cant find a book

[jarem]

Hello all, Ive been looking for a book forum where I might get some help with a book I read a few years ago. I've been looking for it for a long time Its just really hard to find with the information I have.

I can remember parts of the story in the book but I have no title, and no author and of course cant really remember what the book cover had on it. I want to re-read this book and the person I borrowed it from sold all of the books she had a couple of years ago so no luck there.

The cover was dark, had a semi-armored figure on a horse on the cover and I believe the terrain of the background was dark and rocky, almost Mordor like for those who know Lord of the Rings.

I remember that this kid was found an raised by a blind man. He was taught the warrior ways and one major part in the story was that the kid would never be a warrior until he could pass a test of cupping his hands and filling one cupped hand with water and pour the water from hand to hand 50 times without spilling a drop.

At one point the blind man is put to death by the "bad guys" and he does this with his own blood to signal to the boy not to fight and to stay hidden. This was after the boy had grown and was considered a warrior.

Another part of the story is when the boy goes to capture and tame a horse. The horse is the leader of a pack of horses and is supposed to be the strongest and fastest horse etc etc. He rides his mare out to the field the pack of horses are at and stays on the mare bareback for days (months) until the mare is accepted into the herd. He then stays even longer in the same fashion until he can finally get close enough to jump onto the lead horse's back and "break it in" by riding him until he accepts the boy as the rider.

I know this is limited information but any help is appreciated.


Thank You,
John F.