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Post by Claire on Dec 28, 2010 16:11:13 GMT 1
An American slant for this one. I thought we couldn't miss out all those horse stories set on a ranch especially as a lot dont fit into other categories.
One of my personal favourites is the Golden Stallion series.
Have added a poll for the cliche section so dont forget to vote. We havent quite got enough suggestions to add polld to the others yet.
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Post by susanb on Dec 28, 2010 20:24:21 GMT 1
Albert G. Miller's Fury books were probably my favorite ranching stories (Fury of Broken Wheel Ranch, Fury and the Mustangs, Fury and the White Mare).
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Post by haffyfan on Dec 28, 2010 20:56:06 GMT 1
flicka?
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Post by jinglerebel on Dec 29, 2010 0:20:00 GMT 1
Sharon Wagner's Gypsy series: Gypsy from Nowhere; Gypsy and Nimblefoot; Gypsy and the Moonstone Stallion.
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Post by fizz on Dec 30, 2010 12:02:59 GMT 1
Smoky?
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Post by rallycairn on Dec 30, 2010 22:57:34 GMT 1
Ooh, love the Gypsy books!
Bright Wampum by Dorothy Lyons was quite good -- Main character and her parents are settling a piece of property for the property owner in the mountains in California. Truly, though, I can't remember if they are actually "ranching" but it's a western setting and features western riding. I think several of Lyons's books feature western horses???
Really, really good ranching books are Pagan the Black, Fabulous, and Bandoleer by Dorothy Potter Benedict.
Pagan is a TB cross out of an alleged rogue mother (strong shades of My Friend Flicka in this book but it's a touch less gritty), Fabulous is a POA with the founding of the POA breed something of a theme, and Bandoleer features Pagan's son.
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Post by foxglove on Jan 4, 2011 14:50:24 GMT 1
I've always loved Western films and re-read the Mary O'Hara books many times. Haven't heard of some of these though- more for the Amazon WishList!
Mary Elwyn Patchett's brumby books cover Australian ranch (station?) life, and I remember liking Snow Cloud Stallion, but am not sure if that was set in Australia or the US.
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Post by Claire on Jan 9, 2011 14:28:52 GMT 1
Also Glenn Balch's Tack Ranch series (Wild Horse, Christmas Horse, etc) and Henry V. Larom's Mountain Pony series
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Post by susanb on Jan 19, 2011 15:56:58 GMT 1
Keith Robertson's Ticktock and Jim and Ticktock and Jim, Deputy Sherriffs
Jo (for Josephine) Sykes' non-series westerns: Saddle a Thunderbolt, Trouble Creek, The Stubborn Mare
I shouldn't keep mentioning these series, as they are so hard to find, but have to put in:
John Richard Young's Don Revere and Raffy series (Arabian Cow Horse, Champion of the Cross Five, Arizona Cutting Horse, Olympic Horseman).
Logan Forster's Ponce quartet (Desert Storm, Mountain Stallion, Tamarlane, Revenge)
It's a pity the last two series haven't been picked up by reprint publishers. I think it's because they know that women are their biggest customers, and they make the (I think) invalid assumption that women won't buy books that feature boys since they didn't read them as a child.....reality check, girls read EVERYTHING! Girls who loved horses in particular would read anything with a horse in it!
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Post by Claire on Jan 20, 2011 2:09:53 GMT 1
It's a pity the last two series haven't been picked up by reprint publishers. I think it's because they know that women are their biggest customers, and they make the (I think) invalid assumption that women won't buy books that feature boys since they didn't read them as a child.....reality check, girls read EVERYTHING! Girls who loved horses in particular would read anything with a horse in it! You are so right. Publishers as a species so often make wrong assumptions about their young readers as well as not giving them enough credit for their intelligence, insight and open-mindedness. I think we could have a separate thread about how publisher's input has spoilt a book/series, dumbed it down or cut it to within an inch of its life! In fact I think I'll start one tomorrow! Back to the main topic - Joan Phipson's books (The Boundary Riders, Good Luck to the Rider, etc) were all of the ranching persuasion, albeit Australian ranches. A question here: were there any ranch stories written by British authors.....?
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Post by trixiepony on Jan 20, 2011 8:09:26 GMT 1
If you are going to do Australian ranch stories how about the Billabong books.
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Post by Claire on Jan 20, 2011 13:01:19 GMT 1
Good suggestion trixiepony.
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Post by susanb on Jan 21, 2011 5:12:51 GMT 1
Loved Good Luck to the Rider!
Trixiepony, you again remind me that I need to read those Billabong books that lurk in my tbr pile!
