I started off writing adult books like The Listenology Guide (pictured below), which is a book to help horse owners to learn more about horsemanship, horse body language and behaviour, groundwork, and riding lessons. I wanted it to be easy to read, so it’s got lots of case studies, student stories and stories of my own horses in it too.

I loved the idea of teaching children horsemanship through story books as well. Books they would adore reading, and in the process not even realise how much they were learning about ponies.

Book series

I wrote two series about Connemara ponies for kids ages eight to 13 which includes, The Castle Charity Ride and the Connemara Pony (pictured). Recently I launched a new series called Saddlestone (pictured below), which is aimed at kids ages seven to 10 years. These were really popular with young readers and horse riders at the Dublin Horse Show.

As a kid I loved to read, so writing these children’s pony books was a bit like reliving my childhood too.

The first book I published was a story about a Connemara pony I bought at the sales as a five-year-old. He had been riding for eight weeks and was pretty green. But once I got him home, I realised he had a lot of issues. He was terrified of people, uncatchable, would bolt over a small cross pole when I led him over it on the ground, and would panic when he heard the sound of a girth buckle.

I had to forget about riding for a few months and just work on his confidence. I started a journal to jot down what I was doing, and a year later I was still working slowly with him to build his confidence. At that stage, the journal was huge, and one day I realised it was large enough to be a book.

Saddlestone.

Published

I self published on Amazon and that was my first book. Publishing on Amazon is straightforward. They have a publishing section called KDP. So once you have your book complete, book title and a cover, you can upload it, set your price and it will be for sale on Amazon worldwide.

My best-selling book on Amazon is the Forgotten Horse. It’s about 12-year-old Clodagh and her pony Ozzie, and is the first one in a six-book series for children aged eight to 12. But adults also read this series too.

I think children who ride ponies just love pony books. They are also popular with parents, friends and grandparents as presents for birthdays and Christmas. Being able to give a child the gift of reading books is so beneficial for them. It will improve children’s language skills, cognitive development, better concentration and focus, and boosts their imagination and creativity. And it gets them off their phones and tablets.

Pony club

I had a trade stand at a Pony Club event in Kilkenny this summer, and a lady came up to my table looking for a kids pony quiz book. I didn’t have any at that time, but I thought it was a great idea. So I wrote and published my first quiz book this summer.

It’s got 10 chapters full of multiple choice questions about horse care, stable management, pony behaviour, health, groundwork and riding, and is available in my online shop. I have no ideas currently for the next book, but you never know when inspiration will strike.

I normally sell most of my books online, but late last year I decided to do a full summer season of shows. So since May this year I haven’t stopped. I’ve made a book shop at shows all over the country this summer – from Cork to Mullingar and Wexford to Galway. I’ve met hundreds of people every weekend at shows and it’s been fantastic.

I did five days at the RDS Dublin Horse Show, and it was the best experience. It’s been great meeting my readers in real life, getting lots of new ideas and hearing how my books are being enjoyed around the world.

At the RDS, I was meeting people from as far away as California and Dubai, who made a beeline for my stand to meet me and tell me how much they liked my books. That’s just incredible and something I never expected.

You can find all Elaine’s books online and her new audio books will also be available soon at elaineheneybooks.com. You can also read Elaine’s horse and pony books for free in your local library and order them in all good bookshops.