# Favourite pony books from your childhood???!!!!



## emmah1979 (4 October 2012)

I used to spend all my time as a pony-mad but pony-less child going round secondhand book shops buying pony books.  

My favourite author was Ruby Ferguson with her 'Jill' stories.  Who remembers Black Boy and Rapide?!  I loved those stories and must have read each book dozens of times.  

What about the Pullen-Thompson sisters?

So can you remember your favourites?!


----------



## ZondaR (4 October 2012)

I LOVED the Jill books but my favourite were the Silver Brumby books. I also loved Ginny Manders.


----------



## Jericho (4 October 2012)

I loved the Jill series too and now my 8yr old horse mac daughter is devouring them - I had to buy them all again on eBay! 

I also liked the black stallion series but the film never lived up to the books


----------



## casinosolo (4 October 2012)

The Jinny series set in Scotland! Loved it!

And of course the Saddle Club and some Sandy Lane Stables ones. 

I too was a ponyless child and thinking about how happy these books made me still makes me feel all warm and fuzzy lol


----------



## 3Beasties (4 October 2012)

Heartland where my ultimate favourite, could still read those now! Always hoped they'd put all the books together and make an adult version 

Really enjoyed Sandy lane stables, the Saddle Club and the Jill series too


----------



## Madam Min (4 October 2012)

Fly by Night by KM Peyton, Silver Brumby and The Saddle Club!


----------



## Emilieu (4 October 2012)

I was thinking about the silver Brumby today - my faves too. Really must track them down and re read! 
Phantom, jinny, Jill... loved them.
I found out more than anticipated at age 10 when I borrowed a book called Darkling from the library - I took it out because it was horsey... the rest of my class borrowed it after me because of the other 'relationships' Darkling's jockey had   believe the librarian ended up getting a slap on the wrist for not properly classifying the innocent pony story!


----------



## peaceandquiet1 (4 October 2012)

"I rode a winner" by one of the Pullein-Thomson sisters-always made me cry


----------



## Hollywood (4 October 2012)

Loved the Jill books but favourite was 'My Friend Flicka'


----------



## casinosolo (4 October 2012)

I'm an English teacher and one of my Year 7s was actually reading a copy of this today:

http://childrensbookshop.com/images/bookimages/70/70579.jpg

It looked equally old and yellowed and she said it had been her mum's! It's so lovely to think kids still love reading what I did when I was their age 

Did anyone else also subscribe to 'Horse Sense' magazine in the 80s/ early 90s? I think I still have them all in a ring binder somewhere at my mum's house!


----------



## Potato! (4 October 2012)

I still have my collection os saddle club books. Didn't want to throw away so many good memories. I think I have all of them baring 2 or 3. Though haven't read them for years but they are still on my book shelf aged 30 sad isn't it.


----------



## eggs (4 October 2012)

Apart from the Silver Brumby series, Jill and Black Boy and Rapide and the Pullein- Thompson sisters I also really like the My Friend Flicka / Green Grass of Wyoming series


----------



## Miss Horse lover (4 October 2012)

I loved pony books jinny, Jill and phantom and I've got to admit I've just bought a load of these plus saddle club, sheltie ect on eBay for my 7yr old daughter and she loves them as well and I did have a quick read of some when they came


----------



## Silvermiyazawa (4 October 2012)

My absolute favourites were the Jinny books, I had another by the same author (Patricia Leitch?) called Horse for the Holidays.

K M Peyton - liked her non horsey stuff too and have read some for adults also.

Pullein Thompson sisters were great too. I took me a while to get into Ruby Ferguson but loved her stuff when I did.


----------



## elliebrewer98 (4 October 2012)

All of these are old friends, especially Black Boy and Rapide! I think my favourite Jill story was 'Jill Has a Stable' when her and the vicarage children run a hacking stables, if only we kids could still do that now!! Can anyone remember the books 'Six Ponies', 'Pony Club Team' and 'Pony Club Camp' by one of the Pullein-Thompson sisters with Noel, the Radcliffes and Major Holbrooke, etc in??


----------



## criso (4 October 2012)

Read all of them but I think my favourites was the Noel and Henry series by Josephine Pullein Thompson


----------



## ZondaR (4 October 2012)

I'm assuming that it goes without saying that we all worshiped Black Beauty.  I read it over and over and over.


----------



## Emilieu (4 October 2012)

I remember six ponies - I still have my copy and have read it to pieces! I always think of the radcliffe's when preparing for a hack and their list of things that they always took, including cough drops in case they fell down a m


----------



## Emilieu (4 October 2012)

*mine and shouted themselves hoarse


----------



## Oberon (4 October 2012)

Jill books every time.

Mum picked them up from boot fairs and each one was a great friend.

Second is the Jinny and Shantih books.

Prince Among Ponies is a Pullein Thompson book and one of my faves.


----------



## Bestdogdash (4 October 2012)

LOVED the Jill books - still got them in my mothers attic somewhere - but also the Follifoot books, remember crying about a horse that had a saddle sore but cruel owner still used him in riding school .....


----------



## nikicb (4 October 2012)

casinosolo said:



			I'm an English teacher and one of my Year 7s was actually reading a copy of this today:

http://childrensbookshop.com/images/bookimages/70/70579.jpg

It looked equally old and yellowed and she said it had been her mum's! It's so lovely to think kids still love reading what I did when I was their age 

Click to expand...

I had that book!

I used to love all the Jill books and Pullein Thompson series.  Also the Black Stallion books.  But the two that stick in my mind were:

http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/pb1/_wp_generated/wp112db2d8_0f.jpg

And this:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7100707-rosina-copper

I also loved this, even though it wasn't horsey as such, a horse played a key role:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/992601.The_Diddakoi


----------



## SaffronWelshDragon (4 October 2012)

Definitely the Jill and Jinny books, still read them occasionally


----------



## mudmonkey17 (4 October 2012)

Liked the jinny and shantih ones, saddle club, black beauty. Oh and ones about a girl who had a pony called barney? She evented at pony club but can't remember the name of them. Think author wrote another series about a horse sanctuary.


----------



## grandmaweloveyou (4 October 2012)

'Timber. The story of a horse'. Would love to find a copy.


----------



## JFTDWS (4 October 2012)

I loved the Oxus series, though I've yet to encounter anyone online who read them.  Very much Arthur Ransome with ponies instead of boats 

mudmonkey as you thinking of the concerning "Eventers" series by Sam Alexander (?) where a 14 year old kid dated an 18 year old?  I liked them as a kid, but scary now!


----------



## casinosolo (4 October 2012)

TChamp said:



			'Timber. The story of a horse'. Would love to find a copy.
		
Click to expand...

There's one on Ebay but it's £52.79!!

And one here but it's in $:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0856860751/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used


----------



## Mrs B (4 October 2012)

'The Godolphin Arabian' by Marguerite Henry.

It must be over 35 years since I read it (I used to take it out of the library week after week!) but when I looked at it on Amazon just now, the words of the pages they let you read were as familiar as if no time had passed at all


----------



## Foxhunter49 (4 October 2012)

My favourite was C.W. Anderson - good horse stories with wonderful drawings. 

I remember the Timber story too!

I often find old favourites on E-bay!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JUDITH-BERRISFORD-TIMBER-STORY-HORSE-HB-1953-/261016259370


----------



## nikicb (4 October 2012)

JFTD said:



			I loved the Oxus series, though I've yet to encounter anyone online who read them.  Very much Arthur Ransome with ponies instead of boats 

mudmonkey as you thinking of the concerning "Eventers" series by Sam Alexander (?) where a 14 year old kid dated an 18 year old?  I liked them as a kid, but scary now!
		
Click to expand...

I tried to order an Oxus book on your recommendation before (for my boys), but I couldn't get one online. My order went through but they came back with an out of stock.


----------



## JFTDWS (4 October 2012)

nikicb said:



			I tried to order an Oxus book on your recommendation before (for my boys), but I couldn't get one online. My order went through but they came back with an out of stock. 

Click to expand...

That's a shame, as one of the main characters is male (relatively uncommon in pony books!) so they might have enjoyed it.    I don't think I still have my copies, or I would send them to you.  I think they may have been repossessed by cousins against my will 

Glad I influenced someone though


----------



## BWa (4 October 2012)

I spent the summer tracking down and re-reading all 12 of the Jinny books, loved them 20 years after my first read. Thanks to the early poster who mentioned 'Darkling' i was trying to remember the name of that one recently. It also got well used in our school library!


