Jo Sykes

American author. Born in American Falls, Idaho. She owned a horse as a teenager, and as an adult worked on a ranch for many years. She shares a love of horses with a love of dogs. She was a founding member of the Gallatin Dog Club and was a breeder of Smooth Fox Terriers. Horses and dogs also feature largely in her books. Not surprisingly, considering her work, her horse stories all have a ranching theme.


Sources: Pony Book Chronicles blog, Horse Stories: an Annotated Bibliography by Terri A. Wear

Horse & Pony Books:

THE STUBBORN MARE
(WINSTON [USA] 1957)
ILLUSTRATED BY MANNING DE V. LEE
SUMMARY: Old Justin and the runaway boy Andy save a mare from barb wire and plan to turn her into a championship cutting horse.

TROUBLE CREEK
(HOLT, RINEHART & WINSTON [USA] 1963)
SUMMARY: Not sure how much horse content in this one. Teenager Ten Holland helps to search for a hunter lost at Trouble Creek. He soon finds himself investigating a number of mysteries.

CHIP ON HIS SHOULDER
(FUNK & WAGNALLS [USA] 1961)
SUMMARY: Juvenile delinquent Hamilton is sent to live with a family in Montana in an effort to reform him. Will the outdoors and the horses, especially the pinto outlaw Chip, have the desired effect?

SADDLE A THUNDERBOLT
(FUNK & WAGNALLS [USA] 1967)
Also a Book Club edition
SUMMARY: When his father is injured Bruce must take over the running of their troubled ranch. The place is hanging on by the skin of its teeth, saved in large part each year by the annual winning of The Cowboy Race by the family's prize race horse Buttermilk. When Buttermilk is lost, Bruce sets his sights on the wild Arab Rival as a potential ride for the race. But Wesley from a rival ranch wants the horse too…
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Collector's Info:
Reasonably easy to find in the USA. No British printings and the book is quite hard to find here and elsewhere outside of America.