Books, books & more books...

[paintponylvr]

Hubby gave me the go-ahead to treat myself to books I'd been looking at.  Not new, used.  And some from before I was born and most when I was much younger... 

"Y"? - U ask?  Because some of these are by trusted authors that I grew up with and learned to train and ride horses with/from, others were fun and supportive when I wanted a good read ABOUT HORSES/PONIES (which is REALLY hard to find now!).  Some are in group/series type - and I'll see what they are like, since I've only read (loved it!) the first one.

And then the Coup de Gras!  I found a book I've been looking for for years - Pony Farm by Paul Brown.  It's a pretty simple book, since it's a beginner reader type with only a few sentences per page.  For me, the power of it is in it's illustrations.  The last one I found, only listed as fair condition and hardback, was priced at $500 and I let that owner keep it!  I got mine for a little over $6 and it's a paperback (the way I originally checked it out as from the library) and listed in good condition, though used.

I ended up ordering 21 books.  Most were priced at $0.99/each.  YEP, you read that right!  Several were in the $2.39/$2.59 spot and then the the other...  With shipping, I paid a little over $5/average per book...  Yes, that made my order rather high and I did have to cut it back - took out quite a few books - both paperback and hard cover.  But that gives me the chance later to get some more, LOL.

[paintponylvr]

I'm still looking for the Sunbonnet Filly series - but want the originals (paperback) and preferably as a set but not when they are priced at more them $12/book used...

They were reprinted - some of them more than once - but I don't know if the content remained the same.  So, I will hold out for now.

While I never really owned the Billy & Blaze series from CW Anderson previously (always checked them out from the library), I'd like to have them all now (eventually).  I've got my 3rd copy of 'Afraid to Ride' - one of my favorite stories!  I also have a few others written by him and want a few more.

Then the ones by Sam Savitt or illustrated by him.  I was able to purchase, in hardback, his Vickie and the Black Horse but haven't found Vicki and the Brown mare (when I could afford to purchase/ship).  Love his book 'Wild Horse Running' (and got the last time I did a book order).  Have the 'Big Book of Favorite Horse Stories',now too and 2 copies of 'Midnight'.  WOW, there are a whole bunch of his work up on eBay right now... 

[dcwolcott]

How cool!! Looks like you've gotten some good ones!

[paintponylvr]

Diane - I am so EXCITED!  I love getting books and replacing ones I've 'lost' or did read but never previously owned, wow.

Were you into horses when Dave Jones (not related to my original family or to our daughter's new family) was training working stock horses there?  I don't remember/know where (city/county) he was.  I learned a lot from his works - both in magazines and in books when I was a 'tweener' and had others that he recommended (he trained many horses in Vaquero style - graduating from Bosal to Snaffle bit, to pencil bosal and spade bit - his horses often did VERY well on the reined horse and equitation circuits). 

It was one of his articles that I got hold of before I was 10 yrs old and started braiding reins from haystring.  Was sure nice during the winter - no oil popping out of cold/freezing leather!  A good easy hold when working, too.  If I'd known then what I know now - I'd have developed the braiding and done something with it then...  ahhhh hind sight is always 20/20.

Another author that I SOOOO enjoyed was John Richard Young - he worked with hunter/jumpers AND western horses.  I didn't realize that besides the articles he did in the magazines, he also wrote the 3 training books (all of which I read) AND wrote 4 young adult/teen books (3 western - ranching with Arabs/1 Olympic type story).  For 15 years I carried several one page stories he'd had in the "Horseman" magazine (know one was called "What is this thing between Girls and Horses?", another was something like "Talk to your Horse") - I typed (copied) those out on an OLD single key, non electric typewriter between 1976-1979 and I CRIED when I realized that the box that had those articles and others in it was gone...  His writing had A LOT of influence on me.  I'm happy to replace his "Schooling for Young Riders" written in story format based on his daughter working with a completely unhandled (& somewhat wild, if I remember right) Connemara pony (I think that was the breed?  Might have been a New Forest Pony).

Some of the other books I ordered -

[Chanda]

I have the Storey Publishing training book.  Can't go too wrong with any book from Storey Publishing, I really like those that Heather Smith Thomas writes (Might be, Heather Thomas Smith, memory a bit fuzzy and I don't want to go look on the shelf).

[Chanda]

Did you see the picture of my bookshelf that I shared with Carly Rae when she was talking books?
This one, and there is another shelf full below it that is hidden by the construction storage (my bookcase is in the closest cause my office is full).

[paintponylvr]

Here's the Schooling for Young Riders, book.  I saved his other books available to my Wish List for now...

Then I ordered The Valdez Horses by Lee Hoffman (an adult style Western, but concentrated on a breeder of a specific line of QH in the old west). 4 extras by Patricia Leitch while they were available (her books can be hard to get hold of)...  Have a bunch more of hers on my Wish List.

