A couple recent discussions here got me remembering some of the terrible books I read and loved as a teen – like, um Friday and the Thomas Covenant series (gah!).  Thank goodness for DF for providing a palette cleanser and a much saner and healthier view of human sexuality and relationships in general.

She’s also written the non-fiction Writing Horses for writers, based on her series of blog posts at BVC.

Oh right, and then there’s still her A Wind in Cairo from the 80s, which has a sort of 1001 Nights/Crusades feel to it: a young man gets deservedly cursed to become an Arabian stallion and learns real love and real discipline at the hands of his eventual owner, a young woman of good breeding.

But really, even outside all the horses, you can’t go wrong with Judith Tarr fantasy.

Dick Frances is also a great example of the type of infodump you referenced. I learned something with just about every one of his books. If it wasn’t horses and racing, it was glass blowing or precious gems or photography.

(Literary Slut Kilian):

I also learned something from every book, whether it was horse transport, racetrack catering, or flying.

Absolutely.  This kind of well-researched detail was typical of his books, and it was also a major part of the pleasure of reading them. 
To me, it seems facile to say that ‘too much information’ is bad, or ‘first person point of view’, or ‘the author’s voice intruding’ on the story:  these things are not good or bad in themselves.  They can be done well or badly, and furthermore, different readers have different tastes, so not everyone will like them even if they are done with skill.  But Dick Francis is an ideal example to quote against those who regard ‘infodump’ and 1st-person as no-nos:  his writing was readable, lively and gripping, and his books remain immensely, and deservedly,  popular.

I knew that Francis’ wife had died and that he was writing with his son. I also learned something from every book, whether it was horse transport, racetrack catering, or flying. Prior to reading Francis I didn’t know that some jockeys prefer champagne to food and refuse to have sex the night before a race. I loved Sid Halley, one of his early characters and admired his strength and courage.

He will be missed.

I loved all his heroes. Clever, stubborn men of honor who refused to be bullied. I deeply regret his loss.

Still writing.

Well, right up to the end, anyway.  Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of 90.  He stopped writing for a few years in his early 80s after his wife’s death, and his last four books were co-authored with one of his sons, Felix Francis. 
He was an exceptional writer of his kind.  His heroes are all of a similar type:  rather quiet and self-deprecating, possessed of mental determination, skill in and commitment to their profession (which is sometimes, though by no means always, that of a steeplechase jockey) and outstanding physical courage; they are almost invariably underestimated, misunderstood or falsely accused of some fault or weakness by colleagues or the public.  He also has a splendid line in really horrible villains, who almost invariably get their comeuppance in some thoroughly satisfactory way.
There is a good deal of pretty graphic violence in many of the books, but there is, indeed, also love and romance in some.
I regard Dick Francis as one of the finest 20thC writers of popular fiction.  Most of his books (or possibly all — I haven’t read every single one) are written in first-person POV, by the way.  I know many of you hate first-person, but this is because it is very difficult to do well, so that many 1st-person stories are disappointing.  When it is done well, as it was by Francis or by Mary Stewart, it works brilliantly, creating a freshness of tension, immediacy and excitement in a way that is quite different from limited 3rd-person.

WV: Covered 36. Yup, I could easily cover 36 ways these books were oh, so wrong.

As for adult horse books, especially romances, there are some decent ones and some that will send you screaming and slamming the book into the wall if you know even a smidgen about the beasties (Iris Johansen and your godawful “On the Run,” my finger is pointing directly at you! Ditto you, Fern Michaels, and you’re ridiculously unbelievable “Kentucky yadda yadda” series.).

As already mentioned, La Nora has some that are at least not horribly inaccurate. Laura Moore does the hunter-jumper scene well (FWIW, I liked “Chance Meeting” better than “Ride a Dark Horse); Lyndon Stacey does very good horsey books although they’re heavier on the mystery than romance; Tami Hoag has two good horsey mysteries/wee bit romance (“Dark Horse” and “The Alibi Man”); “Remember Summer” by Elizabeth Lowell is a decent romantic thriller set during the Three-Day Event at the 1984 Olympics; Fiona Walker has a horsey series that’s getting a good reception among horsey people; “Leaping Hearts” by Jessica Bird is readable … uh, yeah, I’ve kinda made this a lifelong pursuit. 🙂

Finally, two websites that have good lists: Horse Stories at ponydom.com http://www.ponydom.com/books/index.html and Adult Horse Stories at http://adultponybooks.ponymadbooklovers.co.uk/