Deborah Hopkinson

Deb­o­rah Hop­kin­son deft­ly brings to life the thrilling true sto­ry of the des­per­ate fight to save the world-famous Span­ish Rid­ing School in Vien­na and its beloved Lip­iz­zan­er hors­es dur­ing World War II.

In the clos­ing months of World War II, Amer­i­can bombs rained down on Nazi Ger­many and its ter­ri­to­ries, includ­ing Austria.

As glass shat­tered around them in Vien­na, an ordi­nary-look­ing horse named Nero and his sta­ble mates, the danc­ing white Lip­iz­zan­er stal­lions of the famed Span­ish Rid­ing School, quiver and shake in fear. But they do not pan­ic. Some­how, they sense the school’s direc­tor, ded­i­cat­ed horse­man Alois Pod­ha­jsky, will do every­thing he can to keep them safe.

Yet Alois can’t do it alone. And in the chaot­ic last days of the war, as their fate becomes more uncer­tain than ever, Nero will play a key role in help­ing Alois appeal for aid from an unlike­ly ally — America.

But time is run­ning out. It will take a dar­ing band of Amer­i­can sol­diers — along with horse lovers from oppos­ing sides — to pull off a secret mis­sion to save the Lip­iz­zan­ers from cer­tain destruc­tion. Unit­ed by their love of hors­es, these unsung heroes risked their lives to pre­serve the majesty of this rare breed for gen­er­a­tions to come.

Join the ride as crit­i­cal­ly acclaimed author Deb­o­rah Hop­kin­son brings to life the exhil­a­rat­ing true sto­ry of Oper­a­tion Cow­boy and the mirac­u­lous sur­vival of the Span­ish Rid­ing School. Fea­tur­ing rare fam­i­ly pho­tos and told for the first time for young read­ers, They Saved the Stal­lions is bound to please every his­to­ry fan and horse lover.