Books with author Claire Svendsen

Horses are considered a bad word in thirteen year old Emily Dickenson’s house. Her mother is terrified of them. Her dad left because of them. And all Emily wants is to ride them. But that isn’t going to happen any time soon unless Emily takes matters into her own hands and she’s been doing just that for the last year. The only trouble is that secrets are made to be broken and Emily has the biggest one of all. She works at Sand Hill Stables to pay for riding lessons and now she has the chance to prove herself at the prestigious Fox Run Farm show. With her best friend Mickey as her partner in crime, can she make it to show day without her mom finding out? And why do the girls who ride at Fox Run want to make sure that Sand Hill closes its doors once and for all?

Emily is back from her Irish vacation and she isn’t sure what she is walking into. Will Jordan be there? Will he submit to a paternity test so that they can finally figure out what they have between them? And if it is possible for them to be together, is that something that Emily even wants? She has left Patrick behind in Ireland with a piece of her heart and even though she knows it is impractical for them to be together, she still thinks maybe one day she might want to be with him.Something she wants even more is Victor, the Irish horse she fell in love with in Ireland. There is a chance he could be coming to America and it is the one thing that Emily holds onto as her personal problems swirl around her. Plus, there are all her horses who need to get back into serious work, the fall show schedule is starting and if Emily wants to compete with the best, she is going to have to up her game. So she decides to escape her problems by travelling to a show far away from home only trouble, it seems, follows Emily and her band of horses and friends, wherever she goes.

Jordan has gone and Emily doesn’t know if he is coming back. Without him they can never get to the bottom of the carnage that his dead mother’s letters have left behind. But almost like a gift from above, Emily is granted her own escape. An all-expenses paid trip to Ireland to stay with Patrick and ride his horses. She grabs the opportunity with both hands and packs her bags, ready to flee her own life if only for a little while. But things in Ireland aren’t much better. Emily is thrown into a world that is foreign to her in a land where people don’t seem to understand her accent or her personality. Even Patrick’s brothers treat her like she must be some kind of spoiled princess who is afraid of a little mud and Emily has to work hard to show them that it is far from the truth. So, when Patrick’s big name trainer asks her to go to a show with them, she jumps at the chance to prove herself as a rider. Only Patrick’s on again, off again girlfriend is out to make sure that Emily not only fails but disgraces herself as well. She wants to send the American girl back with her tail between her legs but when Emily falls in love with a horse that her family owns a share in, she will have to try and mend the fences between them if she wants any chance of taking the horse home with her.

Second Chance Farm has given Emily and her father a place to retreat and regroup. They have put time and effort into making it a working farm again and it is paying off. People want to come and board with them and take lessons. But money is tight and building a farm takes lots of it. Money that Emily and her father don’t have. And if they want Second Chance Farm to come together they are going to have to accept that things aren’t always going to be perfect. And Missy has relented in her bid to crush Emily and her father and given her the ride on Socks so with her team horse back on their farm, she is finally ready for the December show. It will be the first team outing and a chance for Emily to prove that she didn’t just earn her spot on the team but that she deserves it. Only a show with Jess isn’t exactly how Emily wants to spend the weekend before Christmas, even if it is a charity show. Jess isn’t too happy about it either, especially now that the two girls are neighbors. Jess doesn’t care that co-operation is what the Junior Olympic team is all about. She just wants Emily kicked off the team so that the alternate can take her place.

Everything is falling apart. Sand Hill is closing. All Emily’s friends are moving to Fox Run, the rival barn where Jess and all the rich, entitled girls ride. And to make matters a million times worse, the father she hasn’t seen or heard from in nine years is back. He wants to start over. He thinks he can make things right again but all Emily can think is that she’s buried her love for the man who thinks he can be a dad again and he’s going to have to work really hard to get it back. And Emily’s not the only one who isn’t happy to see him. Not by a long shot. So with both her parents butting horns and her mother’s threat to move the family now a real one, Emily will have to make a choice. Leave her friends behind and take Bluebird to Wisconsin to start over with the blended family she hates? Or stay behind with the trainer father she doesn’t even know and try to work things out?

Emily Dickenson has big plans for her summer vacation. Coming off a win at the Fox Run show, she expects to fill her days with jumping lessons and beach rides. But now Esther wants her and Mickey to help run the Sand Hill summer camp. Four weeks of teaching little kids to post at the trot isn’t exactly what she had in mind and that’s not the only problem.Harlow is lame. The vet says that he needs weeks of stall rest. Without her four legged partner Emily is left with nothing to ride, until she stumbles upon a scruffy pony being taken to slaughter. If she uses her winnings to save the pony, will she ever be able to buy the show jumper of her dreams? But if she doesn’t, can she live with the guilt? And why does Jess want to stop her from saving the pony in the first place?

The winter show circuit is in full swing and the only thing Emily Dickenson cares about is winning the Snowball Cup. It’s the highlight of the show season and the winner will walk away with two thousand dollars and a private weekend jumping clinic with renowned show jumping legend Miguel Rodriguez. With her mom putting all her savings into the winter wedding of doom to scumbag Derek, Emily needs that money to pay for Bluebird’s upkeep. And the jumping clinic could certainly help her deal with the way Bluebird almost smacks her in the face every time he takes a jump.The only problem is that Jess is more determined than ever to see Emily fail. She has her own super pony that jumps just as high and fast as Bluebird, without all the theatrics. And with Ethan abandoning Fox Run Farm and defecting to Sand Hill Stables, if she can ruin the farm Emily loves in the process, all the better. So when Jess’s dirty games end in Esther being temporarily deported back to Sweden, the Sand Hill crew is left to fend for themselves. Can three kids really run a farm and win their blue ribbons at the same time? And will Emily still have time to talk her mother out of marrying a monster?

