This blog is my attempt to document our busy but BLESSED lives raising and educating our children for His glory. A child of God, wife to one, and mom to 6 fabulous kids. We are in our 15th year of homeschooling using a Classical ~ Literature based approach.

Come along for the good, the bad & the ugly.



Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Horses in History ~ a TOS review

Its no secret that we love to read in our house. The foundation of our school curriculum is literature so I could not turn down the chance to review the newest Mattie Richardson’s Horses in History Series from Author Mattie Richardson/Appaloosy Books. My animal-loving daughter, Montana was eager to read the 4 books in the series so let's get started.


Since she first penned her first book, Mattie Richardson has been called “North Dakota’s Teen Author”. She now has six books under her belt as she works full-time as a journalist. With her passion of horses, they became the focus of the newest book series she penned about the Horses in History.

These are the perfect books for 8-14 year old’s to get a first-hand look at the past. The Horses in History series tells about the importance of horses during certain historical time periods. The unique thing is that we hear the historical fiction not from man’s viewpoint, but from the horses point of view. We received the four book set along with the PDF of the brand new Day and Night Enrichment Guide for the Day and Night book.



Appaloosy is the first book that is set during 1887 during the Nez Perce War. With 125 pages it tells the story of a beautiful brown Apploosa stallion named Storm. The horse hates that he is living with the Indians and he has his sights on escaping and running free. During a battle between the Indians and White men storm is stolen and sold to a man who thinks he is no good. This man sells him to a girl named Faith, whose family lives on a small farm. Storm is content and happy to be with Faith but all that changes when he is stolen once again. After a while he is able to break free from his captures and has to make the choice of whether to run free or to return to Faith and her family.


Dusty Trail tells the story of young Levi Andersen and his horse Dusty. Dusty the horse is happy to stay on the quiet farm but Levi wants to join the Pony Express. When Levi has the chance to be a part of the Pony Express it is a dangerous job. Indian attack and Levi is captured by the Indians. Dusty has to decide if he will run away or be loyal and save his friend.


Set during the Civil War, brothers Tucker and Shiloh are the focus of the book Day and Night. The two horse brothers are just like the title says and different from day and night. Shiloh is stolen by a Confederate girl and Tucker is sold to the US Army. The brothers want nothing more than to see each other again through all the fighting.


Golden Sunrise tells the story of a Palomino mare named Cheyenne and her rider, Jared. This story tells how they defend the Alamo against Mexican fighters. Throughout their adventures in saving the Alamo, they meet famous people like Davy Crockett and James Bowie. Both fight to make it through the war to see the Texas flag fly.
Montana’s enjoyed reading the books. None of them took her more than a few days to finish and she enjoyed the fact that the books told historical facts as well. I can’t wait for McKenzie to be ready read these books on her own. I have added them to her list for summer reading.

Book Set: Appaloosy, Dusty's Trail, Golden Sunrise & Day and Night {Mattie Richardson/Appaloosy Books Reviews}
But don’t just take our word for it, 54 other Crew members reviewed these historical fiction books so be sure to click the banner below and check out their thoughts as well!

Book Set: Appaloosy, Dusty's Trail, Golden Sunrise & Day and Night {Mattie Richardson/Appaloosy Books Reviews}

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