Gift Horse is an entertaining Christmas novella by Tudor Robins. This horse focused book was a quick, easy read and really enjoyable. Although it is a little after Christmas – and I am used to a very hot Christmas! – it was nice to read about the snowy weather in this novella.

Kiki rides with her closest friend Georgie and a couple of other girls in lessons each week. She longs for a horse of her own, particularly a beautiful grey named Pitch Perfect.

Unfortunately, Pitch is owned by one of her lesson mates. Still, a girl can dream!

In an unusual turn of events, Kiki wonders if she could own the beautiful grey horse, after all. He is well behaved and talented – how far could she go with a horse like that? And yet, even with a horse that does all the right things, she comes to learn that it is still up to the rider to lead the horse in the way they wish it to go.

Gift Horse does a wonderful job of exploring the dynamics of relationships between some teenage girls who may only have horses in common. When the very different personalities need to work together to gain the best Christmas gift of all, it makes for an interesting and entertaining read.

Gift Horse has a good focus on horse care and stable work, working together in a team, in spite of differing opinions and a possible budding relationship. Recommended reading.

Author: Tudor Robins
Fiction – young adult
In My Library? It is as an ebook.

2022 was often a mad rush of reading some great horse books! And then I was onto reading the next one and seemed to have missed reviewing a few! So I have since re-read The Curse of the Golden Touch by Genevieve McKay, to make sure I can give a fresh review.

This book is a very different read to Defining Gravity, that is also written by Genevieve. Although very different to Defining Gravity, this book too, was a delight to read.

The Curse of the Golden Touch is an interesting horse mystery with a supernatural theme to it. The book follows the life of 20 year old Jillian Harrington. She is keen to live a normal, predictable life but finds her circumstances are far from it. Jillian spends as much time as she can with her beautiful grey horse Bally, but finds she can’t avoid the demands of her mother.

When an unusual opportunity comes to accompany her cousin Xan to an estranged aunt’s property, Jillian is talked into going. With her best friend Gilbert at her side, and her beautiful grey horse, they embark on an adventure she would never have anticipated.

Jillian uncovers some of her past memories that appeared to have been blocked and learns that some troubling events that occurred in her childhood, were not a figment of her imagination. The dynamic of her close friendship with Gilbert is explored and Jillian finds she has to make a choice. Can she bare to lose her best friend?

The Curse of the Golden Touch explores interesting family history and skills whilst throwing in a delightful mystery. The story features horses heavily. It is a delight to read about Jillian’s relationship with her beautiful dressage horse, Bally, and the riding skills of her best friend Gilbert and her cousin Xan. Recommended.

Author – Genevieve Mckay
Fiction – young adult
In my library – as an eBook it is!

Wednesday Riders is a continuation of the story of Meg Traherne and Jared Strickland. Meg is excited to be back on the island. She is looking forward to having her new mare at Jared’s. And she’s especially excited to be able to be just down the road from her boyfriend.

It’s wonderful to know that she’s working nearby and able to visit both her boyfriend and her horse. Meg settles into a routine on the island and finds that things couldn’t be going any better.

But it seems they could be going worse. In time, Jared drops a bombshell that Meg hadn’t expected at all. And yet, for her very attractive, wonderful boyfriend, Meg realises that she should have expected it, even though it dismisses his good character.

Meg finds her life in turmoil as she suddenly questions what to do with herself. All of a sudden she is single, working on an island near to where her boyfriend is, but not able to spend every waking moment with him. And she’s got a horse at his place. What is a girl to do?

Throw in alongside this, the fact that she gets along really well with Jared’s cousin, Lacey, and Meg finds that she struggles. She is very respectful of their past relationship, even though it hasn’t ended on good terms.

She does her best to not say anything negative about Jared or the situation that arose. In time Meg agrees to take on a riding group. This is to help Lacey with a project that the young teen is keen to carry out on horseback. Meg invests her time in these Wednesday riders, focusing on helping the four girls to work together to create a dressage routine.

This takes up a lot of time alongside the job that she has. In between this, Meg’s dealing with a broken heart and a broken relationship. She is surprised to find her mother a support – not the kind that she would expect at all – and she’s thankful for this motherly assistance, especially when she’s on the island far away from home and where her mother normally works.

As Meg continues life in an unexpected way, she eventually discovers that what she and Jared had wasn’t a fluke, and she should work hard to get it back. Wednesday Riders was a really enjoyable read, with the usual horse focus I have come to expect from Tudor Robins. Recommended.

Author: Tudor Robins
Fiction – young adult
In My Library? It is as an ebook.

A Horse for Cinderella is the second book I have read of late, that I wish I had written! (The other is Thoroughly in Love). This story explores the well-known fairy tale, Cinderella. But what was an absolute delight for me, is how horses featured as the main aspect of this story!

Elle is struggling to keep the family farm running after the death of her father. She is working as hard as she can whilst also trying to keep her beloved horse exercised and in shape. To make matters worse, Elle’s stepmother appears to be selling off many items that belonged to Elle’s family. How can they be a reputable horse stud without any breeding stock? 

A Horse for Cinderella by Nancy Radke

Elle needs her horse to survive – and perhaps to help get ahead in life. It isn’t until her stepmother does the unthinkable, that Elle doesn’t know where to turn.

With nothing to her name – and is it really her name? – and nowhere to live, what can she do? The upcoming October Hunt seems her only chance to take control of her life. But how can she compete if she doesn’t have a horse?

A Horse for Cinderella is a delightful read. It features the handsome prince, the hard done by beautiful young woman, a ball and also a midnight curfew that you would expect from the Cinderella fairy tale.

Throw in some royal politics, plenty of horses and delightful dialogue between the two main characters, and you’ve got a winner. If you love horse stories and happily ever afters, this won’t disappoint. Highly recommended.

Author: Nancy Radke
Fiction – romance
In My Library? It is as an ebook.

“You can’t become a decent horseman until you fall off and get up again, a good number of times. There’s life in a nutshell.” – Bear Grylls