What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

^^well I can't think of another way to put it. I read this book about 25 years ago (yipes). It's about a (famous?) horse in England that wasn't expected to race very well because his conformation was all wrong--as I recall he "looked like he was standing in a hole", that is, his back end sloped down to his front instead of being level. Anyway, he was trained for racing (steeplechase?) on the sly by a highwayman and...typical happy ending. I read this one at around the same time I read "King of the Wind", and I remember them being very similar. That's all I got. Thanks.

Was this nonfiction?

Cynthia wrote: "Was this nonfiction?"
Historical fiction I think. That is, I'm pretty sure it was a real horse, and I want to say the time period was maybe 18th century?

Oh, I was just thinking of King of the Wind but it's not that then. Black Beauty is the only horse book I can come up with but.. Hmh.

about his conformation - did the horse have something like sway back?

no I don't think so, his hindquarters were just taller than his withers. as I recall. but all the riding long distances at night & all developed him into a really fast horse. It was back when I was reading about famous 'foundation studs' like the Godolphin Arabian, Aristedes & such. So I think the horse fell into that category.

Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry

Also, have you tried checking this list https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8... ???

I tried the list, Cynthia, and..no dice. thanks for the effort tho. I was amazed at all the books I recognized...gah I was a horse-crazy child! Walter Farley and Marguerite Henry were two of my favorite authors. I really wish I could just take a peek back at the shelf of my tiny elementary school library...

oh so do I! I remember one fairy tale book my elementary school had that was amazing. It was a collection of works from Hans Christian Andersen, fully illustrated, from what I do remember but I haven't been able to find the exact copy since. It sucks though because I remember the exact shelf it was on and where it was at my school.

Did you check all of Marguerite Henry's books? They're all horses and all based on real history.

I just looked through the list, Michele, and nothing strikes a chord. how frustrating.

bumping - Christi, any luck?

Could it have been a book about Seabiscuit?
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n_...

It was older than that as I recall--the book took place in the 1700's I think, definitely in England...highwaymen and all that. I think the name of the horse was Artistedes?

Aristides was an American thoroughbred and the winner of the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, which would have meant the book was set in America. Are you 100% positive the book was set in England?

Another possibility, because the horse was weird-looking: Old Bones the Wonder Horse.

Honestly I'm not 100% sure about much I guess. Odd-looking horse, trained for racing by a highwayman, too many horse books & now so much time has passed that I have them all mixed up in my head. Thanks for your time, now I feel like it's a lost cause 😟

Something by K.M. Peyton? She has several children's/YA horsey books but nothing I've seen so far set that early, or with a highwayman.

Christi--don't give up. Sooner or later one of us lovers of horse books will remember what this is. Just bump your thread up periodically.

Captain Lightfoot: The Last of the New England Highwaymen. Michael Martin. (Rediscovering America, House Ser). 1970.
?

Captain Lightfoot for the click.

Christi, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

Haven't given up completely, just on hiatus. Thanks for all the help so far. Seems like there was a whole shelf in my school library with nothing but Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley stories. So that's the era I'm talking about. These books were old when I read them in the 80's, haha.

Christi, I added some plot details to the topic header, so your book might be recognized from the header alone. Feel free to update it by clicking the small "edit" link after the header. This only works on the full Desktop website – not the Mobile website or app.