L.B. Shively has put together an imaginative short story for younger readers in Sea Ponies.  Young Olivia visits with her Grandmother Harriet who lives close to the seas.  When the two are alone, her grandmother says she has a surprise for her.  Olivia is curious and follows her to the ocean.

They spend such a long time out in the cold that Olivia questions just what they’re waiting for.  And then she sees them: ponies coming up out of the sea.  A mixture of greys, bays, browns, speckled ponies and roans.  There are even colours Olivia cannot name.

Olivia is so taken with the secret that her grandmother has shared with her, that she is eager to spend all of her time with the ponies.  She sneaks down to the beach alone and is delighted to find them again.  As soon as they are aware of her presence, the ponies run away.  Olivia is greatly disappointed.

A talk with her grandmother later informs Olivia that they aren’t always about.  It’s a question of patience – and also luck.  Olivia meets with them one last time in the story and is delighted when she finds herself amongst a circle of ponies.  One grey in particular nuzzles her hand and encourages her to climb astride.  Needing no further encouragement, the young girl hops on its back and has the ride of her life.

The secret of the Sea Ponies is one she will no doubt remember and carry with her through her life.  This story is delightfully imaginative and sure to capture the attention of young readers who love horses.

Author – L.B. Shively
Fiction – children’s
In my library – as an eBook it is.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.

“Horses make a landscape look beautiful.” ― Alice Walker

In the second book in the Happy Hollow Stables Cozy Mystery Series titled Kill them with Kindness, Holly Bridges is struggling with a Houdini gelding named Ricochet and a vomiting cat called Rufus.  Having not yet lined up a vet for her riding stables, Holly heads into town with a very disgruntled cat, determined to find him a vet – and fix the vomiting problem.

Dr. Teal doesn’t come with high recommendations.  Apparently her people skills are a little lacking.  Holly doesn’t feel this is an issue, as long as she is an animal person.  Unfortunately it seems she isn’t much of an animal lover, either.  With some persistence from Holly the crotchety old woman agrees to put the cat on antibiotics.  And so ends Holly’s first visit with the local vet.

A few days later Holly and her assistant McKenzie are on a search for the escape artist gelding Ric.  Not in his stall, the two women branch out to search the farm for the cheeky gelding.  Holly is dismayed to find that the older riding horse is trotting down the road and out of sight over the hill.  Knowing that she won’t catch him on foot, she opts to follow him in the car.

Holly is relieved to find that when she gets to Ric, he has been securely apprehended by a man who was travelling in his car the other way.  As a surprising coincidence, Holly learns that he’s returned to town and is setting up a veterinary practice.  The good looking, friendly vet who obviously knows horses has much appeal to Holly.  She questions if she should hire him instead of Dr. Teal.  In spite of this potential new vet, Holly returns to Dr. Teal for a follow up appointment for Rufus.  After waiting a long time without service, she goes searching for the non apparent vet.  This results in Holly finding the older woman dead in one of the rooms at the practice.

Kill them with Kindness is another short follow on mystery from Dying to Win.  Holly finds herself questioning if the first suspect that comes to her mind could really be the murderer of Dr. Teal.  As she continues her work at the stables, she also works to solve the mystery of Dr. Teal’s murder.  The story ends well and is wrapped up quickly.

Author – Eve Craig
Fiction – adult
In my library – as an eBook it is.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.

In the sequel to Born that Way, the reader finds young Sylvia is having an interesting battle.  For a horse nut, it is hard to explain why the fourteen year old would be anxious about the arrival of her very first horse.  Sylvia’s grandfather surprised her by purchasing her a gelding.  He has been sent from Saskatchewan to the barn that her friend Kansas owns and runs.  In Made that Way, Sylvia is finally getting her first horse, in spite of having not grown taller.

As someone with Turner Syndrome, Sylvia has a genetic disease that results in her being infertile and missing oestrogen because of underdeveloped ovaries.  It also leaves her at a height where she struggles to see over stall doors.  In an endeavour to change this, she is on medication that should help her to develop like a normal teen.

For Sylvia all it seems to do is cause headaches, double vision and nausea.  Unless that can all be chalked down to her sense of doom about her arriving horse.

Brooklyn’s arrival is not what she expects.  The grey gelding comes off the truck lame, has something wrong with his head and has left Kansas speechless.  Sylvia isn’t quite sure what’s going on, but she doesn’t like it.  Kansas is hiding something from her.  On top of this, the weird unicorn that frequents her dreams has led her to some confusing – and extremely amusing – conclusions.

Made that Way is a very amusing read with some great horse information in it.  As Sylvia learns more about Brooklyn, she makes some analogies about herself and her life at school.  Herd dynamics help her to see the bullies at school – and how they need to be managed – in a different light.  Made that Way is a great follow on from Born that Way and has a wonderful mixture of humour, education regarding horses, teen angst and a great conclusion.  Highly recommended.

Author – Susan Ketchen
Fiction – early teenage years
In my library – as an eBook it is!  A great read.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.

In the first of the Happy Hollow Stables books Dying to Win, Holly Bridges has recently acquired a horse property.  She is rapt to be renting the setup that includes pastures, stables and an arena.  It’s her dream to eventually be able to buy the place.  But before that happens, she needs to turn the run down property into a functioning stable.  And in time, into a viable business.

As she does up the property she acquires some reliable horses to use as school mounts for a riding school.  This brings in some clients and the idea of running a show forms.  Holly knows she needs to draw more attention to her facility.  A horse show seems the perfect way to do it.  And if it’s successful, the young woman can turn it into an annual event.

With her reliable and positive staff member Mckenzie, the two women get to work.  They prepare events, organise judges, put out advertising and determine entry fees.  Amongst this Holly is rapt to find she suddenly has two new borders.  One of them seems high maintenance but Holly concludes she is worth it – she’s paying the top boarding fee for her expensive gelding.

But when the boarder is found dead a week before the show, Holly questions if she can go ahead with the public event.  Would it be poor form?  To make matters worse, Holly finds herself on the end of a law suit for negligence leading to the death of her boarder.

Dying to Win is a quick and easy read full of horses.  The mystery plays out nicely but is quickly solved.  For those looking for an entertaining horse read, this book could do the trick.

Author – Eve Craig
Fiction – adult
In my library – as an eBook it is.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.

Following on in the adventures of Lulu and Bug, the fifth book in the series is titled A Christmas Full of Horses!  On another adventure with Bug in the land of dreams, Lulu finds herself visiting an elderly gentleman.  He is lonely as he is now in a care facility and his family cannot visit much.

Lulu is delighted to find that he is a fan of horses and the two talk about Bug’s good qualities.  The gentleman reminisces about his years on the family ranch before he had to go into care.  The two part with Lulu having cheered up the older gentleman by her visit and her beautiful horse.

When Lulu awakens, she is excited to realise that it is Christmas Eve.  Her parents are sharing with her an incredible Christmas present.  The whole ? family takes a trip where Lulu is delighted to find that she’ll be volunteering at an equine rescue facility.  As far as the young girl is concerned, this is the best Christmas ever.

Sweet Pony Dreams #5: A Christmas Full of Horses!

A Christmas Full of Horses focuses on helping others and helping horses.  The story is sure to entertain younger readers.  The only issue I had with it was a change in tenses throughout the paragraphs.  Things might start out in past tense and then change to present tense more than once.

Author – L.B. Shively
Fiction – children’s
In my library – as an eBook it is.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.