A Day At The LBJ Ranch Sam Savitt, author and illustrator 1965, Random House
"If we do meet the President, what should I say?"
Jackie and Dennis have been chosen to represent the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts on a visit to President Lyndon Baines Johnson's ranch in Texas. The two are understandably nervous about meeting their famous host, but before that moment arrives, they are taken on a tour of the ranch, riding Quarter Horses and learning about the history of the area and the Johnson family, as well as getting an inside look at the backstage of life at the Texas White House.
When the little calf tried to get back to its mother, the gray spun around almost faster than their eyes could follow. The horse kept facing the calf, quickly flanking it away from the others.
The kids, both enthusiastic riders, are impressed with the Western horses, and Jackie tries her hand at cutting - with mixed results.
Ultimately, a pleasant book and nicely illustrated, but a bit odd. It functions largely as a 'this is our President' tutorial, in a reader-friendly fictional format, with plenty of Texas history and landscape thrown in. The characters are flat and the brief story is not very involving, but the situation is so unique and the art is so Savitt that I think I'll hang onto my copy. Savitt, normally a decent writer, seems unable to maintain that quality in this very short, simpler format, and the style is wooden as a result.
selected by the editors of American Girl magazine, il. Sam Savitt
1946, Girl Scouts of the United States
shown: 1971 Scholastic edition
I ask you, what would you do if you woke up to find yourself in a perfectly strange room, with a horse staring in the window at you, with daisies in its mouth?
Palomino Cupid by Frances Priddy
An older collection of short stories which lean toward the romantic teen angle.It was compiled by the editors of American Girl, a magazine published by the Girl Scouts Of America during much of the twentieth century.
Some of the stories stand out - the language of "Sundance" and the humor of "Palomino Cupid" in particular - but most are simply adequate romance stories with an equine slant. I remember this book fondly, but I have to admit the overall writing quality isn't high. The collection does manage to cover most of the most common horsey tropes - flashy palominos, wild black stallions, yearningly horseless girls, and the battle between being an equestrian and being a girl - at the same time it covers so many teen romance points, from rich boy/poor girl to practical girl/dreamy boy. A nice read, but the stories don't quite live up to the usual good Savitt illustrations.
Short stories
"Danger Rides The River Road" by Margaret Leighton
"Beautiful And Free" by Carolyn St. Clair King
"Fiesta Parade" by Eleanor Hoffmann
"A Touch Of Arab" by Vivian Breck
"Sundance" by June Hall Mills
"Palomino Cupid" by Frances Priddy
"Two For The Show" by Ellsworth Newcomb
"A Horse In Her Future" by Margaret Burrage
"Ana Paula And The Golden Horse" by Marian Garthwaite
"Tall As The Stars" by Janet Lambert
"Danger Rides The River Road" by Margaret Leighton
In Revolutionary America, young Lavinia (who prefers to be called Vinnie) is faithfully caring for her brother's young horse, Robin, when the British arrive in search of mounts.Vinnie, desperate to save Robin, pushes the chestnut jumper into the parlor, just as her persnickety aunt Hortense opens the front door to a charming English lieutenant.
Robin's hoofs beat a drumming tattoo on the frozen turf of the meadow.Faster, faster!Vinnie leaned forward, gathering the reins on his neck."Up, boy!" she cried.The big chestnut cleared the high rail fence superbly, with hardly a break in his stride.
"Beautiful And Free" by Carolyn St. Clair King
15-year-old Gil Bronson, son of a broke rancher, enters a race to catch a wild stallion, hoping to win the reward money to finance his further education.But the violence and intelligence of the horse dubbed the Black Prince makes him hesitate.
Leaping hastily to his feet, Gil gazed upward, and there above him on the rim saw the wide, red nostrils and gleaming eyes of the cornered Prince.
"Fiesta Parade" by Eleanor Hoffmann
Julie is a tomboy who lives for her horse, Topaz, and the wild scenery of her southern California home in the SantaInezValley.The course of one parade changes everything, as Julie makes a sacrifice for her polio-crippled cousin, Kate, and catches the eye of the boy next door.
