter 
  needed a story that helped her visualize and control her 
  impulsive ideas.  I wrote the story, but quickly realized 
  that the full effect could only be reached if the story had 
  pictures.  I was fortunate enough to be able to connect 
  with Angela online and a collaboration was born.  I could 
  not be happier with the result.  The pictures are perfect, 
  exactly what this story needed.
  By mutual agreement, Angela and I have decided to make 
  this story available for free.  We love this story and want 
  others who love it to be able to share it easily.  There 
  may be other children out there who will benefit as much 
  from this book as my daughter has.
  A hardback book edition of this story will be released 
  Summer 2008.  Copies may be purchased through 
  www.holdontoyourhorses.com.
                                             --Sandra Tayler
  
  Amy was excited by the whole world.
         Each morning, she sprang out of bed with a head 
  full of ideas and feet ready to put them into action.
  © 2008 Sandra Tayler and Angela Baltag-Call.  
  The author and artist give permission for this pdf to be copied 
  and shared freely for non-profit home or educational activities.  
  The pdf should not be altered in any way and must always 
  properly credit Sandra Tayler and Angela Baltag-Call.
  Additional information available at www.holdontoyourhorses.com.
  
  On Sunday, Amy discovered that she could use a straw 
  to blow really big bubbles in her breakfast cereal.  
                  Mommy scolded her for making a mess.
  On Monday, she climbed to the very top of the jungle 
  gym and jumped up and down to fly like a dragon.
  Ms. Perkins called to 
  her to “come down 
  for heaven’s sake!”
  
                               On Wednesday,
                    Amy made a band out of pots
              and glasses and a whistle.  Kari shouted
                     at her to be quiet and get out
                                  of the room.
  Thursday, she had a plan to sort the blocks at school by 
  colors, but Billy kept grabbing them.
  Amy screamed and threw blocks at him.
  
  Amy had to sit in 
  the time-out chair.
  The time out chair made Amy feel small and 
  sad.  She wondered why her beautiful ideas 
  always got her into trouble.
  
  On Friday, everyone yelled at           Amy because 
  she did circus tricks on her chair during breakfast.
  At school, she cried because her picture was 
  coming out all wrong.
  Billy called her 
  a crybaby.
  
  When Amy came home she wanted to watch cartoons,      
               but Mommy told her to put away her coat.
  It was too much.  Amy threw a gigantic, humongous, 
  largest-ever-possible tantrum.
  Amy wanted the whole world to explode.
  
  The world didn’t explode. 
  Amy curled up with her blanket 
  and cried quiet tears.
  Mommy snuggled Amy into her lap.
  In her smallest voice Amy asked,
                             “Why am I always the problem?”
  
  “Have you ever watched horses?”  
  Mommy asked.
  “Sometimes they are quiet.   
            Other times they run   
                     like the wind.”
  “Horses sometimes get scared of 
      things that won’t hurt them.  
                Other times they run right 
                         into things that will.”
  “That’s why horses need 
  people to take care of 
  them.”
  “When a horse runs away, people will 
   calm the horse and take it home.  If the 
      horse gets hurt, people help the  
           horse get better.”
  
    “Amy, you are filled with ideas every day.  Your ideas 
  are like horses.  You need to take care of them and 
  keep them safe.”
  Then Mommy gave Amy an 
  extra snuggle and said,
  “I think sometimes your idea 
  horses are wild.  They don’t 
           just walk; they gallop 
                as hard and as fast 
                          as they can.”
  “Those horses want to run away with you, but if you 
  can slow them down, you can guide those horses to 
  wonderful places.”
  
  Amy snuggled closer to Mommy.
  “Can some of my horses be white ones?”  she asked.
  “Of course.” 
  “And can they fly?”
  “Sure they can.”
     “Just make sure 
      they don’t fly 
                  wild.”
  Amy nodded.
         She ran off to draw 
        pictures of her idea horses.
  
  That evening, Amy grabbed a toy bulldozer from Evan.  
  She wanted to use it to build a city.  Evan tried to grab 
  it back, but Amy danced away from him.
  Evan screamed.
  “Amy, hold on to your horses.”  said Mommy.
        Amy stopped dancing.  Her idea horse was running  
        away with her.
  Maybe she could build 
       the city with a truck 
               instead of the 
                     bulldozer.
  Amy gave the bulldozer 
  back to Evan and started 
  to build.
  
  On Saturday, Amy still sprang out of bed with her head 
  full of ideas, but now her ideas were horses.
  One idea horse wanted to cut hair ribbons into confetti.  
  Amy steered the horse to paper instead.
  At lunch, a horse wanted her to 
        fingerpaint with the ketchup.  
  Amy decided the 
  picture would 
  be much better 
  if she asked for 
  paints instead.
  
  During Evan’s nap, a 
  horse wanted to sing 
  and dance.
  Amy knew it would 
  wake up Evan.
  She led the 
  horse outside, 
  where they 
  could be as loud 
  as they wanted.
  At bedtime, Amy did not want to go to bed.  She ran 
  away from Mommy and hid under pillows.
  In the dark softness, 
  she listened to the 
  gallop of the horse 
  as it ran away.
  
  Amy didn’t want the idea 
  horse to run away.
  She wanted to take good 
  care of her idea horses.
  She jumped out of the pile of pillows
                  and ran back to Mommy.
  “Mommy!  I held on to my horses!”
  “You did?  
        That’s wonderful!”
                Mommy  
                clapped her 
                         hands.
  “Tomorrow, I’ll ride 
  them more good 
  places.”
  Mommy smiled a great big smile 
  and tucked Amy into bed.
  “Yes.  They’re 
         right here!”
   Amy pointed 
        to her head.
  
  About the Illustrator:
       Born in the buffer state of Moldova at the height of the Soviet Union’s power, 
  Angela’s artistic career began from the moment she discovered pencils.  Walls, in 
  particular, were frequent victims of her early creativity, but the good furniture suffered 
  in equal measure.
       As a young student, Angela’s interests turned to caricaturization.  This talent earned 
  her as many enemies as it did friends, and attracted the attention of the editor-in-chief 
  of the republican newspaper “Youth of Moldova.”  In complete disregard for the 
  vagaries of Soviet-era child labor laws, Angela started her first job as a professional 
  illustrator at the age of 15.
       Angela found ready work in the field of journalism, culminating in relative fame as 
  a political cartoonist after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  In 2001 Angela married her 
  second husband and subsequently immigrated to the United States.  She is currently 
  living in Austin Texas, with her husband and two children.
  About the Author:
       Sandra Tayler began writing her first story at the age of 6.  It wasn’t a good story, 
  but she loved it.  She continued to love writing stories all the way through high school 
  and into college.  At the age of 20 Sandra met and married Howard Tayler, who at the 
  time was a musician.  Together they had four children, two houses, one failed record 
  production business, and far too little time for anything else.  Somewhere along the line 
  Howard realized that he wanted to be a cartoonist and Sandra realized that she wanted 
  to start writing again.  Now Sandra spends her time runing the distribution arm of 
  Howard’s cartooning business (schlockmercenary.com), being the mother of four kids, 
  and managing a household.  In the spaces between everything else, she writes.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Vault2.0.-.Fiction-and-audiobooks/Books/T/Hold on to your horses.pdf