Black Stallion by Walter Farley
A boy and a horse survive a shipwreck. They go together and the horse becomes extremely fast. They try to find a pedigree but cannot. He eventually races and beats the fastest horses. It is an underdog rags to riches tale with a horse.
The Fox Hunt (The Saddle Club #22) by Bonnie Bryant
The horse lovers are going on a fox hunt. It is very ceremonialized, with people playing roles of fox and hounds. It is primarily an excuse to go exploring different areas. In the fox hunt, the practical joker takes the role of the fox. However, she runs into a little girl who fell from her horse and was ignored by the snooty girl. She works to take her back. Shortly thereafter, snooty girl sees her and runs up to her. Alas, she went on land she wasn't supposed to and broke other rules, banishing her from fox hunts. Later, they go on a real fox hunt. However, snooty and friends use meat to draw the hounds off sent to ruin it. They eventually do get back on trail and corner the fox before he goes underground. Eventually, the joker finally decides to tone things down and stop joking, but realizes that she will probably be prevented from going to the circus. Luckily, her friend has tickets for them. It was better than I expected for a series that seems to be excuses for talking about horses. However, it did get a bit muddied in the ending.
A horse comes to visit the girl in the house. The horse wants to stay, but is disappointed there is no hay. Then the girl shows the horse the refrigerator and the horse wants to stay. However, the girl convinces the horse that there are many good things in the barn (such as the sun coming through the cracks.) The horse agrees to stay in the barn, but does say he wants to come back and visit. The book does have two chapters, but they go together as one story. The story has some funny parts, but isn't really memorable.
To pay back a debt, a farmer gave two horses. One appeared to be a small runt. A boy remained attached to the horse and worked to tame him while living in Vermont. After a while, it was discovered that the horse was strong and could win hauling contests. Later it raced and was able to beat even New York thoroughbreads. It was a "mut" like Americans and was involved in key points in early American history. Eventually, the boy was able to claim the horse in his last days. The horse was the foundation of the Morgan bread. This is a quick historical novel.
A girl and her horse Patch meet another girl and her horse. The other horse is a good show-horse. However, that horse is afraid of the woods. The two girls learn to respect each other and their horses.
This book also ties in to a model horse company. For girls that love horses, it would be a good book to read themselves. For others, it is fairly bland.
Overlay by Barry N. Malzberg
Some aliens decide to destroy the earth by focussing on a certain group - those that bet on horses. What follows is more of analysis of people that bet on horses than science fiction. One guy is pretty much of a loser, and likes to bet on horses. He loses a lot, and doesn't really win because that would force him to make decisions on move on with his life. It seemed like an interesting concept, but was not well executed.
Secretariat by William Nack
Secretariat was one of the fastest horses of all time and one of the rare triple crown winners. He had a heart that was larger than the typical horses. The book is a "biography" of the horse, while also providing biography of the breeders and others involved in his life. The focus is on the races and racing. The prose is well written and engaging, though it does go on for a long time. Those interested in horse racing will love it.
The book takes place in Canada, Morocco and England. A horse has a poor pedigree (the documentation of which is later "lost") However, a boy has trust in the horse. The horse wins races and gains acclaim. It was written a few generations ago and takes place in the more distant past. People that like horses may like it, but I had trouble getting involved with the book.
