[QUOTE=poltroon;3540282]
Clearly, we need to figure out how to add some horse fiction to your reading list. 
:D[/QUOTE]
Hmm, weâre doing a unit on differing viewpoints and perspectives right now⊠maybe I can work âBlack Beautyâ in. d; My students are kinda fascinated by my horse, since most of them have never seen one before and donât understand where I keep it (âWhy donât you just chain him up in your backyard?â)⊠theyâd probably enjoy itâŠ
What about the Dorothy Potter-Benedict books featuring some Appaloosas, âPagan the Blackâ, âFabulousâ, âBandoleerâ. I read them in elementary school and wish I could get some copies and re-read them. They seem to be a figment of my imagination though, as I have had no luck finding copies.
[QUOTE=SarahandSam;3540324]
Hmm, weâre doing a unit on differing viewpoints and perspectives right now⊠maybe I can work âBlack Beautyâ in. d; My students are kinda fascinated by my horse, since most of them have never seen one before and donât understand where I keep it (âWhy donât you just chain him up in your backyard?â)⊠theyâd probably enjoy itâŠ[/QUOTE]
Black Beauty is one of those books that turns out to be historically important even though weâve come to think of it as a childrenâs tale. In that way, I think it would be an excellent lesson, not just for the book itself, but how a book can be seminal for history and how some of these stories we take for granted were once daring and original. It also happens to be very readable, which I think is a plus for teaching grumpy, tired students. 
You might also look at KM Peyton. Her work is not as historically important, but she has written many quite wonderful coming of age novels and historical fiction based in Britain.
Kate Seredyâs The Chestry Oak is a pretty interesting work, too, written about WW2 right after it ended, about a young prince whose castle is taken over by Nazis.
You might not necessarily teach these, but I think theyâd be good on a list of âyou can pick these for a book reportâ type books.
Hereâs a book that I donât think has come up on these threads: November Grass, by Judy Van der Veer. I always thought her only book was âHold the Rein Freeâ (with Mia and Tesoro), but I came across November Grass in my library. It was reprinted in 2001 via an arts grant as a piece of iconic California fiction, and it got a foreward from Ursula K. LeGuin.
Itâs set near Ramona, in the San Diego area, written in 1940, when Ramona was way in the sticks, far far away from The Big City. Itâs more about setting than plot, but itâs a very effective description of the open spaces of wild California, which I also experienced, but in a later decade in a different place.
Ursula K. Le Guin writes, âVan der Veer gives us a rural landscape as deeply known and lived in as Willa Catherâs Nebraska or Sarah Jewettâs Maine. The valley ranches of John Steinbeckâs Red Pony and East of Eden are natural comparisons, but Van der Veerâs picture is truer, I think, to the patient obscurity of the lives and deaths of those who live on and from this austere land⊠Pain, suffering, grief are intense in her story, but not more intense than tenderness and praise.â
There was a book I read years agoâŠpre 1980 I think, about a girl who does eventing. She and her horse had a wreck and sheâs working toward some big competition with this nervous horse named Maestro. I think the name of it was âthree Day Challengeâ but Iâm not sure as have received no results when searching for it under that title. And of course I donât remember the author! Does anybody remember this book?
[QUOTE=Sargentmajor;3540934]
There was a book I read years agoâŠpre 1980 I think, about a girl who does eventing. She and her horse had a wreck and sheâs working toward some big competition with this nervous horse named Maestro. I think the name of it was âthree Day Challengeâ but Iâm not sure as have received no results when searching for it under that title. And of course I donât remember the author! Does anybody remember this book?[/QUOTE]
Three Day Challenge by Joan S. Weir. Eighteen year old Janey is trying out for the Canadian eventing team with her horse, Storm, who has a lightning bolt marking. She calls him Maestro as a pet name. Theyâve had a fall and so theyâre quite concerned about downhill jumps, but she must make the team in the upcoming competition, or, without her knowledge, her brothers will sell off part of the ranch to a developer (and father of a fellow compeititor), to raise money for her to train.
I giggled, because ponydom has a random suggestion feature, and that happened to be the book suggested!
[QUOTE=poltroon;3541005]
Three Day Challenge by Joan S. Weir. Eighteen year old Janey is trying out for the Canadian eventing team with her horse, Storm, who has a lightning bolt marking. She calls him Maestro as a pet name. Theyâve had a fall and so theyâre quite concerned about downhill jumps, but she must make the team in the upcoming competition, or, without her knowledge, her brothers will sell off part of the ranch to a developer (and father of a fellow compeititor), to raise money for her to train.
