About the author
Alison Hart is a pseudonym used by the writer Alice Leonhardt (b.1950). Under her own name, she’s contributed to some iconic ghost-written series, including Nancy Drew, and some lengthy horse series. Alice was a contributor to both the Linda Craig (Ann Sheldon) and Thoroughbred series (Joanna Campbell).
As Alison Hart, she’s written numerous other horse stories. She’s written a series, Riding Academy, which is set at a school where riding’s on the curriculum: a much more popular setting for American authors than British; possibly because of British unease at setting a story in what would have to be the elite setting of a public school, with all the connotations of exclusion that carries. Americans don’t worry so much.
Alison Hart has also written YA novels, and she’s written a couple of very strong series. Her Race to Freedom trilogy is set in Kentucky, during the American Civil War; relatively unaffected by the war, but still subject to guerilla raids. Hero Gabriel Alexander is a slave, but goes off and joins his father in the Fifth U.S. Colored Cavalry, though he does not fight, but is used as a horse boy. It’s a vivid and illuminating series.
Her Jas duo, Shadow Horse (1999) and Wildfire (2010) are well worth seeking out too, particularly the first, which is a very fine mystery.
Alison Hart started writing early. Her first book, The Wild Dog, was completed at the age of seven, and it is still with her now. She takes it with her on author visits to show children that it is never too early to start writing. As well as writing, Alison Hart is now an adjunct college instructor teaching reading and writing.
Finding the books
Most are in print, or easy to find.
Links and sources
Thanks to Lisa Catz for the photographs
Series
The Gabriel series
Gabriel’s Horses
Gabriel’s Triumph
Gabriel’s Journey
The Riding Academy Series
A Horse for Mary Beth
Andie out of Control
Jina Rides to Win
Lessons for Lauren
Mary Beth’s Haunted Ride
Andie Shows Off
Jina’s Pain-in-the-Neck Pony
The Craziest Horse Show Ever
Andie’s Risky Business
Trouble at Foxhall
Foxhunt!
Lauren Rides to the Rescue
Haunted Horseback Holiday – Special
Linda Craig titles
Kathy in Charge
The Riding Club
A Horse for Jackie
The Glimmering Ghost
The Silver Stallion
Thoroughbred Titles
Christina’s Courage
Melanie’s Last Ride
A Home for Melanie
Dead Heat
Star in Danger
Living Legand
The Bad Luck Filly
Perfect Image
Team Player
Racing Image
Perfect Challenge
Faith in a Long Shot
Bibliography
A Horse for Mary Beth
Random House, New York, 1994, 123 pp
The blurb:
Mary Beth is thrilled to be a new student at Foxhall Academy, but when she discovers that all her classmates are such great riders she signs up for the junior riding program.

Andie out of Control
Random House, New York, 1994, 124 pp.
Much to her Foxhall Academy roommates’ dismay, Andie Perez likes breaking every rule at the boarding school, until the arrival of a wild young thoroughbred horse named Magic brings Andie a challenge that she cannot refuse.

Jina Rides to Win
Random House, New York, 1994, 124 pp.

Lessons for Lauren
Random House, New York, 1994, 124 pp.

Mary Beth’s Haunted Ride
Random House, New York, 1994, 124 pp.
During a fun-filled Halloween weekend with the boys from Manchester School, novice rider Mary Beth must do some quick thinking when a boy from the masked costume party runs into danger during the Haunted Trail Ride.

Andie Shows Off
Random House, New York, 1994, 122 pp.
The blurb:
Andie can’t wait for the upcoming Parents’ Weekend to show off Magic, a horse she hopes her father will buy for her, but a freak accident convinces Andie’s father that Magic is too dangerous.

Jina’s Pain-in-the-Neck Pony
Random House, New York, 1995
The blurb:
Jina deserves a blue ribbon for patience after her own horse is sidelined and she agrees to
show a pony named Applejacks – with a sour disposition – and help out his seven-year-old
owner, Whitney, who constantly demands attention.

The Craziest Horse Show Ever
Random House, New York, 1995, 123 pp.
The upcoming interschool horse show has Andie, Jina and the other girls of Foxhall Academy excitedly preparing their entries – all except for Lauren, whose assignment to a jumping class scares her to death.

