Top Ten Tuesday #25: Books for Readers Who Like Fantastical Horse Novels

10th March 2015

TTT

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
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TTT25
[Cover Source: Goodreads]
In all except one case I used the German cover because the English one was either not on GR, in horrific quality, or really ugly.

Oh, your eyes are just fine! It really is “fantastical horse novels”. I could have gone with YA high fantasy, or strong female characters, or blue covers. But come one, that would have been boring! Why not talk about something out of the ordinary?

  1. Dreams or Demons by Eleanor Jones

    An eerie forest and a banned witch coming back from the grave to haunt the dreams of a girl and her horse, dreams that become all too real, threatening their lives. Together with her new friend, Laura devises a plan to chase off the dark spirit.

  2. The Enchanted Horse by Magdalen Nabb

    A sweet and rather short Christmassy novel about a girl falling in love with a wooden horse which turns real and whisks her away on magical journeys.

  3. Freedom -aka- A Horse Called Fredom (Freedom, #1) by Angela Dorsey

    One of my favourites: The barn at Jani’s new home is haunted by Freedom, the spirit of a wild mare who was horribly abused in her lifetime. Now Jani wants to set her free. The other novels in this trilogy are also enjoyable but by far not as good as the first one. It also reads perfectly as a standalone since it was written that way.

  4. The Green Horse Hotel (Green Horse Hotel, #1) by Isolde Pullum

    Jenna and her parents purchase an old estate and turn it into a hotel. The novel really has it all: horses, boys, the perks and downsides of living and working at a hotel, humour, action, a mystery, and a ghost. The other two novels in this trilogy are also a lot of fun!

  5. Hoofbeats in the Dark by Pamela Kavanagh

    Another one of my favourites: Emma moves to an old estate but her new home seems haunted. There’s one problem after the other which threatens the existence of her parents’ therapy centre. By chance, Emma is whisked away to the past at random moments. Over time, present and past seem to blur and it becomes a race against time to save her new friends in the past and solve the mysteries of the present.

  6. Swift Current (Horse Guardian/Horse Angel, #4) by Angela Dorsey

    The books in this series are told from three point of views: the main character of each book, which is the girl connected to the horses in question; Angelica, the guardian of horses who provides the supernatural element; and the respective enemy. Representing the whole series is my favourite instalment: Strange things happen on the farm of Ali and her mum, things that endanger the lives of its inhabitants. Together with Angelica, Ali has to find the culprit before anyone is seriously injured. The ending is so so sad.

  7. The Secret of Wild Horse Island by Jane Ayres

    During a storm, the boulder in which the spirit of an evil druid is bound breaks. The spirit posesses Taz’s favourite stallion of the wild horses on the island. During an eclipse, the two stallions on the isle, possessed by the forces of good and evil, battle for dominion.

  8. Taladinn by Pamela Kavanagh

    Ceri visits her sister who works at a successful riding stable. However, there’s something eerie about the place and Ceri finds out that there’s more to the mysterious legend of Taladinn, the phantom horse who’s bad luck, than meets the eye.

  9. Tears for a Tall Horse (Swallowbridge, #3) by Anne Wigley

    Another favourite: Anna has to move away from her beloved riding stable and her pony because her mother has taken the job as a carer for a young, sickly girl living on a vast estate. Anna hates her new life but when she finds an abandoned horse in poor condition, she decides it’s her purpose to find its owner. And then there’s the mystery of the weeping girl haunting her new home, leading to a startling discovery …

  10. Twilight Horses (Twilight Horses, #1) by Emma Raven

    Probably my absolute favourite of these ten: Salma’s parents have bought an old hostel they want to turn into a bakery. Soon, she befriends her neighbours who run a training stable for stunt horses. But suddenly, things get out of hand: the machines act up, doors slam, the earth quakes and there’s the noise of a horse in terror haunting the forest … I remember the first time I read it, I was constantly freaked out. It’s so deliciously creepy! Plus, the characters, the setting, and the plot are just awesome. I can’t recommend it highly enough!

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10 responses

  • Okay, you’ve chosen a category I never even knew existed. Wow! Love it.

    Here’s my TTT: Good Books for Old Broads (Like Me)!

  • Great and unique list. I love horses but have never considered them in books.

  • Für einen kurzen Moment dachte ich ja das sei nun endlich der Beitrag zu den lustigen Pferdebuchtiteln, aber dann doch nicht *sniff* Lass uns bitte nicht zu lange warten, sonst muss ich mich irgendwann mal selbst auf die Suche machen xD

  • I love your horse themed post this week!! Here’s my link to my TTT post for the week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2015/03/top-ten-tuesday-ten-books-for-readers.html

  • Ich kann es nicht glauben, dass ich – bei all den Pferdebüchern, die ich früher gelesen habe – nur einen einzigen dieser Titel kenne! “Das Geheimnis der Pferdeinsel” habe ich nämlich mal gelesen (auch wenn ich mich kaum dran erinnern kann; ich hatte es nur aus der Bücherei ausgeliehen). Beim letzten Buch ist es mir übrigens alleine schon beim Lesen deiner Beschreibung kalt den Rücken runtergelaufen …

    • Das wundert mich jetzt eigentlich gar nicht mal so, nachdem 9 der Titel aus dem PonyClub-Buchclub sind und nie im Handel erhältlich waren. Allerdings war das auch irgendwie der einzige Verlag, der zu meiner Zeit phantastische Pferdebücher veröffentlicht hat – bzw. ist mir zumindest sonst nichts eingefallen, mal abgesehen von der Reihe Die geheimnisvolle Reiterin von Monika Felten, aber da es keine engl. Übersetzung gibt, hab ich die hier nicht genannt. Mittlerweile gibts in der Richtung ja mehr, wobei ich z.B. den ersten Band von Sternentänzer einfach nur schlecht fand und dann gar nicht weitergelesen habe.

      Es ist einfach nur so unglaublich toll! Ich glaube ich habe nie wieder ein Buch gelesen, das mich so gegruselt hat. Ich wollte es damal wirklich ein paar mal weit von mir schmeißen, weil es mich so mitgenommen hat. Die anderen Bände der Reihe sind zwar nicht ganz so unheimlich, aber ich mag sie trotzdem total gerne, weil mir die Charaktere und das Setting so ans Herz gewachsen sind. Auf jeden Fall ausgezeichnete Unterhaltung.

  • I was SO into horse books when I was younger because we actually used to have a horse! I fell in love with them and read as many as I could get my hands on. I vividly remember reading this series that I absolutely loved but since then I haven’t been able to think of the name of it. :/ I’ve been trying to remember for years but alas, no can do. It makes me so sad.

    Also, you can’t forget The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. ;D I mean I know they’re not technically horses, but there’s still SOME element of horse-ness in there!

    • Unfortunately, I never had a horse of my own but I’ve been riding on and off for about 15 years. I’m a very insecure rider but I love horses like crazy. Currently, I work with my friend’s four Lipizzans doing mostly groundwork and it’s so great to be around horses again. Naturally, I also devoured every horse novel I came across when I was younger and started collecting them. I have about 900 😀 !

      If you remember what the series is about, you can try the Goodreads group “What’s The Name of That Book???” Someone’s probably going to recognise it. Good luck! I know how much this bugs you. I also have a horse novel I can’t remember the title/author of but unfortunately, they couldn’t help me. It was probably by a German speaking author.

      Well, I have to admit that I haven’t read it yet, but I only got it last October. I’m really looking forward to reading it though, especially because I heard it’s kind of horsey 😉 !

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