About the author
Frances Priddy wrote nine children’s books, of which three are horse stories. She was born in Decatur, Illinois, and was interested in horses from the time she was given a pony ride at a picnic at the age of two. She has had “every imaginable type of pet, from fish, up through the usual dogs and cats, to the present squirrel monkey.” Before settling down to writing, she worked for a detective agency. She started making up stories at a very early age, when she would construct, in great detail, the stories she wanted her mother to tell her at bedtime.
Finding the books
Grand Rogue is very hard to find indeed; Barbie isn’t hugely easy to find, and can be expensive. It’s usually ex-library when it does turn up. Pretty as a Princess is also extremely hard to find.
Sources and links
Dustjacket of The Grand Rogue
Many thanks to Susan Bourgeau and Alison MacCallum for all their help with this section.
Bibliography (horse books only)
The Grand Rogue
Dodd, Mead & Co, New York,1958, 244 pp
Megan Connaught buys a bay stallion at auction, and soon discovers he is a rogue. She is determined to reform him, but has no idea that Rogue will cause the loss of her job, or present her with a romantic dilemma. Rogue’s reform programme doesn’t go smoothly at all, and when her parents discover his past, it seems unlikely that Megan will be able to keep him, let alone
ride him in the New Year’s Day show.
Barbie
Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1960, 173 pp, cover Robert A Knight
Barbie didn’t actually want to win the Shetland pony, but she did. Keith Vaughn provides a romantic distraction, though his Greek God looks do not match his dreadful manners. Gil McDougal is quite different to Keith, and it was his father who raised Barbie’s Shetland. She manages to exchange
the Shetland on the McDougal farm for a bay mare called Twinkle, and develops an interest in both Twinkle and Gil, even though Keith won’t take no for an answer.
Pretty as a Princess
Arcadia, 1963
Gabrielle Mackenzie is going to spend the summer with an Arabian princess on the American horse show circuit.
SHORT STORY
The American Girl Book of Horse Stories
Random House, 1963, illus Sam Savitt
Short story – Palomino Cupid
