The Kit Hunter Show Jumper Series was published by World Distributors in the United Kingdom during the 1960s in hardcover editions with dust jackets. At least part of the series was reprinted during the 1970s in picture cover editions by Redwing Library and during the 1980s in picture cover editions by World International Publishing Limited.
The books follow the adventures of young Kit Hunter, who has recently become orphaned. Kit travels to the Moor Grange estate to live with Colonel Hamden. Kit helps Colonel Hamden out of financial difficulties by finding his horse, Wild One, and competing in international showjumping events.
Just like the books in the other World Syndicate series, all of the books in this series seem to be about equally easy or difficult to obtain, meaning that it is generally no harder to acquire the later titles as it is the earlier titles. It appears that the books all went through the same number of print runs and that multiple titles were issued simultaneously.
Titles in the Kit Hunter Series:
1. The Wild One, 1959
2. South American Mission, 1959
3. Rival Riders, 1959
4. Bush Adventure, 1959
5. The Mystery of the Mine, 1960
6. Moor Grange Mystery, 1960
7. Fiesta for Wild One, 1960
8. Phantom Horse, 1960
9. Little Outlaw, 1961
10. The Last Hurdle, 1961
11. Royal Command, 1961
12. The Homing Trail, 1961
The summaries for #3-12 were taken from the original dust jackets.
#1 The Wild One
Kit Hunter returns to Colonel Hamden's home, Moor Grange, soon after her mother's death. Kit fondly recalls the wonderful times she had at Moor Grange as a child and eagerly anticipates her arrival at her childhood refuge.
Kit's arrival is marred by Colonel Hamden's rude secretary, Miss Ashford, who seems to dominate Colonel Hamden completely. Even worse, Moor Grange has fallen upon hard times, and Colonel Hamden may soon have to sell his home. Kit learns from Mary Trent, who cares for the Colonel's horses, that Colonel Hamden lost his fortune when his cross-breeding experiments failed.
The Wild One is the only surviving horse from the Colonel's experiments. The Wild One still roams the moors, and Kit hopes to find this magnificent horse. If Kit succeeds, she can prove that the Colonel's experiments were successful, and the Colonel can regain his prosperity.
#2 South American Mission
Kit Hunter has saved Colonel Hamden's estate, Moor Grange, by finding the Wild One, the pony which proves that Colonel Hamden's crossbreeding efforts with South American horses did indeed work. Colonel Hamden's reputation has been restored, and the future looks bright for Moor Grange.
John Gregg approaches Colonel Hamden with an offer to buy horses. Kit and the Colonel begin making plans to go to South America, but a horse riding accident puts the Colonel in the hospital. Kit has no option but to travel to South America with Mary Trent and hope that she can locate the Colonel's contacts by herself.
Once in South America, Kit finds herself in a race against time to locate and purchase the horses, for opposing interests wish to prevent her from succeeding in her task.
#3 Rival Riders
Firmly established as a champion horsewoman, Kit Hunter, with her friend Mary Trent, plans a tour of Europe, to enter showjumping contests, and build up the prestige of Colonel Hamden's Moor Grange Stables. Traveling in a supercaravan, the trio meet many difficulties, and Kit finds herself up against a formidable rival in a young French rider, Francoise Dubois.
Francoise is as unscrupulous as she is skillful, and but for Pierre Latour, another young rider, the team would have been stranded through her scheming. Pierre takes them all to his family home, a beautiful chateau near a small town which Pierre hopes will be chosen as the location of an important horse show.
Despite the holiday atmosphere Kit realizes that her rival, Francoise, is involved in a plot to get the show located at a rival town. Kit's triumph in a tense showjumping contest brings her rival's plans to nothing.
#4 Bush Adventure
Kit Hunter, now widely known as a champion horsewoman, goes to Australia, with Colonel Hamden, and her friend Mary Trent, for the famous Sydney Show. The Show is a thrilling annual event—a blend of superb rodeo, and state fair.
After a wonderful sea voyage through the East they arrive in Australia a few days ahead of the show's opening date. Kit and her companions accept an invitation from a wealthy traveling companion to visit a huge, and fabulously wealthy sheep station in the 'outback.' The station is enormous, with its own cinema, bathing pool, and private plane service.
After a thrilling holiday a great bushfire breaks out. With the plane out of action a desperate battle has to be fought against the huge fire, and Kit races the flames on a borrowed horse to reach the nearest town—to bring warning and get help. In the nick of time, the trio get back to Sydney for fresh showjumping triumphs at the show.
#5 The Mystery of the Mine
Kit Hunter, young star of the showjumping world, reaches Singapore on her way home from her adventurous Australian tour. At a race meeting she meets another big cattle man from Australia who wants to buy horses from the Moor Grange Stable.
It seems foolish to refuse the chance—since the object of Kit's original trip was to arouse Australian interest in Moor Grange stock—yet the Colonel is urgently needed at home in Devon. Kit and Mary decide to return to Australia by themselves to advise the cattle man on his needs.
Unexpectedly, Kit and Mary find themselves plunged into another adventure, far removed from their original plans—the strange mystery of the mine whose secret is guarded by a ghost!
#6 Moor Grange Mystery
Home at last after her Australian adventures, Kit Hunter, brilliant young horsewoman, settles to the life she loves best—training and jumping Colonel Hamden's horses in her beloved Devonshire, aided by her friend, Mary Trent.
