Buy A Horse Book Day
As a horse-crazy girl who didn't get a pony for my birthday, I read horse books instead. A lot of books.
Every day there seems to be a holiday of some sort to promote, beyond the long-standing Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. More seem to spring up each year and get blasted on social media. In May there’s National Sleepover Day (yesterday), National Golf Day (today), and Hostess Cupcake Day (tomorrow). I haven’t promoted any before—not even National Indexing Day on March 28th. (Maybe I should consider that one.) But then, author Natalie Keller Reinert announced another holiday earlier this week: the third annual Buy a Horse Book Day happening today, Friday, May 10th.
This one sparked my interest.
I have always been a horse girl. What did I want for my birthday every year? A pony. Did I ever get one? No. We lived in a suburb, on a quarter-acre lot. No room for a horse. And no budget for boarding. But about a mile down the road, in what the neighborhood kids called The Field, now dotted with unassuming houses and a Greek church, there was a stable that offered trail rides. Johnston Stables was the name, owned and run by the Johnston family. There were two little ponies—Peanut Butter and Marshmallow—available for quarter rides, meaning they cost twenty-five cents. A giddy toddler (me) would be plopped into a western saddle on this tiny pony and hand-walked to a barrel several strides away and then back. This ride was bliss—and the start of my horse-crazy life.
Fueling this love for horses was my mom. She somehow found the money to allow me to go to Johnston Stables to ride for one lesson per week during the summers. I lived for those lessons, for the smell of the horses, the rhythmic motion of riding, the whiskery horsey breath blown onto my hand.
I couldn’t spend all my days in the presence of horses. This was only a once-a-week occurrence in the warmer weather. But as soon as I could read, I found another way. I filled my mind with other people's stories of them.
I’ll start by mentioning Marguerite Henry and her stories of Misty of Chincoteague and Justin Morgan and his horse Figure. Hours were spent with these books, reading them over and over. How I wished I could live on Assateague Island or the Beebe farm in Chincoteague, Virginia.
I devoured Walter Farley’s Black Stallion and Red Stallion series. They were far-fetched but, of course, filled with horses.
One that I loved and read to shreds was Doodlebug. And the Thelwell ponies. Who can resist those Thelwell ponies?
Let’s not forget author and illustrator Sam Savitt. His books like Vicki and the Black Horse and Vicki and the Brown Mare feature families riding together and dreams of winning horse competitions. And the illustrations—Savitt knew how to draw horses. He even wrote a how-to book: Draw Horses with Sam Savitt. Note: drawing horses is right up there with reading horse books.
C.W. Anderson and his Billy and Blaze books were always in my horse-book rotation as well.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell was another favorite. I loved how the author brought the mind of the horse to life. She didn’t write it to entertain little girls, but Black Beauty captured my heart. National Velvet by Enid Bagnold was hard for me to follow when I was young, but I did eventually get swept up in the novel on later re-reads.
I also escaped into the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder because she named almost every horse in her books and lovingly described each one. As a young reader, I was jealous of Wilder because she grew up in a period when horses dominated the landscape. It wasn’t until I reread these books with my daughter, another horse-crazy girl, that I recognized the poverty of Wilder’s childhood.
My mom fueled my horse book habit by picking them up wherever she found them, at the library or yard sales. She kept this up for years, even after I left my childhood home.
The Georges and the Jewels series wasn’t around when I was young, but I did read them as an adult. Set on a California ranch in the 1960s, they are exquisitely written with heart and humor by none other than my favorite writer, Jane Smiley. I purchased each one for my daughter as they came out. Those books will remain on our bookshelves.
Smiley’s adult book, Horse Heaven, is a must-read for horsey and non-horsey people alike. Her first book, Barn Blind, was dark but full of horses and riding. (I like what she said in this interview with Mary Camille Beckman for Fiction Writers Review, about how she knew that she wrote her first three novels for “practice.”)
Another contemporary horse writer is Jojo Moyes, author of the Me Before You series. I discovered Moyes after she published Horse Dancer. It’s long and not as polished as her writing would later become, but I couldn’t put it down. Another one of her books, The Giver of the Stars, is about Depression-era horseback-riding librarians in Kentucky, bringing books to the mountain people who would otherwise have no access to them. This is adulting with horses.
Speaking of adulting with horses, there is a podcast with that name, hosted by two equestrian authors. I am proud to say that I have read every horse book written by Natalie Keller Reinert, one of the hosts (also mentioned at the start of this long ramble). She writes for the horse-crazy adult. If you want to read her books and don’t know where to start, and you’re not familiar with eventing or dressage, may I suggest Hidden Horses of New York? Or the Alex and Alexander series, which takes place on a thoroughbred breeding farm. She is a prolific writer, and I love how you can follow the evolution of her memorable characters because many of her books are encapsulated in series that she adds to regularly. Did I mention she writes a lot? In one of her podcasts, she was asked how she produces so many books, and she succinctly said that she writes a lot of books, because she, well, writes a lot. Sage advice to would-be writers.
