Five True Horse Stories

by Margaret Davidson, Sandy Rarinowitz (Illustrator)

An anthology of five horse stories including the saga of a famous Chincoteague pony and Justin Morgan's big little horse.

Genres: Animals, Horses, Nonfiction, Chapter Books, Juvenile, Childrens

62 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Margaret Davidson grew up in New York City. As a child, she always loved to read.

She initially published books under her nickname and maiden name of Mickie Compere and also as Mickie Davidson

She has written many biographies, true stories about people's lives. Some famous people she has written biographies about are Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Golda Meir.

Reviews

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

🐎
A sweet little book that would be a good introduction for younger readers to learn more about horses. The story of the pacing white stallion was very sad, though I appreciated that they didn't try to make it end happily just because it's a story for younger readers. I think my favourite was the one about Brighty the Donkey --Marguerite Henry has a book about him that I now want to track down.

[Daniel L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

True Stories for Horse Lovers

Margaret Davidson is a wonderful storyteller. Though Ms. Davidson is better known for her biographies, which are excellent, she applies the talent of her pen to explain the origin of five equine breeds. We learn how the Morgan horse got its name (through an interesting man by the name of Justin Morgan), the Pacing White Mustang - the horse with a wild spirit that could not be tamed, the story of Misty - made famous by Marguerite Henry in her classic novels, a donkey named Brighty (also by Marguerite Henry), and the story of clever Hans. The equines in this book actually lived; in most cases, they started in beloved classics. This little book is a fine introduction to these wonderful characters.

[Sandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this book many times in my childhood and I still have my childhood copy which I read to my kids and hope to read to my grandson one of these days.
Five stories, all good!
I love the one about Justin Morgan's horse as well as the very sad Pacing White Mustang.
I had never heard of Clever Hans before reading this book and never any other time since this book, it would be interesting to find out more about him though.
Two other stories about Misty and Brighty were ones I had read about before through Marguerite Henry's stories about them. She is another wonderful storyteller.
Such an old book, but definitely still a good one and will be appreciated by young horse crazy people still! With the internet at our fingertips, there is so much more you can find out about each one of these stories and the places they took place. Is Bright Angel Trail still open, does Chincoteague still have the pony auctions, and so much more.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sketchy but cute biographies of five famous equines, including Misty of Chincoteague, Figure (Justin Morgan), the Pacing White Mustang and Clever Hans. The illustrations are a bit blocky but not too distracting. I had a first edition paperback and lost it. Oh, well!

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

James liked how Hans could read people’s minds and tap his hoof to answer math problems. He was really excited to learn that we have longer books about some of the animals highlighted in this short book. It was interesting to see that for one chapter, the author included a donkey instead of a horse.

[Horselover Horsegirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't go for short stories, but if you love horses as much as I do, you need this book. These stories are perfect. I like the book experiments with animals like an adorable donkey. I used to have this book, but my dog ripped it to bits and I cried over it. I found a new one yesterday and the stories still warm my heart every time I read one of them.

[Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book so much. I have read it every year since second grade, and with each year I appreciate the writing style more. Like, to put it simply: this book is nostalgic in every way for me.

[Princess · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is were i found my dream horse my morgen horses

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the stories but one had a sad ending for lil kids this is not a book to read to them or to have them read.

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't remember when I had read this; too long. As far as it is true in my memory, this is the first book that I had possessed--it was my brother's book but he passed it to me and I have passed it to another little brother already--but it was my best book (yeah, it was my only book but I liked it very very much). I had read it countless of times, and had already forgotten it until I suddenly happened to remember about horses today. How could I ever forget this one? I called my brother through my phone, asked its ISBN and have added it in my Goodreads with full 5 star rating remembering how much I had enjoyed reading this in my childhood days. :)

[Leto · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a story about a white mustang and it was a prancing white mustang horse. He was prancing away from some people who wanted to kill him but he didn't die, he pranced so far until he got to a canyon where a cowboy just fell into the canyon. Then the cowboy climbed up and owned the mustang. He didn't even drink or eat for a long time. For the 10th day the white mustang died from old age.
Misty was a baby horse. Then he just had a blue stool for one of his hooves to go on the blue stool. He learned how to shake hands. He had a baby girl horse.
This book was so fun! I loved to read it. It is so cool and very nice.
[reviewed by a 6 year old, typed by his mom]

[Ayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five true stories about 4 horses and a donkey. Each story was remarkable in its own way. I was truly saddened about the white mustang, how it was hunted down until it was caught, and instead of releasing it after a week of not eating or drinking, they kept it corralled until it died. Of all the stories, that one was the saddest and didn't fit in with the other stories. Justin Morgan was the origin of it's breed. Brighty was a tough little donkey who lived freely and opened the Grand Canyon to us. Misty was a pony we heard about in stories, who' s notoriety help save her wild pony community. As for Hans a truly perceptive horse who may have been 'Mr. Ed' s' inspiration.

[Joanne Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's amazing what horses can do!

[The Children · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some sad stories here.

[Rivkah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very sweet bunch of stories.

[N-boy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great! It was all about Brighty, Clever Hans, and other famous horses. Thanks Grammy!

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite story was misty, because I have the Misty of Chiconteague book

[Lila · Rating 5 out of 5]

my daughter's book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A childhood book of mine - revisiting. Great 'true story' horse tales.