Emily has bronchitis but that hasn’t stopped her from competing in the November show and qualifying her horses for the big December show. It is the season finale and will be the proof of all her hard work. There will be cups to be won. Money prizes to be given out and Christmas festivities all around. Faith will be hoping to finally prove that Falcon is the pony for her. Hanna wants to show Esther that she is just as good as Emily and Jess is trying to be nice, which has everyone worried for their safety and that of their horses because they all know that she can snap at any minute. And while all that is going on, Emily is trying to find a way to rebuild the broken relationship she has with her father. Now that she knows the truth about what happened to her dead sister and has accepted the blame, she is trying to move on but her father is different now and Emily isn’t even sure that she has the whole story. What if the one he told her wasn’t the whole truth? Plus, there is a Thoroughbred auction that Emily is dying to go to. With the sale of Sunny, they have room in their barn for a couple of prospects and Emily thinks that a couple of off the track Thoroughbreds will be just the thing. She’s had so much luck with the ones that she has that she knows she can turn some more horses around and give them a second chance. After all, that is what their farm is all about, second chances. Her father isn’t so sure. He thinks they should concentrate on the more expensive Warmbloods that everyone is riding these days and Emily is going to have to do everything in her power to prove to him that she is right and he is wrong.

All Emily wanted was for her best friend to wake up from a coma but now that she has, nothing is the same. Mickey is giving up riding for good and even though her parents are considering selling Hampton to Jess, she won’t change her mind. Meanwhile Emily has finally heard from renowned show jumper Miguel Rodriguez. After riding in his clinic, she’s been waiting to hear if she made the junior jumper team but it seems that Miguel can’t make up his mind. He’s calling back the best riders to stay at Black Gate over spring break only this time they won’t be allowed to bring their own horses. This time they’ll ride whatever Miguel puts them on.But when Miguel gives Emily the rank new prospect to ride, she suspects that maybe he doesn't want her on the team after all. She can’t make the pony jump, she won’t canter without taking off and Emily needs to figure out how to ride her fast because this is her last chance to make the team. And how can she persuade her best friend not to give up on riding for good when she’s not even around?

You can’t just take a horse off the track and expect it to be the most well behaved horse on earth. Every horse has a learning curve and as it turns out, Nimbus, the new Thoroughbred that Emily and her father acquired at the auction is barely more than green broke. Her Christmas Eve hack that was supposed to bring cookies and cheer to Esther and Hanna has ended with a trip to the hospital and a concussion. On top of that, Emily’s father now wants to sell the horse but she knows that no one will buy him. His only hope is to stay at Second Chance farm and be rehabilitated but there are so many other horses to ride and show that Emily barely has the time. But it is a new year, a time for new beginnings and new goals. Emily is moving all her horses up a division so the competition will be harder than ever. There are new shows to go to, tougher competitors to beat and the mystery of Jess and why she suddenly wants to be friends is hanging over Emily’s head. And with someone causing havoc at the show stables, Emily needs to find out if it is Jess on the warpath again behind her back or not. Plus, Patrick, the Irish guy she met at the last show, won’t stop calling and Jordan wants to know who he is. Emily doesn’t want any boys in her life and now she seems to have ended up with two. Can she keep them from finding out about each other while still managing her ever growing stable of horses? And will Nimbus find a permanent home at Second Chance Farm or will Emily’s father send him on his way?

It’s the start of the summer show season and the beginning of the Talent Scout series. Emily and her jumper pony Bluebird feel like they are ready to take on the world. Her father’s suspension has been lifted, Missy is once again supporting her career and all her horses both old and new are training well. It feels like nothing could go wrong. But Jess is back from Europe where she has been training with top riders and she has a new horse and new attitude to go with her fancy makeover and it’s not the attitude that Emily is expecting. Is it possible that she has turned over a new leaf once and for all?And while everything is fine on the horse front, family life is not going so swimmingly. There is news from Wisconsin and it’s not good. Emily now knows that her own mother is trapped in an abusive relationship and she wants to help but how can a fourteen year old fight for her mother when she can’t even talk to her? And when disaster strikes at the Talent Scout show, will it rip Emily's world in two?

Emily Dickenson couldn't be in two places at the same time. She left her injured pony and her rescue horse behind and went to the Young Riders clinic where she was able to impress Hunter Preston and win a coveted spot in the Talent Scout series. But at Fox Run things aren't going so well. Missy is back in the saddle and the woman Emily took for an older sister has now taken on a rather more biting role, that of her biggest competition. She’s reclaimed the ride on Socks and is trying to shove Emily back into pony land where she thinks she belongs. So when Missy tries to send her beloved rescue horse Arion away without even consulting her, Emily must take a stand. She’s been bullied by a step-parent before and she won’t let anyone do that to her again and she’s going to enlist her father’s help only he has his own problems. He must clear his name if he wants to keep his job at Fox Run and if he can’t, it will affect them all. And the Easter show that everyone can’t stop talking about is only weeks away. There is big money to be won. Money that Emily needs to pay her mounting vet bills but with Missy trying to keep her out of the big money classes, will she be able to afford Arion’s ulcer treatment? And with the sale of Encore now pending, this may be their last show together but Emily isn't sure she’s ready to let him go yet and she’s certainly not ready to let him go to the person who wants him for their own.