Murderous Water Horses (In Addition This Is A Post About My Love of Maggie Stiefvater)

So the very first book I read by the amazing author Maggie Stiefvater was The Scorpio Races. The book was recommended to me by my little sister, who somewhat shares my love of all things fantastical & well-written.
The Scorpio Races is very well-written, set in Thisby, a town that runs mostly on fishing we get to know two very different characters. Sean Kendrick, a quiet stable boy who takes care of horses & Kate "Puck" Connolly, a fisherman's daughter who is outspoken but also polite...to a point.
Thisby has an interesting tradition. The first of November marks the start of the Scorpio Races, a race of death, survival, & possibly lots of money- if you win.
The Scorpio Races are all about capturing or buying one of the capall uisce (copple ooshka) & racing it along the beach against the water horses to win. The problem lies in the capall uisce being murderous horses that come from the sea, they drink blood & kill cattle every November when they rise from the sea. If you can train them & ride them you can enter the Races.

Sean Kendrick has been a part of the Races since he was ten & his father died racing a red capall uisce he had caught. Since then Sean raced Corr, the very same horse, in every race along the sea's edge. & in every race he has won as the other horses hear the call of the sea & long to race into it, dragging their riders down with them, but Sean Kendrick is as much a part of the races & Corr as they are of him.
Puck Connolly is different, as a girl she's automatically discouraged from participating the races, but her house will be sold if she doesn't do something. She enlists Sean's help & with her small pony Dove enters the races as the first girl & the first with a horse that isn't one of the capall uisce.
It's definitely a book I recommend reading & remains of my favorites. Although I may be biased as I have a love of Maggie Stiefvaters' work & continue to be on the edge of my seat as I enter into a world she's created.