Julie needed every minute of these last three days for grooming her beautiful Topaz and rubbing up the silver conchas on his saddle so that in the whole long fiesta parade of five hundred horses, no animal would glitter like her dazzling young palomino.
"A Touch Of Arab" by Vivian Breck
14-year-old Meggie Mallory and her father are on their annual camping trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains with her horse Cirque - "a Western stock horse with just a touch of Arab" - when he announces she's too insular and he's going to sell Cirque to force her to make friends.In the time remaining, she befriends absent-minded older teen Wakefield, and when a flood hits, she and her horse must go to the rescue.
"Come on, Cirque," I whispered, wishing my bare heels were spurs.In a moment, the current was swirling around his knees.He planted his forefeet on the bottom and refused to budge.
"Sundance" by June Hall Mills
Lissa, heartbroken, watches her beloved horse being loaded roughly into a trailer; her family has sold their bust sheep ranch and is moving to town.The big operation that's bought the place is owned by the father of a childhood friend, Ted, who Lissa is now all too aware of being wealthy and assured.
Fifteen, freckled and wind-blown, she had known contentment.Riding Sundance, the world was hers.Hers the bitter taste of alkali dust and the harsh glitter of the sun in a parched land; a fleeting glimpse of a wildcat, green eyes elequent with hate; the lonely, stirring cry of coyotes; the blessed smell of rain, foretelling the brief glory of rose and ivory cactus blooming in careless rapture; the pungent tang of pine needles, chewed in contemplation; and the sweet, sad cooing of mourning doves.
"Palomino Cupid" by Frances Priddy
A smart teenager discovers that the way to a standoffish boy's heart lies through his adored horse, Golden Boy.But other girls have already tried that, and boy and horse can all too easily see through the usual ploys.
"Two For The Show" by Ellsworth Newcomb
Millie wants to show her horse, the aged former Army mountMr. Bones, at the big show, but fears humiliation and agrees to borrow a friend's talented young jumper, particularly since a malicious classmate takes every chance to heckle her about Bones.
"Don't look now," she said loudly, "but that's an exhibitor's tag Millie's wearing along with those priceless dungarees.Friends, I do believe she's entered that Army nag of hers in the junior-miss class.We'd better watch our steps."
"A Horse In Her Future" by Margaret Burrage
15-year-old Darlene is poor but hopeful about someday getting her own horse instead of just working around the local riding academy.Her usual annoyance at wealthy, bratty Michele turns to sympathy when she realizes the other girl's also lonely amidst the horsey crowd at the barn.
Darlene Manners leaned one shoulder against the wide doors of Barn One and watched wistfully as Hank Cenno, riding master of the 7-Hills Riding Academy, led his pupils on another ride.
"Ana Paula And The Golden Horse" by Marian Garthwaite
In early California, a Spanish girl who loves to ride is aware of the disapproval of her grandmother but can't seem to be the traditional lady the old woman expects.
The animal's golden coat was shining in the sun, his silvery mane and tail blowing in the wind.He was tossing his head, stepping high with pride of breeding.This was an Ysabella - a true palomino - the favorite horse of the dons.
"Tall As The Stars" by Janet Lambert
Army brats Judy and Cynthia are sisters, but while Judy's a forthright tomboy, Cynthia's a cunning flirt.When it comes to the big horse show on their Army post home, Cynthia manages to talk her sister into swapping her well-trained horse, Jack Snipe, for Cynthia's neglected Charlemagne.
Judy knew how clear the notes of reveillle sounded, floating across the early morning air; with what precision the soldiers drilled on the parade ground, marching proudly under the watchful folds of Old Glory.She loved the sunset gun that stopped the girls and boys on bicycles, the roller skaters, the people in their cars, and held them at attention while the great flag slid slowly down into waiting arms. She loved it all, especially the peaceful sound of taps proclaiming that all was well.