One night Kit surprises a stealthy intruder in Moor Grange itself and can't believe that it was any casual prowler. A long investigation begins to seem pointless—but when Kit finds herself in danger of being barred from a contest she has set her heart on winning, she is doubly determined to get at the truth.
How Kit unravels a particularly tangled thread and turns the tables on old rivals, and new enemies alike—makes another exciting story of horse riding, showjumping, and intrigue.
#7 Fiesta for Wild One
Once again, Kit Hunter, champion show jumper, sets off on a mission for Colonel Hamden—now to a remote part of Spain. She and Mary Trent lose their way, and find themselves isolated for some days. Kit's spirit of fair play lands them in some awkward difficulties.
Kit tries to help a young Spanish boy whose only real companion is his horse. When Kit and Mary learn that the boy's horse is doomed to a harsh fate, they champion its cause, and thereby land themselves in a tricky situation. Throughout this unsought and unexpected entanglement runs a note of urgency.
Kit is fighting against time to get back to a big show for the jumping, a show in which a great deal is at stake for her personal reputation, and the good standing of Colonel Hamden's Moor Grange Stables.
#8 The Phantom Horse
Kit Hunter, champion show jumper, arrives in Ireland with Mary Trent to prepare for a big show. Kit and Mary find themselves in a strange little world where fantasy and fact can never be told apart, it seems. Are they really beset by impish and exasperating 'little people' whose sly whimsical tricks of magic upset everything they try to do?
Even the young Irish landowner Kit is trying to help seems to think so. More incredible still is Kit's discovery that all the fairy tricks are designed to keep them from learning of the Phantom Horse, the weird secret nobody will talk about!
Kit is as stubbornly determined as ever. She sets off to meet and, if possible, tame a mount even more elusive than Wild One—a Phantom Horse that has a whole village under its spell!
#9 Little Outlaw
Kit Hunter, whose spectacular success as a show jumper has made her internationally famous, is back at her home, Moor Grange, in Devonshire, grooming her champion Wild One for yet another contest.
Unwillingly, however, she finds herself drawn into local affairs when the busybody Mrs. Hawker, seeking an issue on which she can fight her way to prominence, begins to hound an old tinker, a harmless old man who has spent his life trudging around the moorland villages with his beloved little mare, scraping an existence by selling odds and ends.
It is useless for Kit to tell herself that it is not her business—all the warmth of her nature rushes in sympathy to the old man, and hardly realizing what she is doing, she finds herself befriending him, helping him, secretly pitting herself against the overbearing woman who does not hesitate to destroy another human being in order to further her social advancement. The struggle is resolved in a unexpected fashion . . . and one that Kit won't forget easily, since she is left with a constant reminder of the whole affair, in the shape of an enchanting addition to her "family."
#10 The Last Hurdle
Kit Hunter, the brilliant young horsewoman, receives young Pierre Latour's invitation to spend a long summer holiday in France with some misgivings. The idea of returning to Chateau Neuve to take part in the now famous French horse show, which she made possible, is very attractive.
But, Kit remembers her bitter rivalry with the scheming Francoise Dubois, which resulted in the death of one fine show jumper, and nearly deprived her of her fabulous champion horse, Wild One. Pierre says the feud is now forgotten. Kit decides to accept the invitation for herself, and her friend, Mary Trent, but she is on her guard when Francoise Dubois goes out of her way to be friendly.
The delightful prospect of a glorious holiday in the South of France lulls Pierre, Kit, and Mary, alike, into a sense of false security. And it is almost too late when they eventually realize that they have been tricked! Faced with the urgent need to get back to the show at Neuve in time, Kit has to tackle a series of obstacles more formidable than any she has yet encountered in a show ring!
#11 Royal Command
An invitation to train a Princess to become an expert rider is something Kit Hunter, the brilliant young show jumper from Devonshire, never expected to receive! And she is filled with pleasure at the prospect, since the Princess is the daughter of Prince Raymond, ruler of Adriana, a tiny, independent state set in mid-Europe.
The charm of this remote little state, its air of romance and breathtaking scenery, completely win her heart, as does the lovely young princess who is to be her charge. All the more disappointing, therefore, when her overtures are met with rebuffs, and instead of trust and confidence, she finds suspicion and hostility.
But Kit's own personality can, when necessary, work like a powerful charm, and though she soon discovers that there is more in Adriana than its picture-postcard quaintness, her own forthright nature and familiarity with obstacles of every kind breaks down the barriers and resolves not only the Princess's problems, but others that are threatening the peace and tranquility of Adriana itself.
#12 The Homing Trail
Kit Hunter, the famous young show jumper, finds herself a long way from Moor Grange, in a tricky situation, and for once, she has to look to her greatest friend, Mary Trent, for help! In this unusual adventure, the two girls find themselves becoming a disturbing influence in the life of a little community in Southern California, although their only intention is to promote interest in British bloodstock.
Kit's personal charm, and exceptional talent with horses, soon inspires a young American boy to seek a career as an international rider, although his true place in life is obviously on the land. Kit's hostess, an attractive young American girl, owner of a big ranch, is not too pleased at this, and, although it is none of Kit's fault, a tense situation develops.
But, when an insidious and unsuspected disaster threaten them all, a desperate struggle with human prejudice and natural menace brings a great moment of truth for all of them!
