AUGUST - BOOKS ABOUT HORSES

CONNIE:  THE HORSE WHISPERER by NICHOLAS EVANS

Nicholas Evans is an English author. Connie read this novel years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.  She said she enjoyed it just as much the 2nd time.   The horse in the story is owned by a girl about 12.  The horse has a serious accident and loses a leg.  The young girl doesn't expect to ride the horse again but her wealthy family do everything they can to save the horse's life.  The horse whisperer brings the traumatized, disfigured horse back to normality.  The girl loses interest in riding but there is a happy ending for all concerned, but not what you expect.

DIANE:  HORSE THIEF by TEA COOPER

This novel is set in Australia in 1865.  A young woman takes over her father's horse stud.  She employs a man to take over the breeding programme.  Di said it wasn't feasible and she couldn't finish it.  She would not recommend the book.

TAM:  THE ROCKING HORSE HILL by CATHRYN HEIN

This is a romantic novel.  Tam said it wasn't really about horses but more about romance.  She said it was still a good read.

JOAN:  SEABISCUIT (An American Legend) by LAURA HILLEBRAND

This is a true story about three men and a racehorse.  It is set in 1903 when a young fellow called Charles Howard,with 26cents in his pocket, goes off to California for work.  He becomes a wealthy automobile entrepeneur and then acquires a foal called Seabiscuit.  The horse was a big eater and  slept a lot and nobody wanted to buy him. Howard and Smith, a horse trainer, bought Seabiscuit.  The horse was lazy but talented.  They hired an Irish jockey. It's a love story of three men and the American public for Seabiscuit.  Over four years he had won all the big races.  He was a symbol of hope during the depression.  Joan said it was well written.

PAT:  FIXED by MATTHEW BRENNAN

This is a book about corruption, doping, rape etc in the horse racing industry.  Pat only read 20 pages and didn't like it.  Instead she decided to read some facts about horses and talked to the group about what she had learned.

JUDY (3): FLYING CHANGES by SARA GRUEN

Judy said horses don't interest her so she wouldn't normally pick up a book about horses.  This book is by the author who wrote Water for Elephants so Judy thought it would be good but "how wrong can you be" she said. The girl in the story wants to be a champion rider but has not had much experience.  She has a bad boyfriend who leads her astray.  Her characters are one dimensional.  She said it was not worth the time wasted reading it.

PRUE:  HORSE AND RIDER IN AUSTRALIAN LEGEND: A CULTURAL HISTORY
by NANETTE MANTLE

This book is non fiction.  The author used this topic to do her PHD. It is the history of the first seven horses brought out to Australia and the history of horses in Australia up until the present day. She has only read about 1/4 of the book but she has learned a lot.  It describes the Aboriginal stockmen, bushrangers, horses used on coaches and how there were cowboys recorded here before they were in America. Prue said it was magnificently researched.

SHEILA:  A HORSE CALLED MIGHTY:  THE MIGHT AND POWER STORY
by HELEN THOMAS

This is the true story of a horse called Might and Power who won The Cox Cup, the Caulfield Cup  and went on to win the Melbourne Cup in a tight finish in the late 1990's. Sheila hadn't heard of the horse before.  He was the undisputed champion of Australian turf at the time.  Sheila said it was mainly about blood lines which she found boring.  Sheila said it would be an interesting book if you were interested in blood lines and knew a lot about horses.

PAMELA:  THE STORY OF BLACK CAVIAR by ANDREW EDDY

This is a true story about the race horse, Black Caviar. She was not line bred.  Rick Jamison believed if you chose good families on both sides you would get a good horse.  Black Caviar was a big horse trained by Peter Moody.  She was very anxious in the barriers and after she was hurt in one of the races, a barrier blanket was made.  She liked to race with her friends, a big goat called Billy and a 29 year old pony.  Black Caviar had a big rump and was a powerhouse.  She won all her races in Australia.  Pamela really enjoyed the book.  She said it was very informative.

KRIS:  HORSES NEVER LIE ABOUT LOVE by JANA HARRIS

This book is an inspiring memoir about the author's relationship with True Colours, the dark red coloured mare known as a blood bay and the first horse she bought in her quest to breed horses.  True Colours was a protective mother of a two month old black colt.  The colt was delivered first and the mother was to be delivered later.  Excuses were continually made about why she couldn't be delivered and eventually when she was delivered she had been disfigured in a fire.  She was traumatized, part wild and part domesticated. Jana thought she had made a mistake in buying her but eventually she becomes the heart of the farm and a great bond is forged between them.  It was a heartwarming story.