I mentioned dressage before I waxed on about Reinert. So I must bring up Karen McGoldrick, who has a fabulous series, the Dressage Chronicles. And her latest contribution is Betwixt the Stirrup and the Ground, a story about the fallout of an equestrian’s life after her parents’ divorce and her mother’s death. The story bounces between 18th-century Virginia and the present day. McGoldrick is a retired dressage trainer who breathes life into the sport and her characters. (And if you’re looking for another dressage novel, there’s Horse Dancer by Moyes.)
If you prefer eventing, or want to learn more about crazy riders who like to go full speed over solid fences, then definitely check out Reinert’s eventing series or Mary Pagones’s Fortune’s Fool series. I am especially partial to Pagones’s writing because the first book of the Fortune’s Fool series is set in Vermont. And I can almost pinpoint the setting of that book in real life, including the inspiration for the trainer. Even the vet echoes someone I knew in real life. Bravo to Pagones.
OK, before we leave Vermont, I’d like to give a special shoutout to Jessie Haas. She has written early chapter books for young readers (check out Jigsaw Pony) and novels for middle schoolers (Beware the Mare immediately comes to mind, along with the Barney series). My favorite book by Haas is Working Trot, which is more for teens. Like Pagones, Haas nails the Vermont setting.
While in medical school, I planned a solo drive from Philly to Beaufort SC for a podiatry internship. My mom, always a staunch supporter of my love for horses, gave me a book-on-tape to occupy me on that long drive. It was Valley of the Horses by Jean M. Auel, a sweeping novel and part of the Earth’s Children series that tells the story of Ayla, a young woman cast out by her adopted clan. To me, most importantly, it was the fictional story of the first human connection between a woman and a horse. Recently I had indexed a book about the history of the horse, and that author surmised that it must have been an adolescent (intimating a male adolescent) who was crazy and brave enough to swing a leg over a horse for the first time. I prefer Auel’s version. And I don’t think my preference is that far-fetched—after all, it is girls who tend to be the most horse crazy. People do talk about the elusive horse-crazy gene. Is this epigenetics at work?
I could go on. There are books by Patricia Leitch and Sara Gruen for example. Instead, I invite you to explore on your own.
… I didn’t even get to nonfiction horse books, books that I also devoured as a child and teen when I didn’t have any new fiction to read or books on my shelves that I wanted to re-read...
But it’s time to get back to the impetus for this piece of writing: Buy A Horse Book Day. The two publishers behind the Buy a Horse Book Day are Trafalgar Square and Heels Down magazine. In full disclosure[1], I do index a couple of books a year for Trafalgar Square, but I was not asked to promote this day for them. Trafalgar Square has some fiction books, but mostly nonfiction. They have published the ever-popular riding books by the late Jane Savoie and by Denny Emerson, and so many more horse books.
Trafalgar Square is also special to me because they are less than a 45-minute drive from my house, in the hills of Vermont. They are a small independent publisher, made up of a very tiny team. They are dedicated to producing quality horse books, and they support local horse organizations. I love Trafalgar Square’s policy of adding the indexer’s name to the copyright page. Thank you, Becca, for the thoughtful recognition of indexers in your books.
If you’re still with me:
Where else can you buy horse books? Jane Badger Books is the place to go for horse books set in the UK, offering both vintage and newer titles. I’m warning you right now, you’ll be falling down a rabbit hole here. Here’s a link to the index (Yes, an index!) on her website where you can find a treasure trove of equestrian authors of fiction. The index just doesn’t link to books and the authors’ bibliographies—you’ll also be able to dive into articles about the authors.
And let’s not forget your local independent bookstore.
I hope I have inspired you to buy a horse book for your next fiction read. Or maybe, to buy one for the child in your life—your own or someone else’s. Heck, buy a horse book to donate to your local library. There are never enough horse-related books on their shelves to satisfy kids who love horses. If you want to hear about the positives of letting kids grow up living and breathing horses, Lauren Sprieser offers her perspective. Sprieser is another wonderful equestrian writer, but you won’t find any books by her. She writes blog posts. But I do hope she has a book inside her mind, waiting for the right time to be put to paper. I’d buy it!
But if I haven’t been able to nudge you to buy a horse book today, that’s OK, too. I’m glad you stuck with me this long. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this piece. Even though it has been decades since I lost myself in a book on the deck of my childhood home, I was reminded of the hours I spent drifting from one horse book to another. As I write this, I can still feel the sun on my face and the delight of devouring the book propped up in my hands.
And let’s not forget those quarter rides that started it all—I owe a lifetime of joy to those two kind ponies, Peanut Butter and Marshmallow. And to my mom, Sophie Guiliano. May you rest in peace. Happy Mother’s Day from your horse-crazy girl.
[1] I’d also like to mention that none of these links are affiliate links; I will not receive any money if you buy a book from any of these sellers