Riders

Against the glorious backdrop of the Cotswold countryside, Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles follow a variety of people as they live their lives and make mistakes. In Riders, the first book in the series, Jilly Cooper recounts a story of international showjumping—a sport in which horses are like people and people act like animals. The brooding hero, gypsy Jake Lovell, under whose magic hands the most difficult horse or woman becomes biddable, is driven to the top by his loathing of the beautiful bounder and darling of the show ring, Rupert Campbell-Black. Having filched each other's horses and fought their way around the capitals of Europe, the feud between these two men finally erupts, with devastating consequences for the Los Angeles Olympics.