title: Horse People: Writers and Artists on their Love of Horses
author:  Michael J. Rosen 
description: For thousands of years, humankind has relied on the horse for companionship. Powerful and spirited, yet gentle and trusting, horses inspire both the hearts and imaginations of many. In <i>Horse People: Writers and Artists on the Horses They Love</i>, notable horse lovers collectively celebrate the equine in words and images. Some 25 writers present stories from the heart, including Jane Smiley's account of overcoming a lifetime of paralyzing fear by jumping her horse; poet Henry Taylor's tale of Goldheart, a memorable horse of his youth; and Rita Mae Brown's horse Peggy Sue's valuable horsy advice. Photographs and paintings, illustrations and sculpture--including the work of Tess Gallagher, Fritz Scholder, John Derryberry, and Deborah Butterfield--offer stirring images in both full color and black and white, skillfully capturing the spirit of horses and of those that love them best.
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  ![Cover](images/cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## The Village on Horseback: Prose and Verse, 2003-2008
  
  
    
  
  
  ### Jesse Ball
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _The Village on Horseback_ features mesmerizing new work from the author of
  _Samedi the Deafness_ and _The Way Through Doors,_ one of the _New Yorker’s_
  Best Books of 2009. This collection of new pieces by experimental writer Jesse
  Ball is a philosophical recasting of myth and legend. Unearthing parables from
  the compost heap of oral tradition, folklore, literature, and popular culture,
  _The Village on Horseback_ can be read as a sort of fabulist’s compendium by
  an author who has been called charming, lyrical, fanciful, and "disturbingly
  original."
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Jesse Ball
  
  
  
  
  
  ## The Village on Horseback: Prose and Verse, 2003-2008
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For Catherine Ball
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Postmen like doctors go from house to house.
  
  
  
  
  
  — P. Larkin
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### introduction
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The works included in this volume 