About the author
George Cory Franklin (b.1872) wrote several children’s books, including a pair about Monte, stories about a real grizzly bear tamed, who would imitate his owner. Franklin wrote four horse books, as far as I am aware, all of which appear to be ranch stories.
Finding the books
All titles are reasonably easy to find in the USA. None were printed in the UK.
Links and sources
Terri A. Wear: Horse Stories, an Annotated Bibliography, Scarecrow Press, 1987
Many thanks to Lisa Catz for the photographs and summaries.
Bibliography (horse books only)
Wild Horses of the Rio Grande
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1951, 181 pp, illus, William Moyers
This is acollection of stories about wild horses, ranch horses, and mule trains including Chief takes over about a horse that leads a mule train up and down steep trails and proves his worth during a snow storm and avalanche
Shorty’s Mule
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1952, 45 pp, illus William Moyers
Smoky was the funniest looking animal on the Horsetrack Ranch – he is a mule, but he becomes the pet of the cowboys, who love his tricks and his curiosity. Smoky becomes Shorty’s pack mule, and when rustlers steal some cattle and leave Shorty immobilised, tied up in his bedroll, it is Smoky who saves the day.
Pancho
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1953, 152 pp, illus William Moyers
Tom buys a horse which is supposed to be an outlaw bucking horse. He manages to gentle it, and then trains it to be a good and effective ranch horse. However, there are people around who still want the horse for the rodeo.
Pioneer Horse
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1960, 115 pp, illus William Moyers
Pedro and Father Sanchez have lost their Arabian horses when they escape from the Aztec Indians in Mexico. However all is (literally) not lost, and the horses turn up later. Pedro is then able to show the Zuni people who have sheltered him how useful horses can be.