----------



## criso (4 October 2012)

Oberon said:



			Prince Among Ponies is a Pullein Thompson book and one of my faves.
		
Click to expand...

Oh yes - still got that somewhere and Show Jumping Secret was another one of hers.


----------



## nikicb (4 October 2012)

JFTD said:



			That's a shame, as one of the main characters is male (relatively uncommon in pony books!) so they might have enjoyed it.    I don't think I still have my copies, or I would send them to you.  I think they may have been repossessed by cousins against my will 

Glad I influenced someone though 

Click to expand...

Thank you.  I'll try again now that I've been reminded!


----------



## Bikerchickone (4 October 2012)

Crikey, almost all of these books are like old friends! I had pretty much every one and couldn't really choose a favourite, except for the way Jill gets Black Boy in the first book, I'd always dreamt about something similar happening to me, sadly never did though! 

I also have all the Horse Sense binders somewhere, full up, with the gold numbers on the outside! Strangely I refused to take any of the posters out of the middle in case of damage, and yet I haven't looked at them in years. Think my daughter might like them if I dig them out of the loft so thanks for the reminder!


----------



## sychnant (4 October 2012)

TChamp said:



			'Timber. The story of a horse'. Would love to find a copy.
		
Click to expand...

I have a copy of this propping up my laptop as we speak!


----------



## Holding (4 October 2012)

I didn't like the Jinny ones - she spent far too much time galloping about the moors, and didn't do nearly enough schooling. I did love KM Peyton though - Flambards was (still is tbh) my favourite book ever. Then when I was about 12 I discovered Jilly Cooper, and never looked back.


----------



## Silvermiyazawa (4 October 2012)

What was the one where the girl had moved house and the house came with a horse!!! After not being interested she ended up going for a ride and thought the kids who said she wasn't dressed properly (hatless) were laughing at her and ended up falling off. It's not at all as heavy as I'm making it sound, there were a few in the series and one of the characters was called Miles. Possibly a Pullien Thompson?

I also loved the ones set in Cornwall, 2 sisters and all their friends. One pony was called Spider and then the older girl got a fab young green horse that was full of bounciness! One of the series was called Star Riders. There was a Felix in it, I'm thinking maybe it was Josephine Pullien Thompson.

You've got me reminiscing now, I really was a besotted ponyless child (now a besotted horseless adult - (well, part loan!).


----------



## Jericho (4 October 2012)

casinosolo said:



			I'm an English teacher and one of my Year 7s was actually reading a copy of this today:

http://childrensbookshop.com/images/bookimages/70/70579.jpg

It looked equally old and yellowed and she said it had been her mum's! It's so lovely to think kids still love reading what I did when I was their age 

Did anyone else also subscribe to 'Horse Sense' magazine in the 80s/ early 90s? I think I still have them all in a ring binder somewhere at my mum's house!
		
Click to expand...

I remember that book and had every single one of Horse sense magazine. My mum and dad kept them in their loft for 20 years and then recently threw them out when they moved. I was devastated ...I wanted my daughter to have them!


----------



## peaceandquiet1 (4 October 2012)

Another vote also for Prince among Ponies, a super story I read over and over.
Also quite liked "The Impossible Horse."


----------



## FairyLights (4 October 2012)

all the Monica Edwards books.


----------



## Mrs C (4 October 2012)

I loved horse sense. God knows what happened to my binder. Does anyone remember a book which ended with the girl successfully doing the xc? I can only remember the end which was a run down of that. Would love to know what it was


----------



## Silvermiyazawa (4 October 2012)

Mrs C said:



			I loved horse sense. God knows what happened to my binder. Does anyone remember a book which ended with the girl successfully doing the xc? I can only remember the end which was a run down of that. Would love to know what it was
		
Click to expand...

Sounds like Fly By Night - K M Peyton


----------



## Brightbay (4 October 2012)

Loved the Jill books.  I enjoyed a few of the Pullein-Thompson ones too.  My Friend Flicka and the Green Grass of Wyoming too, and the Black Stallion and Slver Brumby books. Flambards wasn't really a horsey book, but I liked it.

I loved a book called The Little White Horse which wasn't exactly about horses, but did have horses in it . I was also in love with most of the horses in The Lord of the Rings - as well as a Shadowfax, I wanted an Old Fatty Lumpkin (actually, I may have ended up with one of those ), and a Stybba, and a Bill the Pony.


----------



## baby_dudley (4 October 2012)

Absolutely loved ginny and shantih books read them over and over. Also remember a set called blue ribbon. It was American set Connecticut I think, does anyone remember this? One character called dara I think?! Lol x


----------



## Mrs C (4 October 2012)

Thank you silver. I'll be on eBay tomorrow  x


----------



## Silvermiyazawa (4 October 2012)

Mrs C said:



			Thank you silver. I'll be on eBay tomorrow  x
		
Click to expand...

Hope it's the right one! Even if it's not it's a fab book, I have read it over and over again (even as an adult), there is a sequel called The Team and then others that she is in and lots of her characters meet up in other books.

There is a Jinny one where she rides a xc comp but that's not how it ends.


----------



## Jnhuk (4 October 2012)

Dream of fair horses by Patricia Leitch LOVED this book and would still high recommend this to anyone that has not read it. See below - still can visual the cover to this day!

http://ponybooks.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=reviews&action=display&thread=113

Silver Brumby series by Elyne Mitchell

The Black Stallion series by Walter Farley

The Pullen Thompson sisters many, many books and I adored the Phantom Horse series

Misty of Chincoteague can't remember who by

Silver Star by Joseph Chipperfield - a hard to find book now

My friend Flicka, Thunderhead etc...


I am sure there are many, many more.... Monica Edwards


----------



## Mrs C (4 October 2012)

Sounds like its worth getting anyway, even if its not the one  will five it a whirl x


----------



## Garnet (4 October 2012)

Jane Badger books has got a sale on at the moment - I have just been shopping!


----------



## MochaDun (4 October 2012)

The Ruby Ferguson ones, and Pullein Thompson and Rosina Copper and the My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead and Green Grass of Wyoming trilogy by Mary O'Hara.  Basically any story that featured a horse in the late 1960s/early 1970s


----------



## Silvermiyazawa (4 October 2012)

jnhuk said:



			Dream of fair horses by Patricia Leitch LOVED this book and would still high recommend this to anyone that has not read it. See below - still can visual the cover to this day!
		
Click to expand...

Have just ordered this from Amazon on this recommendation (oops but I loved Patricia Leitch!)


----------



## liz4949 (4 October 2012)

Lots of happy memories of super books. Does anyone remember The Ten Pound Pony, can't remember the author. A family of children do odd jobs to earn the required £10 to buy the pony. Afraid that the price rather shows its age. As a ponyless child I had many dreams of doing the same. Sadly my first horse cost rather more!


----------



## Doris68 (4 October 2012)

Ruby Ferguson and the Jill books without a doubt!  Still have several of them in hard back!!  But check out The Horse of Hurricane Hill - amazing pencil sketches/illustrations.  The Pullein-Thompson sisters always a favourite.


----------



## suey12 (4 October 2012)

No Mistaking Corker, still have my copy of this


----------



## JFTDWS (4 October 2012)

Silvermiyazawa said:



			Hope it's the right one! Even if it's not it's a fab book, I have read it over and over again (even as an adult), there is a sequel called The Team and then others that she is in and lots of her characters meet up in other books.

There is a Jinny one where she rides a xc comp but that's not how it ends.
		
Click to expand...

If it's about a dun pony who banks a table during the xc at the end, it's one of the riders series by Samantha Alexander (which I think I incorrectly referred to as the eventers series earier in this thread).  

The K M Peyton books are better


----------



## Littlelegs (4 October 2012)

Anything by the pullien Thompsons, jinny, & Jill. My 7yr old is currently reading misty of chincoteague which I picked up from a car boot years ago to replace my copy. Also stienbacks the red pony, but too sad to be a favourite. That, black beauty, & watership down upset me as a young child, although conversely at the same age I watched & read adult horror cheerfully.


