I would love recommendations on horse/equestrian-themed books, fiction or nonfiction, memoirs, etc that you have particularly enjoyed!
I loved Elizabeth Lettsâ books - The Ride of Her Life and The Perfect Horse. Of course I loved Snowman too, but these two books were also really interesting from a history perspective. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand was good. I recently tried to reread National Velvet and just couldnât get into it. I hope your post gets some response, I need a new book!
1 Like
Alois Podhajskyâs My Horses, My Teachers is a classic, maybe THE classic.
And doesnât Robert Dover have a new book out?
3 Likes
thanks! Yeah, Iâve been in the mood for some horse-ish reads. Preferably inspirational. I am rather lacking on that front. Looking forward to everyoneâs suggestions 
edit: oh @Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom I ordered the Podhajsky book! Iâve heard great things.
1 Like
Natalie Keller Reinert is a great author, her Eventing series is one of my favorites!
5 Likes
I havenât read it but just heard a podcast about âthe magic of horsesâ by Nina Gardner. Sounds pretty interesting, itâs a collection of essays.
1 Like
I havenât read it yet, but a friend just loaned me Horse Crazy - The Story of a Woman and a World in Love with an Animal by Sarah Maslin Nir.
1 Like
Duel for the Crown: Affirmed, Alydar, and Racingâs Greatest Rivalry
My Guy Barbaro: A Jockeyâs Journey Through Love, Triumph, and Heartbreak
Citation: In a Class by Himself
Yes there is a trend here 
I have a pretty good collection of racing books, all are very good, these are just my top favorites that really stood out to me. The Affirmed/Alydar book is my absolute favorite of my collection.
Theyâre all nonfiction documentary-style history books.
1 Like
Rita Mae Brownâs Sister Jane series.
2 Likes
I have enjoyed Mark Rashid and Anna Blake. I like all the old classics too like Black Beauty. And stories by Margaret Henry.
Most of my bookshelf is training books.
3 Likes
A few that come to mind:
Horse Heaven
Seabiscuit
Sweet William (John Hawkes)
Snowman
Milady (Paul Morand - donât know if itâs available in English though)
Ride with your mind (Mary Wanless)
My horses, my teachers
Training the three-day event horse and rider (Jim Wofford - he signed my copy during a clinic, too )
1 Like
I would like to get some horse novels, but am so afraid of horses dying in them. Does Snowman end sadly?
The Will to Win- which is the story of Jay Trump, and his rider Compton âTommyâ Smith. Really fabulous.
My Horses My Teachers is still an awesome and inspirational read.
3 Likes
Please read more.
I can reread, reread & reread this book 
If Velvet âridingâ her paper cutouts did not resonate, maybe skip ahead to the chapter where she meets The Old Gentleman & he introduces her to his stable of horses 
And later wills them to her 
Then the sisters all show them in the local gymkhana.
Enid Bagnoldâs account of the girls horseshowing on a budget rings so true!
Granted, the rest of the story, leading up to the improbable Grand National win, stretches the imagination.
But Iâve loved that stretch since I was a teenager myself⊠Now nearly 60yrs 
@ratchet :
A favorite of mine is Kiplingâs The Maltese Cat.
Not a novel, but a longish short story, made me feel like I was playing Polo⊠from the poniesâ POV.
Also liked Horse Heaven 
& Horse People by Michael Korda
Yes to Podhajsky too!
& The Rita Mae Brown books 
3 Likes
I read that years ago when it first came out. It really resonated - I kept saying, âI know those people!â (No, not those exact individuals, but representatives of the type.)
Oh, how funny, my Amazon review is still up after all these years.
1 Like
My Horses, My Teachers.
Ahlerich by Reiner Klimke is a look just at the one horse through his training, instead of many like Podhajsky, but itâs a neat read.
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Light Horsekeeping. This book caught my fancy as a young horse-crazy kid, and I had to look it up later and get another copy. All about a bunch of horse-crazy kids managing to still horse on a budget. I laugh every time I read the paragraph that goes something along the lines of, âDad is an top-class pilot. He can fly totally on instruments. He can land his plane in locked-down fog at Big Airport. He can navigate through all sorts of weather. For years, this man has been unable to park in his own garage.â
For a nice pioneer days fiction series, Serildaâs Star and Locket. Both good, Locket the better of the two in my opinion, but Locket is nearly unfindable. If you spot a copy, snap it up.
Country Life Diary by Josh Pons. Heâs written a few other diary-style things since then, but none of them have struck me as much as the original. Life day by day on a stud farm.
Florian the Lipizzaner. This is by Felix Salten, author of Bambi. Like Bambi the novel before Disney got hold of it, it really is not a young childrenâs book. Iâve always liked it better than Bambi, in fact. Set in the early days building up to WW1 breaking out and has a historical flair with some Spanish Riding School chapters, too.
Can I Get There by Candlelight? This is by the author of Summer Pony/Winter Pony, and is my favorite of her books, though they are all good. This one has a bit of a mystery/sci fi/time travel flavor.
1 Like
The illustrations are gorgeous! I still pull my battered copy out to read occasionally. I also love The Monday Horse and The Crumb, but they still make me sad at the end.
They K.M. Peyton books are great tooâespecially Fly By Night and The Team.
1 Like
One not yet mentioned : The Byerley Turk by Jeremy James. A historical novel âThe true story of the first thoroughbredâ.
[also love the KM Peyton books, and of course My horses my teachers.]
Thinking With Horses and also Talking With Horses. Help me remember the author. He discusses psychic abilities of horses.
Beautiful Jim Key
Traveller by Richard Adams (Watership Down author).
