Horse fiction is a genre that includes stories about horses and their owners, with famous books like Black Beauty and The Horse Whisperer. Children’s equestrian fiction often features horses as main characters, while adult stories revolve around human characters. Authors must do research to avoid mistakes, as readers may know more about horses. Horses have a rich history and are a source of sentimental fiction.
Horse fiction is a genre of writing that emphasizes stories about horses and their owners. Some famous books include Black Beauty, The Horse Whisperer and King of the Wind. These narratives are mostly regarded as children’s fiction, although there are adult books in this category as well. Authors interested in writing novels about horses need to be sure to do their research, as readers of the genre may know more about the animals than they do.
Typical elements of equestrian fiction for children include the horse as one of the main characters and a point of view can come from the animal itself. The narrative is usually plot-driven, with an adventure such as a race or mystery. Adult stories like Nicholas Evans’ The Horse Whisperer, about a cowboy who heals both a traumatized animal and his family, have more serious themes and tend to revolve around human characters. Westerns and fantasy novels may incorporate horses as part of the setting rather than the protagonists themselves.
One of the most famous examples of equestrian fiction is Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty. The book is written in the first person from the horse’s point of view, and chronicles his early life on a farm and through a succession of owners, some of them cruel. The beauty tale was used as a practical lesson for children in the humane treatment of horses. Representations of London’s horse-drawn cabs and abusive reins used at the time triggered the abolition of unfair license fees and also the reins.
Marguerite Henry wrote 59 books about horses, including Misty of Chincoteague and King of the Wind, winner of the 1949 Newbery Award for excellence in children’s literature. King of the Wind is a fictionalized account of the Godolphin Arabian, the ancestor of modern thoroughbred horses. Walter Farley’s Black Stallion series, starting with the original book in 1941, has been wildly popular for many years. It is the story of a boy who tames a wild stallion and rides it to victory in a match race, and has captivated countless readers and inspired at least three films.
Writers interested in producing novels about horses should know something about animals. Since most readers of the genre are quite interested in horses, they may be more familiar with the grip and behavior than the average person and won’t hesitate to point out mistakes. Good research can help get the details right when placing horses in Western, fantasy, and contemporary novels. Horses have a long history of utility and companionship, and are rich sources of fictional sentimentality.
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