9 books like The Outback Riders

Dick Francis combines the wonderful world of horses with crime mystery. Dick Francis wrote many books and later combined with his son, Felix, who continued the dynasty after his father’s death. This is exciting and factual fiction. In Come to Grief, Sid Halley, an ex-champion jockey turned investigator, uncovers an obnoxious crime committed by a close friend, whom he had held in high regard. 

Free Rein is the autobiography of two-time Australian Olympic champion, Gill Rolton, who famously remounted at the Atlanta Olympics with a broken collarbone to finish the team event. Gillian was a late starter to eventing at the age of twenty-one but went on to compete for thirty years. This autobiography reveals the injuries to herself and her horses which meant missing the LA and Seoul Olympics, the success she achieved with her wonderful horse, Peppermint Grove and her inclusion in the Australia Sporting Hall of Fame.

High, Wide, and Handsome is a non-fiction, pictorial history of Australian Showjumping from 1900-1950. These black and white photos depict the very different riding styles of showjumpers during these earlier years. Riding in long stirrups and even side-saddle, these fearless riders tackled enormous jumps on their courageous horses, up to nearly eight feet in height. Other photos show them jumping three or four abreast, the Section Fours, the riders sometimes going so far as to colour-co-ordinate their horses.

Jump for Joy was written by my favourite showjumper when I was growing up in London, Pat Smythe. One of the first two women to compete in the Olympics, Pat was a household name in England in the 1950s and 1960s and was awarded an OBE. Jump for Joy is one of several books she authored, and tells stories about some of her most famous horses, including Prince Hal and Tosca. I was thrilled to own this book in my teenage years. 

One of the main characters of this novel is a horse whisperer whose traumatic experiences on his eighth birthday have left him unable to speak. When he hears about stallions who are kept entirely indoors in order to produce a new drug, he sets out to ease their suffering. In the process, he meets Karen Lawford, the workaholic heir to the drug company, and tries to reawaken her love for horses so she can see that what is happening to the stallions is wrong, and tries to help her too. I love this well-crafted story of love and healing, but feel I should mention that it includes horses dying and being badly treated.

A Woman’s Journey of Healing & Transformation through the Way of the Horse. I was enthralled with Kohanov’s story of how she awakened to the spiritual presence of horses, and her research, along with the connections she made to mythology, was fascinating. When I read this book, I had two horses and an elderly mule, and while I’d always felt the emotional peace that comes from a horse’s presence, I was inspired to explore that more deeply and appreciate the spiritual connections they generate. 

I discovered Mark Rashid’s books when I was researching horse whispering for my own book, and I was so entranced by what he was saying that I went to one of his workshops to watch him in action. I love both the way he writes and the way he teaches from his own experiences and mistakes. This is not a training manual – it’s a book that will improve your understanding of horse behaviour and emotions so that you can work with them without force. 

I read this book when it was first published, and I couldn’t put it down. The story opens with a dreadful accident where a lorry hits two girls out riding together. One girl and her horse are killed, the other girl has life-changing injuries. and her horse is so traumatised that the vet suggests putting him down. However, her mother refuses to do that. Instead, she loads the horse into a trailer and takes him and her daughter to Montana to meet a horse whisperer who she hopes can heal them all. (NB Although this story features a child, it is not a children’s book.)

The story is narrated by Joey, a beautiful bay horse brought up on a farm, who is ‘called up’ during World War I to carry supplies, guns, and pull ambulances among the trenches of the Western Front. Joey witnesses the horror and futility of war with great compassion and a simplicity that still affects me today when I think of the 20 million people who died and the eight million horses, mules, and donkeys killed by their injuries, disease, and exhaustion. The book further resonates because I live in the town where Joey and 10 million soldiers and nurses, including my grandfather, left for France. The officers’ stables still stand at Shorncliffe Barracks and charity, the Shorncliffe Trust, is trying to get listed status to stop them being knocked down.