----------



## emmah1979 (5 October 2012)

I loved 'Jill's Gymkhana' by Ruby Ferguson, where she buys Black Boy, learns to ride and then wins all the red rosettes at Chatton Show.

Josephine Pullein Thompson's 'Pony Club' series about the Woodbury Pony Club were brill.  I even named my first pony Saffron (despite being a bay) after the dun Saffron in the book!  Do you remember the 2 sisters?  The pretty one was the mother's favourite and had thr best ponies but couldn't ride very well whilst the other sister was treated awfully by her mother, had the cheap ponies but was a real natural.  

Diana Pullein Thompson's 'Ponies in Peril' where a field of ponies were all going for meat so the children bought them and then had to break them in and sell them.  All the ponies were named after games - Patience, Jigsaw, Tiddlywinks.

The 'Jinny' series was great but my favourite Patricia Leitch books were 'Jump to the Top' and 'Dream of Fair Horses'.  If you had the same edition of 'Jump to the Top' as me then you might remember the photo of Flicka the black pony.  I wanted that pony so much!

I refused to ever get rid of the books so I'm sure that they're all still in my parents' loft at home.  All this reminiscing is making me want to read them all again.  Do children still read these books?


----------



## Jnhuk (5 October 2012)

Silvermiyazawa said:



			Have just ordered this from Amazon on this recommendation (oops but I loved Patricia Leitch!)
		
Click to expand...

Really hope that you enjoy!

I seem to remember needing some tissues too!


----------



## Surreydeb (5 October 2012)

My Friend Flicka books but all time favourite Black Beauty. Still have my childhood copy which I read from time to time


----------



## WelshD (5 October 2012)

Dream of Fair Horses, I Wanted a Pony, The Perfect Horse, Janet must Ride and Show Jumping Secret were all great

My fave was Pony Club Cup which actually taught me an awful lot about XC courses, how to build and approach jumps as a child - very useful!


----------



## Elbie (5 October 2012)

I LOVED the Jill books. Although remember not liking her in the second book (i think) when she gets Rapid and doesn't like him straight away. Seem to remember children laughing at her because he was going round the show jumps like a rocking horse? All I was thinking was, she's got TWO horses and I have NONE, she should stop whinging!

When I got older I then read another series. Can't remember what it was - about a girl called Alex who worked at a yard run by an eventer, who she then went on the have a relationship with!


----------



## Hechorsey (5 October 2012)

Can anyone remember some books it was a series the cover was red and it was about a girl who had a crazy horse who i think was called Barney.  She found a trainer who was in a wheelchair...

I can't find them or remember what they were called and it's driving me mad!!  They were great books tho


----------



## travelmad (5 October 2012)

I had no horses so read anything I could to do with them.

Favourites....

Three White stockings

My friend flicka


----------



## Epona78 (5 October 2012)

No one's mentioned National Velvet (or did I miss it?)!!! I still love that book, there are bits I know off by heart! And of course I loved Black Beauty, although I hated the TV show (except for the theme tune of course!) because it wasn't the same as the book. 
All those hours spent reading as a child stories of little girls rescuing ponies from the meatman, and the ponies are wild and dangerous at first but the girls win them over just by loving them and believing in them, then they go on to win a first at Olympia against all the odds... Those books are responsible for my unrealistic expectations of horse-riding...


----------



## VikkiL (5 October 2012)

Hechorsey said:



			Can anyone remember some books it was a series the cover was red and it was about a girl who had a crazy horse who i think was called Barney.  She found a trainer who was in a wheelchair...

I can't find them or remember what they were called and it's driving me mad!!  They were great books tho
		
Click to expand...



Thats 'Riders' by Samantha Alexander. I loved those books and had many daydreams imagining I was the main character!

I also loved the Swallow books (cant remember who they were by), Sandy lane stables and The Saddle club.

I brought some of these books on ebay last week (bargain- £4.00 inc p and p for 6!) and eagerly awaiting the arrival of them to start reading


----------



## Spyda (5 October 2012)

Mine's hands down 'Dream of Fair Horses' by Patrica Leitch. Really made an impression on me as a kids as it was a story without the happy ending I wished for.

I also liked the Shantih and Phantom Horse books.

Oooh and another big favorite (and with my children now, too) was 'Mylor: The Most Powerful Horse in the World'. Loved that one


----------



## Hechorsey (5 October 2012)

VikkiL said:



			Thats 'Riders' by Samantha Alexander. I loved those books and had many daydreams imagining I was the main character!

I also loved the Swallow books (cant remember who they were by), Sandy lane stables and The Saddle club.

I brought some of these books on ebay last week (bargain- £4.00 inc p and p for 6!) and eagerly awaiting the arrival of them to start reading 

Click to expand...

Yay thanks so much will have a look on Amazon x


----------



## Hexx (5 October 2012)

Jill books for me!

Also, I read a book by Caroline Silver called Classic Lives, which followed a group of racehorses from birth through their career - it was based in the 70's.  It was really well written about horses that actually existed - will have to toddle off to Amazon to see if it's still in print!


----------



## Maesfen (5 October 2012)

Horsesforever1 said:



			all the Monica Edwards books.
		
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree (and loved the Punchbowl and Romney Marsh settings; they have to be some of my favourite places even now) and the KM Peyton books plus Jill of course and most by the PT sisters; you could learn such a lot from them too.
Couldn't abide the Jinny books at all they seemed so childish after the others.
There was a fabulous book called The Young Horse Dealers about 2 teenagers that start up their own dealing yard, would love to find a copy of that.


----------



## sussex_sun (5 October 2012)

I echo Mrs B - King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry - the story of the godolphin arabian, one of the ancestors of all thoroughbreds.

It's a wonderful book - thoroughly reccommend it to all, young and old!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Wind


----------



## Suechoccy (5 October 2012)

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Just the most beautiful poignant horse story ever told and way ahead of its time in being not just a lovely read for a child but a voice calling to adults to increase their awareness on horse welfare issues of the time.

A Pony to School by Diane Pullein-Thompson.  Little naughty skewbald pony who kept rearing and children who lived the sort of lifestyle (private schools, nannies, rich parents, ponies, pony club, lashings of tomatoes, etc) that I envied at the time.

A Pony of Our Own by Patricia Leitch.  2 poor children get involved with a pony in Scotland. Liked this especially because they were ordinary children from ordinary working class urban backgrounds like me.

the Phantom Horse series.  Who wouldn't want to own a gorgeous palomino horse and have him as their one constant in life when their family/career-minded father kept moving them from country to country to start a new life on a regular basis.    Like the Leitch book, this also touched a nerve as my childhood also involved moving to new areas (albeit all in one country) on a frequent basis as a child, but I didn't have a real Phantom Horse so had to make do with a make-believe phantom horse.

The A-Z of PonyCare (or Horse and Ponycare) - can't remember author. It was a little red paperback and headings included Azoturia, Laminitis, Grooming, Feeding, Bits, Saddles, Stable Routine, Grass Routine, etc. Lots of line drawings. No photos. I adored this book and learnt it all off by heart during my last 2 junior school years. Every morning I'd go to the end of my bed and groom, feed and tack-up my imaginary horse that lived, tied in an imaginary stall, at my bed end. I did all the movements too, like miming.  Then I'd go and have my breakfast, get ready for school, then collect him from the end of the bed, take him down the stairs and outside, I'd jump on board and then walk, trot and canter him to school always having a few showjumps over the low railings around the children's park.  At school I'd turn him onto the grass quadrangle outside the headmistress's office for the day and leave the tack under her window although annoying all this bit had to be just in my head with no miming otherwise my classmates would have took the piss enormously out of me...


----------



## Sarah1 (5 October 2012)

I loved the Eventer Trilogy by Caroline Akrill!  I desperately wanted a horse like 'Legend'!  I've recently bought the trilogy again for when my baby girl grows up a bit - had to re-read it 1st though, still love it!


----------



## Romeorider (5 October 2012)

I was always cautious about reading horse books in case something bad happened to them (still can't watch Warhorse) but I did love Sliver Snaffles by Primrose Cumming and Fly by Night.


----------



## Elbie (5 October 2012)

We had an old Black Beauty floating around. It was an edition from the 40's! My sister put it on a pile of stuff to throw away. I couldn't believe it! I rescued it in the hope i can read it to and pass on to my children when I get round to breeding.

