Book Review - Sources for Horse Books
by Leslie Kathman

I am, without question, a book junkie. My husband and I both purchase (and read through) fiction books at an alarming rate. Since my son became old enough to be read to, picture books entered the scene and we are amassing an ever-growing collection of those (I really only needed the excuse of a child, since I always wanted these books anyway!). But none of these rivals my true obsession -- horse books. More specifically, those horse books that focus on particular breeds. I often jokingly tell my model horse friends that the reason I do not have any actual models in my house is that they are always old to finance this particular addiction I have.

If my friends within the Pedigree Assignment hobby are any indication, I suspect that I am not alone in this weakness. Many of us are book collectors, at least if our discretionary funds allow us to be! For that reason, I thought others might find a list of booksellers and publishers who specialize in horse books (and pedigree related books in particular) to be useful. Please remember when writing to these sources to include a SASE or International Reply Coupon.

New Book Sellers

The Ultimate Horse Book Store
P.O. Box 441
Salisbury, CT 06068
(860) 824-7210
www.horsebooksonline.com

My experience with this seller is relatively limited, since I only recently ran across them while browsing on the Internet. Nonetheless, they have an excellent selection and seem to rapidly stock new titles. I am not sure if they publish a printed catalog, but they do offer online shopping with a secure line for credit card orders. So far they have been extremely prompt in shipping things, even when the items purchased have to be back-ordered. Their website can be searched by subject, which does make it easy to find books on specific breeds -- even if you don't know if one has been published.

Knight Equestrian Books
P.O. Box 78
Edgecomb, ME 04556
(207) 882-5494

Not open on Mondays. I have dealt with this company for years, having first encountered them at a trade show in Lexington. The vast majority of books in my collection that were purchased while still in print have come from Knight, and I have always been pleased with their customer service. They do publish a printed catalog (my most recent copy is 60+ pages) and carry a wide selection of books including foreign titles.

Arabian Horse Trust
12000 Zuni Street
Westminster, CO 80234
(303) 450-4710

The Arabian Horse Trust is actually a museum and library for the Arabian horse, and a great place to do research if you happen to live nearby or have occasion to visit the Boulder area. It also sells a fairly good selection of Arabian books, many of which are hard to find anywhere else. The books can be purchased at the library, or they may be mail ordered. A mail order catalog of books, videos, and other items is available.

Publishers (Direct Sales)

Premier Publishing
P.O. Box 137
Wamego, KS 66547
(913) 456-2074

Although probably best known for printing the Stallion Finder, a directory of Quarter Horse, Paint, and Thoroughbred stallions, Premier also published a large number of books for those who research Quarter Horse pedigrees. Most of these books contain information that is very hard to find anywhere else, and the books are almost all reasonably priced compared to most horse books (which are generally small press runs and therefore rather expensive). They also sell related books published by others through their catalog, and can often help buyers who are looking to purchase second-hand books on stock breeds, particularly stud books.

Breeder's Guide Publishing
P.O. Box 98
Pendleton, KY 40005
(800) 627-5273
www.breedersguide.com

This is the company that publishes the Breeder's Guides, which are one of the best resources for Pedigree Assigners around! Each book has full page entries that advertise stallions at stud. Each entry includes a photograph, descriptions of the color and markings, a foaling date, and an extended pedigree. Each year the company published four different books; Morgans, Saddlebreds, Walking Horses, and Arabians. The books, which average over 200 pages each, are only around $10. Limited supplies of back issues from past years are also available.

J.A. Allen and Company
1 Lower Gorsvenor Placer
London, SW1W OEL

I am not sure if this company still sells directly to the public, but sending for a list of their horse books is certainly worth the effort. J.A. Allen publishes some of the finest books on horse breeds to be found. They do tend to focus on the British breeders, though they have published books on American breeds as they are bred overseas.

Used Book Dealers

October Farm
2609 Branch Road
Raleigh, NC 27610
(919) 779-6265

Barbara Cole, who runs October Farm, has one of the broader selections of used horse books. She publishes a regular catalog and is very reliable about sending out regular updates to customers.

Robin Bledsoe
1640 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 576-3634

Robin Bledsoe has probably been dealing in rare horse books longer than most, and she is probably the person to go to if you are looking for something especially rare. Like October Farm, she publishes regular catalogs, though they do not seem to come out as often. She also sells in-print horse books, and often has some rather exotic things on her saleslist. I have also found her the most willing to try to order unusual books from overseas.

eBay
www.ebay.com

Nowadays, this is probably the preferred way to get used horse books. Since participating in eBay, I have been able to fill in more gaps in my collection that I have in years of searching used book stores. It is even possible to get really good deals, particularly on old magazines. Because there is no specific category for horse books, the best bet to find what you are looking for is to type in the name of the breed in the title search box. Another good keyword to search is "stud book", though this will bring up some non-equine stud books as well.

I am always looking for booksellers that stock horse books (particularly used ones) and for small publishing companies who produce horse books, so if there are members who know of any that are not listed here, please contact me!

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