When I was in junior high in West Texas, all my friends loved horses, and most of them were planning to become veterinarians when they grew up. Except for me. I wanted to be a teacher or a librarian.
I only rode a horse once or twice, but I did get to hear a lot about horses. And I don’t mind an occasional horse book. In honor of this charitable endeavor at Read Write Believe in support of Flying Horse Farms, an adventure camp for children with life-threatening illnesses, here are a few of my favorite horse books:
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Classic, and I think still readable. On Anna Sewell’s birthday.
The Blind Colt and Blind Outlaw both by Glen Rounds. I read both of these back when I was in junior high or elementary school. Good stories about the survival of a blind horse in the wild.
Flambards by K.M. Peyton and its sequels. These are more YA romance/historical fiction than animal stories, but they do feature horses and horse-riding. And they were, again, popular in my junior high years.
Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan. One of last year’s Cybils nominees. Semicolon review here.
Chancey of the Maury River by Gigi Amateau. One of this year’s Cybils nominees, this one takes place on a ranch similar to Flying Horse Farms.
Black Horses for the King by Anne McCaffrey. A Roman Celtic youth, Galwyn, helps the future king of Britain, Lord Artos, acquire the legendary Black Horses of his legions. We read this book aloud this year and learned a lot about horses in the process.
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis. This one is my second favorite of the Narnia chronicles, about talking horses.
What is your favorite horse book?
Black Beauty is one of my all-time favourite horse books (possibly the one one too!). I had a chance to ride in Argentina but I was too afraid to take the chance…sure wish I could do it now LOL
I reviewed Ariel’s Journey by Douglas Kane and Christy Wood, which is a nice mix of horses and fantasy. You can check it out. Happy New Year!
My mother loved books about horses and as a young, eager reader I inherited her treasure trove. My favorites not included on the above list:
1. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
2. King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
3. Midnight Moon by Dorothy Lyons and also Silver Birch (I didn’t realize she had a huge string of horsey books until I looked her up)
Mine are a mix of everyone’s favorites:
The Horse and His Boy
The Black Stallion
Black Beauty
Misty of Chincoteague
Stormy, Misty’s Foal
King of the Wind
The Black Stallion.
I read and re-read ALL the Marguerite Henry stories when I was middle-school age… Also ALL the Black Stallion books, plus Will James’ classic, Smoky: A Cowhorse, and another collection of his short stories, Horses I’ve Known. Old Bones, the Wonder Horse, was another favorite which I re-read to my kids about two years ago–it’s a wonderful true Cinderella story about a racehorse called exterminator. I have pulled out C.W. Anderson’s Favorite Horse Stories and read some of them aloud to my husband! His Billy and Blaze books are a great beginner series, and probably the first horse books I ever read. And for adults, don’t forget Dick Francis, retired British jockey and mystery writer. 🙂
~Jeanne
Thank you so much for supporting Emily and me and Flying Horse Farms.
Some of these titles are new to me, so I’ll have to track them down. I read more SF than horse books in my childhood, but can still vividly remember the scene in A Horse and His Boy where the great lion chases the rider on horseback and leaves claw marks. [shiver]
YES! Smokey: A Cowhorse! I’d forgotten that one!
Horses are seen a lot in the Trixie Belden books (Julie Campbell and “Kathryn Kenny”), especially in The Mystery off Glen Road.
Some of the books in the Timber Trail Riders series (Michael Murray) are still available from on-line used-book sellers.
The Little White Horse (Elizabeth Goudge) is really a unicorn, but a horse does play a strong role in the book.