With the days getting shorter and our riding time diminishing, it’s time to gather up a nice fireside reading list (or holiday wish list).

There’s both great fiction and must-read horse training books on this list. All with either entertain or enlighten.

For the earliest book on horsemanship ever written, try Xenophon’s Art of Horsemanship. Published around 350 BC, Xenophon was well ahead of his time and offers some great wisdom on riding and training.

Right up there with Xenophon is The Complete Training of Horse and Rider by Alois Podhajsky. This is a classic of classical horsemanship that can’t be missed.

And speaking of class, Reflections on Equestrian Art by Nuno Oliveira is from the Lusitano and Andulusian school.

Explore the origins of Natural Horsemanship with True Unity: Willing Communication Between Horse and Human (Hardcover), by Tom Dorrance.

And if it’s fiction your after, the recent Hearts of Horses by Molly Glass details the struggles of a female horse trainer in Montana during World War I. Prefer something more modern, trashy, romantic and just plain fun? Check out British author Jilly Cooper’s Riders, about the loves and lives of British show jumpers.