C. W. Anderson's Favorite Horse Stories

The books in this section are usually hardcover and in decent shape, though we'll sometimes offer hard-to-find books in lesser condition at a reduced price. Though we often put images of the book with their original dust jackets, the copies here won't always (or even often) have them. If that is important to you, please call ahead or say so in the order comments!

Through the years, as my interest in horses grew, I collected all available material in this field. The collection of factual writing grew apace but the shelf devoted to fiction on the subject remained small. Having horses as constant companions gave me a realization of their qualities and characteristics and consequently made me more aware of what rang false in stories about them. Too many writers in this field have had little equipment for the task other than enthusiasm and a vivid imagination; not good substitutes for real knowledge.

From this shelf-a collection of thirty years and from those stories of actual horses whose careers read like fiction, these are selected in the hope that the reader may have tastes akin to mine.

Many of these stories have long been out of print and so will be new to present-day readers. Will James and Ross Santee lived the life they wrote, and since they and the West they knew are gone, the stories are unique. Horses with such unusual personalities as Brown Jack and The Tetrarch, and riders with Steve Donoghue's perception and understanding may not come our way again.

And Man o' War! What anthology would be complete without him. As one noted turf writer said, "He was as near to living flame as horses ever get."

C. W. Anderson