For Pippa Moon, international CCI*** event rider, horses have always been a major part of life. Pippa grew up riding, turning to eventing when she was eleven. The purchase of Ribbo would change Pippa's life, as the horse accompanied her through CCI*, CCI**, and CCI*** competitions. Today Pippa owns Pippa Moon Training & Sales in Aiken, South Carolina. There she trains eventers, hunters, jumpers, and dressage horses while continuing to advance her impressive career.

Pippa was kind enough to answer some questions about her life and career with horses.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
I thoroughly enjoy the arrival of new horses for sale and in for training. Each one has strengths and weaknesses to work with and learn from. Additionally, I love selling horses to people who will appreciate them and I get great enjoyment from the reports of how happy people are with their new equine partners!

What do you think is the most difficult aspect of riding horses?
The most difficult aspect is usually deciding when a horse is unhappy in their job or when they are injured and their welfare is in question.

What’s one thing that most people wouldn’t know about your job or day-to-day life?
Usually the thing that is most surprising to non horse people is that I work seven days a week, except for when I schedule time off!

What is the best advice that you have ever received?
The best advice I've received is to treat clients with consideration at all times- what I provide is a service. Also to make careful business choices.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants a career with horses, what would it be?
I would give the same advice I received about entering the horse business: it is very difficult to make a living, but if you are diligent and determined and look at what niche would suit your strengths best, you can find success even where more naturally talented people will fail.

If you take a look at Joanna Zeller Quentin's artwork, you will immediately recognize that the artist is a true horse lover at heart. Jo, of Moose Pants Studio, puts her passion to work by creating stunningly beautiful art in a wide variety of media. Jo first completed a portrait of a friend's mare at age eleven; she is now a professional painter, illustrator, and fine art printer.

Jo's art has appeared in a wide variety of publications including the Chronicle of the Horse, Southwest Art, and Horses in Art. She works with rescue groups and has also been a featured artist for events such as LOPE and Horse Shows in the Sun (HITS). Her HoofPRINTS NoteCard Boxed Sets are now available through Dover Saddlery.

Jo kindly answered five questions from The Equine Insider:

Can you tell us a bit about how you arrived at your current career?
I think I was drawing horses from the age I could hold a pencil! None of my family members are "horsey people," so everyone was mystified as to how and why I fell in love with these creatures, but I did, at a very early age. As I grew older and discovered I really enjoyed creating art, it only seemed natural to draw what I loved. And since I started taking riding lessons in the third grade, my art was informed by the "hands on" experience of riding lessons. In high school I decided I wanted to pursue a professional arts career and was accepted to the Ringling College of Art and Design. My degree is in illustration, but horses never really left my mind, and they crept back into my art during and after college.

Did you always know that horses were going to be a part of your career?
I drew literally nothing but horses (and occasionally birds) when I was young, and had a small "business" doing commissioned portraits of the horses at the barn during middle and high school, but it was never an "Okay, I'm going to be a professional equine artist" decision that I can recall. One of the great things about illustration is you have the ability to work in a variety of media on a wide range of subject matter. I had drifted away from horses for my first year in college, but one of my second year assignments asked us to depict something you were passionate about. "On the Bit" was the piece I created for that particular assignment and represented a return to equine-centric art for me.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
I get the biggest thrill from hearing from collectors and clients that the reason they chose my art was because it was artistic and still accurate. Horse people KNOW horses. You can't fake anatomy, tack, any of it. When a horseman tells me they purchased the art because it is "correct" ... that's the biggest compliment.

What’s one thing that most people wouldn’t know about your profession?
It can get very lonely/discouraging sometimes when a painting just refuses to come together. Just you and an easel in an empty room, staring at each other  - some days it feels like Thunderdome.

What is the best advice that you have ever received?
"You should draw, not what the thing looks like, not even what it is, but what it is DOING."  -- Kimon Nicolaides, The Natural Way to Draw

Be sure to check out some of Jo's stunning artwork below. Then, visit her over at the Moose Pants Studio website and Facebook page.

All artwork and photography has been provided by artist Joanna Zeller Quentin. All images are considered property of the artist and may not be copied, transferred, reproduced, recreated or used in any commercial or non commercial application without the express written consent of the artist.