I giggled, because ponydom has a random suggestion feature, and that happened to be the book suggested![/QUOTE]
Oh thank you, thank you thank you!!! You have no idea how long I have searched for this book! As I remember it was one of the few horse books I read that wasnât completely cheesy! Now how do I get a copy? Amazon doesnât have it.
[QUOTE=Sargentmajor;3541016]
Oh thank you, thank you thank you!!! You have no idea how long I have searched for this book! As I remember it was one of the few horse books I read that wasnât completely cheesy![/QUOTE]
Youâre welcome! Itâs one of my favorites, too.
Another book you might like, if you like eventing fiction, is A New Horse for Marny, set in Australia.
Do you still need this info? I have all the Cammie books and could get the descriptions off the jacket covers I think. The first is about Cammie learning to ride and ends with her first foxhunt, Challenge is about pony club regionals, Cammieâs club goes to the finals on LI, and in Cousin Cammie visits Ireland and meets a wild pony.
There was a childrens/young adult book by the name of Sea Sprite and it was about a boat or sailboat, not sure if its the same one you are referring to.
Maggie Royal is listed on Barnes & Nobleâs website under used books, you could email the seller and ask.
[QUOTE=BAC;3541043]
Do you still need this info? I have all the Cammie books and could get the descriptions off the jacket covers I think. The first is about Cammie learning to ride and ends with her first foxhunt, Challenge is about pony club regionals, Cammieâs club goes to the finals on LI, and in Cousin Cammie visits Ireland and meets a wild pony.
There was a childrens/young adult book by the name of Sea Sprite and it was about a boat or sailboat, not sure if its the same one you are referring to.
Maggie Royal is listed on Barnes & Nobleâs website under used books, you could email the seller and ask.[/QUOTE]
Yes, please, I still need it!
I got this description from Barnes & Noble website about Cammieâs Challenge.
âNow having become an expert horsewoman, Cammie faces the challenge of pony rallies. First she must work long and hard to bring out the best in her own horse, Sabrina; and then the two of them go at it. First on the local level, then for the whole state of Virginia and finally in the national pony rally, Cammie and Sabrina show their stuffâŠâ
I want to thank everyone for their contributions to this thread! I am an avid reader, as well as a horse lover, and as a recent âre-riderâ I am so looking forward to helping to satisfy my horse crazy appetite with some good, horsey reading. And now I will have a good stack of books to start working through. I am so happy.
wow - Iâll checking out the library tomorrow - -thank!
No one mentione Carolyn Banks thoughâŠher dressage mysteries are great fun, and will forever be the source of my dressage ring mnemonic: A Killer Enzyme Harmed Crazy Ms Banksâ Face (small ring) and A Killer Vicious Enzyme Seriously Harmed Mr Raul Bankâs Precious Face (large ring). Loaned my books to my then-trainer and never saw them again. 
Buy new ones. The author will thank you. (1)
I Not really, of course, but ultimately sales are a great way to send an anonymous kind of thank you. [/I]:yes:
LOL I have a funny story about Jilly Cooperâs Riders. My friend grabbed it off the shelf at BN as a joke because the cover is so risque. I started reading it, liked it, bought it. LOL. He still makes fun for me for liking it because he opened it up to a scene with an orgy. I skipped that part, lol.
Hereâs the cover if you havenât seen it:
http://www.amazon.com/Riders-Jilly-Cooper/dp/0743297008/ref=pd_sim_b_4
good advice RR â I should start picking them up again when I see them because I see them less and less often! I think there are fourâŠ
I was able to score a copy of âThe Chestry Oakâ though, from a 2nd-hand bookseller after hearing about it from someone at a book sale. Very good read, as folks have already mentioned. Of course, I spent quite a while looking for âThe Chess Tree Oakâ before I found out I had the title wrong! oops.
very excited to hear about a new Rita Mae book AND a new $700 Pony book â woohoo!!
[QUOTE=paulosey;3540357]
What about the Dorothy Potter-Benedict books featuring some Appaloosas, âPagan the Blackâ, âFabulousâ, âBandoleerâ. I read them in elementary school and wish I could get some copies and re-read them. They seem to be a figment of my imagination though, as I have had no luck finding copies.[/QUOTE]
Have you tried Bookfinder?
Poltroon, please PM your email and I will scan the descriptions from the book jackets to you. It will be much quicker than typing each description on the BB.
I ordered another book I read as a kid was Old Bones. True story about a race horse called Exterminator, set in the 20âs or 30âs I think. Really quick read but just as good as I remembered it!
[QUOTE=BAC;3543099]
Poltroon, please PM your email and I will scan the descriptions from the book jackets to you. It will be much quicker than typing each description on the BB.[/QUOTE]
You have a pm.
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