The best horse books actually written by horse people

The moment Rio sees the skinny black gelding standing in the local meat man’s field, she resolves to save him. Gentle and exceptionally bred, Comet is the kind of horse Rio has always dreamed of owning - a horse to take on hacks through the vines, ride bareback at sunset, and maybe even compete in an event or two. Comet seems too good to be true, and Rio soon suspects that his past involved more than standing around in a field… But Rio has more to worry about than Comet. With five sisters to deal with - including Clemmie the… show more.

Amidst the grandeur of the emerald countryside, a magnificent story unfolds. . . .

They are the Carradynes, who for more than 200 years have bred and trained horses of the finest caliber on Cornanagh—a land so beautiful it inspires the soul.

But all is not idyllic at hearth and home. At the center of the conflict is Catriona, the youngest child, a girl who dreams of riding her family’s big jumpers and show horses. Her father, Michael, is keenly aware of her immense talent, and he urges her on—only to lock wills with his insufferably pious and overbearing wife,… show more.

James MacLiesh shocks his conventional parents when he chooses to work with horses instead of going to college—can he make it happen?

Bucking his parents—and tradition—seventeen-year-old James MacLiesh decides he wants to be a horse trainer. When he arrives at his cousins’ farm, James enters a world completely different from that of his privileged, boarding-school upbringing. Not quite prepared for the rambling, ramshackle old house, he knows he made the right decision the minute he goes into the barn. The horses are magnificent. Ghazal, an obedient if aloof white stallion, is to be James’s first training project. But first, James… show more.

You know what happens to all those girls who are just crazy about horses?
Once they discover boys, the horses are history.
Or maybe not.
For Lizzy, and others like her, no boy, no man who knows what’s good for him, speaks the unspeakable.
“It’s me or the horse.”
It’s no contest.
And so Lizzy snips the threads that hold her, however tenuously, to a conventional life, and begins her journey into the world of horse sports.
She signs on as a working student for dressage superstar Margot Fanning, heading to south Florida with her six year old mare, for… show more.

Stake Night is the story of a single year in the glamorous and competitive world of show horses, where the rewards are large and so are the lengths to which people will go to win. For the owners, it is about wielding power through money in their quest to proudly hold the prestigious World Championship trophy. For the riders, it is about demonstrating technical skill and nerve by out-riding their competitors and maneuvering their horse in the frenetic ring so the judges notice it. For the trainers, it is about finding the key that makes your horse out-perform others that… show more.