I've never actually read the "Talking with Horses" book, though it has been recommended several times to me over the years.  Should prove to be interesting - it was printed about 10 years & more before the fad for Natural Horsemanship & Horse Whispering kicked into full swing.  Remember Professor Berry and the Jeffries Method?

What about Jim and Linda McCall?  I believe they still run Meredith Manor - but haven't seen any books available by them (they may have done only the magazine articles, don't remember - just remember they also influenced me thru articles AND thru the two different instructors I studied under that both graduated from Meredith Manor - 1 from the english program and 1 from the western program).

[paintponylvr]

Chanda - I DID see your pic, but really couldn't tell what titles you have on it as the pic doesn't open up very large for me... 

YES, I really like Heather Smith Thomas works - that is why I chose that book.  She also wrote magazine articles (that seems to be a theme with me, but that was how I was introduced to MANY authors and training philosophies) and my philosophy on stallions/geldings was partially developed from an article she'd written where she'd gotten hurt by a young stallion THE DAY he was to be castrated - while they were waiting for the vet.  Besides writing, I believe she bred Arabians/Anglo-Arabs and did endurance riding... 

I wish I could remember which classical Dressage authors I grew up with.  I may be a mostly western rider (when I ride) but all of my original teachings were based on dressage riding combined with the looser/freer styles of both Dave Jones and John Richard Young.  I know that I really didn't get any new books from 1982 thru 1987 - then got mostly magazines while in Korea and Germany (but was quite unhappy with those - they'd all gone to new formats and for me they'd lost much of their learning/teaching aspects to do a lot of pretty "fluff" articles.  Both the Horseman and Horse of Course magazines disappeared from the scene(s) during that time frame... 

[dcwolcott]

I have several of the OLD 'The Western Horseman' magazines.  I got them when I was researching Falabellas.  I have several from 1965 and a few from each side of that year.

Some of the old stuff is just great!

[paintponylvr]

Chanda & Diane -

If you've never read the "Dragon" books, bet you'd both LOVE those.  They are based on a true story of a leopard colored mexican mustang shipped to the USA and used to breed the POAs whose breed registry was started in IA with the cross of a Shetland Stallion to an Appaloosa mare...

When I went looking for the book - "A Horse Called Dragon", I didn't know that Lynn Hall (also wrote other teenage dog and horse books that I read.  A lot of them published thru Scholastic and purchased on that monthly paperback plan, that went home w/ us in grade school) had written 3 more books about his life!  I LOVE all 4, but really like the 1st and the last the best!  Also, love the illustrations in all of Lynn Hall's books...

These 4 are the story of Dragon's life and the first two mostly about the bond that develops between a wild Mesteno and a young boy (3rd owner from the wild) who is shy, withdrawn and doesn't do things aggressively.  I loved it as a kid and like all of them now as well...  They are actually written more from the horse's point of view, not the person telling the story.  Very unique at the time, I think.

When I finally get these unpacked, I will need to take pics of the 2nd in the series.  I have the hard backed copies of all 4, not the paperback ones. 

[paintponylvr]

Yes, Diane, the WH magazines were good, then.  I do actually like them still, though not as much as I did then.  I loved the September issues (or was it October?) - the ones that did the breed reviews.  I do remember some Fallabella articles - in the 70s magazines, though not a lot.  I think mom's subscription to the Western Horseman became regular in 1967.

In the Horse Trader section in the back of the 1960s issues - did they have the Gotland Horse breeder advertisements (1 or 2 farms)?  I actually corresponded with her for a couple of years when I was a teenager.  She wrote me some very uplifting and encouraging letters about horse breeding and working with ponies/small equine.  I was very disappointed to find that Gotlands had almost disappeared when I got back from Germany, but with the few that were left, I wasn't in a position to breed them (couldn't afford the beginning stock at the time)...

[Chanda]

Almost all my equine books are nutrition, healthy or training books, heavy on the nutrition and health side of it; very few fiction books.   
I have a copy of the Asil Araber (sp? - Egyptian Arabian book, with some text in German (I think), very thick hardcover), would have to grab if for more information or look it up on line (I think this is the copy I have, there are a few editions):
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/asil-araber-asil-arabians-vi-asil-club/1111811939/2673616146066?st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Marketplace+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP2988&k_clickid=3x2988

[Ryan]

I very rarely have time to read a book unless im away from home , vacation, holiday ect. I guess i just cant relax enough at home or can think of a million things that need doing.

Its strange though cause when im away , If the book is any good I struggle to put it down. I was recently on holidays and took three books away with me. Two i got to read but the third ended up in the pool with me after a few too many cocktails by the pool

The two I actually got to read were "The girl on the train" and " The room" both I enjoyed.

