Elaine Walker – författare

William Cavendish, first Duke of Newcastle’s passions included women, music, writing, theatre and, perhaps above all, the finest horses. He was a widely acknowledged expert in the art of the riding horse, and his works laid the foundation for classical dressage. Mastery in horsemanship was the mark of a graceful and accomplished gentleman in the European nobility of the seventeenth century. In the first comprehensive study of Newcastle’s two horsemanship manuals dating from 1658 and 1667, Dr. Elaine Walker explores the insights they offer into riding practice, personal philosophy and motivation. Newcastle’s writing has surprising relevance to the modern rider or any reader interested in the long history of the coevolution of man and horse together. 42 engraved plates after Abraham van Diepenbeeck from the 1658 edition are included along with full translations from the original French manual. “…essential reading for anyone who feels that dressage today comes from the great riding masters of the past…” Peter Maddison-Greenwell, Director of El Caballo de Espana “...a real contribution to knowledge...” Boudewijn Commandeur, Founder of the Horse in Art Database, The Netherlands Institute for Art History. Based in North Wales, Elaine Walker is a writer, academic, and consultant on the horse in cultural history. She discovered western riding and Appaloosa horses while on holiday in Scotland in 1990 and has remained devoted to both. The connection between western riding and the classical tradition was her starting point for researching the practical aspects of Newcastle’s manuals. Elaine Walker researched much of her Ph. D. thesis and the material for this book while mounted. She has given several displays and talks in Newcastle’s own riding house at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire. When she is not writing or riding, she is a performing singer and musician.

This powerful first person narrative uses magical realism to stunning effect to tell a story that is as compelling as it is important. Set on a remote Scottish island after a strange ecological disaster which has left the world largely devoid of human life, this is the story of Jo and his family.When the quiet collapse of the civilised world is followed by the death of his father, Joel Anthony is left, with his mother and sister, stranded on a remote Scottish croft. The arrival of an unusual herd of horses marks the beginning of shifts in reality and intuitions of Graham Anthony’s continued presence in his family’s life as they learn to survive.The need for resources sends Joel, with his horse, Gray, on a long journey to the closest town, where the fate of the missing people becomes evident. But Jo’s family aren’t the only survivors, and first the French children, Sophie and Laurent, then their fragile alcoholic father, Pierre, join them. That a doctor, Nemisha, should turn up just as Christopher Anthony is being born, is only one of the synchronicities the growing group learns to accept as part of their connection with the horses. What then, should they make of Phil, Jenny and their family, who are determined to remake the old world, where they defined themselves through sales meetings and coffee mornings? The disruption they cause, including the collapse of Pierre’s hard won sobriety, tests the vision of a co-operative new world and brings confrontation between humans and horses. As Phil and his family decide to leave, Joel’s continuing sense of his father’s presence enables him to prevent a crisis but when, soon afterwards, the family are all injured in a car accident, the burden of their rescue and care falls on Joel’s group. With Phil’s leg broken, his family is forced to stay, despite reluctance on both sides, but the growing community catches a glimpse of the future as the horses, once more, take them by surprise.

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