National to National, a Year on the Show Jumping Circuit, by David Hollis. It covers 1991, so it is a bit dated, but most of the people featured are still involved in the sport in some way.
A Very Young Rider is great too for young or old. 
“The Monday Horses” by Jean Slaughter Doty. A little more young adult oriented than her other wonderful children’s stories “Summer Pony”, “Winter Pony”, and “The Crumb”.
“The Crumb” and “The Monday Horses” both involve shady happenings on the show circuit.
It’s not the Circuit but, honestly, Jilly Cooper’s RIDERS is the “Gone With the Wind” of trash, the perfect marriage of Jane Austen and Jackie Collins, perhaps the finest novel in the English language.
“It is by no means the privilege of the rider to part with his horse solely by his own will.” – Alois Podhajsky
“Go on, Bill… This is no place for a pony.”
I want those books when they’re out!
Maybe the big interest in Seabiscuit and Horse Heaven will help you out.
More books:
Last Junior Year by Barbara Morgenroth. Out of print, but well worth finding. This is a young adult coming-of-age title, not steamy.
Laura Moore has two recent romances… one is “Ride a Dark Horse” and I think the other is “Chance Meeting”. They are very accurate in their A-circuit horsey details and are generally well done. And some very funny steamy scenes.
She might also like “The Lady” by Anne McCaffrey. It’s Ireland, and hunting, but steamy and lots of horseys.
[edited to correct titles]
[This message was edited by poltroon on Nov. 06, 2002 at 02:13 PM.]
[This message was edited by poltroon on Nov. 06, 2002 at 02:14 PM.]
Not really about the A circuit, but an earlier novel by Jane Smiley that I really enjoyed was “Barn Blind” about the pressures a really “horsey Mom” placed on her kids.
Old Grey Mare: check out one of the used book sites. (Amazon, Alibris, etc) You can easily find that the author is Sara McAulay and 
that there are copies for sale quite reasonably.
Ahhhhh. This is why I love the internet. Find the titles here on COTH, then buy, then wait for the mailman to bring me a present!
Just finished Riders and loved it. Does Jilly Cooper have any other books involving horses?
“The Year of The Horse” by Eric Hatch - it’s the book that the Disney movie “The Horse In The Gray Flannel Suit” was based on - but the book is better, funnier, and still pretty accurate today in a lot of respects!
“The Show Gypsies” - can’t remember author’s name, might it be Leslie Baird??
Do a search on Off Course for “books” - you will get loads of ideas.
Member: TB Clique, Georgia Clique, Rust TS Clique, Willem FC, DIY Clique, Ebayers Anonymous Clique, Reads Forums At Work Clique, Lawn Ornaments For Life Clique, Jigging Clique
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Emily A:
I remembered the name. It is called “Born Rich” and it is by Jamie Johnson. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Jamie is ironically a cousin to Alison Firestone and the film almost didn’t get to see the light of day due to one “participant” recanting any cooperation. see here
“Riders” by Jilly Cooper… very much a trashy romance novel… but a good book none the less.
Three older books, that were absolutely wonderful if you can find them, all by Jean Slaughter Doty
- The Monday Horses - young female narrator, pony rider for a top barn, talks about drugging on the circuit.
-The Crumb - young female narrator, has a nice pony, i believe it deals with insurance scandals and nerving, not positive, a sad but good book.
-Dark Horse - again, young female narrator, “poor” by horse standards, works at a barn and gets a chance at a problem horse.
All wonderful books, I love them to death, will buy them if I can ever find them.
what was the name of that one that came out several years ago…maybe early to mid 90’s? It was life on the circuit-pretty darn trashy…graphic lesbian scenes…dang—it passed through the barn like crazy.
Not exactly for young kids… 
“Fear the goat from the front, the horse from the rear, and man from all sides.” …russian proverb
A great book I read twice while in high school is Perdita by Isabelle Holland. It is out of print but I know ther are copies out there. It’s a very horsey book with some mild romance and a mystery plotline. Awesome book!
Thank you-been beating my head over that…
“Fear the goat from the front, the horse from the rear, and man from all sides.” …russian proverb
I read a blurb about Tami Hoag’s book Dark Horse that is supposed to be all about WEF. Anyone read it yet? I have it on reserve.
When your books do get published be sure to post the latest info here.
I have a book about the Hampton Classic, called “The Classic Experience”. It’s more of a coffee table book, than a good read. I wasdisappointed that they left out some of the key divisions, but they did focus on some locals, and some people that are big, and some who I have no clue about.
to err is human, to whinny, Equine
I am working on a new horse-related book - has to do with life on the A Circuit.
I would love to chat with anyone who is interested - I am still defining the precise outline for the book but hope to be writing very soon. My email address is rrpt@earthlink.net.
THANK YOU JANET!!!
FUN book!!!
I just read Dark Horse over the holidays and it was very good. It is a long read, over 400 pages but at times I had trouble putting it down.
Another good read is Hot Blood which is all about the Helen Brach (candy heiress) disappearance.
Jane - I’ve seen Show Gypsies on B&N’s used book network for around $60, which, alas, is more than I can justify spending on a book! At least a non textbook book!
“Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who
have the habit of making excuses.” – George Washington Carver
Member of the drafties/drafties X clique!