Paula im going to see if i can get the dragon books here

[paintponylvr]

Ryan - I go in "spits & spurts" when it comes to reading.  A lot of the books that I've ordered are pre-teen/young adult books and nowadays are literally an hour or two read (the "Dragon" ones - now that I've read them all and am familiar with them - can read in 30 minutes to an hour, but still LOVE the story lines!  Especially that they were written about a REAL pony.  LOVE the "blurb" at the end of the 2nd Dragon book - where it talks about the real "Dragon" competing at the POA "National Show" and how the original guy/breeder that brought him to the US was in the stands and sat up and took notice when a previously wild stallion was competed on and did some winning.).  Sometimes, I will do that on a night when I can't get to sleep - it actually will help me to get to sleep as my mind falls into the subject/becomes one with the placement of the story.  Also, they are good ones (several of them) for reading to our grand daughters - when I get to have them here and we aren't outside doing things...

I will usually take a good book with me when I do errands - w/ chores waiting when I get home, I usually will eat out and since by myself, I read for 30-60 minutes while enjoying my dinner - even if it's "just" fast food.  Then, when I arrive home - I'm ready to hit chores and even work ponies depending on the time of day.  I also like to keep a couple of books that I'm reading in my truck - for when I have Dr (right now - every month due to some ongoing issues w/ circulation in my legs/SX and a growth on my kidney), eye (1x yr) or dentist (2x yr unless problems) appointments.  I prefer my reading over the types of magazines they have in their offices.  I have, in the past, donated my horse & breed magazines to some of the offices I've gone to!

The training ones, are to see what I've forgotten OR remembered.  It's fascinating to go back thru books that are 40-50 yrs old or even older and find the same training techniques that are "new" now, LOL.

The first set of books have arrived!  They are in great shape except for one (and it's OK...).  I drooled over the illustrations in Pony Farm.  I'm reading The Phantom Roan right now.  Have a couple by an author I grew reading but these are ones I've never seen (Can I Get There by Candlelight? and If Wishes Were Horses - both pre-teen type stories).  Several of these books were listed as softcover but instead are hardbacks.  I was surprised.  The Western Trainer, by Dave Jones, is in probably the worst shape - the spine is broken both at the front and at the back.  I may see if I can get our scanner to work and scan the pages individually to my laptop...  It's in tiny format - I had this book in much larger format when I was a teen - LOVED the pics and the way he writes...  Again, so many of my "likes" when it came to horse conformation is pictured in his book, so I'm sure that is where my own dissatisfaction with so many horses of today comes from, LOL!

Ryan - let me know if you can't, and I'll see what is available here and what it would cost to ship to AU.  I suppose that gets pricey?

[paintponylvr]

Well, the books have all arrived and most are in wonderful shape.  Only 1 is a bit battered - I went back and looked at it's listing and I think it should have listed that it is a hardback and that the spine is broken both at the front cover and at the back cover (maybe they sent me the wrong copy?).  I've been able to re-familiarize myself with some "old friends" and also have already read 1 (youth) book that I'd not read before.  WONDERFUL! 

If you haven't read the book - "Can I get there by candlelight?" - it's a youth story written in current times where by the pony of the girl renting a place w/ parents, enters a gate to another property/woods area and is transported back in time about 100 years...  They spend the summer together - exploring some different views, then it comes to an end.  It was pretty cool and gave some VERY descriptive run down of how young ladies comported themselves with horses many years ago!  All in a short, comprehensive, FUN read.

I've also given a quick breeze thru the training books and got a little "lost" in the one "Schooling for Young Riders" by Johh Richard Young - staying up later a couple of nights to read it page by page.  I hadn't realized how influenced I'd been as a youth by these particular authors!! and it's GOOD, "common" horse sense that still applies today, IMHO.  Yes, one is that Storey addition by Heather Smith Thomas.  The other is The Western Trainer by Dave Jones.  The one by Dave Jones covers rough stock handling - utilizing hobbles on the front legs, sidelining a hind leg, tying up a hind leg and shows how to make/use a decent blindfold.  He DOES (in the book, no less), go on to state that IF horses are handled "right" from birth, that these techniques wouldn't be needed.  He's telling about/describing how they started young horses on a ranch that had a lot of horses AND still had other work for the not enough employees to do along with getting the colts started as riding horses.  I liked it as a kid (LOVED his articles in the Horseman magazine) and plan on actually reading it here soon...  Haven't looked thru the one by Robert Miller, DVM yet, but it was written/published before he put out the "Imprinting" book that became one of the popular "studies" as the NH movement got under way...

What is interesting to point out is that so many of these authors actually point out in their books that there's "nothing natural about horse training once they are removed from the wild... and our training gear is put on them..."

I've looked thru the "T-touch for kid" by Linda Tellington-Jones and wasn't as thrilled with it.  The new version is better - I'm looking for it now...