The Kit Hunter Show Jumper Series

I have decided to read the Kit Hunter series—finally. I read the first book, Kit Hunter, Show Jumper, in The Wild One, around four years ago in order to determine whether I should build a set. I liked it a lot and did eventually purchase all twelve books. Once I completed my set of twelve books, I was busy reading other books and had never gotten around to reading the rest of the Kit Hunter books. I recently re-read the first book and just finished the second book. I have now started to read the third book.

The Kit Hunter Show Jumper series is a British series that was originally published in hardcover with dust jacket by World Distributors from 1959 through 1961. World Distributors also published the Sally Baxter Girl Reporter, Shirley Flight Air Hostess, and Sara Gay Model Girl series. I have read all of the Sally Baxter and Sara Gay books and enjoyed all of them greatly. I have read most of the Shirley Flight books and did not enjoy them quite as much, which is why I lost interest before reading the complete set. I must get back to Shirley Flight and finish reading the remaining titles.

Kit Hunter is an orphan whose mother recently passed away. I do not recall any mention of Kit's age, but I assume that she is an older teenager, probably around 16 to 18 years of age. As Kit grieves for her mother, she recalls the wonderful times she spent at Colonel Hamden's home, Moor Grange, when she was a young child. Kit writes to Colonel Hamden, who invites Kit to come stay with him.

Colonel Hamden's life was once saved by Kit's father, who was Colonel Hamden's commanding officer. Colonel Hamden feels indebted to Kit's father, which is why he is protective of Kit and invites her to come live with him. Kit refers to the Colonel as her adopted uncle.

In the first book, Kit arrives at Moor Grange to find it greatly changed. Moor Grange has fallen on hard times, and Colonel Hamden may have to sell out. Kit learns that Colonel Hamden had invested all of his money in South American horses and bred them with moorland ponies. The Colonel's scheme was nearly successful, but others sabotaged it. If Kit could find the one horse which was crossbred, she might be able to prove that the Colonel succeeded and turn his luck around.

The Colonel's secretary, Miss Ashford, despises Kit, who suspects that Miss Ashford wishes to marry Colonel Hamden. In time, Kit discovers that Miss Ashford has a particular plan in mind, and the first book centers around Kit's discovery of the scheme and her finding of Wild One, the one surviving crossbred horse.

In the second book, Kit travels to South America to try to find the person who sold Colonel Hamden his horses. It is a race against time, as another person wishes to prevent Kit from finding the dealer so that he can profit from the Colonel's ideas.

Both of the books that I have read so far have been very engaging. Sometimes I have trouble getting into books, and those are ones that I decide not to collect. These books are quite interesting. It is hard to say which series this one is the most like. The best I can do is compare what I have read so far to Trixie Belden, since Trixie and the Bob-Whites are always around horses, and Kit Hunter's main interest is horses. Also, Moor Grange is a rural setting similar to the setting of the Trixie Belden books. My opinion may shift once I read additional titles.