Secret Rider


Claire Svendsen - 2013
    Her mother is terrified of them. Her dad left because of them. And all Emily wants is to ride them. But that isn’t going to happen any time soon unless Emily takes matters into her own hands and she’s been doing just that for the last year. The only trouble is that secrets are made to be broken and Emily has the biggest one of all. She works at Sand Hill Stables to pay for riding lessons and now she has the chance to prove herself at the prestigious Fox Run Farm show. With her best friend Mickey as her partner in crime, can she make it to show day without her mom finding out? And why do the girls who ride at Fox Run want to make sure that Sand Hill closes its doors once and for all?

Dare to Dream


Kate Lattey - 2013
    Marley has grand ambitions to jump in Pony of the Year, but every good pony she’s ever had has been sold out from under her to pay the bills.Then a half-wild pinto pony comes into her life, and Marley finds that this most unlikely of champions could be the superstar she has always dreamed of. As Marley and Cruise rise quickly to the top of their sport, it seems as though her dreams of winning the Pony of the Year might come true after all.But her family is struggling to make ends meet, and as the countdown to Pony of the Year begins, Marley is forced to face the possibility of losing the pony she has come to love more than anything else in the world.Can Marley save the farm she loves, without sacrificing the pony she can’t live without?

Kate and Holly: The Beginning


Maggie Dana - 2014
    In exchange for her riding lessons, she works at Sandpiper Stables where the other girls look down their noses at her as she mucks stalls, cleans tack, and grooms their European warmbloods. For comfort, Kate turns to Black Magic, the barn’s best horse. His favorite treat is watermelon rinds, which he slobbers all over her. But Kate doesn't care. She loves Magic’s attention and pampers him. Together, they're already making a name for themselves at three-day events, and Kate’s riding instructor predicts they will go far . . . until a tragic accident changes everything. * * * Holly Chapman hides her sadness and loneliness behind a cheerful smile. She grooms as much of her horse, Magician, as she can reach from her wheelchair and watches another girl ride him—winning the blue ribbons that Holly used to win. Determined to keep up with the other kids, even if she can’t walk, Holly takes risks. She gets her wheelchair stuck in the mud, stranded on stairs, and wedged into corners. Sometimes she falls out of it. Her mother advertises for a summer companion, but Holly doesn’t want a watchdog. She wants a best friend.

Finding Daylight


Mara Dabrishus - 2016
    Overnight, Georgie becomes the face of horse racing, and Sweet Bells becomes its queen.Although they’re the morning line favorites, Georgie can barely keep her head above water. Her parents’ farm is a crumbling has-been, her jockey career consumes her time, and Harris Armstrong, the grandson of Sweet Bells’ owner, won’t forgive her for telling a lie that kept her family together as the truth ripped his apart.Harris doesn’t trust Georgie, but he needs her talent to get his new colt to the Kentucky Derby. Together they form a tenuous partnership, uncovering new truths and old family secrets, as well as a simmering attraction that could rewrite everything they know about each other, their families, and the future.

Appaloosa Summer


Tudor Robins - 2014
    Until the beautiful, talented horse she trained herself, drops dead underneath her in the show ring. Jared Strickland has been living with loss ever since his father died in a tragic farming accident. Meg escapes from her grief by changing everything about her life; moving away from home to spend her summer living on an island in the St. Lawrence River, scrubbing toilets and waiting on guests at a B&B. Once there, she meets Jared; doing his best to keep anything else in his life from changing. When Jared offers Meg a scruffy appaloosa mare out of a friend’s back field, it’s the beginning of a journey that will change both of them by summer’s end.

The Wild One


Terri Farley - 2002
    She moved away two years ago to recover from a bad fall off her beloved mustang, Blackie, and she′s still not sure she can get back in the saddle. Her new colt doesn′t seem to like her, and the other ranchers treat her like the boss′s spoiled daughter, and Blackie has been missing since that fateful day.But that′s just the beginning. When Sam suddenly finds the fate of a mysterious mustang - who may or may not be the missing Blackie - resting in her hands, she has to learn to be a real cowgirl, ready or not. The classic theme of a girl and her horse is set against a backdrop of mustangs, tumbleweeds, and a West that′s still Wild.Phantom Stallion #1: The Wild OneOn a moonlit night, a mustang comes to Sam. Is it Blackie grown up and gone wild? Is it the legendary phantom stallion? Or could it be both?Ages 10+

War Horse


Michael Morpurgo - 1982
    With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey's courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind. Will he ever see his true master again?

The Mare


Mary Gaitskill - 2015
    Her host family is a couple in upstate New York: Ginger, a failed artist on the fringe of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Paul, an academic who wonders what it will mean to “make a difference” in such a contrived situation. The Mare illuminates the couple’s changing relationship with Velvet over the course of several years, as well as Velvet’s powerful encounter with the horses at the stable down the road, as Gaitskill weaves together Velvet’s vital inner-city community and the privileged country world of Ginger and Paul.

