Album of Horses

by Marguerite Henry

  Another horseman I know soothes his horses with radio music. It keeps the fractious colt from kicking, he says, and the lonely weanling from crying. One Christmas morning, as I walked into his stable, it was like coming on a nativity scene. High and clear through the air came the song, “Away in a manger, no place for a bed. . . .” And to the rhythm of this gentle melody the horses were munching their sweet-smelling hay and the winter sun was streaming through the open door and a fuzzy colt was lying drowsy and warm in a little nest of straw. Such peace and contentment filled the stable that a mere human seemed an intruder.

  As I went crunching away in the snow, I had no words big enough for the peace and the good feeling, but suddenly a high joyous whinny floated out over the half-door. It said all I wanted to say—Merry Christmas!

  Author’s Note

  ALL DURING MY SCHOOL LIFE, and even before, I had wanted to know horses: how to tell a Thoroughbred from an Arabian, a Tennessee Walking Horse from an American Saddlebred, a Belgian from a Clydesdale, and on and on. I was equally curious to know in what country each was bred, and for what specific purpose.

  There was only one way to find out, and that was to write a book! First came exciting study in libraries—borrowing books, ten at a clip, and poking around in the stacks for more. What a world I was getting into! But that only prodded me on.

  After months of research, I was ready for action. With a bundle of notebooks and a camera, I charged across land and sea—from the Arabian Ranch in Pomona, California, to the Morgan Horse Farm in Vermont; from Thoroughbred and Standardbred stables in Kentucky to the Lipizzaner stud in Austria.

  I dogged the footsteps of world-famous horsemen—like Colonel Alois Podhajsky of the Spanish Riding School and old Samuel Riddle, owner of the legendary Man o’ War. I met jockeys and horseshoers, cowpunchers and mule skinners, mounted policemen and circus trainers.

  The days were never long enough. At night, by telephone and letter, I bombarded specialists in animal husbandry, genetics, and veterinary medicine.

  Then one day I knew I had to start organizing the book, or the focus would be gone. At first everything worked out smoothly. The Percheron, Belgian, Clydesdale, and Shire all fitted into the section on draft horses; the Thoroughbred and Standardbred into the section on racehorses; the American Saddle Horse and Tennessee Walking Horse into the pleasure group. But what to do with the little Morgan? He could pull heavier logs than draft horses. He could draw a carriage with as much elegance as a Hackney. He ran faster than two famous Thoroughbreds. Here was a horse that demanded a book all his own.

  When the Morgan book was finished, I turned once more to the ALBUM OF HORSES, but again I was interrupted, this time by the birth of Misty.

  No less than five horse books nuzzled their way into being before the ALBUM was finally completed. But who knows? Perhaps it could never have been written without these intervening adventures.

  M.H.

  MARGUERITE HENRY was the beloved author of such classic horse stories as King of the Wind, Misty of Chincoteague, and Justin Morgan Had a Horse. By the time she died in 1997, she had written fifty-eight books about animals, especially horses.

  WESLEY DENNIS was best known for his illustrations in collaboration with author Marguerite Henry. They published fifteen books together.

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  ALADDIN

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  This Aladdin hardcover edition November 2015

  Copyright © 1951 by Rand McNally & Company

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  Jacket designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena

  Jacket illustrations by Wesley Dennis

  Jacket illustrations copyright © 1951 by Rand McNally & Company

  Interior designed by Jacquelynne Hudson

  The text of this book was set in Adobe Garamond Pro.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Henry, Marguerite.

  Album of horses / by Marguerite Henry ; illustrated by Wesley Dennis.—1st Aladdin ed.

  p. cm.

  Originally published: Chicago : Rand McNally, c1951

  Summary: Describes the world of horses and the various breeds, including the American Saddle Horse, Tennessee Walking Horse, and Clydesdale.

  1. Horses—Juvenile literature. 2. Horse breeds—Juvenile literature. [1. Horses 2. Horse breeds.] 1. Dennis, Wesley, ill. II. Title

  SF302.H44 1993

  636.1—dc2092-33009

  ISBN 978-1-4814-4258-9 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-4301-2 (eBook)