In addition to being a writer, I am an avid horse-person who has been obsessed with these amazing creatures my entire life. I was a pretty feral child so I spent my teen years riding bareback around the countryside, daydreaming about going to the Olympics or thwarting horse thieves or discovering a herd of Unicorns…the usual. I’ve worked at many barns, taken internships, volunteered, and have been lucky enough to own a few horses of my own over the years. The horse books I’m drawn to always have realistic protagonists who are also kind, empathic, and who understand how special and magical these animals are.
Astrid never breaks the rules; she’s much too terrified of her overbearing father to step out of line. He controls her weight, her friends, and even her career path. And he doesn’t approve of anyone in their family thinking for themselves. When one impulsive decision ends in disaster, Astrid is grounded for the summer, forced to put her archery career on hold and take a menial job cleaning stalls at a posh dressage barn. It takes a little horse named Quarry and a quirky cast of characters to banish Astrid's unhappiness and show her that she is worth something. But when her father steps in, once again, everything Astrid has grown to love is threatened.
This book is a great summer read. The relationship between young eventer Rio and her project horse is really special and the author does a good job of introducing us to this fun, quirky family, their many pets, and their dilapidated country house. The descriptions of the French countryside and the differences in how horses are cared for in France were really interesting. It is a fun, captivating read.
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…
Written by the same author who wrote the amazing Dragonriders of Pern books, The Lady is set in 1970s Ireland and follows the horse-loving Carradyne family. There is plenty of drama and tears but it has a happy ending and the horses are very well written. Life wasn’t easy for women in Ireland at the time and McCaffery didn't shirk away from all the unfairness that she saw in the world around her. There are a few pretty shocking moments but it all works out in the end.
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,…
This is a great novel about a young man who is deciding if he wants to dedicate the rest of his life to training dressage horses. He interns with his cousins who are professional horse trainers and gets a crash course in classical dressage. It follows the real triumphs and struggles of working with horses for a living as well as his personal journey to become a better rider and a stronger person.
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…
This true-to-life series follows dressage rider, Lizzy, who gives up her job, her boyfriend, and her whole life in order to become a working student with a top trainer. It has a great cast of authentic characters, both humans and horses, and the training parts are spot on. A very enjoyable series.
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…
This whole series is so interesting. It follows the interconnected lives of top trainers and the (mostly wealthy) riders who show upper-level Saddlebreds. This is a world I’d known absolutely nothing about before. So, reading this series was fascinating and eye-opening. It’s like getting a glimpse of a completely different, and sometimes over-the-top, world. The author knows her subject so well that it’s like being transported to those high-stakes shows.
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…
Crossing is a vividly human re-imagining of the love, sacrifices, and accomplishments that two Chinese brothers - American Immigrants - experience as they travel to California to build the Transcontinental Railroad.
Crossing is a vividly human re-imagining of the love, sacrifices, and history that laid tracks for the North America of today.
Leaving behind ancestral Chinese homelands and their family, brothers Yang and Lee face harrowing challenges as they join countless immigrants seeking a better life in the 1860s.
This story follows their remarkable journey across the ocean to San Francisco, then into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where they'll labor to build the Transcontinental Railroad. Surrounded by California's new marvels, and carrying their cultural traditions in their hearts, Yang and Lee find themselves in precarious situations. Their passions, struggles, dreams, and…
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