Loved reading it again. So old fashioned!


----------



## lottiepony (5 October 2012)

Sarah1 said:



			I loved the Eventer Trilogy by Caroline Akrill!  I desperately wanted a horse like 'Legend'!  I've recently bought the trilogy again for when my baby girl grows up a bit - had to re-read it 1st though, still love it!
		
Click to expand...

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Love these stories and couldn't remember who had written them just read this whole thread in the hope of finding someone else who loved them  

Also loved jinny, jill and the saddle club books in fact I read anything that remotely contained any reference to horses!


----------



## Tillypup (5 October 2012)

A while ago I bought some books that I had loved as a child,

I'd Rather Not Gallop - Caroline Akrill - Set in the showing world with a young going to stay with some relatives (I think) and learning to ride side saddle.

A Horse Called September - Two young friends grow apart when one is sent away to boarding school. The girl that remains at home ends up buying the other girl's old horse after the dad sold it.

Red rossette - Bernagh Brimms young friends qualify for Prince Phillip Cup, one of them falls for a lovely, but naughty black pony and they set up some schemes to try and raise the money to buy him!

Has anyone else read the One Dollar Horse? Fairly newly published but really is a typical "horsey" book! I loved it!!


----------



## Oberon (5 October 2012)

casinosolo said:



			I'm an English teacher and one of my Year 7s was actually reading a copy of this today:

http://childrensbookshop.com/images/bookimages/70/70579.jpg

It looked equally old and yellowed and she said it had been her mum's! It's so lovely to think kids still love reading what I did when I was their age 

Did anyone else also subscribe to 'Horse Sense' magazine in the 80s/ early 90s? I think I still have them all in a ring binder somewhere at my mum's house!
		
Click to expand...

I had two copies of that book 

And yes - I had Horse Sense too.


----------



## Oberon (5 October 2012)

Elbie said:



			I LOVED the Jill books. Although remember not liking her in the second book (i think) when she gets Rapid and doesn't like him straight away. Seem to remember children laughing at her because he was going round the show jumps like a rocking horse? All I was thinking was, she's got TWO horses and I have NONE, she should stop whinging!
		
Click to expand...

I got like that with Jinny when I read them as an adult.

She was a bit bratty at times


----------



## Oberon (5 October 2012)

Silvermiyazawa said:



			What was the one where the girl had moved house and the house came with a horse!!! After not being interested she ended up going for a ride and thought the kids who said she wasn't dressed properly (hatless) were laughing at her and ended up falling off. It's not at all as heavy as I'm making it sound, there were a few in the series and one of the characters was called Miles.
		
Click to expand...

A Pony at Blackbird Cottage by Jo Furminger....also one of my favourites.

http://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/misc/furminger.html

The pony at the house was Misty and Miles and his sister had ponies called Juno and Icarus 

The rest of the series is prefixed The Blackbirds......


----------



## SadKen (5 October 2012)

This was a trip down memory lane! 

Loved Jinny and Shantih (especially book 4!), liked Saddle Club but quit reading after being distressed by what happened to Cobalt.  That spoiled girl in the Jill books who owned Havelock made me laugh.  Liked the Silver Brumby and while I thought Arrow kinda deserved what he got, I was upset about him too. 

One I haven't seen mentioned was the Bobbi and Shelta series (Jump to the Stars by Gillian Baxter being the first one).  I really enjoyed reading my tattered jumble sale 60s copy! They were a bit more grown up though, I think Bobbi ended up dating the YO. Well played.


----------



## criso (5 October 2012)

Just remembered another one, Talking of Horses by Monica Dickens 
Not fiction but just reminiscing about the horses she has known over the years.


----------



## Sarah1 (5 October 2012)

lottiepony said:



			THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Love these stories and couldn't remember who had written them just read this whole thread in the hope of finding someone else who loved them 

Click to expand...



I loved the big grey too 'The Comet'!  What a dude


----------



## Zimzim (5 October 2012)

Jinny and Shanti (the chestnut arab mare)
The Silver Brumby
and The Saddle Club

What memories.....!!!!


----------



## JGC (5 October 2012)

Just bought Caroline Akrill's Eventer and Silver Bridle trilogies! Have been meaning to for ages and this has reminded me!

Loved Dream of Fair Horses but 'twas sad


----------



## TheSylv007 (5 October 2012)

Spyda said:



			Mine's hands down 'Dream of Fair Horses' by Patrica Leitch. Really made an impression on me as a kids as it was a story without the happy ending I wished for.

I also liked the Shantih and Phantom Horse books.

Oooh and another big favorite (and with my children now, too) was 'Mylor: The Most Powerful Horse in the World'. Loved that one 

Click to expand...

I like Mylor too!


----------



## dark rider (5 October 2012)

Aah this brings back memories!
I think that as a teenager I must have read just about every horse book in the library, and all the books from the book shops.
KM Peyton - Fly by Night was always a favourite
HM Peel - more young adult than teenager, but very gripping.
Gillian Baxter 
My Friend Flicka
Elaine Mitcell Silver Brumby series
The Jill Enjoys her Ponies comedy books - I can't remember who wrote them
Follyfoot - but that was a bit grim in places
Pullein Thompson - 2 sisters I think, and Pat Smythe wrote some books too.
Black Huntin Whip and the like

Does anyone remeber a book about a racehorse called Dunfermline?  I can't remember who wrote that.


----------



## tedster (5 October 2012)

I love pony books and still own practically all the books mentioned on this thread!! Way too old but cant bare to rehome them ..


----------



## tiggybeans (5 October 2012)

King of the Wind
Silver Snaffles, Primrose Cummings
Ten Ponies and Jackie, Judith Berrisford
A Stable for Jill, Ruby Ferguson
All the Pullein-Thompson books (Phantom Horse was a fav)

and Moorland Mousie - does anyone else remember this lovely story about an Exmoor pony? I had a really old copy, and that was 35 years ago, so not sure when it was published. I'm sure I read somewhere it was being reprinted. Happy days...


----------



## SusannaF (5 October 2012)

tiggybeans said:



			King of the Wind
Silver Snaffles, Primrose Cummings
Ten Ponies and Jackie, Judith Berrisford
A Stable for Jill, Ruby Ferguson
All the Pullein-Thompson books (Phantom Horse was a fav)

and Moorland Mousie - does anyone else remember this lovely story about an Exmoor pony? I had a really old copy, and that was 35 years ago, so not sure when it was published. I'm sure I read somewhere it was being reprinted. Happy days...
		
Click to expand...

The Moorland Mousie Trust have reprinted it, and I think there's reissues of Jill and Silver Snaffles out there too.


----------



## SusannaF (5 October 2012)

Jinny and Shantih fans, you might be interested in this. I found where the "real" Finmory is, on Skye.

http://susannaforrest.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/the-real-finmory-discovered/


----------



## Oberon (5 October 2012)

SusannaF said:



			Jinny and Shantih fans, you might be interested in this. I found where the "real" Finmory is, on Skye.

http://susannaforrest.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/the-real-finmory-discovered/

Click to expand...

Wow - thanks for that


----------



## ZondaR (5 October 2012)

Can you imagine if Jill posted on here....  "My mum gave me some money and I bought a pony.  What does he eat, how do I look after him and how do I put on the thing on his head?"  How irresponsible was the farmer that sold her Black Boy knowing she was totally clueless.


----------



## janebadger (5 October 2012)

Liz4949, The Ten Pound Pony was by Veronica Westlake. I loved that book. It took me years to track it down.

The first Oxus book was reprinted by Fidra. They've been a bit quiet lately, but are planning to get back into re-issuing books, so it might be worth lobbying them to get that one out again!


----------



## vineyridge (5 October 2012)

Did no one here read Pat Smythe's Jay series?  We didn't have it available here in the United States, and I've wanted to see what they were like.  But they must not have been very good or they would have been mentioned already.

If you are able to find them, the absolute best horse books for children/young people ever published in the United States were Pamela and the Blue Mare and The Blue Mare in The Olympic Trials.  1950's books by Alice O'Connell.  Never reprinted and now very expensive in part because of the Paul Brown illustrations.

The amount of actual information about riding and training is unbelievable.  One could still use the program outlined.  Author's technical resource was Vladimir Littauer, so you can imagine how correct all of the horse stuff was.


