Margaret Cabell Self
Sky Rocket: The Story of a Little Bay Horse
Dodd, Mead 1970, illus Sam Savitt
A skinny, terrified horse is left by his dealer owner temporarily at the riding stables
of a Junior Cavalry Unit by his
dealer owner. The Commandant of the riding unit is
impressed by the spirit of the horse, and turns him over to
his son, 15 year old Tom.
Pamela, who is nervous and uncertain, helps. They discover that at some point in
his
live, Sky Rocket has been very well schooled.
A Second Treasury of Horse Stories
[ed Margaret Cabell Self)
Hutchinson, London, 1954
Margaret Cabell Self (1902-
included
some horse titles which should be in here: please let me know if I’ve missed something!
Margaret Cabell Self wrote around 40 books on training and showing horses, and on teaching young people how to ride. Some of her works were fictionalised true stories, and her first long fiction title, Sky Rocket, was based on the New Canaan Mounted Troop, of which she was Commandant. The original Sky Rocket she rescued from ill treatment, and rehabilitated.
She was brought up in Virginia, and could ride before she could walk. She was educated at the Women's School of Applied Design and the Parson School of Design in New York, where she met her husband, Sydney Baldwin Self. They moved to Connecticut, where Margaret picked up riding again. The Great Depression hit, and the Selfs thought they might have to sell their horses. Margaret Cabell self started to teach riding and to write to increase the family income. Her The Horseman’s Encyclopaedia was particularly successful.
In 1939, Self started the New Canaan Mounted Troop: "a non-
Margaret Cabell Self was a dynamo: as well as writing and running the NCMT, she had four children, played the violin and viola and salt water fished. She retired in 1962, and died in 1996.
Many thanks to Susan Bourgeau and Lisa Catz for all their help with this section.
Finding the Books: Ponies on Parade and Sky Rocket are reasonably easy to find. The Happy Year, Shaggy Little Burro and Susan and Jane are easy to find. The two Treasuries of Horse Stories are generally easy to find: the UK versions slightly less so because of the Michael Lyne connection.
Sources and Links:
The dustjacket of Sky Rocket
Terri A. Wear: Horse Stories, an Annotated Bibilography, Scarecrow Press, 1987
Bibliography -
Ponies on Parade
Dutton 1945, illus the author
Based on her own ponies, this is the story of Shoebutton, a stallion who is a mischief
maker, and bosses the
other ponies in the group. Gooch is a lonely and unpopular
old pony, finds a friend; Dandy tells his story, as
does T’aint So, who was so small
when born that he could be carried round like a dog.
A Treasury of Horse Stories
[ed Margaret Cabell Self)
A S Barnes & Co, New York, 1945
Hutchinson, London, 1953
Also:
The Happy Year
Channel Press, New York, 1963, photos Dennis Stock, 111 pp.
Jennifer and her horse Mr Buttercup join a Mounted Troop of the Junior Cavalry of America.
Susan and Jane Learn to Ride -
“Susan and Jane start taking riding lessons from Marcia and her ponies, and they
learn how to groom, saddle
the ponies, ride properly, and even fall off properly.”
Shaggy Little Burro of San Miguel
Duell, 1965, illus Betty Fraser
“The burro Peludo felt bad when people laughed at his long shaggy cinnamon coloured
coat, so he stayed in the field
and asked his mother to tell him all about the burros
she sees when she goes to work.”
