The Very Worst Riding School in the World by Lucinda E. Clarke

I downloaded the Very Worst Riding School in the World recently on Kindle.  What a title for a book!  Interestingly, it is a short story that is a retelling of factual events.  It seems that Lucinda has loved horses from a young age.  And yet, in spite of her fascination with the beautiful animal, she admits that they are intimidating.  And although she desires to have horses and do well with them, it seems that her lessons only highlight how much she doesn’t know.

And yet in spite of this, it seems that there is a need for a riding school in the area where Lucinda lives.  She and her husband with their children find themselves in Africa in an area that may have horses, but doesn’t have a riding school.  As Lucinda’s husband acquires a couple of horses for her, she goes on a journey learning about how to feed them and care for them.

As the story is retold, there are obvious moments where horse people will be cringing and shaking their heads.  When Lucinda’s well meaning husband finds some land for them to keep the horses on, it seems that more horses are acquired in exchange for using the land.  And these horses are far from in prime condition.  And so the herd grows and the need to deal with serious neglect issues arises.

For someone who has barely learned the basics about horse care, suddenly locals are wanting her to teach their children to ride.  And so starts the very worst riding school in the world.

This retelling is a short read and only touches on how the riding school is first started.  To find out about how things progress, the reader is encouraged to sign up to Lucinda’s mailing list so that they can gain exclusive access to the next book in the series.  The first book was interesting and it was refreshing to see that the author could acknowledge their lack of expertise in the area of caring for horses.  It was good too to see that she sought out advice from those more in the know, but I can see how the riding school could very easily turn into a negative setup in a case of the blind leading the blind.

Author – Lucinda E. Clarke
Non Fiction – adult
In my library – on Kindle it is.