Rita Chapman asked Victoria Zigler:

Hi Tori. I really enjoyed your new book Isabelle's Runaway Racehorse. You seem to know quite a bit about the subject, have you had much to do with horses?

Victoria Zigler Thanks for the question!

I was absolutely horse crazy as a child, and would read or watch anything to do with horses; from "My Little Pony" cartoons and comics, to horse racing and factual books on horses, and everything in between. I was also a "Pony Club" member, and had riding lessons for a couple of years as a pre-teen, where I progressed to the point that I was just starting to learn to jump. My lessons stopped because we moved, and I wasn't happy with the only riding school I could get to from where we moved to. I also had an amazing collection of toy horses, which I think are still in my Dad's attic. I sold my riding gear after it became evident I wouldn't be riding again any time soon though.

I haven't had a lot to do with horses since my teens, but still love them, and something being about horses will still get my attention in a heartbeat. I also still remember several of the things I learned about horses when I was younger; partially because children learn and retain information well, partially because I generally have a really good memory, and partially because horses are a topic that still holds a lot of interest for me.

The original version of "Isabelle's Runaway Racehorse" was written when I was ten, and still cared little for anything that had nothing to do with horses or books. It's had a lot of editing, since - as you might expect - my writing has improved since then... At least, I hope it has! "Isabelle's Runaway Racehorse" is still essentially a story from my horse crazy days though.

Not that I'm not still a huge horse lover. It's just that these days I have a few other interests too, so I'm not quite as obsessed with horses as I once was.

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