Authors
Margaret Leighton
Leighton wrote at least 17 books, mostly juvenile bios and children's adventures, but only one was horse-related.Comanche Of The Seventh (1957) - the story of the horse who survived Little Big Horn.She also wrote two other books centering on Custer: a juvenile bio of the man himself The Story Of General Custer, and a juvenile biography of his wife Bride Of Glory: The Story Of Elizabeth Bacon Custer.
Carolyn St. Clair King
King apparently wrote romances under the name Sally Lockhart.
Eleanor Hoffmann
I couldn't find anything reliable about her.
Vivian Breck was a psuedonym for Vivian Gurney Breckenfeld (1895-1992).She seems to have written mostly adventure and romance novels for teens.Titles include Maggie (1954), High Trail (1955), and White Water (1958); Hoofbeats On The Trail (1950) appears to be her sole horse book.San Francisco born, she was a 1915 Vassar grad who became a teacher and a mother.She lived in California all her life, and was a passionate hiker who loved the High Sierras, which is reflected in her work.
June Hall Mills
I couldn't find anything reliable about her.
Frances Priddy
She seems to have written two horse books, The Grand Rogue (1958) and Barbie (1960).
Ellsworth Newcomb (1909-1971)
Newcomb was married to another writer, Hugh Kenny, who wrote science articles.They lived in Connecticut, and Ellsworth appeared to write mainly teen novels.
Margaret Burrage
I couldn't find anything reliable about her.
Marian Garthwaite
Prolific writer who wrote historical fiction for children and teens.Books include: Coarse Gold Gulch (1956), The Locked Crowns (1963), The Twelth Night Santons (1965), Shaken Days (1952), Bright Particular Star, Holdup On Bootjack Hill (1967), Tomas And The Red-Headed Angel (1950), The Mystery Of Skull Cap Island, You Just Never Know (1955), Mario,
Janet Lambert
An Indiana native who wrote many teen novels, including one horse series.The Dria Meredith trilogy includes Star Dream (1951), Summer For Seven (1952), and High Hurdles (1955).She drew heavily on her own experiences on stage and as an Army wife, and her various series are among the most fondly remembered of the many mid-20th century teen romance novels.They have been re-released by Image Cascade.
There is a very similar horse anthology, The Boys' Life Book Of Horse Stories.The contents differ, but it uses Savitt as an illustrator and the covers are virtual twins.It wasalso identical to this book in that it was put out by the Boy Scouts of America, from their magazine, Boys' Life.
Its ten stories include: Wild Bronc by Kerry Wood, Tale of Two Horses by B J Chute, The Black Outlaw by Stephen Payne, Wild Horse Roundup by Glenn Balch, Ride the Rough String by D.S. Halacy, Jr., The Curb Bit by Carl Henry Rathjen, The Mudhen, V S by Merritt P. Allen, Horse With Cow Savvy by Joseph Stocker, Sacrifice Spurs by Carl Henry Rathjen, and Boss Of The Cross-O by Stephen Payne.
"I've never heard of anything like it.That black horse couldn't have impressed me more if he'd won a blue ribbon at MadisonSquareGarden.Standing out there like that - waiting for you to cut him free."He shook his head, scratching the back of his neck."Beats me!The most remarkable thing was the confidence he had in you.Somehow he knew you would help him if he waited.And you didn't let him down!"
Vicki Jordan has just freed her father's black Thoroughbred, Pat, who she adores, from a tangle of barbed wire.The horse emerges unscathed because he doesn't panic, and Vicki's father is bemused by the bond between his daughter and his horse.Smilingly, he promises her that pony she's always dreamed of.And Vicki is silent.What she wants is Pat.The former racehorse had come to Random Farm sick and used up, and the girl had devoted herself to his care.But Dan Jordan can't see past his daughter's youth, and she seems destined to yearn for the big horse.Sucking it up, she decides to focus on the promised pony.When her very first buying expedition turns up a starving, neglected creature far too small for her, Vicki impulsively buys him to save him.
