When he learns that his newly acquired, uncontrollable horse was formerly a race horse of distinction, seventeen-year-old Mike Benson and his horse train to race again.

From The Horse That, Trotting The horse that, trotting with open heart Against the wind, achieves bend and flow Will live forever. So far, so good, But they never do, until too late, Bend properly and time spreads from The momentary hesitations Of their spines, circles their tossing necks, Falls from their teeth like rejected oats, Litters the ground like penitence. This is where we come in, where the drop Of time congeals the air and someone Speaks to the discouraged grass . . . Tricks of the Light explores the often fraught relationships between domestic animals and humans through mythological figurations, vibrant thought, and late-modern lyrics that seem to test their own boundaries. Vicki Hearne (1946–2001), best known and celebrated today as a writer of strikingly original poetry and prose, was a capable dog and horse trainer, and sometimes controversial animal advocate. This definitive collection of Hearne’s poetry spans the entirety of her illustrious career, from her first book, Nervous Horses (1980), to never-before-published poems composed on her deathbed. But no matter the source, each of her meditative, metaphysical lyrics possesses that rare combination of philosophical speculation, practical knowledge of animals, and an unusually elegant style unlike that of any other poet writing today. Before her untimely death, Hearne entrusted the manuscript to distinguished poet, scholar, and long-time friend John Hollander, whose introduction provides both critical and personal insight into the poet’s magnum opus. Tricks of the Light—acute, vibrant, and deeply informed—is a sensuous reckoning of the connection between humans and the natural world. Praise for The Parts of Light “Hearne . . . strives to capture exactly what she knows she can't—the intense immediacy of animal consciousness, a consciousness free of the moral vagaries and intellectual preoccupations that pockmark human experience. Her style, smooth in some places, choppy in others, reflects both the wholeness of animal presence and the jarring, fragmentary nature of human reason and reflection. Hearne's poems demand participation, refuse passive enjoyment; she dares the reader to stay in the saddle.”—Publishers Weekly

Short stories.

A groundbreaking meditation on our human-animal relationships and the moral code that binds it. Adam's Task, Vicki Hearne’s innovative masterpiece on animal training, brings our perennial discussion of the human-animal bond to a whole new metaphysical level. Based on studies of literary criticism, philosophy, and extensive hands-on experience in training, Hearne asserts, in boldly anthropomorphic terms, that animals (at least those that interact more with humans) are far more intelligent than we assume. In fact, they are capable of developing an understanding of "the good," a moral code that influences their motives and actions. Drawing on an eclectic range of influences—Nietzsche, T. S. Eliot, Disney animal trainer William Koehler, and Genesis from the Bible, among others—Hearne writes in contemplative, exploratory, and brilliant prose as she interweaves personal anecdotes with philosophy. Hearne develops an entirely new system of animal training that contradicts modern animal behavioral research and that, as her examples show, is astonishingly effective. Widely praised, highly influential, and now with a new foreword by New York Times bestselling author Karen Joy Fowler, Adam’s Task will make every trainer, animal psychologist, and animal-lover stop, think, and question.

Who will you find under your Christmas tree? A cowboy? Ranch hand Tucker Rankin isn't crazy about the holidays...until a wintry night before Christmas, when Lacey Evans shows him how much fun it is to be nestled all snug in her bed.... A wealthy New Yorker? Stockbroker Jared Martin needs to get away, and Alaska's the perfect place to unwind. Especially once actress Theodora "Teddy" Monroe gets him to loosen his tie--and take it all off Or maybe even a man in uniform? Soldier Silas Davenport is on Christmas leave. But when he arrives at his parents' home, no one is there...except for the irresistible Delphie Moreau. And she's one gift he won't be exchanging

Traces the development of a mustang stallion and the dilemma of a fifteen-year-old boy who, finding him injured, is torn by his desire to keep him and his conviction that Montana's wild horses should be protected in their natural state.

"Joe, unloved and scorned, trusts no one. And no one trusts him. Until Vicky. Based on a true story of a troubled horse and the little girl who loved him."--Page 4 of cover

From the author of the bestselling book For the Love of Horses, comes an epic new journey to rescue wild Kaimanawa horses from the biennial cull. Follow television stars Vicki, Kelly and Amanda Wilson on their quest to train 10 wild, difficult and sometimes dangerous Kaimanawas for competition in the first national Stallion Challenges. Can the Wilsons change these horses' fate? Share the heartbreak, the pain, the elation and the success as they take on their greatest challenge yet. - See more at: http://www.randomhouse.co.nz/books/kelly-wilson/stallion-challenges-9781775538349.aspx#sthash.zDdw0feS.dpuf

After years of abuse and bullying from schoolmates, her parents, and most of her siblings, Vicki Little falls into a routine of poor hygiene and appearance and believes her tormentors' opinions that she is unworthy of their love and respect. Her only positive outlets are a focus on her education and the encouragement of her only supporter-her younger brother, Alex. Vicki believes she has found an escape when she enrolls in college in another state. Unfortunately, the players may have changed, but the game is the same. One day on campus, she sees Andy Thompson and then another chance meeting where he watches Vicki being bullied by her main tormentor, a self-absorbed, controlling woman named Sheila with a disturbing secret. Andy follows Vicki home and introduces himself. They become friends, and he takes her under his wing, buying her new clothes and teaching her to improve her appearance and how to gain self-confidence. He introduces her to some new friends. Because he is so nice to her, she falls in love with him, an emotion he cannot let himself return. After Sheila's bullying of Vicki turns to physical violence, Andy lets his anger get the best of him and he lands in jail. Vicki gets a measure of revenge with Sheila and, with her newfound friends, helps Andy out of his legal predicament and, in the process, undercover dark secrets Andy has been keeping from Vicki.