Author | Jilly Cooper |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre | Romance novel |
Publisher | Arlington Books Ltd. |
Publication date | 1985 |
Media type | Hardback, Paperback and Audiobook |
ISBN | 0-552-15055-X |
OCLC | 51914056 |
Followed by | Rivals |
Riders is a 1985 novel written by the English author Jilly Cooper. It is the first of a series of romance novels known as the Rutshire Chronicles, which are set in the fictional English county of Rutshire. The story focuses on the lives of a group of top show jumping stars and follows the ups and downs of both their personal and professional lives. It was turned into a television film, Riders (1993), directed by Gabrielle Beaumont for Anglia Television and broadcast on the ITV Network.
On 5 November 2019 BBC News included Riders on its list of the 100 most inspiring novels. [1]
Set against the backdrop of the English Cotswolds countryside, Riders follows the fortunes of a group of fame and money hungry show jumping stars.
Jake Lovell, the gypsy-born hero of the novel, is a brilliant horseman desperately seeking revenge for years of bullying at the hands of the glamorous but brutish aristocrat Rupert Campbell-Black. With the help of his rich debutante wife, Tory Maxwell, he is able to set himself up his own yard and begins building a reputation on the show-jumping circuit. Meanwhile, Rupert is content living the jet-set lifestyle with best friend Billy Lloyd-Foxe, plus a string of beautiful women, horses and dogs. Meeting his beautiful wife, Helen Macaulay, does little to curb his promiscuity and he eventually falls back into a life of parties, alcohol, and casual sex.
When Jake and Rupert meet again for the first time since school, old rivalries are reawakened as they fight it out to prove who is the greater horseman and, perhaps more importantly, the greater lover. Along the way, Cooper gives us a peek into the lives of this close-knit community of tops riders, their horses, grooms and families. We see the highs and lows of life in the equestrian world, but who will eventually come out on top in the final showdown at the Los Angeles Olympics.
When first published in 1985 the book's cover, somewhat controversially, depicted “a man’s hand resting intimately on the seat of a woman’s jodhpurs.” The 2015 30th anniversary edition's toned-down cover artwork moved the male hand from where it was firmly gripping the female rider's bottom to a much higher position nearer to her hip, generating some backlash from fans. [2]
Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows are limited exclusively to jumpers. Sometimes jumper classes are offered in conjunction with other English-style events. Sometimes, show jumping is but one division of a very large, all-breed competition that includes a very wide variety of disciplines. Jumping classes may be governed by various national horse show sanctioning organizations, such as the United States Equestrian Federation or the British Showjumping Association. International competitions are governed by the rules of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Bible, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. They are not specifically identified there but subsequent commentary often identifies them as personifications of Death, Famine, War, and Conquest.
Equestrianism, commonly known as horse riding or horseback riding, includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the use of horses for practical working purposes, transportation, recreational activities, artistic or cultural exercises, and competitive sport.
English saddles are used to ride horses in English riding disciplines throughout the world. The discipline is not limited to England, the United Kingdom in general or other English-speaking countries. This style of saddle is used in all of the Olympic and International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) equestrian disciplines, except for the newly approved FEI events of equestrian vaulting and reining. Most designs were specifically developed to allow the horse freedom of movement, whether jumping, running, or moving quickly across rugged, broken country with fences. Unlike the western saddle or Australian Stock Saddle, there is no horn or other design elements that stick out above the main tree of the saddle.
Jilly Cooper, CBE, is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. She is most famous for writing the Rutshire Chronicles.
The Rutshire Chronicles is a series of romantic novels by Jilly Cooper. The stories tell tales of mainly British upper-class families, as well as the show-jumping and polo crowd, in numerous different sexually charged scenarios, often laced with adultery, illegitimate children, scandal, and sometimes, even death. They are linked by several recurring characters, chiefly Rupert Campbell-Black, and are set in the fictional English county of Rutshire.
On Horsemanship is the English title usually given to Περὶ ἱππικῆς, peri hippikēs, one of the two treatises on horsemanship by the Athenian historian and soldier Xenophon. Other common titles for this work are De equis alendis and The Art of Horsemanship. The other work by Xenophon on horsemanship is Ἱππαρχικὸς, hipparchikos, usually known as Hipparchicus, or The cavalry commander. The title De re equestri may refer to either of the two.
The Hunter division is a branch of horse show competition that is judged on the horse's performance, soundness and when indicated, conformation, suitability or manners. A "show hunter" is a horse that competes in this division.
Hunt seat is a style of forward seat riding commonly found in North American horse shows. Along with dressage, it is one of the two classic forms of English riding. The hunt seat is based on the tradition of fox hunting. Hunt seat competition in North America includes both flat and over fences for show hunters, which judge the horse's movement and form, and equitation classes, which judge the rider's ability both on the flat and over fences. The term hunt seat may also refer to any form of forward seat riding, including the kind seen in show jumping and eventing.
Peter Wylde is an American show jumping competitor and Olympic champion.
Rupert Edward Algernon Campbell-Black is a fictional character in the Rutshire Chronicles series of romance novels written by Jilly Cooper. He is the eighth-generation descendant of Rupert Black. Campbell-Black's first appearance is in the novel Riders, which follows the lives and loves of a group of horse riders and show-jumpers. Although initially portrayed as a brutish, womanizing, adulterous cad, Campbell-Black's character is later somewhat redeemed through his triumphant winning of an Olympic gold medal for Great Britain. His loyalty is also highlighted through his friendships with Billy Lloyd-Foxe, Ricky France-Lynch and Declan O'Hara, as well as his gentle courtship of his second wife Agatha 'Taggie' O'Hara. He has five children: Marcus and Tabitha from his marriage with Helen Macaulay, adopted children Xavier and Bianca with Taggie, and the illegitimate Perdita.
Melanie Smith is an equestrian from the United States and Olympic champion.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the derived term Four Horsemen have appeared many times in popular culture.
This is a basic glossary of equestrian terms that includes both technical terminology and jargon developed over the centuries for horses and other equidae, as well as various horse-related concepts. Where noted, some terms are used only in American English (US), only in British English (UK), or are regional to a particular part of the world, such as Australia (AU).
Rodney Jenkins is a former show jumping rider and member of the United States Equestrian Team (USET), inducted into the United States Show Jumping Hall of Fame. He rode hunters and jumpers competitively from the early 1960s to the late 1980s, winning a record 70 Grand Prix-level competitions. After retiring from the show ring, he became a race horse trainer.
Riders, also called Jilly Cooper's Riders, is a British television film of 1993 based on Jilly Cooper's 1985 book of the same name in the Rutshire Chronicles series.
The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous is a British television film of 1997 based on Jilly Cooper's 1993 book of the same name in the Rutshire Chronicles series, directed by Robert Knights and produced by Sarah Lawson. The title role of Lysander Hawkley is played by Stephen Billington.
On 5 November 2019, the BBC published a list of novels selected by a panel of six writers and critics, who had been asked to choose 100 English language novels "that have had an impact on their lives". The resulting list of "100 novels that shaped our world", called the "100 'most inspiring' novels" by BBC News, was published by the BBC to kick off a year of celebrating literature.
Mystic is a New Zealand environmental teen drama television series produced by Libertine Pictures and Slim film+television for CBBC, TVNZ and the Seven Network.
Rivals is an upcoming television series made for Disney+. It is an adaptation of the 1988 Jilly Cooper novel of the same name. It is set to star an ensemble cast including David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Katherine Parkinson, Lisa McGrillis, Alex Hassell, Emily Atack and Danny Dyer.
The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature.