Michael Maguire

Jane Badger Books

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.

Finding the books: Mylor is not impossible to find, but is more expensive than the usual pony paperback. The hardback is fairly expensive. The Kidnap was not printed in paperback, so isn’t always easy to find, and can be expensive. Swiftly is reasonably easy to find.

Racing Novels
Shot Silk
Wingate, 1975

Slaughter Horse
Wingate, 1975

Scratchproof
W H Allen, 1976

Scorcher
W H Allen, 1988

Other Children’s
Superkids
W H Allen, 1978

Michael Maguire

Mylor: The Most Powerful Horse in the World

W H Allen, 1976, illus Nick Morgan
Target, pb, 1977

Roger and Angel Young meet the Professor, and his amazing horse, Mylor. Mylor is
not a normal horse: he is a machine, but one blessed with a mind of his own, and the
ability to talk.

Mylor: The Kidnap

W H Allen, 1978, illus Nick Morgan

“Returning to Parkway Grange for the holidays, Roger and Angel Young are extremely anxious. The last time they
saw Mylor, he had had a terrible accident. Had the Professor been able to restore the magnificent, life-like electronic
horse? As it turns out, Mylor is as perfect as ever, but almost everything else isn't... Parkway Grange, the beautiful
maze-surrounded home of the Professor and Boff, is to be sold unless £50,000 can be raised. Glen Striker, a
sinister and cruel neighbour, constantly turns up at the oddest places and clearly has plans involving Mylor.
Angel, Roger and Boff's new friendship with Davina and Prince Aziz seems threated by the fact that Davina's father
is the one who is foreclosing the mortgage on Parkway Grange. Trouble follows trouble with Mylor's disappearance,
threats, fights, and kidnapping, all building towards an exciting action-packed climax at a medieval joust.”

Swiftly

The Book Guild, 1998

Oyster Gables Animal Shelter is in the village of Swiftly, and they give a home to Degsey, an injured Irish
greyhound, who seems to have mysterious powers. When horses are stolen from the neighbourhood,
Sky and Daniel, who work at the Shelter, have a mystery on their hands, but Degsey helps in some rather
strange ways.

Bibliography - pony books only