----------



## janebadger (5 October 2012)

The Three Jays weren't bad; they just weren't terribly good. They had a lot of background info on Pat Smythe herself, and are interesting from that point of view. Read one after the other, they become a bit samey: all the characters do is bicker, bicker, bicker. The stories are pleasant enough, but the characters never really grabbed me and caught my imagination.

I have seen those Blue Mare books when I was buying books from a customer. I just gazed at them on the shelf and tried not to drool.


----------



## casinosolo (5 October 2012)

SusannaF said:



			Jinny and Shantih fans, you might be interested in this. I found where the "real" Finmory is, on Skye.

http://susannaforrest.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/the-real-finmory-discovered/

Click to expand...

That's brilliant! Thanks  Now I just have to look into moving there...


----------



## casinosolo (5 October 2012)

Just found a copy of this on my old bookcase at my mum's house too:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_UwreZkL12sM/SxBE00Q0tMI/AAAAAAAACqQ/H4j0boAxzGk/A horse called wonder[2].jpg

But can't really remember if this series was any good? Might read again and see! I think I'm going to end up with a lot of pony books to read or re-read!


----------



## Sandstone1 (5 October 2012)

does anyone remember a book about a girl called tamsin who had a grey pony? Think it was set in cornwall and had something to do with smugulars. 
cant think what it was called


----------



## Mrs B (5 October 2012)

Also, does anyone remember a book called 'Not worth a Nickel'?


----------



## janebadger (5 October 2012)

There's a series about a girl called Tamsin Grey who has a grey Arab pony called Cascade. They're set on the Romney Marsh, and some of them involve smugglers. They're by Monica Edwards. Do you think those might be the ones you're thinking of? The other main characters are Rissa, Roger and Meryon.


----------



## Foxhunter49 (5 October 2012)

Another I read when I was about 12 - and every year I was at school after that!

The Tale of Two Horses by A.F. Tschiffely and Sheila Elkin (Feb 1989)

The tale of a 10.000 mile ride from the horse's view point. I last read it a couple of years ago. Well recommended


----------



## FairyLights (5 October 2012)

I've just been on Amazon buying.
Two Middle Aged Ladies in Andalucia
On the Edge of a Cloud
and Blind Beauty.
great thread this.


----------



## Sandstone1 (5 October 2012)

janebadger said:



			There's a series about a girl called Tamsin Grey who has a grey Arab pony called Cascade. They're set on the Romney Marsh, and some of them involve smugglers. They're by Monica Edwards. Do you think those might be the ones you're thinking of? The other main characters are Rissa, Roger and Meryon.
		
Click to expand...

Think thats it, Thanks


----------



## Maesfen (5 October 2012)

itsmylife said:



			does anyone remember a book about a girl called tamsin who had a grey pony? Think it was set in cornwall and had something to do with smugulars. 
cant think what it was called
		
Click to expand...

There were loads of books about Tamzin and Rissa; the pony was called Cascade.  All by Monica Edwards and set on the Romney Marsh on the Kent/Sussex borders.  The writer lived where it was set so she knew and wrote about the area very well; many of the stories were based on true happenings (with a bit of poetic license!)  She also wrote about a series of a family buying a farm in the Devils Punchbowl near Hindhead.  As a child I was always asking Dad to take me so I could find them someday!


----------



## FairyLights (5 October 2012)

http://www.monicaedwards.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Edwards


----------



## Madam Min (5 October 2012)

My mum gave me a load of her old pony books, one was called "Finding our Stirrups" I think by someone called Kinnaid and another book called "Dream Pony" by Elinore Havers.

Also read a more modern one called "Call me Brave"  about a delapidated eventing yard and a girl not really being into eventing but spured on by her mum and a gypsy who came to stay.

As an adult, love Jilly Cooper especially Polo and the lovely Ricky France-Lynch!


----------



## Maesfen (5 October 2012)

Looking at that site, there's actually a ME day in Rye tomorrow where they visit all the places in the books.


----------



## tabithakat64 (5 October 2012)

The Jill series by Ruby Ferguson,

Silver Brumby series by Elyne Mitchell,

The Black Stallion series by Walter Farley,

The Flicka series by Maureen O'hara,

Everyhing by Monica Dickens and all of the Pullein-Thompson sisters books,

the Jacky series by Judit Berrisford,

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell,

The Jinny series

Misty of Chincoteague, the Grey Pony, Mayfly  and many others the majority of which I still have 

My absolute favourite were I wanted A Pony with Daybreak & Augusta and one about a wild mongolian stallion and a shetland pony, I can't for the life of me remember what it was called.

Adult horsey fiction it has to be Molly Watson's book In The Pink and the Dressage Chronicles by Karen McGoldrick although I love Jilly Cooper, Tilly Bagshawe, Jo Carnegie and Fiona Walker.


----------



## BlackRider (5 October 2012)

Another vote for the Jinny & Shantih series, I'm sure this is why I ended up with 2 arabs 

Also loevd - the Horse from the Black Loch by the same author


----------



## millikins (5 October 2012)

Flambards, though remember the frustration of waiting years for no. 4 when Christina and Mark get sorted!
The Brumby, Mary Elwyn Patchett, much more serious and dark than the Silver Brumby series
The Wild Heart, Helen Mitchell, about an ugly, vicious Argentinian mare
And anyone recognise this, a cowboy one, a wild stallion who wouldn't be tamed, corralled and scrambled over a 7' fence so hobbled, then he went under instead and drowned in a stream, very sad but the first time I heard the "Four white socks..." thing
And anything with those inky, blotted illustrations by Victor Ambrus, 
(There are some cheerful books I like too!)
As an aside, Rosina Copper is a true story.


----------



## Morganlafaye (5 October 2012)

What a fantastic thread! And a real blast from the past.

Am I the only one who wasn't fond of the 'girls with ponies' books? I read them, but I spent most of the time totally green with envy! Never had a pony as a kid, and it was all I wanted. Particularly disliked the Shantih books, mostly because the kid was a brat (a lot like me I expect) and I wanted her horse!! Bitter? Me? 

Best books ever were the Silver Brumby series - I read them all hundreds of times, although Silver Brumby Whirlwind always made me cry. Also loved her related books, such as Moon Filly, and there was a lovely book by her called The Colt at Taparoo.

Also loved the M Henry books, Misty of Chincoteague and in particular King of the Wind. 

Black Beauty has no equal, and I also loved the Black Beauty's family books. The Black Stallion books were also pretty good, but Black Stallion's Ghost gave me nightmares! That one really stuck in the memory!

And a HUGE thanks to the person on here who mentioned 'Ponies in Peril'. I really loved that book - one of the few kids with ponies books I really adored, but couldn't remember what it was called or who it was by! I wanted Jigsaw; him and Shantih were my dream ponies. I may pick up that one to read again at some point.....  

Fab thread - thanks OP!


----------



## TheresaW (5 October 2012)

Was it Jackie that a horse called Misty?

Also remember reading about a horse called Freckles, but can't remember who it was by.

Loved the Jill books and the black stallion.


----------



## emmah1979 (5 October 2012)

Morganlafaye said:



			What a fantastic thread! And a real blast from the past.

And a HUGE thanks to the person on here who mentioned 'Ponies in Peril'. I really loved that book - one of the few kids with ponies books I really adored, but couldn't remember what it was called or who it was by! I wanted Jigsaw; him and Shantih were my dream ponies. I may pick up that one to read again at some point.....  

Fab thread - thanks OP!
		
Click to expand...

Thanks Morganlafaye! I've loved reading all the posts.  Really good trip down memory lane.  


However, what happened at the end of "Dream of Fair Horses'?  If I remember rightly Perdita was a show pony who had been left in a field and the girl who ended up riding her came to stay in a house nearby with relatives?  Were they heading for Horse of the Year Show or something?  Why did she not ride him at the show?


----------



## HashRouge (5 October 2012)

I'm still addicted to my old horsey books! I've just re-read all the Ruby Ferguson "Jill" books, as well as my Josephine Pullein-Thompson collection (she's my favourite of the sisters, I love the Pony Club trilogy). And I'm still mourning the loss of my Jinny Manders books! I think they must have ended up going to Oxfam by accident. I liked the Silver Brumby books as well, and the Midnight Dancer ones. I used to dream of riding off and finding a den in the woods! I really like all the KM Peyton ones as well - Flambards, Fly-by-Night and The Team, and Blind Beauty.


