Most young girls at some stage go through the phase of being drawn to horses and wanting a pony. This love for the gorgeous equine is often encouraged with horse books for early teens. As they age however, many move on from this and follow other pursuits. For the horse crazy teen however, there are some great horse book series to encourage this interest.
Bonnie Bryant’s Pine Hollow
Those who are familiar with horse books are probably aware of the Saddle Club series by Bonnie Bryant. Pine Hollow is a follow on from this series, allowing readers to still follow the lives of Carole Hanson, Stevie Lake and Lisa Atwood.
Aimed at 12 years and up, the three girls in this series are older than the 11 or 12 year olds that they were in the Saddle Club. Along with this age increase comes high school, driving licenses and jobs. As always however, the girls still possess a love for horses.
Heartland by Lauren Brooke
Young Amy Fleming lost her mother in a car accident and is struggling with feelings of guilt over her mother's death. Having been raised with horses on a small property, Amy’s passion for them in a way led to the end of her mother’s life. It is this same passion that may just help her to heal and move on.
Heartland is a sanctuary in which wounded horses are sent to be worked with and restored to their full potential. Whether having been hurt or abused, Amy has a knack with these frightened animals and utilises methods of natural horsemanship to develop their trust on the ground and in the saddle. A great look into the restoring power that horses can have in peoples’ lives, Lauren Brooke’s novels have also been turned into a television series.
The Thoroughbred Series
Created by Joanna Campbell, this series made up of more than fifty books is focused on the thoroughbred breed and racing. Although originally written by Joanna Campbell, other authors have assisted in the continuation of the novels, including Karen Bentley and Alice Leonhardt.
The series starts with twelve year old Ashleigh Griffen having moved with her family to a large breeding and racing property, Townsend Acres. With her parents taking over the breeding managers position, Ashleigh finds herself immersed by valuable racehorses at a stage where she’s sworn to never love another horse.
The books follow Ashleigh through her teenage and later years, moving focus onto new main characters along the way. The main character tends to be within the age range of 12 – 16 years. Although new characters are introduced throughout the series, the original characters are continually featured.
Written after the Thoroughbred series started, the Ashleigh series authored by Chris Platt focuses on the years prior to the Griffens move to Townsend Acres, when Ashleigh is around 11 years of age. This series is perhaps well suited to pre teens.
There are many horse novels available to young equine enthusiasts. These three provide a great insight into the world of riding schools, natural horsemanship and the racing scene and are family friendly and educational.
Source
- The Pine Hollow series, by Bonnie Bryant Hiller, Bantam Books.
- The Thoroughbred series, by Joanna Campbell, HarperPaperbacks.
- The Heartland series, by Lauren Brooke, Scholastic Children’s Books.
Chris Thomas - C. Thomas has studied and worked with horses since 2001. She teaches horse studies part time and is undertaking an Equine Science ...
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