Horses Do Not Have Ankles

[jacey]

Would someone please tell Mercedes Lackey.
www.horse-directory.co.uk/points.htm

I'm currently reading The Last Herald Mage trilogy. It's the first Lackey I've ever read and I can't believe that when she's got intelligent, telepthic equine-shaped characters called Companions that she (and her editors and beta-readers) could possibly allow that one to slip past. Horses do not have ankles. They have knees (front) hocks (rear), fetlocks and pasterns.

Comments

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I'm often disappointed in writers' details about horses and riding. "Kneeing" their horses into a gallop, etc. Ankles is pretty bad, though. A quick trip on the net or even a copy of a Pony Club manual would get that detail right.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I could even go with 'kneeing' a horse into a gallop if (and only if) they were riding bareback when you have much more seat/legs contact (hopefully) but ankles are just plain wrong on so many levels.

She just gave me a major kick in the confidence at that point (about halfway through the middle book in the trilogy).