Jane Annixter (1903-1996)
& Paul Annixter (1894-1985)

American husband and wife authors.

Jane was born Jane Levington Comfort in Detroit in 1903. Her father was also a writer and it is from him that she was introduced to a love of reading and writing from an early age.

Paul's real name was Howard Allison Sturtzel. He was born in Minneapolis in 1894. Using the pseudonym of Paul Annixter, he was already an established author before he married Jane in 1920. After their marriage the pair wrote a number of books together, Jane using her husband's pseudonym surname also (although Jane also wrote solo books under her maiden name). Most of the books they co-authored were children's stories about animals and wildlife. Several featured horses.

Penny of Paintrock Series:
Short ranching/mystery series set in on the Paintrock Ranch in Wyoming and featuring a girl called Penny.

1) THE PHANTOM STALLION
(GOLDEN PRESS [USA] 1961)
ILLUSTRATED BY ROBERT SCHULTZ
SUMMARY: Penny has trained her black horse Midnight into a super show horse, but there is trouble in the form of a wild phantom stallion.

2) TROUBLE AT PAINTROCK
(GOLDEN PRESS [USA] 1962)
ILLUSTRATED BY ALBERT MICALE

Collector's Info:
Easy to find in the USA. Fairly rare elsewhere and may be quite expensive.

Other Horse & Pony Books:

THE RUNNER
aka THE ROAN RUNNER (UK Title)
(HOLIDAY HOUSE [USA] 1956)
(1st UK edition HEINEMANN 1961)
ILLUSTRATED BY PAUL LAUNE
There was also a Book Club edition.
Published in the UK under the title THE ROAN RUNNER
EDITIONSPICTURED: 1st edition, USA reprint, UK edition
SUMMARY: Shadow lives on his uncle and aunt's ranch where he helps train horses for polo. He sets his heart on catching the beautiful wild roan stallion he has named The Runner.

WHITE SHELL HORSE
(HOLIDAY HOUSE [USA] 1971)
EDITION PICTURED:
SUMMARY: A story of the Navajo Indians. Young Navajo boy Agapito saves a wild colt from a mountain lion and a bond grows between boy and horse.

Collector's Info:
Both titles are easy to find in the USA and are fairly cheap to buy. The Runner was also published in the UK (under the slightly different title of The Roan Runner) and is reasonably easy to find here.