100 SIDELINES DECEMBER 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
By Lauren R. Giannini
T
he holidays are the perfect time to spread
some cheer by giving our loved ones and
friends a wonderful selection of books,
movies and gifts that are horse related. There isn’t
enough room to include all the good books and videos
we have enjoyed and loved, but this list of favorites
makes great stocking stuffer presents that will delight
horse-lovers of all ages.
Pick any novel by K. M. Peyton, award-winning British fction
writer and horse lover. Her juvenile fction entertains not-so-junior
readers, and her young adult books are outstanding literary fare.
Fly-By-Night and The Team involve a young girl’s dream to join
Pony Club. Flambards, Edge of the Cloud, Flambards In Summer,
and Flambards Divided provide a great glimpse of British rural life
right before WWI through the eyes and experiences of an orphan
growing up among horses, motorized vehicles and aeroplanes
and the two very different male cousins who fgure in her future. In
Blind Beauty, a young Irish lass who gets into serious trouble after
her parents split up is saved by her love for one special horse.
JUMP! – warning: Jilly Cooper’s fction contains extremely adult
language and situations – even so, this is a rollicking tale by one of
England’s best horsey novelists. Recently widowed Etta rescues
a nearly dead Thoroughbred flly and this one-eyed classy wonder
named Mrs. Wilkinson shows her heart, guts, and determination
to win the greatest jump race of them all, the Grand National.
The horse parts are frst rate and several love stories intertwine
with the main plot, including a rip-roaring one for the, uh, “not so”
young at heart. Also by this author: Riders, Rivals, Polo, The Man
Who made Husbands Jealous, etc.
APPS – not the spotted horses, but apps for iPhone/android
enthusiasts! Horse 360 and Dog 360 teach you anatomy and “vet
talk” in a fun, learning game that takes you through increasingly
diffcult levels. A great gift for any animal lover, it will increase
your ability to communicate knowledgeably with vets and trainers.
Check it out on Facebook, this App is a doozie: http://horse360.
com.au/
Fiona Walker, another contemporary British novelist, offers
three chunky reads that will engage eventing enthusiasts, but
caveat emptor, these are very adult novels: French Relations,
Well Groomed, and just out this year, Kiss & Tell, a very complex
tale of love, marriage, ambition and fdelity in the eventing world.
Great fun, and you’ll be tempted to compare Fiona to Jilly.
Jumper rider Georgina Bloomberg and Catherine Hapka have
written three books so far in The A Circuit series for 12 & up.
These are fun reads, even if your junior days are long gone. The
characters include a dedicated working student, hard-partying
daughter of professional entertainers, uber-affuent businessman’s
daughter who wants to turn professional, recognizable male
types and, of course, the horses – jumpers and equitation. You
can travel the A circuit with them while they grow up, or try to,
in the ring and out. Be sure to read the story in this issue about
Georgina, and her novels are reviewed in a sidebar.
In Dark Horse Tami Hoag brings the horse world to suspenseful
life. From the glittering glorious Palm Beach horse world to its
seamy backside and treacherous swamps that hide the blackest
secrets. Young Molly Seabright engages former cop Elena Estes
to look for her “missing” older sister, because the kid is convinced
that Erin is the victim of a kidnapping. It’s a wild ride – adult
situations and language, but bound to please. The Alibi Man is the
sequel to Dark Horse and also takes place in Wellington, Florida.
Ride On The Curl’d Cloud by Caroline Nesbitt weaves an
intriguing tale of the world of grand prix jumping. ‘Chelle is feisty,
self-made, hardheaded, and campaigns two Connemara-cross
jumpers out of a mare called The Old Sow. Her daughter is a chip
off the old block, but it’s ‘Chelle who fnds herself in the crosshairs
of danger, thanks to one of her idols, an international competitor
with a lot to lose. This novel may be slim, page-wise, but it’s
Great
Stocking
Stuffers –
All About
Horses
Continued on page 124