If you have ever had the opportunity to volunteer for or observe therapeutic riding lessons, you know the incredible effect that they can have on the lives of not only the riders, but of everyone involved. Alicia Kershaw is the Executive Director of GallopNYC, a New York City-based nonprofit that offers therapeutic riding lessons to children and adults with disabilities.

GallopNYC operates three locations and serves about 230 riders each week. Riders face a wide variety of challenges, including developmental delays, learning disabilities, and cerebral palsy. GallopNYC also offers programs to introduce New Yorkers to horses and basic horsemanship skills, programs for seniors, and programs for veterans who are dealing with conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries.

Alicia kindly shared a bit about her involvement with GallopNYC.

Can you tell us about how you arrived at your current position with GallopNYC?
I learned about therapeutic riding while living in Hong Kong, where I volunteered at a Riding for the Disabled Center. I came back to NYC and volunteered here, until a group of us decided to start GallopNYC. At the time, of the group members, I had the fewest other commitments, so I agreed to run GallopNYC while we built it up. Later I became a certified instructor.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
I enjoy being around horses in a low-key noncompetitive way. I grew up on a farm (fox hunting!) and I don't really like riding around in a circle. But what I really love is the people I have met at GallopNYC - riders' and parents' courage and love, and our very committed volunteers.

What’s one thing that most people wouldn’t know about your profession?
GallopNYC is not just recreational! Therapeutic riding brings real, measurable and important skills to people with disabilities. We have seen non verbal kids say their first words, unsociable kids make friends, and fearful kids find courage. Our kids work hard and learn skills they need to live life as fully, productively and independently as possible.

What is the best advice that you have ever received?
Trust your own instincts.

What would your advice be to someone who wants a career with horses?
Visit GallopNYC! We train instructors and other staff. If you can't come here, be sure to look outside the "norm" at alternative careers, and learn as much as you can about horses (and people).

To learn more about GallopNYC, visit their website.

If you’re a fan of great equestrian novels, then Natalie Keller Reinert is an author you should definitely follow. An experienced horsewoman, Natalie rode in multiple disciplines before beginning her writing career, and now brings the world of horses into her novels for adult readers.

Natalie released The Head and Not the Heart in 2011, beginning the three-book Alex and Alexander series. The second book of the series, Other People’s Horses, was released in 2013 and was named a semi-finalist for the 2014 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award (an annual award for full-length fiction about horse racing). These successful publications were followed by the release of Reinert’s historical romance novels in 2014, and her newest novel, Ambition, which follows the career of up-and-coming event rider Jules Thornton, was just published May 18th.

Natalie was kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions for The Equine Insider.

What did you find most challenging in writing Other People’s Horses?
It was probably staying on top of all the horses! I have been considering different ways to keep track of who is racing at what level, who has what weaknesses and strengths, etc. I need a virtual stable just for the Cotswold horses, so that I can glance a training chart and see if it is Shearwater or Virtue and Vice who is gearing up for an allowance on the turf. These are the details that make my books ring true to horsepeople, so I have to keep on top of them. 

How did you first become involved in writing about horses?
I've been writing horse stories since I was in elementary school - maybe sooner, but I don't remember that far back! In fourth grade I filled a 3-subject notebook with a three-part sequel to Black Beauty, told by Black Beauty's relatives. I guess I figured equine memoir-writing was in his bloodline. And I wrote many, many horse racing stories. I'm basically incapable of writing a story that doesn't involve horses. 

How do you go about performing research for your novels?
I always knew I wanted to write something very true-to-life, because nothing is more annoying than the horse story where the heroine rescues a 16.4 hand high palomino filly and wins the Kentucky Derby with her three weeks later. So when I decided to write a horse racing novel (what would eventually be "The Head and Not The Heart,") I went to visit some friends I'd met through Retired Racehorse Blog -- trainers at Aqueduct. And before we knew it, we lived in New York and we were all working at Aqueduct -- I was an exercise rider, my husband was a groom. We stayed in the afternoons and ran horses, we mixed grain and bathed horses, we did it all. And with that, I was able to write a horse racing novel that rang true not just to horse-people, but to the folks actually in the racing business. 

