Does anyone remember this series of books?
Orphaned girl about 12ish that goes to live with her Aunt and Uncle that run a Dude Ranch in either Montana or Wyoming? Think the saddle pony that becomes her favorite is Gypsy.
These would have been out late 70’s or early 80’s?
Loved the books by Doty and of course who can’t forget those Thelwell ponies! Swear I learned to ride on those critters. 
Dark Sunshine was what inspired me to start competitive trail riding. I hunted down a copy on Ebay a couple of years ago and paid a ridiculous price for it.
All the Misty books (Misty of Chincoteague, Stormy, Misty’s Foal etc)
All the Black Stallion books (it seemed so REAL!)
All the Thelwell Books (I still giggle over them)
This is HOBBY HORSE HILL by Lavinia Davis. LOVED this book. Also paid a nice bit of change to buy a hardcover of it on Ebay!!
YES! What is the name of it??? Was it something like “Secret Pony” ??/
Don’t recall a book, but that plot sounds exactly like the TV show “Caitlin’s Way” that was on Nickleodeon a few years ago.
[QUOTE=Guin;3655539]
This is HOBBY HORSE HILL by Lavinia Davis. LOVED this book. Also paid a nice bit of change to buy a hardcover of it on Ebay!![/QUOTE]
Oh, I HAVE that one!!!
That’s so obscure, I didn’t think anyone else had read it!
So it’s worth $$(not that I would ever sell my copy)?
I was addicted to the Thoroughbred series. I stayed devoted well into the 70s (number-wise, not decade, lol), even though I knew they were getting progressively worse.
High Hurdles series - someone may have mentioned it earlier. There were random Christian moments thrown in (at one time the girl is hanging off a cliff and God talks to her? Maybe?) that I mainly just pretended weren’t there.She ends up learning to jump on her former police horse. I don’t remember there being any reining in it, however.
Pine Hollow, though I never got into the Saddle Club when they were younger characters. There were 17 books in the Pine Hollow series, which I know because book 17 was not at all conclusive and I kept waiting for book 18 
Into the Land of the Unicorns, plus sequels.
A Horse Called Toby. I don’t particularly remember what it was about, or whether it was at all good. I just know I was super excited because Toby was the main horse and MY favorite horse was named Toby.
These were:
Gypsy From Nowhere
Gypsy and the Moonstone Stallion
Gypsy and Nimblefoot.
My three came in a little box together.
Other books I haven’t seen mentioned yet:
Pounding Hooves
Hold the Rein Free
Danza
The Green-Eyed Stallion
Wild Horse Running
My Friend Krow
It made me sad when I realized the other day that a lot of my ‘horsemanship’ knowledge came from reading. I didn’t have my own horse until I was 32, but my goodness, I learned the signs of colic and that horses will eat themselves to death from The Summer Pony. I also learned not to tie a horse too loose from that book as well. And that a blind eye was considered an unsoundness. So much of my information came from these ficitional books.
I was sad because none of the people at my barn had even heard of most of the books that have been listed here. How can any self-respecting horselover born in the 70s NOT have read The Summer Pony? I just lent my copy to a tween at the barn (under much trepidation and many instructions of how it must be treated) and she LOVED it.
[QUOTE=SarahandSam;3649053]
…and that one with the rose-grey Arabian cutting horse. I believe we established the title and author on that one with a separate thread before, but I can’t remember it now and the book is selling for a small fortune on Amazon–wish I still had my copy. (: [/QUOTE]
Arabian Cow Horse!! I love that book! And man, has this thread taken me back! Summer Pony & Winter Pony, Harlequin Hullabaloo… Gypsy and Nimblefoot… Sigh…
Don’t you all wonder what happened to all those books that our libraries had? There is a book stall that goes to some of our shows that sells some oldies. I like to browse and reminisce!
HObby Horse Hill-now I remember the title-thanks!
Anyone remember one called the Golden Mare about a Saddlebred who was 5 gaited but also foxhunted? Horses in those days could do anything and do it well!
How about a series set in Idaho or somewhere about ranch kids and wild horses and one became a champion roping horse. The ranch was called Tack (as in nail)? I beleive the author was Glenn Balch who wrote a lot of horse stories. Another fun series was the Mountain Pony and all of his adventures and another about the pony, Windyfoot, set in New England? Jeeze, this thread is really bringing back long supresse memories! Fun!
I really want to read Summer and Winter Pony again now… I loved both of them. Pony was named Mokey, right? I also remember learning so much about horses from fictional books; this may or may not have been a good thing. Then again, I didn’t get much interaction with real horses when I was a kid, so I had my imaginary stable instead. (:
[QUOTE=Guin;3655544]
YES! What is the name of it??? Was it something like “Secret Pony” ??/[/QUOTE]
Secret Pony is a different book - the Pony was Lancelot (according to Amazon). Highboy must have been in The Secret Horse by marion Holland. I liked that one too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by llsc
Does anyone remember a book about a girl who hides a horse named Highboy in an abandoned stable next to her house? She works to buy his food and doesn’t tell her parents about him?
[QUOTE=poltroon;3651095]
This is The Secret Horse, by Marion Holland. I had read it in my 4th grade classroom, then hunted it down a couple of years ago and bought a copy. I still like it. :)[/QUOTE]
Already answered on a previous page. I guess a bunch of us liked that one.
As a tween, I absolutely LOVED C.W. Anderson’s “Afraid to Ride.” I think I checked it out from the library at least once a month to reread. The illustrations in it were stunning as well.
I remember one of those “Gypsy” books, and in the book is a description (at least I think it was one of the Gypsy series) where Gypsy is in a horse trailer with another horse and the floor breaks through where the other horse is standing. The book describes in agonizing detail what was going through the horse’s mind as his hoof was dragging along the pavement for hours. Anyone else remember that? It obviously made an impression that I remember the agony the horse went through.
Love, love, loved Will James’, “Big Enough.” I also believe he wrote “Smokey the Cow Horse.”
Finally, I have a copy of a novel titled, “Little Vic,” about a racehorse and a young African American boy who dreams of becoming a jockey. The horse, Little Vic, is deemed too small to be successful, and the boy chastised for even considering being a jockey because of his race. They find one another near the end of the story and race together in the Santa Anita Derby (I think).
I just remembered another series I loved to read - the Silver Brumby books by Elyne Mitchell, which are about wild horses in Australia.
[QUOTE=SarahandSam;3657089]
I really want to read Summer and Winter Pony again now… I loved both of them. Pony was named Mokey, right? I also remember learning so much about horses from fictional books; this may or may not have been a good thing. Then again, I didn’t get much interaction with real horses when I was a kid, so I had my imaginary stable instead. (:[/QUOTE]
Yes, the pony was named Mokey - and I’m so glad that these are back in print and being promoted as beginning chapter books to a new generation of readers (and hopefully riders).
There is a horse named Corinthian in the book Cammie’s Choice by Jane McIlvaine.
I remember Blaze Find the Trail, I still have the copy from my first grade classroom so its about 50 years old. :eek: The school copy got a bit water damaged and I insisted on my mother buying a brand new copy to replace it. I’ve collected several other Billy and Blaze books over the years, as well as others by CW Anderson, A Pony for Linda being one of my very favorites of his.
This thread is simply wonderful and bringing back so many memories!
Does anyone remember the Foxhall Academy series about girls at boarding school who rode?
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