Mary Stewart

Prolific author who writes mainly fantasy and gothic/romantic suspense novels. She was born in 1916 in Sunderland (which is incidentally also my home town!) but has lived for many years in Scotland (where many of her books are set). Was a teacher and lecturer as well as an author. Perhaps best known for her very popular 'Merlin' series.

As far as I know only wrote 2 horse themed books. One is an adult crime/romance featuring Lippizaner horses and the other is a children's fantasy. They are not traditional pony books at all but both good solid reads.


Pony Books:

AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND

(HODDER & STOUGHTON 1965)
Reprinted a number of times in hardback and paperback.
SUMMARY: Adult romantic suspense novel with a Lippizaner horse theme. Vanessa sees her husband on a newsreel clip of a fire in Austria with his arms around a young blonde. As he has told her that he is on business in Sweden she begins to suspect he is having an affair and sets off to Austria to find him and confront him. Accompanying her is Timothy, the teenage son of a friend who wants to visit Austria to see his estranged father and also to pursue his dream of working with Lippizaners. The pair arrive in Vienna and become mixed up in the world of a circus and its performing dressage Lippizaner horses. Soon Vanessa finds out, not only the truth about her husband, but also the dangerous secret behind one of the circus horses.
PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES

LUDO AND THE STAR HORSE
(BROCKHAMPTON 1974)
ILLUSTRATED BY GINO D'ACHILLE
Reprinted in hardback and in paperback more than once.
SUMMARY: Unusual children's fantasy novel set in Bavaria some time in the past. When the family horse Renti runs off, young Ludo sets off to bring him home, only to discover that Renti is actually a star horse and is returning to his own kind. Ludo loves the horse and decides to accompany Renti on his strange and perilous journey through the lands of the Zodiac.

Collectors info:
Both easy to find in paperback and fairly easy to find in hardback from internet bookshops. Airs Above the Ground can also be still found in some libraries.