----------



## Lanky Loll (5 October 2012)

Can anyone remember a US based book about a family doing trick riding displays who help a young girl and her horse escape her abusive uncle? She has to jump a car at one point as part of a display 

I seem to have spent the last few years rebuying the horsey books of my childhood as mum gave them all away


----------



## Silvermiyazawa (5 October 2012)

Oberon said:



			A Pony at Blackbird Cottage by Jo Furminger....also one of my favourites.

http://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/misc/furminger.html

The pony at the house was Misty and Miles and his sister had ponies called Juno and Icarus 

The rest of the series is prefixed The Blackbirds......

Click to expand...

Thank you - off to trawl Amazon!


----------



## Silvermiyazawa (5 October 2012)

I liked Jinny because she was more real than the others. Jill was such a goodie good girl!! Despite not having a pony I didn't equate having one with being a perfect model child out of gratitude! (Maybe I was/am more of a brat than I care to admit ).


----------



## RockinRudolph (5 October 2012)

I had one or two of the jill books, LOVED fly by night! I think I had a brumby book, not sure. I collected a lot of the saddle club books, still have them all somewhere, I will have to dig them out and have a good re-read! I don't think I read black beauty, but I can't bear to watch the film - I cry my eyes out from start to finish! It's not from my childhood but I thought the war horse was a brilliant read, film didn't live up to it though in my opinion.


----------



## dressedkez (5 October 2012)

Wow - fantastic post......
I loved all the pony books published in the 60 / 70's.....Jill's Gymkhana - where Danny Boy became Black Boy in the successive books (who has also noticed that?) KM Peyton - Fly By Night and the Team who appealed to all Council house horsey wannabes, of which I was one when I read her books  - it could be possible to have a pony (in those days a good pony cost anything between £30 - £100, which if you had non horsey parents in the 1970's - was a vast amount of money - well even if your parents were horsey, it was still substantial) and Flambards pure escapism - and yes Christina and Mark did eventually get together.....but I always thought that there was possibly a book to come where Wolfgang (son of Ruth Hollis and Patrick Pennington (that triology of books) met Isobel Russell's (daughter of Christina & Will) grand daughter and went back to Flambards.......

I loved the Pullein Thompson - especially Josephine and Diana (Christine was a bit bleaker) and Moncia Edwards, and of course Monica Dickens - Follyfoot / Cobblers Dream.

Who remembers Mary Gervaise - and the tales of kids taking their ponies to school? Widdershins - the horse who responded to the opposite commands (I have one of those now, by accident, not design.....!)

Adult horse books - do read Jane Smiley Horse Heaven - epic. And an older book Caroline Silver - forget the name, but she followed a bunch of racehorses born in the 1960's.....got it 'Classic Lives' 

Don't forget the classics such as Moorland Mousie and Diana the Dartmoor Pony - and I had a book about an Indian pony - something related to the Khyber.
And of course there is (sp) Tsyhfinneys Ride. I know I have the spelling of that to pot. Kiplings the Maltese Cat. And yes you have all mentioned Black Beauty - but did anyone read Son of Black Beauty? 

Lovely odd ball books as well - including the Pony Plot / Ponies in my suitcase (I think, did I just make that up?) 

In the Pony Plot - I think that there was a pony called Plum who went to space? Sounds like one of my TB's......

Finally - a book I re-read  every few years (apart from Jilly Cooper Riders) is Caroline Ackrill's eventing trilogy - it always cheers me up - the horse characters are wonderful - The Mare who sometimes slips a stifle, the Bolter, the ancient Bay mare with the far away look in her eye, the bad tempered Chestnut and the Black horse with bad feet......then there is Little Legend with the explosive buck.....

Happy days! xx


----------



## Tormenta (5 October 2012)

Has to be the Jinny and Shantih books for me, I could feel each and every moment she had with that Arab. I still have them up in the attic. (My daughter read them all too)


----------



## Karran (5 October 2012)

dressedkez said:



			Finally - a book I re-read  every few years (apart from Jilly Cooper Riders) is Caroline Ackrill's eventing trilogy - it always cheers me up - the horse characters are wonderful - The Mare who sometimes slips a stifle, the Bolter, the ancient Bay mare with the far away look in her eye, the bad tempered Chestnut and the Black horse with bad feet......then there is Little Legend with the explosive buck.....

Happy days! xx
		
Click to expand...

YES! I have one of those, I never realised it was a trilogy! But the names ring a bell right away! The one I have is called Eventer's Dream I think? What were the others *prepares to get googling*

I recently gave over 100 Saddle Club books to the charity shop and feel awful about it!
Loved Jinny and Shantih.

Did anyone else read the House at World End's series? I think there was 4 and they were like "summer at world's end... Winter at World's end... etc. And the Blue Ribbon Series about a girl attempting to get on the US 3day team. Can't remember the name but the horse in it was called Night Owl.

I still have my Silver Brumby series and another american series about a girl who had a palomino called Chica?


----------



## muckypony (5 October 2012)

Reading this has made me remember so many books!

Heartland and Sheltie were my favourite  I always wanted a pony like Sheltie in my garden!!


----------



## baby_dudley (5 October 2012)

Karran - I loved the blue ribbon series and that was it night owl!!! Glad someone else knows what I was on about  eyeing them up on eBay now to read again  x


----------



## janebadger (5 October 2012)

James Aldridge's The Marvellous Mongolian was the one with the Shetland and the Mongolian (long way up the thread - sorry). The American series about Chica (an epic one) was by Ann Sheldon, and was called the Linda Craig series. 

I have a book coming out next year about pony books - it should be out in March. Title as yet undecided as I'm still slugging that one out with the publisher, but all the major stuff is in there: Jill, Jinny, Jackie - though not every author that ever there was as there just wasn't space, alas.


----------



## Karran (5 October 2012)

janebadger said:



			James Aldridge's The Marvellous Mongolian was the one with the Shetland and the Mongolian (long way up the thread - sorry). The American series about Chica (an epic one) was by Ann Sheldon, and was called the Linda Craig series.
		
Click to expand...

Yes! I remember getting really irritated with them though as whenever something bad happened, it was resolved easily.

It was like a bad TV soap.


----------



## Zuzan (5 October 2012)

Wow talk about ghosts... remember just about all the books mentioned..  does anyone remember Wandy the Wild Pony ?


----------



## WelshD (5 October 2012)

Jilly Cooper's Riders is fab, brilliant characters. I spend 12 hours a week at least in the car and have it unabridged on audio book, its on repeat, its several hours long so I never get bored of it


----------



## Zuzan (6 October 2012)

Millikins said:



			..........
The Wild Heart, Helen Mitchell, about an ugly, vicious Argentinian mare
  .......
		
Click to expand...

  Adored this book thank-you for reminding of it  .. only think it was by Helen Griffiths if it was this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Wild-Heart-Helen-Griffiths/dp/B0007E1R6K  ?


----------



## millikins (6 October 2012)

Zuzan said:



			Adored this book thank-you for reminding of it  .. only think it was by Helen Griffiths if it was this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Wild-Heart-Helen-Griffiths/dp/B0007E1R6K  ?
		
Click to expand...

Yes, thanks, didn't think I had the right name. Radio 4 serialised it a long while back.


----------



## jeeve (6 October 2012)

Mrs B said:



			'The Godolphin Arabian' by Marguerite Henry.

It must be over 35 years since I read it (I used to take it out of the library week after week!) but when I looked at it on Amazon just now, the words of the pages they let you read were as familiar as if no time had passed at all 

Click to expand...

All her books were great, also Silver Brumby, Pullein Thompson, etc. i loved Ride a Wild Pony, I actually saw the movie in the UK when I was 10. (My only trip to the UK).

I also recall Fabulous (about an appaloosa), The Red Pony, Lyrico (a pegasus).

Just recently I bought my daughter a book called Pegasus, I recomend it for any of your horse mad daughters, it was a mixture of fantasy and modern day. It is a series.

My daughter loves the Pony Club Rivals series by Stacey Gregg


----------



## devonlass (6 October 2012)

I loved the sliver brumby books,still have some of them now.

