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Again this year, Cynthia was asked to be a Judge for the 2014 CHHAPS Calendar. Part of a team, she had to make very hard decisions among 240 entries of photographs of le Canadien, Canada’s National Horse and Quebec’s Heritage Horse Breed. *CHHAPS (The Canadian Horse Heritage and Preservation Society, BC, Canada. “Preserving for our grandchildren the horse of our forefathers”). Please support CHHAPS in Western Canada and the AQCC in Quebec. Le Canadien is a magnificent breed over 400 years old, which served in all the wars including the American Civil War, and is considered one of the most important indigenous breeds in Canada and Quebec. For more info, please visit CHHAPS.org and Chevalcanadien.org.
Read the middle chapters of Ground Manners. A Novel for more detailed and intimate information about this amazing Canada-raised-and-bred horse breed.

In Spring of 2013, Cynthia donated a box of books to Refuge RR for Horses. ALL proceeds go to the Refuge.

VFTH (Voice for the Horse) of BC has honoured Cynthia again by inviting her to be a Judge of the 2014 Children’s International Writing Competition on the subject of “War Horses”. Visit VFTH for submission rules and deadlines.

On May 18, 2013, Cynthia sold copies of her novel at the Royal Lepage Shelter Foundation Fundraiser on Ile-Perrot, QC. All proceeds went to the Women’s Shelter.

The winners of the Voice for the Horse (VFTH) Second Annual Children’s Writing Competition 2012 have been announced. As part of a team of judges, Cynthia judged the essays produced by children, age 13 and under. Click here for the names of the Winners.

Ground Manners

A Novel
by Cynthia D’Errico

Set in the province of Québec, Ground Manners follows the fortunes of a horse refuge run by a gifted animal communicator, Skye Spahro, and her daughter, Belle. A year after the Québec Ice Storm of 1998, Skye relocates the refuge, known as The Institute of Nature Communications, to a tiny island just outside the city of Montréal, unaware that intrigue and treachery lay in wait for her and her horses. When a powerful businessman, John Rash, discovers that a former mare of his with a rare breeding gene is living at the refuge, he connives to get her back. Rash enlists the services of his shady assistant, Matteo Volpone, to kidnap the mare. As Volpone’s search for the mare falls apart, the frustrated henchman decides to stalk Skye. As his madness escalates and the horses and a young woman try desperately to save Skye, Mother Earth, in all her wisdom, makes a devastating move.

Ground Manners takes Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty up a notch and depicts the fate of horses in the 21st century. If you were moved by Sewell’s classic, and enjoyed the subtle ironies in Babe and Charlotte’s Web, you will find Ground Manners an engaging read, right up to its thrilling ending. Threaded throughout the novel is the history of a very special breed, le Canadien, Canada’s National Horse, as well as Québec’s pioneering efforts to preserve le Canadien as its heritage breed.