Back in 2006, in honor of Horse Illustrated’s 30th year, the editors compiled a list of 30 favorite horse books. What’s your favorite horse-related novel or non-fiction book? Leave us a comment at the end and share your thoughts!
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For 30 great horse songs, click here.
By Margot Page Beautiful images capture the spirit of the horse from quirky publisher Willow Creek Press. |
By Sharon Wagner Wendy meets Gypsy, a filly who needs Wendy as much as Wendy needs her. |
By Dorothy Henderson Pinch This child’s guide to equitation, written from a horse’s point of view with charming, humorous illustrations. |
By Jody Jaffe Reporter Nattie Gold and her show hunter Brenda Starr take on a murder mystery exposé in Virginia hunt country. |
By C.W. Anderson A classic introductory riding guide. |
By Bonnie Bryant Horse-loving best friends share enough riding adventures at Pine Hollow to fill more than 100 books. |
By Jilly Cooper File also under “trashy novel”—a guilty pleasure about show jumping, scandal and seduction. |
By William Nack This 1975 biography of Triple Crown Winner Secretariat was updated in 2002. |
By Henry V. Larom Native American wisdom helps a pair of dude ranch misfits. |
By George H. Morris The Bible, written by the master of the sport. |
By Enid Bagnold A teenage girl wins a horse in a raffle, trains it, and rides it in the Grand National steeplechase. |
By Walter Farley Shipwrecked on an island together, an Arabian horse and a boy bond. Once rescued, they go on to win a match race against the top Thoroughbreds in the nation. |
By Norman Thelwell Nothing is cuter, or more mischievous, than a Thelwell pony in the hilarious cartoon “guide to equitation.” |
By Laura Hillenbrand Modern day masterpiece about the small colt who became an American racing legend when the country needed him most. |
By Marguerite Henry At the annual Pony Penning roundup, Misty becomes the beloved pet of two children and a beloved icon of horse loving children everywhere. |
By Jean Slaughter Doty Ginny brings a pony home for the summer, but shaggy, spotted Mokey is not the sleek show pony she envisioned. |
By Jill Krementz Who didn’t want to be Vivi Malloy in the ’70s? Follow Vivi and her pony Ready Penny on the A-circuit, in photos. |
By Jo-Ann Mapson An urban modern western with romance between a hard-headed horsewoman and a mild-mannered professor. |
By Patricia Calvert JoBeth spends time with her late sister’s horse, Riono, and learns she and her sister weren’t as different as she thought. |
By Reiner Klimke The master of dressage illustrates the ideal development of a horse through the levels. |
By Jane Smiley This character-driven novel takes the reader on a wild ride from California to Kentucky to Paris with the high stakes game of horse racing. |
By Mildred Mastin Pace The true story of 1918 Kentucky Derby winner Exterminator. |
By Don Stanford A group of young riders pursue British Horse Society certification in England and bond over the grueling experience |
By Dick Francis We selected this one for its hero, the one handed jockey turned private investigator Sid Halley. |
By Jane Schwartz The life and tragic end of the filly who captured America’s heart in the mid 1970s. |
By Will James Smoky survives the hardships of life on the range, partners up with cowboy Clint of the Rocking R Ranch, and even serves a brief stint as a rodeo bronc. |
By Mary O’Hara A young boy struggles to please his domineering father and finds solace in gaining the trust of a filly. |
By Sally Swift Creative visualization for better riding. |
By Tom Dorrance The first and last word on natural horse training, from one of the men who started it all in modern times. |
By Anna Sewell Told straight from the horse’s mouth, Black Beauty’s tumultuous life in Victorian England. One of the first books to deal with the welfare of the horse. |
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I think horsechannel is the best horse site!!!!!
I loved it. I have atleast a third of the books, including the Saddle club series and the Black stallion series. Plus I have read many of the others.
Colt by Nacy Springer is a 5 star ratted book 5 being the best it should be in the top 30 please conciter it here is some summarys
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8-- Colt's story is launched with his trademark whine, "I don't want to!" Handicapped with spina bifida, he resents how adults totally control him. He fearfully resists therapeutic horseback riding, but a few minutes on an Appaloosa named Liverwurst changes his life. The contrary Colt is a complex character, ruled by conflicting moods of anxiety, curiosity, and embarrassment about his condition. He feels helpless physically and emotionally when his mother remarries a man with two children. Riding gives him freedom and the opportunity to master a skill. He savors his newfound independence and fights to continue the risky sport, proving his mettle when he rescues his new stepbrother following an accident. In a matter-of-fact style, Springer transforms Colt from a grouchy victim to a likable boy. Despite a debilitating situation, he gains a passion for living. Readers will be affected by his triumphs and failures, changing their initial sympathy for Colt to admiration. Recommend this uplifting story to those who want "another" after Jodie's Journey (HarperCollins, 1990) by Colin Thiele. --Charlene Strickland, formerly at Albuquerque Public Library , NM
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
Colt, who has spina bifida, is introduced to riding in a special program for handicapped children. Reluctant at first, he soon learns that being on a horse not only strengthens his muscles but empowers him with new independence and courage, a better route to self-identity than his former brattiness. Meanwhile, his mother Audrey marries Brad, a gentle, sympathetic man with a teenage son (``Rosie'') and a daughter Colt's age. What would normally be a minor incident--Colt's mount jolts him when he starts to trot--is life-threatening for Colt, and Audrey reluctantly decides that the riding must stop. Colt becomes despondent, but then Brad comes up with an especially safe mount and the family agrees that, as Colt has pleaded, the rewards of his riding are worth the risks. Indeed--in a satisfying scene dramatizing how Colt can overcome his limitations, he rescues his stepbrother when the two are alone together and Rosie is injured. The plot here is familiar, the details concerning spina bifida obviously purposive. But Springer's characters, striving to create a loving new family, come alive as exceptionally warm, nice people who try to solve their unavoidable problems without dissipating emotional energy in rivalries or self-pity. Sweet but not saccharine: a satisfying horse story with fine extra dimensions. (Fiction. 10-13) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
THE BOOKS SUMMERY
Colt Vittorio has never run a race, or even walked down the street on his own. Colt has spina bifida, and sees the world from a wheelchair. Then his mother signs him up for a special riding program. "An excellent portrayal of a young person struggling with the emotional and social ramifications of a serious disease."--Booklist. An IRA Young Adult's Choice; Winner of the Joan Fassler Memorial Book Award.
This is great to have on the web site. Now I have a bunch of new books to get and read. Thanks
I am surprised that "Pamela and the Blue Mare" is not on here! I know copies of that book are very hard to come by, but it was the best book I ever read as a teeneager!!
I have read alot of the books. They have insprired me to presue my dream job!!!
I think the top 2 books are the best, but thats probably because those are the only two I've read from the list.
hi,
i would think that chicken soup for the horselovers sole would be in the top 30 but i gess not. yeah well they are good books to i read most of them!!!!
I think that Chicken Soup For Horse Lovers Sole should be in there. I like it.
All of the books in the top 30 are wonderful.Only about half of them I have read before,but they all sound wonderful!!
Horse Lover