JUDY (4):  FOAL'S BREAD by GILLIAN MEARES

This is Judy's favourite book.  It is a novel set in Australia in 1929.  Noah, a fourteen year old girl and her father, a drover, are herding pigs to market when they set up camp at One Tree Creek.  Noah gives birth but she hardly knows what is happening. She didn't even know she was pregnant.  She has the baby but it is too premature to live.  The father is an 80 year old uncle who has since died. She then meets a young man, Roly who lives on a property at One Tree Creek. He gives Noah a bit of foal's bread.  They are smitten with each other and eventually get married and live at One Tree Creek.  His mother is angry because her golden haired son has married a dark skinned, dark haired girl but they are passionate about each other as well as horses and show jumping. Roly develops a disease that changes their lives. Judy said she just loved the book.  The language is exquisite.  The book has won awards.

ANNE: THE WHITE STALLION OF LIPIZZA by MARGEURITE HENRY

This is a children's novel published in 1964.  A 13 year old boy dreams of becoming a riding master. When he gets up early with his father, a baker, he sees the horses from the Royal Spanish Riding School.  This makes him more determined.  Anne found the facts about horses very interesting even though it's a children's book.  She said it was a good story, although a little predictable.

LESLEY:  THE DIGGERS MENAGERIE: MATES, MASCOTS AND MARVELS-TRUE STORIES OF ANIMALS WHO WENT TO WAR by BARRY STONE

This book documents the true stories of the animals that went off to war including horses for transport from the Boer war to Afghanistan.  In World War I most of the Australians who went to war were mounted.  The Australian horses travelled well. New South Wales (Walers) used the finest cavalry horses.  Horses made a huge contribution to the war.  There was a high death rate as there was no vet care at the time.  Many horses were left behind as it was too expensive to bring them back. Lesley enjoyed the facts.

DIANN:  WARRIOR: THE AMAZING STORY OF A REAL WAR HORSE
by GENERAL JACK SEELY

This is the true story of a thoroughbred gelding, foal of Cinderella, born on the Isle of Wight in 1904.  The horse went to war in 1914 with General Jack Seely who always rode him.  He was in the Battle of the Somme, at Pashendale and was called "the horse the Germans could not kill".  He was returned to the Isle of Wight in 1918. This is a book of historical facts and figures.  Diann said it was a very good read if you like facts about horses.

PAULINE:  HALF BROKE HORSE by JEANETTE WALLS

This is a true life novel about the author's mother and grandmother. The stories have been passed down and made into a novel. It is written in the grandmother's voice.  It is set on a Texas ranch and the family are very poor.  The grandmother, as a 13 year old girl is sent to a Catholic college but as the family couldn't continue to pay she was there for only one year.  She was then in and out of school and work.  She eventually gets qualified and has a family.  Pauline thoroughly enjoyed it.  She said it was a good story but didn't have much to do with horses.

ROSEMARY:  UNDER ORDERS by DICK FRANCIS

The main character in this novel is Sid Halley, a retired British steeplechase rider and former jockey to the Queen mother in 1956.  He is now a private investigator.  The book is about crime in the horse racing world. Rosemary said it was good, an easy to read "whodunnit".  She said you don't have to be interested in racing.

MAREE:    HORSES FOR KING ARTHUR by L. S. LAWRENCE

The author is a qualified historian and this book is historical fiction.  It is set in Britain in the year 475.  One of the characters, Alexa, dreams of breeding horses.  Maree liked it.  She said it was a well written novel with many historical details, although not a lot about horses.

WENDY:  BLACK BEAUTY by ANNA SEWELL

This is junior fiction.  It was written in 1877 and was the only novel ever published by the author.  It was published just before she died.  Wendy said she can't imagine kids reading it today.  Wendy really enjoyed the descriptions of the manners at the time, the social structure and the morality of being a good person.  She thoroughly enjoyed it.

JULIA:  PHAR LAP (HOW A HORSE BECOMES A HERO OF HIS TIME AND AN ICON OF A NATION) by GEOFF ARMSTRONG AND PETER THOMPSON

Julia said the authors are both into sports and have a fascination with racing. This book is an account of Phar Lap's life. Phar Lap was a New Zealand horse rejected by his American owner and then trained by an Aussie battler. It was during the depression and he became an icon of a nation. The book explains why he was so much more than a racehorse. There were statistics in the back of the book which Julia found very interesting. She said it was a nice read.

Julia also talked about a beloved children's book called The Sand Horse by Anne Turnbull.  It is a fictional story of a person who made a sand sculpture of a horse.  The illustrations were beautiful.

BEV:  BREAK IN by DICK FRANCIS

In this novel the main character, Kit is a jockey with a twin sister who is married to a horse trainer.  His sister and her husband's families have been feuding for some time. She said it was like Romeo and Juliet. The story is also about the horses that Kit rides and the training of the horses.  Bev likes the way Dick Francis writes.  She said it was enjoyable and very easy to read.

JO:  CROSS FIRE by DICK FRANCIS AND FELIX FRANCIS

In this novel the main character, Tom is a career army officer who has lost a foot in a bombing accident.  He comes back to England and goes to see his mother a horse trainer.  She is being blackmailed into knobbling horses.  When Tom tries to uncover the identity of the blackmailer he gets kidnapped.  Jo really likes Dick Francis.  His books have everything in them, romance, drama and action.