I can’t believe that others remember Hobby Horse Hill. I wanted to find that farm in CT and live there! I still have it and passed it on to my 12-year old daughter. Tall and Proud was another good one – it was set in England and the girl got polio from playing in a stream. There’s another one that I read and re-read and can’t remember the name of – the girl is horse crazy, but her parents don’t have much money. She and her little brother Ned (why can I remember his name and not hers?!) buy an old neglected wreck of a horse. Her parents let her keep it and she teaches herself to ride and then to jump. She is new to the town and all the kids are mean to her and make fun of her horse. Spring comes, the horse sheds out and is beautiful. She decides to enter him in a “fancy local hunter show” where she is about to be disqualified for riding in a McLellan army saddle. Someone lends her a saddle and she wins the class. Anyone remember this one?
The Black Stallion books, almost all of which are wonderful. I admit, the last 3were not up to the standard, but that happened with a lot of children’s authors from the first half of the 20th century who tried to make their writing style ‘relevant’ during the 1960’s and 1970’s. They got pressured out of their comfort zone by oblivious publishers, and their books didn’t gel. I read that series to pieces, and stumbled across truly beautiful hardback copies with jackets at a yard sale a few years ago - utterly gorgeous jackets, vivid deep colors and great horses that look real before they look epic. The latest paperback edition in stores have hideous illustrations - like something from the fantasy shelves.
Two that haven’t been mentioned: “A Morgan For Melinda” by the same woman who wrote “Little Vic.” One of those horrifying books where the little protaganist doesn’t WANT a horse but has one thrust upon her. I didn’t like the heroine, but I loved the horses, all Morgans and described deliciously.
“Blueberry” by Helga Sandburg, Carl’s daughter. About a farm girl who gets her heart’s desire in a blue roan mare and has that sort of intense, child-centric summer that doesn’t seem to figure in books anymore, the sort where part of the time the heroine’s trying to prove herself to her dad by being responsible with her chores, and the other half she’s hanging out in a cave by the creek training her horse to bow.
“Spurs For Suzanna” by Betty Cavanna. For everyone who liked Hobbyhorse Hill, this is nearly identical - a girl visits a farm family, is intimidated by the very different lifestyle and as she’s pretty much dismissed as a sissy by the rough-and-tumble kids, has to prove herself.
[QUOTE=copper1;3657048]
Don’t you all wonder what happened to all those books that our libraries had?[/QUOTE]
Weeding. Librarian shorthand for “evicting everything over 5 years old that didn’t win a Newberry and replacing it with another Harry Potter ripoff.” Scandalous. How do horse-crazy kids get their fix? Those series like “Thoroughbred” are of much lower quality than the older books.
I can’t remember the author right off the top of my head, but I remember those books - Sweet Running Filly was another one.
“Spring Comes Riding” by Betty Cavanna was a favorite of mine. I’ve got both in my collection.
Weeding. Librarian shorthand for “evicting everything over 5 years old that didn’t win a Newberry and replacing it with another Harry Potter ripoff.” Scandalous. How do horse-crazy kids get their fix? Those series like “Thoroughbred” are of much lower quality than the older books.
And this is how people like you and me end up with these books. I have all of the Dorothy Lyons books (I checked…I DO have them all) due to discards. I’ve got the Lavinia R. Davis (Hobby Horse Hill and Melody, Mutton Bone and Sam) as discards. Etc. I do feel bad for the horse crazy kids of today, though. IMO, The Saddle Club just doesn’t measure up.
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I can’t remember the author right off the top of my head, but I remember those books - Sweet Running Filly was another one.
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I think this is “A Horse called Bonnie” There were four others: The Betrayal of Bonnie, Bonnie and the Haunted Farm and Sunbonnet, filly of the year, and the Sweet Running Filly.
[QUOTE=SarahandSam;3654217]
That was one of the Billy and Blaze books, right? I read all of those. (:[/QUOTE]
asked Jeff, and sure enough, it was the Billy and Blaze books. I don’t remember those, may have to go check them out!
C.W. Anderson also wrote a book on horsemanship titled “Heads Up - Heels Down”. I still have a copy, although the cover is long gone. Lots of great information which is still true today (although the book was originally published in 1944), and of course his usual beautiful illustrations. Anyone else remember that one?
Some really oldies, but goodies:
Hundred Horse Farm
High Hurdles - Francis Duncombe
Jumping Jack
The Blind Connemara
Cammie’s Choice, Cammie’s Challenge, Cammie’s Cousin
Cintra’s Challenge
Afraid to Ride
Harlequin Hullabaloo
Dream Pony For Robin - wasn’t there another one with Robin?
A Horse Called Bonnie, Sunbonnet and Sweet Running Filly
Fly By Night
A Girl and Five Brave Horses
All the Walter Farley books - loved Man O War!
National Velvet
International Velvet
All of Marguerite Henry’s books
Others are sitting on by bookshelf and I just can’t remember them all! I have tried to re-collect all that I read when I was younger…
Yup - still have that one too!
I had been wracking my brain - Afraid to Ride! Thank you.
Some others
The Little White Horse
Riders from Afar
[QUOTE=Tackpud;3661522]
Some really oldies, but goodies:
Dream Pony For Robin - wasn’t there another one with Robin?