Andie’s Risky Business
Random House, New York, 1995, 124 pp.
The four roommates in Suite 4B at Foxhall Academy – Jina, Lauren, Andie, and Mary Beth
– don’t always agree on everything. But they all love horses! And what can beat living with your friends at a school with a super riding program?

Trouble at Foxhall
Random House, New York, 1995
Outside, the temperature is dropping, but inside, things are really heating up! Mary Beth and Lauren are vying for the same horse and the same boy and their bickering is driving Andie and Jina nuts. When Lauren moves out of Suite 4B, her roommates soon realize they want her back. But now she’s disappeared!

Foxhunt!
Random House, New York, 1995, 124 pp.
Jina’s thrilled to be bringing her roommates home with her for Thanksgiving break – and for the annual Middlefield Foxhunt. She and Andie can’t wait to ride to hounds, but Mary Beth is horrified: what about the poor fox? She and Lauren launch a full-scale protest against fox hunting – and soon
it’s an all-out war at Middlefield!

Lauren rides to the rescue
Random House, New York, 1995, 124 pp.

Haunted Horseback Holiday
Random House, New York, 1996, 212 pp.
During an exciting trip to Colorado, the Riding Academy youngsters discover a mysterious wild horse and run into a series of ghostly and spooky events.

Shadow Horse
Random House, New York, 1999, 230 pp
The blurb:
Thirteen-year-old Jas tries to prove that the owner of the farm where she works
has killed her favorite horse, Whirlwind.


Anna’s Blizzard
Peachtree, Atlanta, 2005, 141 pp.
The blurb:
Having never excelled at schoolwork, twelve-year-old Anna discovers that she may know a
few things about survival when the 1888 Children’s Blizzard traps her and her classmates in their Nebraska schoolhouse.

Gabriel’s Horses
Peachtree, Atlanta, 2007, 161 pp.
The blurb:
In Kentucky, during the Civil War, the twelve-year-old slave Gabriel contends with a cruel new horse trainer and skirmishes with Confederate soldiers as he pursues his dream of becoming a jockey.

Gabriel’s Triumph
Peachtree, Atlanta, 2007, 164 pp.
The blurb:
A thirteen-year-old newly-freed slave faces the challenges of freedom and horse racing as he pursues his dream of becoming a famous jockey in Civil War Kentucky and New York.

Gabriel’s Journey
Peachtree, Atlanta, 2008, 169 pp.
The blurb:
Thirteen-year-old Gabriel, a former slave, leaves behind his life as a professional jockey and joins his father in the Fifth U.S. Colored Cavalry at Camp Nelson, Kentucky.

Bell’s Star
Random House, New York, 2009, 114 pp, illus Ruth Sanderson
The blurb:
In the Vermont spring of 1853, Bell’s Star, a Morgan horse, and his owner Katie rescue a
runaway slave and try to outwit the slave catchers in order to help her to freedom.

Emma’s River
Peachtree, Atlanta, 2010, 142 pp, illus Paul Bachem
The blurb:
In 1852, Emma, her pregnant mother and her pony board the steamboat Sally May to meet
her father in St. Joseph, Missouri, but when the ship suddenly explodes in a fiery blaze, Emma and all onboard must fight for their survival in the icy waters of the Missouri River.

Whirlwind
Random House, New York, 2010, 263 pp
The blurb:
When thirteen-year-old Jas Schuler found her beloved mare Whirlwind dead in her padlock, she thought her heart would break. But now Jas knows the truth: Whirlwind is alive! Wealthy horse breeder Hugh Robicheaux faked the mare’s death, collected insurance money, then sold her to an unsuspecting buyer. And he’s going to get away with his crime, too—unless someone can find
Whirlwind. And that’s exactly what Jas plans to do.

Taking the Reins
American Girl, Middleton WI, 2010, 120 pp.
The blurb:
The reader makes a series of choices that determine how the story’s main character will deal with being asked to ride the spirited Silver Sky in a horse show after being thrown in her previous competition.

Risky Chance
Random House, New York, 2011, 153 pp, illus Ruth Sanderson
The blurb:
In the mid- to late-1930s, Risky Chance grows from a spirited colt to a winning racehorse,
but an injury and the Great Depression bring hardship that only a special little girl can help
him overcome.
