My newest book Harness Horses, Bucking Broncos & Pit Ponies: A History of Horse Breeds hit the shelves last month! And to celebrate, Jeff (my husband and collaborator on the book) and I threw a horse-tacular book launch, art show and po-neigh par-tay!

The party was held at The Writing Barn, owned and operated by author Bethany Hegedus and her fiance Vivek. Books were supplied by the local independent bookseller, BookPeople. (A shout out goes to Ann Hartman, a BookPeople employee and friend of ours who sold books—not in an official capacity, but just as a favor to us. Super nice! And also to my mother-in-law JoAnn Crosby, who took over for Ann when she had to skedaddle to work.) We had a great turnout with neighbors, friends, students (Jeff and I both teach art classes), the Austin kid lit community, and the general book and horse loving public!

But the most special of all of our special guests were seven miniature horses (and their owners and handlers) from the great organization Minis & Friends. These mini horses work as therapy animals, visiting adults and children with special needs. We were happy to raise some money for them while we celebrated!

We worked really hard in advance, organizing the event, framing art, printing out posters for sale, and creating stickers, coloring sheets and bookmarks as freebies. We also made stick horses for the kids to take home, and lots of food! Here are some more shots from the festivities!

First things first. The sweets: candy apples, pumpkin cupcakes and s’mores whoopie pies. Plus, below, some regular food…and a cow skull. The skull was supposed to be part of a lasso competition for the kids but it never made it onto the hay bale before the party. Oops. It works as kind of a vegetarian totem, I suppose. (Both the Writing Barn and I are vegetarians!)

Next, some art! Bethany cleared out some shelves in the Writing Barn to display originals. Many folks told us later that this was their favorite part of the event. I kind of wish we would have thought to bring sketches, too, to show our process. Phew, so much to think about before a book launch!

The view from the Writing Barn loft.

We signed books…

…unloaded some bookmarks and stickers…

…sold some posters…

..spotted some celebrities (Bethany Hegedus, PJ Hoover & Jessica Lee Anderson) inside the barn…

…and out (Julie Lake, Mark G. Mitchell, Patrice Barton & Mary Sullivan).

But most importantly, kids had fun! On the animatronic horse…

…playing horseshoes…

…riding stick horses…

…removing heads from stick horses…

…coloring horses…

…and drawing horses!

But the best thing by far, and the reason most kids probably came, was…

Mini horses!

Mini horses!

And more mini horses!

Turns out horses are popular with adults, too!

And, okay, the Harness Horses book gained a following, as well.

At the end of the day, the mini horses got some watermelon!

Brought to them by their biggest fan, my own little cowgirl Harper!

Thanks so much everyone who took part! It was a great day! We’re glad you helped us celebrate! If you missed it, pick up a copy at Amazon, and to tide you over till it arrives, here’s a free coloring sheet!