In the latter years of primary school I discovered and became rather obsessed with the Jinny series by Patricia Leitch. For Love of a Horse, the first of the series details the move of Jinny and her family to the Scottish moors, isolated and lacking in entertainment.
Jinny is excited about the move and the idea of ‘horses, ponies and foals’ but soon struggles to take to the move until she witnesses an accident that results in a beautiful Arab mare being free over the moors that she now calls home.
She becomes completely enraptured with the horse and sets to work out a way to catch her without considering that even if she did, the horse technically belongs to someone else.
It’s Jinny’s skill of drawing horses that results in a surprise that leads to her potentially being able to have the rather high strung Arab mare, Shantih. For Love of a Horse details Jinny’s struggles to pursue her dream of owning and looking after her own horses and more specifically, a certain chestnut Arab mare.
Patricia Leitch describes the Scottish moors in such a way that as an eleven year old I could think of nothing better than galloping across a vast open area before reaching the edge of some gorgeous cliffs and a gorgeous desolate beach below.
Reading back over a few of the books in this series while in South Africa on five weeks of endless beach rides, it wasn’t hard to envisage the joy this young girl had while riding wild and free on her spirited Arab mare.
Patricia Leitch
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/patricia-leitch/
Fiction
In my library? Absolutely, one of the series that I actually own the whole set (12) although I’ve yet to finish them all! I’ve really enjoyed the first five and would imagine the Jinny series to be a hit for many preteens in the future.
“My treasures do not clink together or glitter. They gleam in the sun and neigh in the night.” – Arabian Proverb
Tag: horse story, equine book review, patricia leitch, equine author, horse library, horse writing
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Oh thank you so much! I read this once in my teenage years and had forgotten the name, but never the story – and now I hear it’s a series!
I’ll order it now, thank you! 🙂
JKB, I got the whole set through Ebay, terribly addicted but boy do I love Ebay!
Read…??? You actually have time to read books??? I am so envious!
Julie – I make time to read! Eheheh, I’ve just started a new job that actually affords a half our tea break and an hour for lunch – I’m a super snob and just sit and read!
My resolution for this year just passed was to read three books a month – mainly Christian and horse fiction and I managed it and plan on doing the same for 2009!