Horse Memoir

The perfect gift for fans of All Creatures Great and Small, this is a charming collection of classic stories from James Herriot’s much-loved books with insights into his life and work from his children Rosie and Jim. With astute observations and boundless humour, country vet Herriot captures the spirit of the Yorkshire Dales and of rural communities on the cusp of change, before tractors and machines had taken over and modern medicines and antibiotics transformed veterinary work.

In his deeply personal account, Rupert Isaacson tells the amazing story of his autistic son and his transformation through the healing power of horses. From his home in Texas to the wilds of Mongolia, we follow the Isaacson family on an epic journey on horseback - a journey that would test their love, challenge their beliefs and change their lives.

Laugh out loud as you hear about the author’s remarkable family and the legends of the rodeo world who illustrate life lessons.

In Horse Konfidence: Tools to Improve Your Life Through an Animal Communicator’s Journey, Katheleen shares her transformative odyssey, illuminating the path she traversed to become an animal communicator. Yet, this book transcends her personal narrative. It is an empowering testament that echoes through the hearts of others, reminding them that by heeding their authentic selves, boundless possibilities await.

Tony (A. P.) McCoy has collected a record 20 consecutive jump jockey titles to date, and since 1992 he has ridden over 4,300 winners. This powerfully honest memoir looks at life at the very top in National Hunt racing - and beyond, discussing fatherhood, writing novels and his decision to retire while he's still a long way ahead. It is a definitive autobiography that is themed around A. P.'s 10 most important races: his first ride, first race, first fall, first win, greatest disappointment - and greatest triumph.

In 1904, at age 23, two-time Kentucky Derby-winner Jimmy Winkfield was forced from American horseracing by a virulent combination of racism and hard times. Wink left his beloved Kentucky, bought a steamer ticket for Europe, and made the world his racetrack. There he embarked on a decades-long odyssey, rising to superstardom and winning and losing two fortunes. Driven at gunpoint from Russia by the Bolshevik Army and from France by Nazi occupiers, the 105-pound jockey proved himself the most resilient, courageous athlete of the 20th century.

Abby's Tale; Memoir of a Rescued Horse tells the story of a young horse who is taken from her mother too soon. She sets herself against humans, even the ones that are trying to help her. In her own words, Abilene describes her "rescue" (which felt more like a kidnapping), adapting to her new life (with the help of friends), and learning to trust humans again. Abby's Tale is a tender and sometimes humorous story to be enjoyed by horse lover's of all ages. Based on an actual adoption story and filled with beautiful photography. A wonderful short chapter book to be read and cherished over and ...

In the Metfield of the 1930s, you could do all of your shopping without leaving the village, have a choice of pubs and "spend happy evenings helping to dig potatoes and listening to the old boys". If this sounds too idyllic to be true, Evelyn Whiting's charming memoir of growing up in this Suffolk community is quick to remind us that making a living from the land was hard and tedious work in those days. There was no electricity and water came from the sky, or from the pond.

On August 6, 1978, firefighters discovered the charred remains of a body inside a wooden crate, set ablaze in an empty lot in the Bronx, New York. The male decedent had been worked over, stabbed, and shot multiple times. The victim was identified as John “Jack” Tupper, a restaurateur, age 34. His killer turned out to be 48-year-old Howard “Buddy” Jacobson, who at one time was the country's leading Thoroughbred horse trainer. The shocking act of violence was the result of a classic love triangle turned deadly.

Thoroughbred racing was one of the first major sports in early America. Horse racing thrived because it was a high-status sport that attracted the interest of both old and new money. It grew because spectators enjoyed the pageantry, the exciting races, and, most of all, the gambling. In The Sport of Kings and the Kings of Crime, author Steven Riess fills a long-neglected gap in sports history, offering a richly detailed and fascinating chronicle of thoroughbred racing's heyday.