Dark Horses


Susan Mihalic - 2021
    Both, for as long as she can remember, have been ruled by her father, who demands strict obedience in all areas of her life. The warped power dynamic of coach and rider extends far beyond the stables, and Roan's relationship with her father has long been inappropriate. She has been able to compartmentalize that dark aspect of her life, ruthlessly focusing on her ambitions as a rider heading for the Olympics, just as her father had done. However, her developing relationship with Will Howard, a boy her own age, broadens the scope of her vision. At the intersection of a commercial page-turner and urgent survivor story, Dark Horses takes the searing themes of abuse and resilience in Gabriel Tallent’s My Absolute Darling and applies the compelling exploration of female strength in Room by Emma Donoghue. In much the same way that V.C. Andrews’s Flowers in the Attic transfixed a generation of readers, Susan Mihalic’s debut is set to a steady beat that will keep you turning the pages.

The Horses Know


Lynn Mann - 2016
    Her chosen person. A bond with the power to change everything.The human race has all but destroyed itself and those who remain know that they must avoid repeating the mistakes of their ancestors. But it’s extremely difficult. Without horses, it would be impossible. Amarilla is one of those chosen by a horse as a Bond-Partner. She looks forward to a lifetime of learning from her horse and of passing on the mare’s wisdom to those seeking help. But then she discovers that she is the one for whom the horses have all been waiting. The one who can help them in return.In order to give the horses the help they need, Amarilla will have to achieve that which has never been attempted before. Only her beloved mare can give her the motivation, the courage and the strength to believe she can succeed. If she does, a new era will dawn for horses and humans alike...The Horses Know is the first book of The Horses Know Trilogy. If you love horses and know there is more to them than meets the eye, this novel is for you!

Wild Blue: The Story of a Mustang Appaloosa


Annie Wedekind - 2009
    Surrounded by her beloved family, including her gentle sister, Doe, and protected by her father, the band stallion, Blue lives a life both harsh and beautiful in the rugged terrain of their undiscovered habitat. That all changes, though, when Blue and Doe are suddenly captured by rogue cowboys, setting in motion a chain of events that threatens the very survival of their hidden herd.

Show Barn Blues


Natalie Keller Reinert - 2015
    It's been a good life, too -- she mounts her wealthy students on European warmbloods, competes her horses on Florida's rigorous A-circuit, and runs the nicest barn in the neighborhood. Then, suddenly, it's the only barn in the neighborhood. As Grace's country town becomes a sun-drenched playground of pools and golf courses, she vows that no bulldozer will ever touch her farm. With her neighbors selling their farms and moving to more isolated corners of Florida, she finds herself fighting off land-hungry developers alone -- until Kennedy comes along. Kennedy is everything Grace doesn't want around her bustling show barn -- a pleasure rider who would rather wander in the woods than tackle a show-jumping course. Kennedy might make for an unlikely sidekick, but she's just the inspiration Grace needs to fight back against the developers who want to bulldoze her corner of Floridian wilderness -- and, eventually, against the wilderness itself.

Paint the Wind


Pam Muñoz Ryan - 2007
    A puzzling photograph, a box filled with faded toy horses, and a single fractured memory are all that Maya has left of her mother. In Grandmother house, she lives like a captive, tethered by rules... until a shocking event changes everything. A world away, in the rugged Wyoming wilderness, a wild mustang called Artemisia runs free, belonging only to the stars. In a land where mountain lions pose an ever-present threat, she must vigilantly defend her foal... until a devastating act separates them from their band. Like a braided rein, Maya's and Artemisia's lives will ultimately intertwine.

And We Danced


Toni Mari - 2013
    Windsong had the breeding, training, and the flashy good looks to win medals at national competitions, but conservative, shy Jane wasn't sure she was up to the challenge of riding the temperamental beast. He may have been an imported Swedish Warmblood, and he may have had Grand Prix dressage training, but he was wild. When her spirited, new horse races out of control, help comes unexpectedly—unwelcomed—from a loathsome cowboy, a horribly mean-spirited, condescendingly brusque, gorgeous black-haired, azure-eyed reining champion, who is positive Jane is most definitely not up to the challenge. As these two from opposite ends of the horse world are forced to work together, tempers blaze and horseshoes fly, but something else begins to spark. Can Jane overcome her fear and preconceptions to win her goal of competing in the National Junior Rider Championships…and not lose her heart at the same time?

Learning to Fall


Anne Clermont - 2016
    Months from graduating, tragedy strikes—tragedy for which she can’t help but feel responsible. Brynn feels suffocated by the weight of her father’s legacy and his dusty hopes for horse show jumping success. When Brynn’s frenetic efforts to dig the family business out of debt fail, she’s down to one desperate hope.Enter Jason Lander, who understands what it’s like to walk away from the ring. The onetime champion agrees to train Brynn, and her horse Jett, for an all-or-nothing run at the prestigious Million Dollar Gold Cup. But going all the way means doing it his way, which has Brynn questioning her decisions, her loyalties, and her growing feelings for Jason—complicating her relationship with her lover.Set in Northern California against a stunning backdrop of coastal hills and valleys, Learning to Fall is about discovering how to let go—and how to hang on with your heart.Fans of Seabiscuit and The Horse Whisperer will love this beautifully written debut; one they’re bound to add to their shelf of favorites.