Thomas C Hinkle

Dr Thomas Clark Hinkle (1876-1949) wrote many children’s books featuring animals:  he was a reasonably prolific horse book author, with 11 titles to his name, but wrote even more books about dogs - 19 that I have been able to find.  There is a certain similarity in plot in his horse books, so much so that I began to wonder when cataloguing if the books were in fact reprints rather than original titles.  Many of them have a hero whose name begins with “J” who tames a horse from colthood: the horse then is torn away from J by some means; undergoes a torrid time, and is then reunited with “J”.  

At least one of his books was based on a real horse, and on the author’s experiences. Of meeting the original of Tornado Boy, Hinkle wrote:  "...I remember I put my hands on his head as he reached down to me and even though I was but a boy there was something about his big dark eyes that made me feel he had so much sense that I need not be afraid of him... I remember he held very still and closed his eyes as I felt the thrill of the velvet touch of his nose and listened to the men stand and talk about him..."

Many thanks to Lisa Catz, Hannah Fleetwood, Sarah Grace Books and ebay sellers magicalgirl and sparkles2ndtimearound for all the photographs.

Finding the Books:  Black Tiger was published in the UK as a Children’s Press edition. As such, it’s highly likely it’s abridged, as were many Children’s Press titles.  It is however, extremely easy to find.  Several of his other horse titles were also published in the UK; they don’t crop up terribly often, but are usually reasonably priced  when they do.  First US editions can be expensive; but reprints are common, and not expensive.

Sources and Links:

Tornado Boy, author’s note

Terri A. Wear:  Horse Stories, an Annotated Bibilography, Scarecrow Press, 1987

Bibliography - horse books only

Black Storm, a Horse of the Kansas Hills

W Morrow & Co, New York, 1929,
Reprinted 1945

Scholastic Book Services, 1964, pb

New York Pocket Book, 1950, illus Thomas L Sinnickson, pb

Chapman and Hall, London, 1930

Black Storm can only be ridden by Joe Bain, but then the horse is stolen.  He has a torrid time until he is reunited
with Joe.

Black Tiger, the Story of a Faithful Horse

W Morrow & Co, New York,  1952, 188 pp.

Grosset & Dunlap, Famous Horse Series

Collins Seagull, London, 1957

Children’s Press, London, 1964

The colt Black Tiger spends a little time with Jim Summers, but then the colt is spirited
away by his mother, and pursued by horse thieves.

Blaze Face, the Story of a Horse

W Morrow & Co, New York, 1947, 191 pp.

Joe has trained Blaze Face, his black horse, up from a colt, but then the horse is stolen.  He has many different
owners before he is reunited with Joe.

Dapple Gray

W Morrow & Co, New York, 1950, 192 pp.

Grosset & Dunlap, Famous Horse Series

As  Dapple Gray, the Story of a Rocking Horse, George G Harrap, London, 1962

Charley and his horse Dapple Gray set out to try and kill a grizzly bear before it can kill any more stock.

Tornado Boy, a Horse of the West

W Morrow & Co, New York, 1930

Grosset & Dunlap

Chapman & Hall, London, 1931

Many thanks to ebay seller sparkles2ndtimearound for the picture on the left.

Tornada Boy, a blue roan, roams in the wild, and survives the desert, an ice storm and
poisoning before he is reunited, in the middle of a cattle stampede, with the boy who
owned him as a colt.

Silver, the Story of a Wild Horse

W Morrow & Co, 1934, New York, 245 pp.

Comet Books, 1949, pb, illus Pers Crowell

Scholastic Book Services, 1960, pb

Tab Books, pb

As Wild Horse Silver, Arrowsmith, London, 1934, 224 pp.

Charlie Burr captures the mare Old Dun and her foal Silver.  He manages
to brand Silver before Old Dun breaks out and takes Silver back to the
herd.

Hurricane Pinto, the Story of an Outlaw Horse

W Morrow & Co, New York, 1935, 257 pp.

Grosset & Dunlap, 1939
As Pinto, the Mustang, the Story of an Outlaw Horse, Arrowsmith, London, 1935, 222 pp.

Pinto is wild:  he throws off everyone who tries to ride him, apart from Joe Gunnison.  Horse thieves also
want Pinto, and he and Joe have to make a dangerous journey through Death Valley to escape them.

Cinchfoot, the Story of a Range Horse

W Morrow & Co, New York, 1938, 253 pp.

Grosset & Dunlap, Famous Horse Series

Hutchinson & Co, London, 1939, 190 pp.

Blaze Face and Cinchfoot roam together on the range:  they prefer freedom to being caught by the Mexican
rodeo stock suppliers, or Clem, who is after them too.

Buckskin, the Story of a Western Horse

W Morrow & Co, New York, 1939, 247 pp.

Ward, Lock & Co, London, 1949, 128 pp.

Jim Carney tames Buckskin, but Buckskin has an unfortunate life after he leaves Jim.  They are eventually
reunited, and Buckskin shows his devotion by saving Jim’s life in a flood.

Mustang, a Horse of the Old West

Morrow, New York, 1942, 247 pp.

Grosset & Dunlap, Famous Horse Series

New York Pocket Books, 1950, illus Laurence Bjorklund, 186 pp.

Sam’s bay horse Mustang is stolen, and goes through several masters
before Old Bill, a horse who grazed with Mustang when he was young, lures
him back to Sam’s ranch.

Tomakawk, Fighting Horse of the Old West

W Morrow & Co, New York, 1944, 192 pp.

Grosset & Dunlap
Lutterworth, London, 1947, 160 pp.

Dan trains the sorrel horse Tomahawk, but he is stolen.  Even though he is away from the ranch for years, he
returns, and still remembers the cow who injured him when he was young.