Others are sitting on by bookshelf and I just can’t remember them all! I have tried to re-collect all that I read when I was younger…[/QUOTE]
“Big Jump for Robin” 
Other good ones-
A Horse like Mr. Ragman
Working Trot
The Fields of Praise
For Love of a Horse
Smoke Rings
Show Ring Rogue
Horsepower
Loco the Bronc
Diving Horse
Everyday Friends
The Team
Big Jump for Robin, beautifully illustrated by Sam Savitt. I paid a lot of money for my copy of Smoke Rings, that one and Java Jive (both by Dorothy Lyons) are hard to find so quite expensive.
CW Anderson wrote a ton of books, I keep buying them for his illustrations, what a great talent he was. His pictures seem so alive, I am expecting the horses to just trot right out of the pages. Paul Brown’s are the same way IMO, even the tack is so realistic I want to hop on and ride.
[QUOTE=RugBug;3660082And this is how people like you and me end up with these books. I have all of the Dorothy Lyons books (I checked…I DO have them all) due to discards.[/QUOTE]
:lol: True. I also have several Lyons books straight from the library booksale. Half the time, my library doesn’t even bother to sell old children’s books, just sticks them on a shelf with a “Free” sign. Undeniably lucky for me, but it kind of sticks in the craw to see fine children’s books being given away alongside outdated science texts, as if fiction could be rendered useless with age.
And to think I just bought ANOTHER copy of Smoke Rings (but only paid $44 for it). I thought I didn’t have it but somewhere along the line I must’ve purchased it. Java Jive took some time to find and I think I’ve conveniently forgotten how much I paid…but I did get a nice copy with a great dust jacket still in place (it’s hard to find any of them with the dust jackets).
I paid $100 for Silver Birch. It was the only one I had never read as a kid…could never seem to get my hands on it.
Here’s the complete list of Dorothy Lyons books (for those that care):
Silver Birch (1939)
Midnight Moon(1941)
Golden Sovereign(1946)
Red Embers (1948)
Bluegrass Champion/Harlequin Hullabaloo (1949)
Dark Sunshine (1951)
Copper Khan (1952)
Blue Smoke (1953)
Java Jive (1955)
Bright Wampum (1958)
Smoke Rings (1960)
Pedigree Unknown (1973)
I just did a little checking and collectible copies go for around $275. If I had that kind of money…I’d be hunting down collectible copies.
On weeding… it’s easy to be critical, but as part of our parent group for our school, I’ve become more aware of the constraints that librarians work with. They have only so much shelf and storage space, and patrons want to be able to read new and recent books, both fiction and non-fiction. Most library systems have reached this equilibrium and must discard a book for every book that they buy.
If you want to make sure that those old wonderful horse books stay in your library’s collection, check them out. Librarians will generally not weed a book that is being regularly circulated.
I’m happy to report that while they may be down to one copy for the three-county area, my library system is full of the wonderful old horse books that come up in these threads.
Three of my favorites:
Casey Jones Rides Vanity- Can barely remember the plot. Any ideas?
Sun Dust, Devil Horse
Lucky Star
Everyone is bringing back such great memories for me! I miss all my old books…
There’s one that I remember but just can’t put my finger on what it was. No idea of the author or title but it was about a young girl that owned a horse/pony and one day a “ghost” horse/pony appeared in the stable. It was about the relationship with the ghost. He was either black or gray and it was quite a mysterious and curious story. I’m guessing it was written in the late 70s or early 80s? I’ll try to remember the horse’s name…
FOUND IT!!!
The Mystery of Pony Hollow by Lynn Hall
The pony’s name was Oberon. I think I wore this book out it was SO darn good!
Product Description
Sarah Elgin doesn’t believe in ghosts–until she explores her family’s new farm and hears a frantic whinnying from an empty old stone house. Determined to rescue the animal trapped inside, Sarah breaks open the door and is shocked to find a dusty old pony skeleton instead. What was making that noise? As Sarah searches for the answer to this haunting question, she uncovers an old secret and discovers that not every mystery has an earthly explanation.
[B]From the Inside Flap[/B]
Sarah Elgin doesn’t believe in ghosts–until she explores her family’s new farm and hears a frantic whinnying from an empty old stone house. Determined to rescue the animal trapped inside, Sarah breaks open the door and is shocked to find a dusty old pony skeleton instead. What was making that noise? As Sarah searches for the answer to this haunting question, she uncovers an old secret and discovers that not every mystery has an earthly explanation.
Off Exclusively Equine.com - A new book for us all! “Beautifully illustrated and written for the young and young-at-heart, Skipingo Home is the true story of a racehorse who is reunited with the people who raised him and who give him a chance at a new career after a failed attempt to become a champion racehorse like his famous brother, Skip Away.”
I went to a local antique store a couple of weeks ago and they had a bunch of older books there. None we any of our old favorites but I am thinking we all should start haunting those stores and see what we can turn up!
When my grandfather died in 1976, I was left a lovely old book about hunting in the English shires. Since my GF was not a horseman, it was a nice surprise to get it. Think any of your GP’s may have some great treasures in their book shelves?
