Giddyup! Fiction about horses for teens
compiled 2-18-03

Spirit Horse by Ned Ackerman
YA F ACKE
When a Siksika boy living on the Plains during the 1770s becomes separated from a raiding party, he discovers the legendary spirit horse which he attempts to track down and tame.

Dun Lady's Jess by Doranna Durgin
YA F DURG
Finding a strange woman on their property, Dayna and Eric learn that she has been accidentally transformed from her original shape of a horse and desperately seeks her missing rider for fear that her human side will forget her purpose.

Unbroken by Jessie Haas
YA F HAAS
Following her mother's death in the early 1900s, thirteen-year-old Harry lives on Aunt Sarah's farm where an accident with her spirited colt leaves her a changed young woman.

Uncle Daney's Way by Jessie Haas
YA F HAAS
When his great-uncle Daney comes to live with Cole's family after being crippled in a logging accident, the two work together all summer to find a way to make enough money to buy feed so they can keep Daney's old horse.

Will You, Won't You? By Jessie Haas
YA F HAAS
Spending the summer with her strong-willed politician grandmother, fourteen-year-old Mad achieves breakthroughs in both her horseback riding and her Scottish dancing and begins to develop the self-confidence she has always lacked.

Sweet William : a memoir of Old Horse by John Hawkes
YA F HAWK
Sweet William, an old thoroughbred horse, recounts the trials and tribulations of his life, sharing the glory of his days as a race horse--and as a broken-down mount transformed by the kindness of a strange old man.

Jim Dandy by Hadley Irwin
YA F IRWI
Living after the Civil War on a Kansas homestead with his stern stepfather, thirteen-year-old Caleb raises a beloved colt and becomes involved in General Custer's raids on the Cheyenne.

The First Horse I See by Sally M. Keehn
YA F KEEH
Left in the care of her beloved Granddad following the death of her mother, Willojean tries to prove to her alcoholic father that she is able to train a special horse which had been abused.

The Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
YA F KOER
Sixteen-year-old Billy spends the summer with his gay uncle in Tucson and works at a racetrack where he falls in love with an outspoken horse exerciser named Cara Mae.

Black Horses for the King by Anne McCaffrey
YA F MCCA
Galwyn, son of a Roman Celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later know as King Arthur, using his talent with languages and way with horses to help secure and care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons.

Riding On the Wind by Brix McDonald
YA F MCDO
Fifteen-year-old Carrie Sutton has a dream: she wants to be the first girl to ride for the Pony Express.

The Horseman's Word by Georgess McHargue
YA F MCHA
When Leigh goes to Scotland to help her aunt and uncle with the horses on their farm, she becomes involved with a local boy, the grandfather who blackmails him, and the tradition of the Horseman's Word.

My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
YA F OHAR
Through his intense devotion to the colt Flicka, a young boy, living on a Wyoming ranch, begins to learn about responsibility and gain a better understanding of his brusque father.

Horse Thief by Robert Peck
NEW YA F PECK
In 1938, with the help of a doctor and her elderly, horse-thieving father, a seventeen-year-old orphan steals thirteen horses from Chickalookee, Florida's doomed rodeo and finds a family in the process.

Blind Beauty by K.M. Peyton
YA F PEYT
Teenage Tessa's passion for riding and her love for an ugly horse named Buffoon help her endure an unhappy life in the English countryside with a hateful stepfather.

Darkling by K.M. Peyton
YA F PEYT
The new owner of Darkling, a wild, dark chestnut colt, Jenny is determined to develop his power and speed, a goal that finally enables her to meet Goddard Strawson, the jockey on whom she has always had a crush.

The Fire Pony by Rodman Philbrick
YA F PHIL
Eleven-year-old Roy lets himself find a loving family and a new home on the horse ranch which he and his older half-brother happen to come upon.

The Boy on a Black Horse by Nancy Springer
YA F SPRI
Intrigued by the mysterious and angry Romany boy who joins her class, thirteen-year-old Gray finds that he shares her love of horses but harbors a dark secret.

Sky Rider by Nancy Springer
YA F SPRI
Dealing with her mother's death, a back injury that prevents her from riding, and the imminent destruction of her sick horse, fourteen-year-old Dusty receives physical and spiritual healing from the ghost of a recently killed boy.

Jodie's Journey by Colin Thiele
YA F THIE
When Jodie Carpenter won the Greenvale Junior Show Jumping Championship there were tears of happiness in her eyes. She didn't know the hurdles ahead of her would be more challenging than those she had just overcome.

I Rode A Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane Lee Wilson
YA F WILS
In early fourteenth-century China, Oyuna tells her granddaughter of her girlhood in Mongolia and how love for her horse enabled her to win an important race and bring good luck to her family.

To Ride the God's Own Stallion by Diane Lee Wilson
YA F WILS
After being taken as a slave to Nineveh, thirteen-year-old Soulai finds his life intertwined with that of the son of King Ashurbanipal and a magnificent stallion and gets a chance to prove to himself and others that he is not a coward.