writer. editor. speaker. consultant.
When Clinton contacted me in November, 2002, to discuss several writing projects he wanted to get started on, I hesitated to tell him that at the time I was nine months pregnant with my first child. But after assuring him that life did, indeed, go on, we began making plans for the projects he had in mind – including the Downunder Horsemanship book.
Clinton wanted a book that would not only teach people how to use his methods on their horses, but would also illustrate how those methods could significantly improve a horse’s attitude and response in a very short time. He had chosen Paula and Cecelia from hundreds of applicants, so I got in touch with both ladies, got to know them a bit and started taking notes.
We all met at the Wahl Equestrian Center in Sterling, Illinois on Monday, July 7, 2003. Clinton spent a week teaching the ladies his theory and techniques and they worked their tails off.
The first day was mind–numbingly hot. Clinton worked with Paula and Cecelia in the round pen, and I was patently grateful that I was able to sit on the sidelines and drink my water. When you see any round pen photos in the book, realize that the temperature is well over 100, and the humidity is near there, too.
That night, it stormed. Then the weather developed a real attitude. Tornadoes and storms threatened for the next several days. The outdoor arenas flooded, and it never stopped raining long enough for them to dry significantly. In fact, conditions were so bad that we began to worry about how we would ever find it possible to finish on time. Clinton finally decided to go ahead with his teaching and worry about taking photos later.
Over the course of the week, I watched both ladies develop new avenues of communication with their horses. They made amazing progress. In the beginning, both were afraid to canter, for fear of what their horses could do. By Thursday, they were cantering around the arena for 10 minutes at a stretch. (I felt for Paula, who had never cantered much before. Her week with Clinton drove home the point that her saddle was too small for her. But she persevered and never complained. And we all know that saddle sores are nothing to laugh about!)
We learned early on that by the end of the day they were just too exhausted to start fielding questions or try to order their answers into coherent sentences. I watched every training session and took notes, recording the questions and comments that both women made while Clinton taught.
By Saturday, the weather had turned, so we went to an outdoor arena that was relatively dry and spent the day taking photographs.
On Sunday, July 13, loaded with all my notes and over 4,000 of Charles Hilton’s pictures, I came home to write. The rough draft of the manuscript was due to Clinton for review on September 15 – so for the next two months, life at the Hendrickson house revolved around The Project.
An extended Table of Contents became my lifeline. I set up a checklist of everything that needed to be written and crossed anything applicable off at the end of each day. Things progressed quite smoothly at first. However, Clinton is an insanely busy man. When, by August 26, I still needed some information that only he could provide, I started to grow the teensiest bit panicky. Ah, but FedEx came through in the end and all was well. However—
It soon became obvious that the manuscript would be well over the 50,000 words that the publisher wanted. After an initial edit, I got it down to around 70,000. Clinton firmly believes in giving people all the information possible and letting them learn from what works best for them. I knew he wouldn’t be happy to see anything go, so before I sent the rough draft to him, three days were spent doing a merciless edit. 25,000 words didn’t make the cut and, after a final polish, the manuscript was ready for Clinton’s approval on September 4. But there was no time for the Happy Dance that accompanies a project’s completion, because–
Remember those 4,000 photos? As I learned on the fateful Saturday that they were taken, the project didn’t have a Photo Editor. While I had (naively) assumed that the photographer would do that job, he had (just as innocently) assumed that he wouldn’t. Charles and I had talked about getting together for a couple of days and going over the photos together, but his schedule made that impossible.
All the photos were digital and, since they were saved in numerical order on different disks, several photos had the same file name — because things just weren’t interesting enough…
And so I found myself calling on all my friends and neighbors who
a.) knew something about Clinton’s methods
b.) knew something about photography, or
c.) had a pulse
to help keep me company as I waded through the pictures and isolated between 150 and 200 to best illustrate the text. I believe I cashed in several year’s worth of favors during the second week of September.
As my mother is fond of saying, “No education is ever wasted.” What I learned from that experience is that it takes as long to analyze, identify and choose photos for a book as it does to write the thing. I also learned who my friends were. The important thing is, the photo editing was finished before the September 15 deadline.
And so, after two months, we had a working manuscript and initial photo selection. An extended phone conference with Clinton, Gale (his producer) and Tara (his apprentice) provided all the necessary information for the final draft.
With only two weeks to the deadline for final delivery, a panic–stricken call to another friend put me in touch with Caleb, who graciously provided wonderful line–drawings for several necessary illustrations (ah, but that’s another story).
With heartfelt thanks to all who helped make the book a reality, I sent the manuscript to Clinton, who signed off on it and forwarded it to Trafalgar Square. And the Happy Dance began…
Reunion and Book Signing – November, 2004
Copyright © 2004— Ami Hendrickson. All rights reserved.
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Ami Hendrickson is a bestselling writer, award-winning screenwriter, writing coach, and writing consultant. Ami is in demand as a book author, ghostwriter, co-author, editor, and story consultant. Books written by Ami include "Clinton Anderson’s Downunder Horsemanship," "Geoff Teall on Riding Hunters, Jumpers and Equitation," and "The Rider’s Pain-Free Back." Ami is an engaging writing workshop leader and writing conference speaker. For writing advice, free articles on writing, and writing inspiration, visit MuseInk, Ami’s WEBSITE FOR WRITERS. For information on current projects, observations about the writer’s life, and the occasional tangental rant, visit Ami’s BLOG or check out her Press Room. Ami Hendrickson and her husband and daughter live with their "vast menagerie" on a 100-year old farm near Lake Michigan in Berrien County, Michigan (near Chicago, IL; South Bend, IN; Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids, MI, but still in the country!).