Also liked the black stallion series,have several of those still kicking around somewhere as well,rather sad for a woman of nearly 40 I know,but I could never bear to part with them


----------



## vineyridge (6 October 2012)

devonlass said:



			I loved the sliver brumby books,still have some of them now.

Also liked the black stallion series,have several of those still kicking around somewhere as well,rather sad for a woman of nearly 40 I know,but I could never bear to part with them

Click to expand...

I actually preferred The Island Stallion series.  It got a bit weird with, IIRC, extraterrestrials in one of the books.


----------



## Skib (6 October 2012)

Black Boy is correct. I fear it may have been censored out in later editions due to political correctness!
My favourite was Wish for a Pony but I loved a book too called the Horse from India to which as an adult I've added Kipling's The Maltese cat.
What a great thread this is.


----------



## janebadger (6 October 2012)

If anyone is interested, I've done a series of blog posts on pony books through the decades, which feature lots of the books you've mentioned.  There's a digest of them here:

http://booksandmud.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-pony-book-history-from-1920-2010.html]​


----------



## cornbrodolly (6 October 2012)

Another vote for Monica Edwards - was thrilled to visit both Rye Harbour and the Punchbowl a few years ago.
Loved the Pullein Thompson books , Silver Brumby ones, Pat Smythe etc.
OH recommends 'Fury, Son the wild'.
Does anyone remeber a book where theres a horse less girl who ends up with a Lippizana after the riding school owner broke some ribs? A Lippy was the height to me, though a horse less child any pony would have done.....
Also a book about some friends riding/camping in the New Forest, and one horse was a 'jibber'. VCant remember much else, but lots of horsey tips and lore , and photographs to illustrate it.


----------



## Maesfen (6 October 2012)

Was the New Forest one called Four Rode Home by Primrose Cummings?  About 4 children riding from NF to Sussex I think it was; a cracking book, must read it again.

It's weird isn't it walking around her old haunts of Rye and the Punchbowl; oh what the imagination can do lol!


----------



## janebadger (6 October 2012)

I think the Lipizzaner one might be Gillian Baxter's The Stables at Hampton.


----------



## UKa (6 October 2012)

I loved Walter Farleys black stallion series.


----------



## {97702} (6 October 2012)

JFTD said:



			I loved the Oxus series, though I've yet to encounter anyone online who read them.  Very much Arthur Ransome with ponies instead of boats 

Click to expand...

You have just encountered that person lol   I loved those books - I got one of them from my school library, then ordered the other 2 books through the county library system (useful having a mum who was a librarian sometimes ) - I just wish I had "forgotten" to return them now


----------



## {97702} (6 October 2012)

Maesfen said:



			There were loads of books about Tamzin and Rissa; the pony was called Cascade.  All by Monica Edwards and set on the Romney Marsh on the Kent/Sussex borders.  The writer lived where it was set so she knew and wrote about the area very well; many of the stories were based on true happenings (with a bit of poetic license!)  She also wrote about a series of a family buying a farm in the Devils Punchbowl near Hindhead.  As a child I was always asking Dad to take me so I could find them someday! 

Click to expand...

My mum knew Monica Edwards slightly, as she bought a Siamese cat from her - my mum and her brother (my uncle obviously) are mentioned in one of ME's non-fiction books 

When I was a child I read all the books avidly, and wrote to Monica Edwards - I was so pleased when she replied, I kept her letters for years   We visited Romney Marsh (stayed in one of the Watch Cottages described in the books) and also the Devil's Punchbowl, where we bumped into ME's son Sean, who was the basis for Meryon in the books


----------



## Oberon (6 October 2012)

Millikins said:



			The Wild Heart, Helen Mitchell, about an ugly, vicious Argentinian mare
		
Click to expand...

Oh yes. I remember one of the first lines.

"Her name was Bruja, which means The Witch."

It was a bitter sweet book but with a deeper meaning about man's need to possess and how we crush nature because of it.

It really meant a lot to me.


----------



## cornbrodolly (6 October 2012)

Many thanks to those who answered my queries- may look for those 2 obsure books on amazon!
I think the illustrations were  a big part of the pony stories- I loved Anne Bullen in particular, and read anything that she d illustrated.


----------



## MiJodsR2BlinkinTite (6 October 2012)

I remember well a very well thumbed book by someone with the pen name of "Golden Gorse". She was very keen on the Exmoor pony I seem to remember, and her book had picture of them in.

The title of the book eludes me though. It was my Bible when I was a child, and yearning for a pony. I've no idea what happened to the book - probably I'd read it so much it very likely just fell to pieces. It was a really charming book, would be considered very old fashioned now, but I just digested every word of it.

Also.... obligatory reading material was the Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship in the old fashioned blue bordered cover, plus Keeping a Pony at Grass. I remember getting a school detention for reading these in a lesson!

I remember the Follyfoot Farm books by Monica Dickens (and the series on TV - oh WHY can't they bring some of these back FFS???).

Also enjoyed the Pullein Thompson books, plus Pat Smythe wrote some nice little pony stories too I seem to recall (gosh am REALLY showing my age here). 

Silly question, but is anybody writing pony stories for today's horse-mad teenagers I wonder?


----------



## JFTDWS (7 October 2012)

Picklenash said:



			You have just encountered that person lol   I loved those books - I got one of them from my school library, then ordered the other 2 books through the county library system (useful having a mum who was a librarian sometimes ) - I just wish I had "forgotten" to return them now 

Click to expand...

I am utterly thrilled to have finally encountered someone else 

I wish I had mine / could get more copies now, I'd love to read them again.  I was transfixed by the Persian theme and desperate to know who Maurice really was!


----------



## bluewhippet (7 October 2012)

vineyridge said:



			Did no one here read Pat Smythe's Jay series?  We didn't have it available here in the United States, and I've wanted to see what they were like.  But they must not have been very good or they would have been mentioned already.

I was just going to mention them. inherited a large pony library from my older sister. I thought they were quite entertaining and cosy. More familyish than horsey though
		
Click to expand...

I loved Monica Edwards and Joanna Canon (mother of the pullein thompson sisters) best, I think.


----------



## bluewhippet (7 October 2012)

Did anyone read Rosina Copper, by Kitty Barne about a mystery damaged polo pony? Loved that as well


----------



## Maesfen (7 October 2012)

Picklenash said:



			My mum knew Monica Edwards slightly, as she bought a Siamese cat from her - my mum and her brother (my uncle obviously) are mentioned in one of ME's non-fiction books 

When I was a child I read all the books avidly, and wrote to Monica Edwards - I was so pleased when she replied, I kept her letters for years   We visited Romney Marsh (stayed in one of the Watch Cottages described in the books) and also the Devil's Punchbowl, where we bumped into ME's son Sean, who was the basis for Meryon in the books 

Click to expand...

You lucky thing; that's given me goose bumps as I always used to imagine meeting one of them when we ever visited either place!  She was as much a hero of mine as any of the riders like Pat Smythe; I used to plague the library to get as many of her books as possible and for a town one they did pretty well, I was the first stamp in many of them! 

Yes, BW, I've still got my copy of Rosina, loved it.
Does anyone remember Prize Pony about a pony won in a raffle?


----------



## Alyth (7 October 2012)

Many of these authors must be after my time!!  I loved the Pullein-Thompsons sisters books, but especially the illustrations by Anne Bullen - Jennie Loriston-Clarks mum!!  Also enjoyed Pat Smythe and Monica Edwards books as well as the Mary O'Hara trilogy.  When I left home my Mum took them to the school where she was headmistress and put them in the library - I was FURIOUS!!  And have since bought copies of some of them!!  I wonder if anyone went to Offwell school and enjoyed them as much as I did!!


----------



## Millie-Rose (7 October 2012)

Karran said:



			YES! I have one of those, I never realised it was a trilogy! But the names ring a bell right away! The one I have is called Eventer's Dream I think? What were the others *prepares to get googling*

I recently gave over 100 Saddle Club books to the charity shop and feel awful about it!
Loved Jinny and Shantih.

Did anyone else read the House at World End's series? I think there was 4 and they were like "summer at world's end... Winter at World's end... etc. And the Blue Ribbon Series about a girl attempting to get on the US 3day team. Can't remember the name but the horse in it was called Night Owl.