Maybe not every novel has to involve such immersive research, but I definitely believe in writing what you know, and getting the details right as often as possible. Every now and then, there might be a shortcut for the sake of story. But I really try hard to keep it true-to-life.

What is the best advice that you’ve ever received (regarding horses, writing, or anything else)?
This is a tough one to answer. I think that means I don't take advice well! 

But I think the most valuable thing anyone ever told me about horses was that a horse's training is like a string of pearls. Just… not a very good string of pearls. You add two pearls to the string, one falls off, and you have to pick it up and put it back on. You put three more pearls on -- there go two on the floor. Essentially: horses remember most things some of the time, and they remember all of the things none of the time. 

This is probably true of humans as well.

What would your advice be to an aspiring writer?
Write an outline. Know where you're going to go and how you can get there. Then you can go back and edit it and rewrite it and change it however you like. But the single hardest thing to do with a book is just to finish it, especially when you're new. So why not do yourself a favor and have a road-map to get you to the end? It doesn't make you less creative. It does make you more efficient and leaves you feeling more accomplished when you have a first draft ready to play with. 

And the second is to embrace all those rewrites. It's not wasting time to rewrite a draft -- not the first time or the second time or the fifth time. Every draft you've written before is getting you to the next, better one. AMBITION took me three years and at least three complete rewrites. It went from present-tense to past-tense, which was just a brutal rewrite. But there are sentences from the first draft that have made it to the final book. Not one word, deleted or not, was a waste of time. My rewrites are thorough, but I am refining and perfecting -- my idea of perfection. I'm not going to achieve that, or even my vision for the story, the first time around.

You can learn more about Natalie at her website or Facebook page. Think Ambition sounds like an interesting read? Check out our review of it here!

Photo courtesy of Natalie Keller Reinert.

If you are ever lucky enough to see Guy McLean and his horses perform live, you'll be in for a real treat. McLean, an Australian horseman, entertainer, and bush poet, is known for his lively and lighthearted performances that showcase not only his talent as a trainer, but also his incredible relationship with his equine team.

McLean, whose training methods are entirely self-taught, seeks to integrate knowledge, compassion, patience, and imagination into his work with horses. Named an official 'Ambassador of the Outback' in both 2002 and 2006, McLean and his team now travel the world where they entertain, inspire, and educate all of their audiences about training and the remarkable talents of the Australian Stock Horse.

McLean kindly took the time to answer five questions from The Equine Insider on training, horses, and traveling.

How did you start on your path to training (and did you always want to train horses)?
I have been on and around horses since I was sixteen months old, riding by myself since I was four, educating for the public from the age of fifteen and performing since I was twenty-one. I grew up on my father's resort, 'Susan River Homestead,' and was in charge of the fifty guest horses there from the time I was fifteen till I was twenty-four, and I became an entertainer so that I was able to make a living out of horses without having to sell the ones I loved so dearly.

What do you like the most about your job?
My greatest joy is when I see my horses and my audiences get real 'Benefit' from my interaction with them and to know that I might be inspiring the youth of our world to look deeper into the eyes and hearts of these amazing animals, our dear friend, the humble horse.

What is one behind-the-scenes aspect of your job that most people wouldn’t be aware of?
I do all of my own training, driving and care of my horses. At the moment, it is just my darling wife Emily and I who run the business and not some big entourage that a lot people think we have.

What do you think is the biggest misconception that people have about training horses?
I think the biggest misconception is that 'Horses love to be petted and fussed upon,' as it is the very last thing that a young untouched horse wants, as it resembles the same physical presence of capture. It is a personal want of ours as humans to show love this way and it is something that horses will learn to tolerate once they learn to 'give to pressure,' but it is not something that a horse naturally craves for.

What would your advice be to someone who wants a career with horses – riding, training, etc?
I remember many years ago, when the life I lead right now was just a childhood dream, and so I believe that it is important to 'dream big' and chase those dreams to the end of the earth and surround yourself with like-minded people so that you may walk the same path as those whom you respect and look up to.

To learn more about Guy McLean and where he and his team will be appearing, check out his website and his Facebook page.

Photo courtesy of Guy McLean.