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Post by Claire on Jan 21, 2011 12:53:36 GMT 1
Funny susan, we normally have similar tastes in books but I thought Good Luck to the Rider was very boring and was extremely disappointed when I read it, knowing it had won awards.
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Post by susanb on Jan 25, 2011 16:15:51 GMT 1
That is funny.....maybe I read it when I was in just the right mood, and you read it in just the wrong one? It can happen!
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Post by Claire on Jan 28, 2011 12:45:03 GMT 1
A few more suggestions:
MOUNTAIN PONY SERIES & RIDE LIKE AN INDIAN BY HENRY V. LAROM THE LAST MUSTER BY LEONIE NORRINGTON RATTLESNAKE ROCK BY ANGELA DORSEY YEAR OF THE BLACK PONY BY WALT MOREY WILD HORSE OF THE WEST BY CECIL G. TREW PAM'S PARADISE RANCH BY ARMINE VON TEMPSKI TAM THE UNTAMED & QUARTER HORSE BOY BY MARY PATCHETT WHITEY SERIES BY GLEN ROUNDS
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Post by susanb on Jan 28, 2011 15:59:10 GMT 1
I don't know why I hadn't really thought of Armine von Tempski...the Hawaiian angle, maybe?
Bright Spurs is actually my favorite of her two horse books...technically it's more dude ranch than ranch, but they do still have some cattle and of course the paniolos (cowboys).
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Post by Claire on Jan 29, 2011 13:28:18 GMT 1
Yeah I didnt include Bright Spurs cos it was more of a dude ranch but if you think it qualifies I'll add it anyway. Last chance for suggestions as I'm going to put the poll up for this one tonight. Also we are running short of suggestions on the historical pony story thread. I'm sure there must be a few more out there.
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Post by Claire on Jan 29, 2011 21:50:00 GMT 1
Added poll don't forget to vote.
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Post by trixiepony on Jan 30, 2011 3:29:12 GMT 1
Just did it Claire!
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Post by Claire on Feb 11, 2011 11:27:44 GMT 1
Just to remind people to vote in this poll as we havent had many votes on this one yet. Also the historical one could do with a few more.
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odonna
Pony Clubber
PASSED PMBL 'C' TEST
Posts: 114
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Post by odonna on Feb 11, 2011 14:16:01 GMT 1
I have just voted on them all!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2011 14:56:06 GMT 1
I'm afraid my vote in Ranching stories won't make a huge difference as out of all of them I've only read one
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Post by susanb on Feb 11, 2011 19:37:17 GMT 1
The low number of voters doesn't surprise me....the books in the poll probably aren't as available to readers worldwide as those in other genres (well, sub-genres really!), the riding discipline is just less familiar, and I think there is a misconception that a ranching story is some kind of "western" which I think puts many readers of pony books off.
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Post by Claire on Feb 16, 2011 15:17:51 GMT 1
Oh I missed out Dark Sunshine! Just remembered it when I packed the book up to send to Sarah who had kindly lent me it.
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Post by susanb on Feb 16, 2011 16:44:23 GMT 1
d*mn.....one of my all time favorite books too, but I never think of it as "ranch", probably because the girl is competing in endurance, not rodeo.
So....did you like it? Leaving aside the ridiculous way she gets her horse, that is. ALL of Lyons heroines get their horses in implausable, at best, ways. If you ever get to read Java Jive you'll fall out of your chair laughing.
The thing I liked best was that the heroine leads a well rounded life, which isn't the case in many horse books. She has a career ambition, and is willing to work for it, school and friends are a big part of her life, and she has a solid relationship with her family.
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Post by Claire on Feb 16, 2011 20:46:00 GMT 1
Yes I really liked it, altho got a bit bored with the 'rounded life' bit tbh well the school bit anyhow. I liked the family bit a lot and the fact she had non horsy ambitions. Loved the bit where she got Sunny (unlikely as it was!) and was training her and also the endurance race. Its almost like its 2 books in 1 with the first being a ranch type story, then it changes to something different. Also one of the few books to feature long distance/endurance. Sadly I doubt I'll be reading many of the authors other books soon!
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Post by susanb on Feb 16, 2011 22:37:03 GMT 1
Yes, her books do tend to run an arm and a leg....Dark Sunshine is one of the most available.
Golden Sovereign, which had an enormous mass market paperback printing in the US is available very cheaply...Western Pleasure is the riding discipline there.
Blue Smoke, which centers around quarter-horse racing, had a smaller trade size paperback printing and is less available, but can be very cheap when it turns up.
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