Looking at what ails the horse and pony mad child is instructive: before the Salk vaccine, polio was a real and present threat, and its after effects left many children permanently affected. These problems could be helped by riding, and there are many stories where a child is helped overcome the physical and mental affects of polio through horses. Not all children are cured: there are some who gain mobility and confidence, but remain disabled. Some novels deal with mental disabilities: Monica Edwards’ Rennie Goes Riding is an example of a girl who is physically affected by mental trauma.
Recovering from Illness (Equine)
C W Anderson: Salute –
C W Anderson: The Crooked Colt
Diana Tuke: Long Road to Harringey –
Vian Smith: King Sam/Tall and Proud –
Recovering from Illness (Human)
Hilda Boden: Little Grey Pony –
Nancy Caffrey: Pony Duet –
Sheila Chapman: Pony From Fire –
Primrose Cumming: Flying Horseman –
Maggie Dana: Best Friends/Timber Range Riders series –
Monica Dickens: World’s End in Winter –
Wendy Douthwaite: All Because of Polly –
Monica Edwards: Summer of the Great Secret –
Monica Edwards: Rennie Goes Riding –
Patsey Gray: Show Ring Rogue –
Myrtle Green: A Pony, Doctor’s Orders –
Lynn Hall: Half The Battle –
Nancy Hartwell: A “Blue” For Illi (republished as Blue Ribbon Winner) –
Beth Kincaid: Back in the Saddle –
Ann Knowles: The Stirrup and the Ground –
Dorothy Lyons: Dark Sunshine –
Alan Marshall: I Can Jump Puddles –
Kathleen Mackenzie: Pony and Trap –
Josephine Pullein-
Hope Ryden: Wild Horse Summer –
Vian Smith: King Sam (US Tall and Proud) –
Joyce Stranger: Stranger Than Fiction –
Sharon Wagner: Gypsy from Nowhere
Diane Lee Wilson: I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade
Riding for the Disabled/Coping with Disability
Fern B Brown: You’re Somebody Special on a Horse –
Audrey Constant: Hidden Prizes –
Monica Dickens: World’s End in Winter –
Marsha Hubler: The winning Summer –
Nancy Wright Grossman: A Leg up for Lucinda –
Alden Hatch: Bridle-
Toy Martin: A Bird in the Hand –
Mary May: Carol Lane series –
Frances Murray: White Hope –
Reginald Ottley: Black Sorrow
Vian Smith: Martin Rides the Moor –
Nancy Springer: Colt –
Horse Coping with Illness/Disability
C W Anderson: The Blind Connemara
Jeanne Betancourt: The Blind Pony
Fern G Brown: Hard Luck Horse –
Kathryn Cocquyt: Little Freddie’s Legacy –
Terri Farley: Free Again –
Mary Oldham: The White Pony –
K M Peyton: Blind Beauty –
Glen Rounds: Blind Outlaw
Glen Rounds: The Blind Colt
Glen Rounds: Stolen Pony –
Virginia Vail: Gift Horse –
Frances Wilbur: A Horse Called Holiday –