The mane was ragged and dragged along the ground.Vicki bent over and lifted it to reveal the shrunken neck and bony shoulder.She let her hand wander aimlessly over the scrawny hide stretched tight as a drum around the emaciated body.It was sticky, gray with grime, swarming with flies.She crouched down to examine the hairy legs and long, cracked hooves that badly needed trimming.There was an ache in her throat as her eyes took in the flanks that sucked inward and the hipbones that pushed outward, threatening to break through the skin.She stepped back and walked behind the pony, noticed the tent-shaped rump and the concave sides and the tail - long, greasy, knotted with burs.
Even half-dead, Jesse (as he comes to be called) is a firecracker.Vicki's macho older brother assumes, wrongly, that one football hero can easily handle one skin-and-bones Shetland; it won't be the first time someone underestimates the little animal.Exasperated by Jesse's trouble-making, escape artist ways, Vicki considers selling him.What stops her is Pat.The black horse, long the only equine on the farm, has fallen in love with Jesse.Surely, though, Pat will get over it if Vicki sells Jesse to a good home and buys herself a pony she can actually ride?
Although Savitt was primarily an artist, his writing is evocative and concise.The action sequences are clear and intelligent:
That first buck put Vicki astride his neck, the second pointed her wildly thrashing legs to the heavens.She came to earth on her backside as Jesse and the other ponies shot past in a shower of dust and flying hunks of dirt.
The plot moves unhurriedly but without excess, and the language is rich.
He would love a hot mash tonight - bran and oats and molasses and hot water made the most delicious-smelling concoction.She tasted it occasionally as a mother samples a dish before giving it to her baby.
Best of all, the ending is perfectly handled, with dual happy endings for humans and equines.
Drawbacks include a fair amount of sexism- Vicki idolizes her daddy and her older brother, a female neighbor has hysterics after a riding accident, forcing Mr. Jordan to sternly calm her - and a slight lack of character development in humans other than Vicki. There is a certain smugness to the adult male characters - they're pleasant men, but blithely obnoxious, as with Dan Jordan's belief that no one but him can ride Pat.
Animals
Giant Pat, aka Pat - black Thoroughbred gelding with a star
Jesse James the Outlaw, aka Jesse - black and white Shetland pony gelding
Rocky - Irish Setter
Teddy - goat
About the Author/Illustrator
1917-2000
Savitt wrote and illustrated dozens of books, and his portraits of horses and dogs are well-known. He lived on a farm in North Salem, New York, was married and had two children. He spent several years as the official artist for the U.S. Equestrian team. Several of his drawings are held at the National Sporting Library.
Show Ring Rogue
Patsey Gray, il. Sam Savitt
1963, Coward-McCann
Sheila's grown up middle-class amid the beauty of Hawaii, and her first touch of tragedy was a case of polio that's left her with a brace on one leg. The one exercise her doctor prescribes is the one she flatly refuses to consider; horseback riding is just too public and the reminders of how good she used to be just too painful. Fed up with her tantrums, her family ships her off to an old friend who trains show horses in California with orders to ride and get better. Furious and upset, Sheila's set to resist this until she meets the Rogue, a buckskin gelding whose horrific career as a picador's horse - working in the bullfighting world - has made him phobic about entering the show ring. With the helpless obsession of the horsey, Sheila falls hard for the Rogue. But can she convince the adults that the spooky, fearful horse can be safe for a rider with a handicap?
A beautiful look at a girl falling utterly in love with a horse, beyond reason and with no regard for the sense of it. The plot works nicely, the language is just right, and there's plenty of genuine horse feeling:
With a swinging walk he headed homeward through the woods, his back warm to sit on, shoulder muscles rippling, his mane swaying gently. Sheila couldn't resist reaching for it. As she had thought, it was silky, and his foretop that blew aside looked silky too. They were kind of dear and youngish on such a masculine creature. How a good grooming would improve him, she reflected. A brush, currycomb and rub rag, a bath and shampoo, greased hoofs, would make him truly gorgeous. Boldy she leaned sideways to catch glimpses of his black socks, then of his black mask. From up here she discovered another marking too, a slim black stripe from withers to tail. What amazing looks he had, added to personality! The longer Sheila rode him, the more elated she grew.