Michael Morpurgo is a national treasure. With books such as Private Peaceful, Kensuke’s Kingdom, and The Wreck of the Zanzibar, he has enchanted a whole generation of children. His is a rare gift. In a unique collaboration, Maggie Fergusson explores Michael Morpurgo’s life through seven biographical chapters, to which he responds with seven autobiographical stories of his own. The portrait that emerges is one of light and shade: the light very bright, the shade complex and often painful.

It was a cold and foggy February night in 1983 when a group of armed thieves crept onto Ballymany Stud, near The Curragh in County Kildare, Ireland, to steal Shergar, one of the thoroughbred industry's most renowned stallions. The thieves demanded a hefty ransom for the safe return of one of the most valuable Thoroughbreds in the world, but the ransom was never paid and Shergar's remains have never been found.

In the final days of World War II, with the ravenous Red Army marching across Czechoslovakia, a wily band of American soldiers did the unexpected: They teamed up with the Nazis and went behind enemy lines to save the world's rarest horses from imminent extinction at the hands of the Russians - including the exquisite white Lipizzaner, whose bloodlines date back to Genghis Khan.

Janet Vokes was running the bar in her local working men’s club in the small Welsh mining community of Cefn Fforest when she fixed upon the idea of breeding a racehorse. Why shouldn’t a working-class horse take on the wealthy high-flyers and compete in the ‘sport of kings’? Her mind set, she bought a mare for £350, paired her up with a pedigree stallion and helped to create a syndicate of twenty-three residents from her village – each paying £10 a week – to raise the resulting foal, Dream Alliance.

In this delightful coming-of-age memoir, Rich Israel takes off on a journey of self-discovery during the late 1960s. Renouncing societal norms, he hitchhikes across the country, works at a circus, and rides a horse hundreds of miles through the Rocky Mountain wilderness - all the while, the draft and Vietnam War are nipping at his heels. Join Rich and his canine companion, Charlie, as they encounter one colorful character after another, from a loudmouthed carnival boss to an ax-loving dishwasher to a sultry flower child, whose bewitching powers lead to lust, longing, and heartbreak.

Most fondly remembered for her starring role as “Cissy” in the long-running international TV hit Family Affair, Kathy Garver has also garnered critical acclaim in movies, stage, radio, voice-over animation and audio-book narration. For Rocking Horse, Kathy Garver adds her knowledge of voice over, the entertainment world and her many talents to make this biography of Betty Hutton a personal affair and cautionary tale.

It is a captivating book. Each horse has come into Diane’s life in a different way. Each came to teach a lesson or bring a message. Horses may be without speech, but they are not without a voice. Life can get complicated, but its truths are often very simple. Her horses are loved no matter who they are or where they are in life. God loves each of us too, individually and completely. We are all “keepers” in his sight. We each carry a spark of God’s heart with an important message to be shared with the world. We can and do make a difference in other’s lives.

The Jockey is the true story of a young boy from the wrong side of the tracks who, because of his size and toughness, is offered a position to train as a jockey. It soon becomes clear that the business is less about winning horse races than it is about making money. He resists the temptation to join the extralegal side of the business until he is confronted by the facts of racing life: Horse racing is a blood sport, and jockeys rarely survive without life-altering injuries.

Drawing on their personal history as a former urban equestrian, Black queer person, and child of Jamaican and Filipino immigrants, essayist and art critic Bitter Kalli contends the horse should be regarded as a critical source of power and identity in Black life. In a series of astute essays, Kalli explores the work of Black artists and influencers from Beyoncé to filmmakers Tiona Nekkia-McClodden and Jeymes Samuel and explores their own life-long relationship to equines.

Broken: Tales of a Titanium Cowgirl shares the journey of Michelle Scully’s calamitous riding accident and devastating injury. It also provides a panorama of her path of deep personal discovery as she unexpectedly finds herself in a joyful journey of recovery. Love of horses commingles with a personal quest to improve her horsemanship to spur on her healing.