Michael Maguire (1945- ) is better known for his racing novels, but he wrote two wildly unusual pony books in the 1970s about a robotic horse called Mylor. Despite being man-made, Mylor has character, heart and enough strength of will to propel an entire pony club.
The books are not particularly easy to find: Mylor, the Most Powerful Horse in the World was reprinted in a paperback, but Mylor: The Kidnap, only ever appeared in hardback. Michael Maguire has written another book which is set in an Animal Rescue Centre, and which does involve horses. Swiftly is not, I think, as good as his Mylor books. It has something of the same fantastical elements (a mystical greyhound) but it’s not written with the same dash and verve of Mylor, which carry the reader effortlessly along.
Bibliography
Pony Books
Mylor, the Most Powerful Horse in the World
W H Allen, 1976, illus Nick Morgan
Target, pb, 1977
Mylor: The Kidnap
W H Allen, 1978, illus Nick Morgan
Swiftly
Book Guild, 1998
Racing Novels
Shot Silk
Wingate, 1975
Slaughter Horse
Wingate, 1975
Scratchproof
W H Allen, 1976
Scorcher
W H Allen, 1988
Other Children’s
Superkids
