The October Horses


Genevieve Mckay - 2020
    But, somehow, that's exactly what she got.When a fateful encounter at the hospital introduces her to the world of horses, Bree is determined to make them a part of her new life. Things quickly spiral out of control when she becomes the caretaker to a pair of misfit thoroughbreds who also need a second chance.Will her strength and willpower be enough to beat the overwhelming odds that are stacked against them all?

Azarão: The Dark Horse (Austin Family Farm Book 1)


David Foster - 2019
    Follow as the rescue of a horse in trouble attracts many who would like to help him. Feel the energy in their attempt and the family that is created by the endeavor. I think Haley says it best: “No Heather it’s not like that. It’s just the opposite. I realized that I was no longer just a project. I’m a member of a team and a proud member of this family. We came together to rescue a horse and ended up helping each other. Every one of us has suffered a tragedy that crippled us for a time. We all know what happened to you. Cole lost his wife, Abbi her mother, although she’s still alive. God only knows what happened to Scott in Afghanistan. Bobby is an orphan being supported by his tribal council. Shattered people coming together to help a horse return to the land of the living. It’s like a piece of mosaic art. All broken pieces of glass put together to make a beautiful tapestry held together by a common dream. Azarão, may be the grout that glues us together, but the frame is made of love. Love for a horse. Love for all horses and for this business. Most of all love for each other. We may think that we rescued Azarão, but the truth is … he rescued us.”

Making It Happen: The Autobiography


Carl Hester - 2014
    In these memoirs, he tells the story of the passion for horse-riding which revolutionised his life and made him the champion he is today. Carl grew up on the remote Channel Island of Sark, moving to the UK mainland at the age of 16 to work with horses, mainly as a way to leave home. He could never have predicted what a great affinity he would have for dressage. Carl's career enjoyed a stratospheric rise as he progressed from working as a groom/rider to riding international dressage horses full time for renowned owners Dr and Mrs Bechtolsheimer, to training his own horses, and other top riders, to international success. Carl's early career revealed someone capable of monumental achievements. He provides a rare insight into both the people and the horses that drove him to victory.

On the Sidelines (Full of Running #1)


Grace Wilkinson - 2017
    But three-star event rider Rose Holloway isn’t what Sybil was expecting, and despite initial reservations, she warms to Rose, if only for the sake of her pony, Jupiter. Maybe change won’t be so bad after all… But after a disastrous event, Sybil’s plans are ruined, and a summer of eventing is no longer on the cards, leaving her on the sidelines as her friends move on to FEI ponies. A flighty and sensitive pony arrives at the yard to be sold. The mare is everything Jupiter is not, and certainly not the kind of pony Sybil would have ever thought of riding, but she accepts Rose’s offer to help train her, though Sybil doubts whether she is up to the challenge.

Ruffian: A Race Track Romance


William Nack - 2007
    Since winning her first race a little more than a year earlier, the unbeaten, unflappable Ruffian had literally raced her way into the hearts of a nation. One of those hearts belonged to Newsday turf reporter William Nack.As a boy in Illinois, Nack had carried in his pocket a trading card of his hero, Swaps, the winner of the 1955 Kentucky Derby. As a young soldier in Vietnam, Nack tuned out the midnight bomb blasts by listening to racetrack broadcasts from Santa Anita. Now, fresh off the publication of his astonishing biography of Secretariat -- described by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand as "the gold standard of horse books" -- he found himself smitten once again.But tragedy struck that summer's day at Belmont Park. After charging from the gate, Ruffian stumbled and shattered her right foreleg. She had to be put down. Nack's heartbreaking run with thoroughbred racing's most famous filly will soon be immortalized in a made-for-TV movie to be broadcast on ESPN and ABC. In this moving, lyrical memoir, he relives the afternoon that forever changed his love affair with the track.

Finding the Missed Path: The Art of Restarting Horses


Mark Rashid - 2017
    “When there are gaps in understanding, confusion, and thus frustration, worry, and even anger are sure to follow.”Horses often grow up with these “gaps” in their training and education. When this happens, it can be difficult for the horse to be a willing partner to a human, and he may need to be “restarted”—that is, given a second chance to learn what is expected of him and how he can find a place where he is confident and comfortable both beside a handler and beneath a rider.In order to restart a horse successfully, we need to know how to retrace the steps the horse’s education has taken and find the path missed the first time around. In this book, the first of the expansive library of books penned by Rashid to include full-color photographs, readers are guided through practical steps for restarting horses, using Rashid’s simple yet impactful concepts derived from years of study of martial arts. We walk along with him as he proceeds with the quiet sorting of experience that provides the insight we need to give any horse the new beginning he deserves.

Murphy the Hero Donkey: A true WW1 story (HarperTrue Friend - A Short Read)


Isabel George - 2015
    He carried wounded soldiers over the hilly,craggy terrain to the field hospital as the bombs and snipers’ bullets rained down. The donkey was recruited by Australian stretcher-bearer ‘Jack’ Simpson, who cared for his brave helper day and night. Murphy never gave up or complained; he worked to the point of exhaustion, saving hundreds of lives.At the end of the battle, when the time came for the donkeys to be returned to Greece, the Australian ‘diggers’ were desperate to protect Murphy - he was one of them, he was a digger and a war hero. They fixed a brown luggage label to his harness, bearing his name and status, and hoped it would secure his safe passage home.

Barbaro: A Nation's Love Story


Tom Philbin - 2007
    Barbaro was a favorite to be the twelfth until May 20, 2006, at the Preakness Stakes, when his jockey, Edgar Prado pulled him up a couple of hundred yards from the starting gate. Subsequent examination revealed that he had virtually exploded bones in his right rear leg so badly that under normal conditions he would have been euthanized right on the track. But his owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, chose another path, one filled with anxiety and tears—but also courageous determination to save his life.This touching, soaring book—filled with insights from Barbaro's trainers, breeders, caretakers, and owners—follows Barbaro from foal to colt to champion to perfect patient. But In the end it is not just a story of a down-but-not-out champion, but of human beings at their very best.

