Libby of High Hopes
Volume 1: High Hopes Horse Farm
Volume 2: Project Blue Ribbon
Written and Illustrated by
Elise Primavera
Libby will gallop away with your heart and fill you with dreams of high hopes.
It’s been a frustrating school year, that ends with ten-year-old Libby being told she must try harder to live up to her potential. Libby’s world transforms when her runaway dog leads her to High Hopes Horse Farm—a once beautiful but crumbling stable run by Sal, a broken-hearted trainer whose prize show-jumping horse, Princess, was retired to pasture after an injury that he blames himself for. Though devastated when her family can only afford lessons for her older sister, a determined Libby refuses to stay away, spending her summer secretly grooming Princess, forming an unbreakable bond with the lonely mare, and breathing fresh life into the fading barn. Navigating fierce competition from her former best friend Brittany and learning to find her own voice, Libby’s fierce, stubborn devotion ultimately heals both the horse and the trainer, as well as herself —culminating in a moment, that to anyone who has ever been eleven years old and has wanted something so badly they think they’ll die if you don’t get it, where Sal hands Libby the reins to Princess, proving that true talent isn't about status, but the relentless heart of a real rider.
It’s been a frustrating school year, that ends with ten-year-old Libby being told she must try harder to live up to her potential. Libby’s world transforms when her runaway dog leads her to High Hopes Horse Farm—a once beautiful but crumbling stable run by Sal, a broken-hearted trainer whose prize show-jumping horse, Princess, was retired to pasture after an injury that he blames himself for. Though devastated when her family can only afford lessons for her older sister, a determined Libby refuses to stay away, spending her summer secretly grooming Princess, forming an unbreakable bond with the lonely mare, and breathing fresh life into the fading barn. Navigating fierce competition from her former best friend Brittany and learning to find her own voice, Libby’s fierce, stubborn devotion ultimately heals both the horse and the trainer, as well as herself —culminating in a moment, that to anyone who has ever been eleven years old and has wanted something so badly they think they’ll die if you don’t get it, where Sal hands Libby the reins to Princess, proving that true talent isn't about status, but the relentless heart of a real rider.
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Praise for Libby of High Hopes
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I didn’t just research the horse world to write Libby—I lived it.
Every ounce of grit, sweat, and equine soul in Libby of High Hopes comes from a place of absolute, lived truth. Beginning at eight years old, I ate, slept, and breathed the world of horses, progressing through the United States Pony Club into the rough and tumble sport of competitive Three-Day Eventing.
My training wasn't standard—my parents weren’t millionaires—but somehow, I crossed the Atlantic to train in Devon, England, under the iconic Olympic coach Bertie Hill. He was preparing the newlyweds Princess Anne and Mark Phillips for the 1974 Badminton Horse trials, and they were at the farm training at the exact same time I was. Though our paths were carefully separated in the stable layout, it felt completely surreal to be there—and truly historic as Mark went on to win Badminton that very spring with Princess Anne finishing fourth.
Upon returning to the States, I spent two intense years in Unionville, Pennsylvania, training under the ultimate master of American eventing, Olympic Gold Medalist Bruce Davidson.
When Libby steps into a crumbling barn or faces down a daunting fence, she is channeling the exact world of high-stakes, world-class equestrianism that shaped my life.
Every ounce of grit, sweat, and equine soul in Libby of High Hopes comes from a place of absolute, lived truth. Beginning at eight years old, I ate, slept, and breathed the world of horses, progressing through the United States Pony Club into the rough and tumble sport of competitive Three-Day Eventing.
My training wasn't standard—my parents weren’t millionaires—but somehow, I crossed the Atlantic to train in Devon, England, under the iconic Olympic coach Bertie Hill. He was preparing the newlyweds Princess Anne and Mark Phillips for the 1974 Badminton Horse trials, and they were at the farm training at the exact same time I was. Though our paths were carefully separated in the stable layout, it felt completely surreal to be there—and truly historic as Mark went on to win Badminton that very spring with Princess Anne finishing fourth.
Upon returning to the States, I spent two intense years in Unionville, Pennsylvania, training under the ultimate master of American eventing, Olympic Gold Medalist Bruce Davidson.
When Libby steps into a crumbling barn or faces down a daunting fence, she is channeling the exact world of high-stakes, world-class equestrianism that shaped my life.