My only quibble with Gray is the lack of evocative description of landscapes. She does a much better job of interiors, but though most of her books are set in California, her few words on the world surround our heroines are not compelling. Interesting group of topics not often seen in horse fiction - trail riding classes, the mention of picadors, and a disabled heroine. Temporarily disabled, but still.
Horses Rogue - buckskin gelding, black dorsal stripe; used in trail class
Ink Spot - black equitation horse
Dapple - grey
About the Author
According to the dust jacket of The Flag Is Up, Gray lived on a 30-acre ranch outside San Francisco, and raised Appaloosas and Quarter Horses. She was married with 4 children, and began writing while recovering from a riding accident.
Other books Jumping Jack
Double Standards
Heads Up!
Galloping Gold
Challenger
Horse In Her Heart
Doggone Roan
Loco The Bronc
4-H Horse
Diving Horse
The Flag Is Up
The Mysterious Buckskin (as Virginia Clark)
Barefoot A Thousand Miles (dog)
Star series The Horse Trap
The Mysterious Buckskin
Star Bright
Star Lost
About the illustrator
1917-2000
Sam Savitt
Savitt wrote and illustrated dozens of books, and his portraits of horses and dogs are well-known. He lived on a farm in North Salem, New York, was married and had two children. He spent several years as the official artist for the U.S. Equestrian team. Several of his drawings are held at the National Sporting Library.
Robin clambered onto the pony's rather muddy back, her right hand grasping a good big chunk of black mane.He was bigger and wider than Magelda, but just as steady.She felt very happy."Look, Ma, how do you like him?"
Robin Fleming is eight years old and the loving but impatient owner of an elderly donkey named Magelda.What Robin really wants is a pony, so she can learn to ride and jump like older sister Wendy, and go to Pony Club meetings.When she sees a sale ad in the Chronicle for a black show pony, she falls in love.But Stove Polish is too big and advanced for the young beginner, and Robin's parents buy her the small, young pony who will be dubbed Snooks.
Back at the Flemings's Applebee Farm, Robin has her work cut out for her - she not only had to learn to ride (from her older sister, poor kid), she has to train her young, green pony as well.Their early attempts at cantering are rough -
She began to lose her balance and lean forward.Snooks went faster.She grabbed his mane and hung on.Snooks tore around the field...She held her breath, pushed her heels down hard, and Snooks started to slow up.Robin could feel her knees shaking.
- and humiliations at their first Pony Club meeting send Robin into a funk.But all comes right in the end, as hard work and persevevearance take the pair all the way to the Devon Horse Show, and a tryout for a Pony Team to represent the U.S. in an international competition.
A very simply written book, which makes it less interesting for an adult reader.Robin is convincingly childish, which is refreshing after all the books whose wee heroines have perfect self-control and mature introspection.She goes from exuberant to shy in an instant, sulks for weeks when she's disappointed, holds grudges against her pets, and in many other ways acts like an actual 8-year-old.Which makes it all the more impressive that she grows up a bit and by the halfway point, has the ability to focus on a difficult goal.
The strongest writing focuses on Robin's feelings for her family and her animals;
She sat down and fondled Snooks's head and neck."I called you a mean pony," she whispered in his ear."I hated you, 'cause you scared me so, but I'm the mean one, not you.You never hurt me half as much as I hurt you."
The weakest point of the book is the flatness.There is no richness to the description, no strong sense of place, no real eloquence.There are some evocative lines, as when we meet Robin's father for the first time;
His old straw hat was tilted against the sun and his favorite Saturday morning slacks looked warm and comfortable.
But the more conscious attempts to provide a visual are strained.
The pony was as black as stove polish with only one white sock and a little white mark in the shape of a diamond in the center of his forehead.Mrs. Fleming walked around and admired him from all angles.She could see he was a real show pony.
The action moves nicely, and the plot (while typically over-the-top) is reasonable in horse-book terms.Overall a pleasant if very slightly dated book for younger readers.
