Jo Sykes

The Stubborn Mare

The John C. Winston Company 1957, Phhiladelphia, 183 pp.  Illus Manning deV. Lee

“Together, the aged man and the troubled youth fight desperately to save the courageous mare, Joey. When
Justin breaks his leg in a hunting accident, Andy remains to care for the two invalids. During the bleak months
of struggle to overcome poverty and the bitter winter, Andy hunts for bobcat and deer, fights off a wounded buck
and a wild dog, and attends to the cores around the barn and cabin from dawn to dusk. The two lonely men
develop a close bond of affection and respect which grows out of their love an concern for Joey and her newborn
colt. But trouble still stalks Andy, and suddenly he is gone as swiftly as he came. In an effort to lessen his sorrow, Justin turns to Joey and discovers she is a natural-born cutting horse.”

Chip on His Shoulder

Funk & Wagnalls, New York, 1961, 186 pp, cover art Ernie Barth

Hamilton Roark was a troublemaker.  Then he met a  policeman he could respect, and dropped out of membership
of his gang.  Then he was arrested with the gang, and instead of being sent to reform school, offered the chance to
go to Montana and start a new life.  He goes to stay with Cal Stuart, a horse dealer, and there meets an outlaw
red and white gelding whom he instantly feels a bond with.

Trouble Creek

Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York,  1963, 217 pp.  

cover art by Brinton Turkle

“Filled with the excitement of wild bears, stray bullets, and big game, the plot of Trouble Creek revolves around
sixteen-year-old Ten Holland and his resented stepfather, Dick Greer. Hired to help find young Alvin Brighton, who
disappeared on a hunting trip near Trouble Creek, Ten is soon involved in a series of strange and hazardous incidents,
including the unexpected discovery of a gang of poachers. The questionable behavior of Alvin's brother, George,
adds to Ten's growing suspicious about the lost hunter's fate.”

Jo Sykes was born in American Falls, Idaho, and lived near Livingston, Montana.  She bought her first horse in her teens, and worked as a ranch hand on and off for ten years.  Anything which had to be donen on the ranch, she did.  She also managed to attend college, going to MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinor and Rocky Mountain College, Billings, Montana. To make ends meet, she also worked tying dry flies in a fishing tackle shop, was a children's librarian,an extra in a Western movie and a rodeo clown.   She also wrote two books about dogs, and bred Smooth Fox Terriers.  Her greatest love though was writing about Montana and horses:  she hoped, through her books, to make her readers appreciate the virtues of the Western stock horse.  

Finding the books:  none of her titles were published in the UK, but all are easy to find in the USA, and generally reasonably priced.

Sources and Links:

The Stubborn Mare
A review of Saddle a Thunderbolt

Bibliography - horse books only

Saddle a Thunderbolt

Funk & Wagnalls, New York 1967, 192 pp.

jacket design by author.  Click here for a review.

“Bruce Hubbard is all alone on the ranch during the summer before his senior hyear in high school, and with his
father in the hospital and bills mounting, his responsibilities are those of a man. Almost singlehandedly he fights to
save the small Hubbard spread from the clutches of Clifford Walterbaugh, hostile new owner of the adjoining Heart
Seven Ranch. Bruce's one bright hope tis to win the annual Cowboy Race, a grueling test of a horse's speed and
endurance over four miles of natural terrain. For two years in a row, he has won this classic contest - Montana's
richest horse race - on Buttermilk, , his father's dun gelding, but now Buttermilk has disappeared, and Bruce has
only his own carelessness to blame.”

Also

Wolf Dog of Ambush Canyon

Rinehart & Winston, 1959

Leashed Lightning

Rinehart & Winston, 1969