Hoofbeats

IT’S HERE! Twelve original songs about horses with real horsey content!  Contains 3 songs my Pegasus CD,  plus 9 new ones. 

Click Track List below for info on the tunes.

1. Wild Horses and Mustangs
Do all you can to protect wild horses and mustangs— there are those who want them gone. Many are being slaughtered; others are being subjected to abuse and cruelty. To learn more: http://rtfitchauthor.com/

2. Chestnut Mare (new version)
Like red-haired women, chestnut mares have a reputation…! A slightly abridged version of the song that appeared on my CD Pegasus. Inspired by a real mare I saved from going to auction – that’s her in the photo.

3. My Little Quarter Horse
When I was a teen, I owned a gelding named Traveller who was half-Quarter horse. The math jokes people made about him inspired the chorus of this tune, and other Quarter horses I’ve known inspired the verses.

4. Emily Flies
I’ve always known about therapeutic riding, but little did I know I’d experience it first hand after a serious accident left me with a brain injury. Many people have no idea that horses can provide powerful physical, mental and emotional therapy for children and adults with disabilities.  This song is based on the kids and horses I’ve met at three such facilities.
Honorary Producer: Jacq Hammond

5. Sergeant Reckless
The true story of a real little war horse. Her tale was almost forgotten, but she’s been rediscovered recently. Written from the point of view of a fictional Korean veteran. Special thanks to Harold Wadley, a former Marine who remembers her fondly and who gave me the idea for the chorus. Here’s a YouTube video about her.

6. Pegasus
A retelling of the Pegasus myth—I changed his origins because the first two verses just came to me and I liked them as is—and a lament for a missing soul mate.

7. Newfoundland Pony
This song is set in early 70s, not long after the Newfoundland government passed a law declaring that the ponies, which had roamed and grazed free until then, had to be fenced in. Many Newfoundlanders could not afford the costs of fencing and feed. This, coupled with increasing mechanization of farming and other work, meant that the ponies were sold off by the thousands, mostly to be slaughtered for meat. As a result the breed is severely endangered, with fewer than 400 in existence as of 2012.

8. Heavy Horse Song
I’ve always loved the big draft breeds. (And no, I didn’t steal the idea from Jethro Tull – I found out about their great song, “Heavy Horses,” after I’d written mine…)

9.The Naughtiest Pony
We’ve all known one like this guy. “Naughty pony” is probably redundant, isn’t it?! Inspired by Spur, a rescue pony at the stables where I recently rode for sevreal years.

10. The Canadian (P’tit cheval de fer)
A lively bilingual song about a rare breed of horse, the Canadian or le cheval canadien, [make a link to the Canadian horse content in the Pegasus CD section above] descended from the horses that King Louis XIV sent to the New World in the 1600s. Many modern breeds (e.g., Morgan, Standardbred, Saddlebred) have Canadian horse blood in their ancestry.

11. Flying Changes
“Flying changes” is the name of a dressage movement, in which the horse switches its lead in mid air. But this song isn’t just for dressage enthusiasts! It’s about the changes that life can throw at you, and about how you can wish all you want for the perfect horse, but meanwhile “you can only work with the horse you’ve got.”

12. Two Old White Horses
About two old work horses—one blind, one lame—sent to auction, and what happens to them (don’t worry, it has a happy ending!). Special thanks to Paul Aird for allowing me to rework his poem into a song.