About the author
You’re pretty unlikely to have grown up as a horsey child in the 1990s, or indeed this century, and not know about the American Saddle Club series, set in Virginia. They make the longest British series, the Jackie books, with 16 titles, look like a mere beginner. The Saddle Club is epic: there are over 100 titles. Like Jackie, the Saddle Club heroines (Stevie, Carole and Lisa) manage not to age, which, over 100 books, is even more of an achievement. It does not seem to have affected their popularity one wit, however, their many readers taking this juggling with time in their stride. The books are still available today, and a television series was made.
The books started after an editor at Bantam Books spotted a gap in the market and commissioned Bonnie Bryant to write a horse-orientated series. Bryant based all three characters on herself: ‘I can be as disorganised as Carol, I can be as logical as Lisa and I can get into as much trouble as Stevie, although I don’t talk about that very much!’
Bryant did not write all the books, stopping after contributing over 30 titles. The baton was taken up by a battalion of ghost writers. There were spin off series too: Pony Tails, aimed at younger readers than the Saddle Club, and Pine Hollow, aimed at older readers, with the same Saddle Club heroines. Neither series, presumably, were as successful, only reaching 16 titles each.
The vast majority of the titles are easy and cheap to find. Some of the later Saddle Club titles can be difficult, as can a few of the Pine Hollow series. The series has now appeared in ebook format.
Links and sources
There is a lot of stuff out there on the Saddle Club, which is why I’m not going to be going into the usual bibliographical detail over these titles. The books have appeared with different covers (in the early titles at least) for the English and USA markets. For more biographical info, try the Wikipedia entry. There’s a fansite on the Saddle Club, and another on Pine Hollow, both of which have plenty of detail on the books.
Bibliography
The Saddle Club Series
1 Horse Crazy (1989)
2 Horse Shy (1989)
3 Horse Sense (1989)
4 Horse Power (1989)
5 Trail Mates (1989)
6 Dude Ranch (1989)
7 Horse Play (1989)
8 Horse Show (1990)
9 Hoof Beat (1990)
10 Riding Camp (1991)
11 Horse Wise (1991)
12 Rodeo Rider (1991)
13 Starlight Christmas (1991)
14 Sea Horse (1990)
15 Team Play (1991)
16 Horse Games (1991)
17 Horsenapped (1991)
18 Pack Trip (1991)
19 Star Rider (1992)
20 Snow Ride (1992)
21 Race Horse (1992)
22 Fox Hunt (1992)
23 Horse Trouble (1992)
24 Ghost Rider 1993)
25 Show Horse (1993)
26 Beach Ride (1993)
27 Bridle Path (1993)
28 Stable Manners (1993)
29 Ranch Hands (1994)
30 Autumn Trail (1994)
31 Hay Ride (1994)
32 Chocolate Horse (1994)
33 High Horse (1994)
34 Hay Fever (1994)
35 Horse Tale (1994)
36 Riding Lessons (1994)
37 Stage Coach (1994)
38 Horse Trade (1995)
39 Purebred (1995)
40 Gift Horse (1995)
41 Stable Witch (1995)
42 Saddle Bags (1995)
43 Photo Finish (1995)
44 Horseshoe (1995)
45 Stable Groom (1995)
46 Flying Horse (1995)
47 Horse Magic (1996)
48 Mystery Ride (1996)
49 Stable Farewell (1996)
50 Yankee Swap (1996)
51 Pleasure Horse (1996)
52 Riding Class (1996)
53 Horse Sitters (1996)
54 Gold Medal Rider (1996)
55 Gold Medal Horse (1996)
56 Cutting Horse (1996)
57 Tight Rein (1996)
58 Wild Horses (1996)
59 Phantom Horse (1996)
60 Hobbyhorse (1996)
61 Broken Horse (1996)
62 Horse Blues (1996)
63 Stable Hearts (1997)
64 Horse Capades (1997)
65 Silver Stirrups (1997)
66 Saddle Sore (1997)
67 Summer Horse (1997)
68 Summer Rider (1997)
69 Endurance Ride (1997)
70 Horse Race (1997)
71 Horse Talk (1997)
72 Holiday Horse (1997)
73 Horse Guest (1997)
74 Horse Whispers (1998)
75 Painted Horse (1998)
76 Horse Care (1998)
77 Rocking Horse (1998)
78 Horseflies (1998)
79 English Horse (1998)
80 English Rider (1998)
81 Wagon Trail (1998)
82 Quarter Horse (1998)
83 Horse Thief (1998)
84 Schooling Horse (1998)
85 Horse Fever (1999)
86 Secret Horse (1999)
87 Show Jumper (1999)
88 Side Saddle (1999)
89 Lucky Horse (1999)
90 Show Judge (2000)
91 Driving Team (2000)
92 Starting Gate (2000)
93 Million-Dollar Horse (2000)
94 Horse Love (2000)
95 Horse Spy (2000)
96 New Rider (2001)
97 Hard Hat (2001)
98 Horse Feathers (2001)
99 Trail Ride (2001)
100 Stray Horse (2001)
101 Best Friends (2001)
102 Pleasure Ride
103 Riding Horse
NB: the last two titles are listed on Wikepedia but I can find no other evidence of them
Saddle Club Super Editions
Summer Without Horses (1994)
Secret Of the Stallion (1995)
Western Star (1996)
Dream Horse (1996)
Before They Rode Horses (1997)
Nightmare (1997)
Christmas Treasure (1998)
Saddle Club Inside Story Special Editions
Stevie (1999)
Lisa (1999)
Carole (1999)
THE PONY TAILS SERIES
Pony Crazy (1995)
May’s Riding Lesson (1995)
Corey’s Pony is Missing (1996)
Jasmine’s Christmas Ride (1996)
May Takes the Lead (1996)
Corey in the Saddle (1996)
Jasmine Trots Ahead (1996)
May Rides a New Pony (1996)
Corey and the Spooky Pony (1996)
Jasmine Helps a Foal (1996)
May Goes to England (1997)
Corey’s Secret Friend (1997)
Jasmine’s First Horse Show (1997)
May’s Runaway Ride (1997)
Corey’s Christmas Wish (1997)
Jasmine and the Jumping Pony (1998)
(Publication dates given are for the UK. All published by Bantam)
The Pine Hollow Series
The Long Ride (1998)
The Trail Home (1998)
Reining In (1999)
Changing Leads (1999)
Conformation Faults (1999)
Shying At Trouble (1999)
Penalty Points (1999)
Course of Action (1999)
Riding to Win (1999)
Ground Training (2000)
Cross Ties (2000)
Back In The Saddle (2000)
High Stakes (2000)
Setting the Pace (2000)
Track Record (2000)
Full Gallop (2000)
(Publication dates given are for the UK. All published by Bantam)
