This paper presents the results of a pilot study including a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with riders about their reading of horse stories. The data has been collected at an equestrian center in Sweden. The informants are active at the riding center and thus of various ages, although approximately 75 percent are 20 years old or more. They have been asked questions on their reading habits when it comes to horse stories, at present or at earlier stages in their lives. Interviews are ongoing but results are expected to come in the next couple of months. The purpose of the interviews is foremost to enter more deeply into the informants’ reading of horse stories.
Tentative results show that 80 percent of the informants read horse stories in the age between 8 to 12 years. 75 percent of the adults report that they used to read horse stories either every day or between one and three times per week in that particular age. 60 percent state that horse stories were important for them since they got the opportunity to dream away, identify themselves with the characters and relate to their own experiences from the equestrian settings, to learn new things about horses and riding and, finally, as a reaction to the fact that they could not spend as much time in the stable as they would have preferred. In addition, a majority of the informants suggest that horse stories could be used at equestrian centers, for both educational and relaxational reasons.