Terri Farley

Friday, February 13, 2015

Born to Be Wild

MEET THE PHANTOM STALLION’S SON: RAIN CLOUD

The real Phantom Stallion wasn't alone when he was rounded up from the Virginia Range of Nevada. His mare Shy and a dark gray colt came with him. All three were saved from slaughter by people with hearts for horses.

A girl named Amber fell in love with the colt and named him Rain Cloud and adopted him.

Rain Cloud stayed in his native Nevada, but his mother and father, the Phantom and Shy were freed into the Wild Horse Sanctuary in California. If you want to see their day of freedom, click here for video

Rain Cloud lived in Nevada even after Amber left for an out-of-state school Amber's mother Margaret took care of the gray colt, who was slowly turning the silvery moon color of his sire. Rain Cloud. He got good food and water, and a domestic mare took over as his substitute mother.

After a few years, Margaret invited me to meet grown-up Rain Cloud.

By now he was pure white with black mane and tail. He had kind eyes, a proud stride, and a wild stallion attitude. He reminded me so much of his sire.

With Amber gone, Rain Cloud had fallen out of the habit of listening to people.

In the picture at right, you can see he's turned one ear to catch my voice, but he had no real intention of doing what I asked.

A few months later,Rain Cloud's substitute-mother mare had died of old age. Rain Cloud was not a happy guy. He needed a wild horse adventure, but he couldn't be set free He needed training to live among humans and he was so lucky that Palomino Armstrong happened to be in town on the weekend Margaret decided it would be best for the grown up colt to go to California with Palomino.

COMING SOON....

Rain Cloud in California or What Do You Mean I'm Not the Boss?

Labels: Chilly Pepper Miracle Mustang, mustang, Palomino Armstrong, phantom stallion, Rain Cloud, Shy, Valentine's Day, wild horses

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Posted by Terri Farley @ 11:52 AM 0 comments

Thursday, February 14, 2013

14 Valentine's Days

Dear Readers,
Many of you are writers.
Like me, you struggle to select words that will bring your characters to life.
One of the best descriptions I've heard comes from an unlikely place: President Obama's State of the Union message earlier this week.

Such an important speech must've been crafted by several people, so I don't know who gets the credit for this description of a victim of gun violence, a teen named Hadiya Pendleton.

"She was 15 years old. She loved Fig Newtons and lip gloss. She was a majorette. She was so good to her friends, they all thought they were her best friend..."

In a few sentences, we know this girl.
That's the beauty and the heartbreak of good writing.
Best,

Terri

Labels: characterization, President Obama, State of the Union, Valentine's Day, writing

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Posted by Terri Farley @ 2:30 AM 0 comments