Category: Book Reviews

The Black Stallion and the Shape-shifter by Steven Farley

On By Carla ConorinoIn Arabian Horses, Book Reviews, The Black StallionLeave a comment

So, I picked up this little lovely awhile back at Half Price Books and finally got around to reading it. It was a nice little find. It’s a first edition even.

As you all know, I have loved The Black Stallion series all my life, so I wasn’t sure about reading a story about the Black not written by Walter Farley. Well, it turns out his son, Steven, has taken up the mantle and handled it well. I loved this story! I’m partial to stories with a supernatural bent too, so I was enamored even more with this book.

Alec Ramsay and the Black head to Ireland so the stallion can exhibit his racing talents to a new audience. The Black is injured in the race, so Alec and his horse end up at a farm near the shore for recuperation. At first their visit is quiet and relaxing, but soon Alec begins to witness sights that can’t be easily explained. There is a long mystical history in this ancient place and Steven Farley has written the story in a believable way.

I really enjoyed this story because as always, a beautiful Arabian horse is at its center, but also a magical shapeshifting horse and lonely horse loving girl who Alec befriends and helps. These are all elements that I love, so I was very happy I came across this book. I highly recommend it to all lovers of horses and the mystical!

The Black Stallion and the Shape-shifter on Amazon

Cowgirl and the Ghost Horse by Rae Rankin

On By Carla ConorinoIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

I loved this cute story and the illustrations by J-San! It’s a rhyming Halloween story that tells the tale of a little girl and lovely white ghost horse. It’s a magical tale that any young child would love! Well, not just young children, but anyone who has access to their inner child and especially those of us growing up in apartments and wishing a horse, ghost or otherwise would wander into the courtyard.

I highly recommend this story for young children or anyone who dreams of beautiful, wispy, ghost horses!

Check our Rae Rankin’s website and click the link below to purchase this book on Amazon.

Buy Cowgirl and the Ghost Horse on Amazon!

The Forgotten Horse by Elaine Heney

On By Carla ConorinoIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

Elaine Heney really knows how to tell a good horse story. This is the first book in her Connemara horse adventure series for kids and it does not disappoint! I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I’m especially drawn to it because the main character is not just a horse lover, but like many young girls who love horses she doesn’t come from a financial background where owning one is practical and she is bullied by the girls who take such things for granted.

I felt all the emotions reading this story and even shed tears a couple of times. Even though it could use a little more editing (for the record, I’m not the best at editing either, lol), I give it five stars because it is simply just a good story! I remember reading once that the television writer, Stephen J. Cannell, suffered with dyslexia as a child, but he was determined to be a writer and in college he had to find English teachers who would focus on his actual writing and not focus on misspelled words and such. He went on to create Emmy award winning television shows, Baretta being one of my favorites. My point here is that the story is the most important. I’d rather read a good story with a few grammatical issues then a boring story that’s grammatically perfect.

Again, I highly recommend this story and totally give it five stars!!!

Buy The Forgotten Horse on Amazon!

My Friend Flicka-by Mary O’ Hara

On By Carla ConorinoIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

So as I said in an earlier post, I acquired this book along with the sequel, Thunderhead, from my granny, Frances Grimes, many years ago. I loved them as child and decided to read them again during the Covid lockdown last year. They rekindled my love of horse stories, so I became more serious about writing my own. I’m currently plugging away at The Red Filly, one chapter at a time. I actually created a rough outline/beat sheet, so I do know where I’m going with it at least. I joined an awesome writing group during all this Covid mess and they are helping me with edits along the way. This pandemic has been rough on all of us, but I’ve managed to achieve a few positives after I figured out how to restructure my life. I often wonder, if I am forever changed by the last year and a half…but I digress…on to the review!

This is a story of true love between a boy and horse. It’s the kind of bond a young horse loving, apartment dwelling girl like I was growing up, dreamed of. The main character, Ken McLaughlin, unlike me and probably a great many of the kids who have read this book over the years, is growing up on a ranch in Wyoming in the late 1930s surrounded by horses. But, he longs for one of them to be his very own. He’s a day dreamer and because of this causes many mishaps around the ranch and can’t focus on his school work, so his father doesn’t want to reward him with a yearling to raise as his own like his older brother has done.

Mom comes to the rescue though, as she often does in this book and the sequel, Thunderhead. She insists that Ken needs a yearling to raise to help him focus. After a horrific incident during the gelding of the yearling colts, Ken decides he doesn’t want the gruesome procedure carried out on his yearling. He decides he wants a filly to avoid the barbaric practice. But in his father’s eyes he picks the worst filly on the ranch. She’s been running wild with her dam her entire short life and won’t allow anyone near her.

I don’t want to give away the whole story, but you get the idea. Ken is determined, his dad is not happy with him as usual, his mom loves him unconditionally and supports his decision, while a wild filly awaits…

My copy of the book has had a rough life, but it’s managed to survive countless moves over the years.

Book Review-Joey by Jennifer Bleakley

On By Carla ConorinoIn Book Reviews, Horse Rescue, Rescue WorksLeave a comment

Joey Book Cover

Joey is the biography of a horse, but not a famous horse like Man O’ War or Seabiscuit, just a regular horse that was saved from bad circumstances and in return rescued his rescuers.  Everyone who ever meets Joey can’t help but fall in love.  Joey had been a show horse early on, but after an injury ended his show career he was passed from owner to owner and eventually ended up in a neglectful situation, which often happens to horses who are considered no longer “useful”.  At some point during this time he went completely blind, which was probably due to malnutrition.

Along comes Kim Tschirret who has a dream to unite troubled horses with troubled kids and Hope Reins is born. Joey along with another Appaloosa, named Speckles, arrive together at the fledgling therapy horse ranch to be among the first group of horses to help troubled kids.  The volunteers at the ranch, along with Kim, learn as they go and have to face special challenges brought on by a blind horse like Joey.  The book is inspiring because they learn and adapt to Joey’s needs as well as the needs of the children entrusted to their care.

There is a strong Christian theme to this book, which I thought might be off-putting for me because I am not particularly religious; although I do believe in a higher power.  But, it’s actually heartwarming following the main players and how each of them addresses their individual faiths and hope in God and the miracle that is Hope Reins.

Warning; tears will be shed in the reading of this book.  Sometimes the tears will be because of sadness, but mostly because the book is heartwarming.  Reading this book strengthened my belief in the something more that all of us can have faith in and the ability of some people to truly access the goodness with themselves.  I highly recommend this book for horse lovers and anyone who wants further evidence that there is true kindness to be found amongst the humans.

This book was a gift from my beloved Franch horses:

Joey Inside Book Cover

Pretty sure my dear friend, Julz, helped them pick it out! 😉