Books about life on the A circuit?

[Jane]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> hehhe - not that I don’t love that this thread has turned into horsie books for adults, but I was specifically looking for A circuit life books <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Okay, here’s one I haven’t seen mentioned –

Fall by Kai Maristed. It was released in the mid 90’s, mostly about the big eq. scene on the east coast; the central character is a trainer who sorta carried on an affair with a guy working for a nightwatch company, who’s new to the horse business. Lots of stuff about the “A” circuit.

Another one I haven’t seen mentioned, although it’s not necessary about the A circuit, is Forward Motion by Holly Menino. It’s a non-fiction, very similiar to National to National in format; it covers three riders in the three Olympic disciplines: Anne Kursinski, Lendon Gray, and Keith Taylor, and the horses they had at the time. This book was released around the same time frame as Fall. A rather sad sidenote – I had never heard of Keith Taylor, the Eventing rider, until I read the book. Then about a year or two later, I read in COTH he was killed while competing at an event.

Anyway, both books were well-written. I highly recommend them if you can find them.

[Pony_Fan]

The first is a novel similar to RIDERS only based here in the US. The “pitch blurb” on it is:

Handsome Is - Not since Riders has there been a novel for all the horse crazy teens who grew into horse crazy, book- buying adults! This Adult novel tells the story of Susan, an overweight middle-aged woman who finds the confidence to leave a loveless marriage and regain her self esteem by helping develop the remarkable jumping talents
of an unattractive Appaloosa lesson horse. This book realistically reflects the world of contemporary horse shows and the people who live their lives on the road following the “A” circuit - complete with scandals, “dirty deals”, friendships, intimacies and good hearted camaraderie.

The book is not a “Romance” novel in tone nor is it a YA novel for adults. It is set at such horse shows as Devon, the WEF circuit, sevral New England “A” shows and Indoors and focusses on show ring hunters and like RIDERS is fairly mature in the way ot approaches life on the circuit.

The second book is a Non-Fiction piece called:

Born To Ride: Junior Riders and the “A” Horse Show Circuit - Candid discussions with over 30 of today’s top winning young riders and their parents frankly examining, in human terms, what is gained and lost by those young riders who follow the circuit. Readers will get to know the “pony jockeys”, the catch riders, the Big Eq kids and hear from former junior riders about “life after the junior years”. The piece will have strong human interest appeal along with practical information about how people actually manage things like budget, school issues, non-riding siblings and finding a healthy balance to it all.

I have been pitching both books to publishers for the past 6 months and actually had some interest in Born To Ride until the Editor left the company! Handsome Is is complete and Born to Ride is 80% done. Maybe they’ll be available for Xmas NEXT year!

[RolyPolyPony]

PonyFan - wow! Good for you! I would definitely read both of those, and know tons of people who would! I hope you find a publisher soon so they’ll be out ASAP! Awesome!!

And make sure you let us know when it all happens! Good luck

Member of the drafties/drafties X clique!

[Pony_Fan]

In fact in my “pitch” letter I even direct them to this Board so that they can see the discussions on people looking for books with this subject matter… Hey, maybe the Chronicle would want to serialize them - it worked for Dickens and Twain!

[Sunday]

Just read this last Sunday in the NY Times Book Review.

It’s amazing what horses can do for a mystery. Kit Ehrman’s debut novel, AT RISK (Poisoned Pen Press, $24.95), falls into the usual first-timer traps: baldly drawn characters, patches of stiff dialogue and an overkill approach to violence. But the country setting of a slovenly run horse farm in Maryland reeks of authenticity, and the hunters and jumpers that are boarded at this no-frills garage have personality to burn. When seven of these horses are stolen in the dead of night, Stephen Cline, the 21-year-old barn manager of Foxdale Farm, mourns each animal like a lost friend. ‘‘I felt as if someone had kicked me in the gut,’’ says Steve, who, in the honored tradition of a Dick Francis hero, vows to track down the thieves after being kidnapped and beaten to a pulp during the theft. As a former groom, vet and barn manager, Ehrman knows her way around horses and show barns, even if she does need more practice jumping those writing hurdles.

[RolyPolyPony]

hehhe - not that I don’t love that this thread has turned into horsie books for adults, but I was specifically looking for A circuit life books Though keep going w/ the general horsie fiction - we’ve both read pretty much all of the ones you’re mentioning (The Lady by McCaffrey and Riders by Cooper are two of the best books ever!!), but some new ones are popping up, which I am adding to my Christmas list!

PS - I actually just bought Last Junior Year on eBay - for way too much, but way less than the out of print dealers are charging!

Member of the drafties/drafties X clique!

[horselesswonder]

“Show Rider” - about Kerri Cibarelli, who showed an OTTB that she re-trained (with BNT’s help, of course) named Cinema I in the juniors and eq.'s. I believe the setting was Long Island. Lots of nice pictures. Even though it’s a book geared toward teenage girls, I still enjoy pulling my copy out every once in a while because I see myself at that age in its pages.

[achcosuva]

Wow, what a great thread. I’m printing it out now! Can’t wait to get to the bookstore…wishing Mom (or, more specifically, her credit card) was home, then it’d be off to Amazon!

Pony Fan, I simply must, must, must read your “Born To Ride”. And the other book (I’ve already forgotton the title, I was so excited reading about all the books I’ve gotton all the titles of all the books mixed up) sounds quite interesting too. Good luck with finding a publisher and be sure to tell us when you get them out!

[Ms_Michigan]

Another author is Carolyn Banks. Here’s a SS of some of her books…(sorry photos wouldn’t load!)
Some of her books:
Death by Dressage
Groomed for Death
Death on the Diagonal

[luan22]

@Ms Michigan

Another author is Carolyn Banks. Here’s a SS of some of her books…(sorry photos wouldn’t load!)
Some of her books:
Death by Dressage
Groomed for Death
Death on the Diagonal

thank you! Now in 2017 while the topic since 2002, haha