I will admit that I read anything and everything that mentioned a horse. Most of them more than once. Of course I read all of the Black Stallion and Island Stallion books — who could resist the thought of riding your own black stallion in a race after being rescued from a shipwreck . . . or crossing the Sahara desert to retrieve your horse . . . or living on an island and taming the local stallion so he was just yours.
And then there were the Marguerite Henry books, Misty of Chincoteague of course, but I also loved the White Stallion of Lipizza.
Black Beauty, of course. And My Friend Flicka.
There were the Blaze books when I was younger . . .
I graduated to Dick Francis books when I was about 12 and have read all of them at least twice.
What about all of you? Which books fueled your horse fantasies?
I too read anything that mentioned a horse and yes I’ve read all the Dick Francis books. But my favourites as a horse mad child dreaming of a pony were the Jill books by Ruby Ferguson and Pat Smyth’s Three Jays series.
Jesse Haas’s Working Trot. I keep meaning to do a reread and a post about it. Someday! A ridiculous amount of my thoughts and beliefs about horses, riding, and life were in some way shaped by this gorgeous little book.
Anything Marguerite Henry!