Autumn Blues (Show Circuit Series - Book 4)


Kim Ablon Whitney - 2017
    It’s now fall—nearly a year later. Hannah is at college, making new friends and riding on the IHSA team. Chris is recently back from Europe and competing in the east coast fall shows in hopes of qualifying for the World Cup Finals. Both are trying to forget about each other. At first, they succeed in doing so as Hannah becomes involved with Theo, a basketball player, and also finds herself attracted to Nolan, the lone guy on the IHSA team. Meanwhile, what was supposed to be a European fling with the Princess of Denmark turns more serious when the Princess follows Chris back to U.S. soil. As the colors change and the colder weather sets in, forgetting about each other becomes harder and harder for Chris and Hannah. Will they be able to stick to their plans to live their own lives—or will they come back together?

Stake Night


Susan Archer - 2016
    For the owners, it is about wielding power through money in their quest to proudly hold the prestigious World Championship trophy. For the riders, it is about demonstrating technical skill and nerve by out-riding their competitors and maneuvering their horse in the frenetic ring so the judges notice it. For the trainers, it is about finding the key that makes your horse out-perform others that might actually be more talented and achieving the professional recognition that leads to new clients and financial security. For everyone, it is about settling scores and finding a way to win the championship. The central character is Jennifer, a young, relatively unknown trainer. She can’t believe her luck when a rich client brings her the reigning world champion horse and tells Jennifer to prepare the horse for her timid daughter to ride. Jennifer quickly learns that this horse and rider are a dangerous and doomed combination, and she must move carefully to find an alternative that keeps her important client from leaving the barn and ruining Jennifer’s chances to finally join the ranks of the most well-known and respected trainers.

Kicking On (Equestrian Romance Series Book 2)


Laurie Berglie - 2019
    However, all that changes in an instant when tragedy strikes, and Macy is forced to return home to Maryland for good. Even with the love and support of her best friends, Macy is left trying to salvage the bits and pieces of her former life. Then new neighbor and racehorse trainer, Adam Cleary, enters her world and complicates life even further.Even though Macy’s heart is broken and life seems to be spinning out of control, she knows that she must keep kicking on.

Ephemeral


Andie Andrews - 2017
     It’s into this white-gloved arena that Clarissa Stamos, a reclusive, midlife romance writer is thrust when she decides to write a country-western romance. The only problem is—she’s never been on a horse. Clarissa signs up for riding lessons and finds relief from her troubled marriage and her darkest secrets in the company of horses who offer an intoxicating sense of freedom and daring. Before long, she impulsively buys an ex-rodeo horse who spurs her to take charge of her own destiny—or wind up in the dust. Complicating matters is an intriguing, Argentinian dressage trainer with secrets of his own. One part romance novel, one part literary fiction, one part love-affair-with-horses, Ephemeral is told from the viewpoint of a quirky, old cow horse who not only invites you into his world, but also shares his sensible and soulful outlook on human hearts and the meaning of true horsemanship.

Grabbing Mane


Natalie Keller Reinert - 2020
    It will be fun, they said."Casey Halbach's life was perfectly adequate. Good friends, loving boyfriend, decent job: she had it all. So why did she feel like she was missing something? And was that something actually a part of her life she'd already given up?When Casey finds herself back at the stable where she learned to ride as a child, she impulsively decides a fresh riding lesson is exactly what she needs to liven up her life. She never could have expected just how lively her life was about to become.For anyone who has ever loved a horse, dreamed about their very own pony, or simply clock-watched their way through another boring day at the office, Grabbing Mane is our story. Testing the boundaries of who we think we are, adjusting to strange new realities, and (hopefully) bringing our partners along for the ride.

Born in the Saddle (Born to Ride Series Book 1)


Samantha Walker - 2020
     At age fourteen, she's a know it all teen living alone with her mum in London - not a horse in sight. Can a few weeks staying with her grandparents back at the stables change all that, or has she really put horses out of her life for good? Meet the whole Michaelson clan, and their four-legged friends, at the Quicksilver Stud in Book 1 – Born in the Saddle. Teen fiction for horse lovers, especially eventing fans. Ideal for fans of Claire Svendson, Amanda Wills or Samantha Alexander.

Backstretch Girls


Dawn LeFevre - 2019
    A jockey tested by tragedy. A rejected racehorse. A three million dollar race. Teagan Sullivan is a golden disappointment in the show ring. To make matters worse, her family are big deal Olympic equestrians, so she skulks off to pony Thoroughbreds at a rundown racetrack. But while she excels at equine relations, she sucks at human ones—just ask her sexy blacksmith/sleepover buddy Screaming Wolf. And if she hadn't gone and rescued that stupid jockey wannabe Anne Simmons, she wouldn't be saddled with a new roommate, a broken down racehorse and a chance to prove herself to her family at last. Born two months premature to an anorexic mother, Anne was a longshot just to survive. Now eighteen, she arrives on the backstretch with nothing but a duffel bag and Derby dreams. But the horsemen don't trust the naïve newcomer, so she's stuck ponying horses instead of riding races. She is still chasing their respect when a near-fatal accident shatters her body—and her spirit. As Anne struggles to find the courage to ride again, Teagan wrestles with her feelings for Screaming Wolf. Horse racing's richest race, the Breeder's Cup Classic, offers them both a chance at redemption. Will Teagan and Anne conquer their fears in time to claim the things that they love most?