Night of the Red Horse (Jinny at Finmory)

About Patricia Leitch

A favourite of author of many readers, Patricia Leitch was born on July 13th 1933 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. She obtained a teaching diploma in 1967, although did not work as a teacher for very long.

Her love of horses began when a friend persuaded her to go on a trekking holiday, and she soon began writing about them too. She has had many different jobs including library assistant, working at a riding school, a bookshop assistant, a primary school teacher and a typist. but it seems clear that writing is her metier!

She has interests in psychology, Eastern cultures and vegetarianism, and has admitted that she has a "vivid imagination."  These interests are reflected in some of her novels and characters. Unusually for pony stories, many of her books contain mystical themes, with elements of Celtic and other folklore being seen in books such as the Jinny series, The Black Loch and the non-pony fantasy Treasure To The East. 

Her Scottish roots can also be seen in her writing, as many of her books are set in Scotland.

Most popular series by far is the Jinny series set in the Highlands of Scotland, although the author wrote many other pony books from the 1960s onwards, as well as two non-pony novels.

Ms Leitch's early books were  for some reason also published under the name of Jane Eliot . 

(Sources: Contemporary Authors.)