Horses
Magelda - grey Sicialian donkey
Mister Darling - brown pony gelding
Stove Polish - black pony gelding
Snooks - small grey pony with black mane
Other Books by Wilding
Fiction
Big Jump For Robin
Harlequin Horse
No Love For Schnitzel
Nonfiction
The Triple Crown Winners: The Story Of America's Nine Superstar Racehorses
Ups And Downs: A First Guide To Writing And Horse Care (il. Savitt)
The Book Of Ponies
Short Story Collections
Horse Tales (il. Savitt)
Horses, Horses, Horses
Horses In Action
Links
Click here for a photo of the actual cover, as shown on Amazon.
Challenger Patsey Gray, il. Sam Savitt 1959, Coward-McCann
Eleven-year-old Ellie Sayre is living the horse-mad child's dream, travelling the West Coast with her trainer grandfather riding horses in shows.Her favorite horse is Challenger, an equitation horse who she and her grandfather have patiently retrained from an abused creature to a happy and successful h/j competitor.Grandpa's newest client is the pretty and dramatic Pamela Morton, who has talent and a beautiful mare, Night Flight, but lacks drive and has a slightly sketchy work ethic that clashes immediately with Grandpa's strictness.She and Ellie compete in the junior Medal classes, accumulating points toward the big national class held in New York each year.
Gray's ability to write the reader into the book - her heroines are all horse-crazy, exulting even in the most mundane or awful of horse-related tasks - is at its height here.Exacting details of caring for the horses, of riding, of coaching, of showing, are horse madness at its very finest.
In common with most of Gray's books, all the action and youthful spirit is feminine, but the older generation is mostly male.Grandpa, the vet, Pam's cousin, the judge - all men, and all varying degrees of obnoxious to the girls who are doing 99% of the work.Mrs. Sampson, a woman who inexplicably has a thing for Grandpa despite being younger and less horse-crazy, is a bit of a joke, and Pam's cousin treats his wife with a condescending tolerance that makes me want to bite the page out of the book.
While some of my favorite Savitt drawings are of his standing horses, his forte was making realistic, powerful drawings of horses in the extreme positions of jumping, falling, spooking, etc. Here, he takes full advantage of a dramatic plot to do some of his best.
Horses Challenger - chestnut gelding with 4 white stockings and a diamond Night Flight - black mare
Other Books Jumping Jack Double Standards Heads Up! Galloping Gold Horse In Her Heart Doggone Roan Loco The Bronc 4-H Horse Diving Horse The Horse Trap Show Ring Rogue The Mysterious Buckskin Star Bright Star Lost
Sunday, January 18, 2009
There Was A Horse Sam Savitt, author and illustrator 1961, The Dial Press
The last rays of the late March sun slanted across the barnyard, spotlighting the horses bunched together in the paddock.Suddenly the gray's head came up, turning toward my departing truck.There was a bold, defiant look about him, and for one brief instant the sight of the gray horse against the red barn in the brilliant sunlight dazzled my eyes and grabbed my foot, pushing it down hard on the brake.
Bill buys the skinny gray horse intending to remake him as a hunter and sell for a profit to help his older brother, a dairy farmer.His own future is uncertain; about to graduate high school, a self-taught horse nut who doesn't know what he's going to do with his life.The big gray, though, resists the re-training plan, going completely out of control in the field.He's too wild for hunting and too fast for the show ring, and Bill's about to pack it in when Drake, a new hired man, recognizes the big Thoroughbred.Steelman was a steeplechaser who overturned and nearly wrecked himself in the Maryland Hunt Cup a few years ago.Drake agrees to undertake training Bill and Steelman to compete in this year's Cup.While Steelman's almost ready, Bill's seat-of-his-pants riding style and youthful resilience are clearly not going to be enough to get them through one of the world's most grueling races.
Sam Savitt wrote few books compared to the ones he illustrated, but those few were lovely horsey books.He never seemed at home with female characters, so the near total lack of them in this book is a strength, in a sense, though of course in another sense it's pathetic.The male characters are solid.Bill is one-note as an obsessed teenaged boy can be, and as the narration comes from him, it's almost all about the horse.Elder brother Chris and mentor Drake appear as important figures which the narrator barely understands till the end of the book.The action is realistic and yet heroic; most believable and painful is the loss of nerve Bill experiences after a bad fall:
Over the past three years the gray horse had given me a pretty rough time - no doubt about that. I had hit the ground, bounced back and hit the ground again, and aside from bruised bones and charlie-horsed muscles, never gave it a second thought. But with each successive jolt a little more heart was knocked out and always a little less returned.
