If there is one thing that equestrians have learned to do over time, it is laugh at themselves.
The horse world is a crazy, wonderful, ridiculous, awful, beautiful place, and horse people know it. We spend an inordinate amount of money on insanely fragile animals with a well-recognized ability to get hurt just enough to be out of work most of the time and eating and sleeping all of the time. We dress ourselves, and our horses, in silly outfits, obsess over diet, exercise, and footwear (for the horse), and invest in regular massages, chiropractic work, acupuncture sessions, and pedicures (again, for the horse).
Morgane Schmidt knows all about the madness that comes with the equine territory, having owned and competed horses in eventing and dressage for years. A lifelong fan of the classic equestrian cartoons penned by internationally renowned artist Norman Thelwell, she began her own comic series called “The Idea of Order” in 2011, sharing deftly funny reflections on life with horses with an avid online fanbase. Ten years later, her witty observations and fabulously rendered characters have been brought together in one immensely entertaining collection. LIFE WITH HORSES IS NEVER ORDERLY features both viral favorites and never-before-seen comics created exclusively for Schmidt’s first book, offering endless laughs and on-point commentary about the equestrian world and those insane enough to fumble along within it, knowing full well absolutely nothing is within their control.
With plenty of evergreen humor that always applies, hot topics and seasonal hits, and cartoons inspired by current events in the “outside world” that some equestrians are willing to admit actually does exist, readers will find hundreds of reasons to feel good about all the bad decisions they’ve probably made because they “love horses,” and a whole lot to laugh about.
224 pages | color and b/w cartoons throughout
Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owj8OodRRmY
What they’re saying about LIFE WITH HORSES IS NEVER ORDERLY:
“I found myself laughing out loud as I turned the pages of Life with Horses Is Never Orderly. Morgane Schmidt has explained just about every experience I have had in my many years in the horse world and put just the right spin on it. Everyone who needs a laugh (and don’t all equestrians?) should read this.” —Lendon Gray, Olympian, Dressage Coach, and Founder of Dressage4Kids
“Morgane Schmidt has produced an amusing book, based on her experience of and love for a special animal, interspersed with a mass of comical illustrations. My father would have been delighted to know that he had been one of the inspirations for the creation of Life with Horses Is Never Orderly.” —David Thelwell, Illustrator
“From adventures with baby Warmbloods to doom squash to more desperate medium trots, Morgane Schmidt has a clear grasp on the insanity of our lives with these crazy creatures. Life with Horses Is Never Orderly will help the horse-crazy, bipedal predators of the world laugh through the pain of our day-to-day horsey existence (which is good, because it will help keep us from crying).” —Lauren Sprieser, Grand Prix Dressage Trainer and Competitor and Award-Winning Blogger
About the Author:
Morgane Schmidt is a native Floridian who spent nearly a decade living in Reno, Nevada, where she confirmed her suspicion that snow is utterly worthless, before recently returning to the Ocala area. She started her comic, “The Idea of Order,” way back in 2011 while bored out of her mind in Clovis, New Mexico. The comic was inspired by the equestrian favorite “Thelwell” series and named as an allusion to Wallace Stevens’ poem, “The Idea of Order at Key West.” Given that horses are inherently entropy despite one’s best efforts, the title seemed amusingly fitting.
Although Schmidt has run the gamut of equestrian disciplines—including a short stint as an eventer before she admitted to herself that she was a weenie—her favorite is dressage as it suits her masochistic, marginally OCD, perfectionist tendencies. To date she has completed her USDF bronze and silver medals and is currently working on her gold. Her life these days is largely ruled by Woody, a 14.2-hand snarky Quarter Horse; Willie, a charmingly cheeky KWPN gelding; Milona DG, a four-year-old-KWPN chestnut mare (you can make your own inferences there); Bowie, a Great Dane with a personality as unwieldy as he is; and Goblin, a tiny terror Frenchton who is entirely convinced he’s running the entire Schmidt show.
For more information about these books and authors, contact Rebecca Didier (rdidier@trafalgarbooks.com)
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Trafalgar Square Books, the leading publisher of equestrian books and videos, is a small business based on a farm in rural Vermont. We’ve published books “for the good of the horse” for over 35 years.