And who but Sam Savitt would lovingly include a drawing of the race course?I've never watched the Cup, but I aspire to drive down there some day.
Note: There Was A Horse - Steelman was owned by a Mr. Whitcomb in the past; Phantom, Son Of the Gray Ghost - a Mr. Whitcomb is refered to as the former employer of a Joe Tanner, former head of Whitcomb's stables.
Themes Abuse Rescue Foxhunting
Other Books by Author Vicki And The Black Horse Vicki And The Brown Mare Midnight, Champion Bucking Horse Wild Horse Running
When Ginny Anderson convinces her parents to lease her a pony for the summer, she never expects that her dream horse will be so - real. The first shock is the decrepit Sweetbriar Pony Farm, where her loving but unhorsey parents take her to select a pony. The second is the pony, a skinny pinto mare with mismatched eyes and a mind of her own. The third is the reality of caring for an animal who can die from overeating and fly into a lethal panic over a falling leaf. But as the Andersons learn about stable management and Ginny learns to ride, the summer becomes fun, especially when Ginny makes friends with a neighbor who also rides.
Summer Pony is impressive in its handling of a typical situation - a horsey child with unhorsey parents, and the problems that creates - in a solid, realistic manner that manages to be interesting and involving without resorting to the more spectacular adventures that many horse book rely upon. True, Ginny does conveniently makes friends with a wealthy, horsey neighbor girl whose family has an Irish stableman who is a ready source of information and help. But without a few useful coincidences, the heroes of pony books would be stuck doing what we did as kids - reading library books on the porch while wishing we had ponies.
Information-wise, Summer Pony is one of those that gives the hungry wannabe horse owner good food. Ginny's shown puzzling out how to bridle her new pony, learning the difference between bits, and other fascinating-to-horse-people arcana. Catnip.
Illustrator: There is no separating this book from its illustrator. Sam Savitt's cover alone makes the book sing. The interior drawings are as alluring. Savitt's warm, safe style suits this book perfectly, and it is a beautiful marriage. The most recent edition unfortunately replaced Savitt's realistic cover painting with a cartoonish watercolor.
Other books by the author: Winter Pony (sequel) The Crumb The Monday Horses Can I Get There By Candlelight? Yesterday’s Horses If Wishes Were Horses The Valley Of The Ponies Dark Horse
Born To Race Blanche Chenery Perrin, il. Sam Savitt 1959
Suzy Taylor is the luckiest girl in the world, growing up on a Thoroughbred racing farm in Virginia. After Falada, her favorite mare, is injured in a race, the family's fortunes dip, and by the time Falada foals, everyone is hoping for a colt who will grow into a winner. The foal is a filly, which typically means less chance of big purses, but Suzy takes a special interest Whickery, as the foal is named.
The book follows the course of Whickery's life through Suzy's experiences, from the accident that ends Falada's racing career to Whickery's big race. Along the way, the little girl grows up, learning how to sacrifice to help her struggling family (well, relatively, as anyone with a TB breeding farm isn't all that struggling) and solve a crime at the farm.
Information There's a crusty barn manager, Ben, to impart the usual lessons - how to handle horses in this situation or that, how to deal with this problem. The one I always remember is the 'creep' where a foal can slip into a section of pasture which their mothers can't get in because of a low rail blocking their way, allowing the foals to eat without the mares nabbing the food.
Illustrator Sam Savitt. Here drawing Thoroughbreds and racehorses, Savitt's pen is darker and more distinct than in Summer Pony. Each drawing resonates with the knowledge of someone who's watched many horses and knows how they move.
Other Books by author Hundred Horse Farm (sequel) (also illustrated by Savitt) Thudding Hoofs (also illustrated by Savitt)
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