I still have my Silver Brumby series and another american series about a girl who had a palomino called Chica?
		
Click to expand...

The one after eventers dream was called A Hoof in the door can't remember the name of the third though great books. This really is a trip down memory lane I think I've read about 95% of everything metioned on this thread great to be reminded about the blackbird cottage and phantom horse ones which I have read but had forgotten all about probably because they were library books so only read once whereas I own lots of the Jinny, Jill and Jackie books and have read loads of times


----------



## {97702} (7 October 2012)

JFTD said:



			I am utterly thrilled to have finally encountered someone else 

I wish I had mine / could get more copies now, I'd love to read them again.  I was transfixed by the Persian theme and desperate to know who Maurice really was!
		
Click to expand...

Awwww so frustrating - I googled the books last night to see if they were still available, they were in print but are not currently available and the website had the first couple of pages of The Far Distant Oxus online.  I now really really want to read them again 

I didnt realise there was a 4th book in the series, I have never read that!


----------



## {97702} (7 October 2012)

Maesfen said:



			You lucky thing; that's given me goose bumps as I always used to imagine meeting one of them when we ever visited either place!  She was as much a hero of mine as any of the riders like Pat Smythe; I used to plague the library to get as many of her books as possible and for a town one they did pretty well, I was the first stamp in many of them! 

Yes, BW, I've still got my copy of Rosina, loved it.
Does anyone remember Prize Pony about a pony won in a raffle?
		
Click to expand...

LOL it was such a disappointment to be honest, he was middle aged and didmt look remotely like Meryon   My mum collected all the books in hard back, they are apparently worth a fortune on eBay now - or they would be if endless puppies hadnt chewed them over the years


----------



## Sameru (7 October 2012)

I remember a book called Will to Win that I got free with horse and pony mag... There were more in the series and I loved them all. Also I read 'the enchanted horse' more than most... About a little girl who got a dusty old wooden horse from a shop that came to life. Awwww feeling the love now!!


----------



## Capriole (7 October 2012)

I had a huge library which my mother kindly disposed of for me  

Cant think of many of my favourites, Im sure if I read through the thread Id remember loads of them but not got time right now.  I was a big fan of the Pullein-Thompson sisters, the Jinny books, and Fly-by-Night and The Team.


----------



## Capriole (7 October 2012)

Millie-Rose said:



			The one after eventers dream was called A Hoof in the door can't remember the name of the third though great books.
		
Click to expand...

Ticket to ride?


----------



## {97702} (7 October 2012)

Picklenash said:



			Awwww so frustrating - I googled the books last night to see if they were still available, they were in print but are not currently available and the website had the first couple of pages of The Far Distant Oxus online.  I now really really want to read them again 

I didnt realise there was a 4th book in the series, I have never read that!
		
Click to expand...

Sorry - ignore me - 4th book is not about the same characters


----------



## janebadger (7 October 2012)

MiJods, the book you're after is Golden Gorse's The Young Rider (pics here: http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/misc/goldengorse.html)

and yes, there are books  being written today. A few I've really enjoyed (all YA - Young Adult):

Meg Rosoff: The Bride's Farewell - historical story of a girl's struggle against other people's ideas of what she should be
Linda Newbery: The Damage Done - fantastic and absorbing study of a girl's struggle with agoraphobia, family and horses. Great book. Can't recommend it highly enough.
Maggie Stiefvater: The Scorpio Races - brilliant, if savage, fantasy about the water horse

There's a sad story behind the inspiration for Monica Edwards' Meryon. As well as her son Sean, he was based on someone she knew as a teenager. He was dark, dashing and brilliant but died of appendicitis when young. There is a picture of him in the biography of ME and he doesn't disappoint.


----------



## JFTDWS (7 October 2012)

Picklenash said:



			Awwww so frustrating - I googled the books last night to see if they were still available, they were in print but are not currently available and the website had the first couple of pages of The Far Distant Oxus online.  I now really really want to read them again 

I didnt realise there was a 4th book in the series, I have never read that!
		
Click to expand...

I've never managed to find a copy of Crowns either, though it's not about the same characters.

Fidra books allegedly have the far distant oxus in print, but (nikicb says) they were out of stock when she tried to order a copy.  Neither of the other two are still in print as far as I've been able to find


----------



## ElleSkywalker (7 October 2012)

Janebadger you are my hero, as a collector of pony books (got hundreds of them! Including some first edition P-T & Joanna Cannan ones) your website is a godsend  

And yes I do still read them


----------



## Capriole (7 October 2012)

JaneBadger, your username has reminded me of a book and I cant think of the details.

Girl moves to the country with parents, not best pleased about it. Small grey pony came with the cottage, left behind by the previous occupants. Eventually girl takes an interest and starts to ride.  Pony outgrown (possibly in second or third book in series) and she buys herself a bay with a white face, which she calls Badger (?).  

Not sure how much Im remembering was real and how much Im imagining, does anyone else remember it?


----------



## Maesfen (7 October 2012)

Picklenash said:



			LOL it was such a disappointment to be honest, he was middle aged and didmt look remotely like Meryon   My mum collected all the books in hard back, they are apparently worth a fortune on eBay now - or they would be if endless puppies hadnt chewed them over the years 

Click to expand...

LOL, such a disappointment for you but I'm old age so he probably still is a dish for me!  I always imagined him as a young Euan McGregor or a Clooney! 
	
	
		
		
	


	




A few years back I decided to sell mine on ebay and made a fortune (which went on a stud bill!) A Wind Is Blowing HB made nearly £300 alone - but since I've been slowly buying some back because I missed them so much! 








janebadger said:



			There's a sad story behind the inspiration for Monica Edwards' Meryon. As well as her son Sean, he was based on someone she knew as a teenager. He was dark, dashing and brilliant but died of appendicitis when young. There is a picture of him in the biography of ME and he doesn't disappoint.
		
Click to expand...

What a sad story for them all.

I love your site Jane, brings back many happy memories, thank you.  You can tell how popular old books are just by this thread alone.


----------



## Boxers (7 October 2012)

I'm another one who loved the Jill books and the Jackie books.    I still have quite a lot of them.

But my all time favourites were the Monica Edwards books, particularly the Omney Marsh series, so much so in fact that my daughters are called Tamsin and Marissa (Rissa) (they are Tamzin and Clarissa in the books). 

I have most of the books, trawled ebay for them.  A couple are authorised photocopies though as the actual books are so expensive.


----------



## {97702} (7 October 2012)

LOL Boxers, my sister is Lindsey and I was going to be called Tamzin - which I would have really liked - unfortunately my parents chose a completely naff name not related to the books at all 

We also had puppies called Dion, Meryon, and Diccon over the years 

JaneBadger, I hadnt realised that about ME and Meryon, will have to read her biography   I've only read her own non-fiction books 

Maesfan - OMG that is incredible   I am off to my parents to see if there are any copies that escaped the puppies


----------



## vineyridge (7 October 2012)

Was the Little Britches series by Ralph Moody ever published in the UK?  Autobiographical, about a kid in Colorado at the turn of the twentieth century, with western ranching and lots of horse stuff.  I still have three of them:  Little Britches, forget the name of the second, and Home Ranch.  There is a children's rodeo program in the US that is named Little Britches after these books.


----------



## elliebrewer98 (7 October 2012)

mudmonkey17 said:



			Oh and ones about a girl who had a pony called barney? She evented at pony club but can't remember the name of them. Think author wrote another series about a horse sanctuary.
		
Click to expand...

The Riders series by Samantha Alexander, my copy of it is in such good condition that it didn't even cross my mind of how old it (respectively to my 14 years!) until I looked and saw it was published in 1996! It's older than me and is still in perfect condition!!


----------



## elliebrewer98 (7 October 2012)

Elbie said:



			When I got older I then read another series. Can't remember what it was - about a girl called Alex who worked at a yard run by an eventer, who she then went on the have a relationship with!
		
Click to expand...

The Riders series by Samantha Alexander


----------



## eggs (7 October 2012)

dressedkez said:



			Who remembers Mary Gervaise - and the tales of kids taking their ponies to school? Widdershins - the horse who responded to the opposite commands (I have one of those now, by accident, not design.....!)
xx
		
Click to expand...

Oh my gosh this post has brought back so many memories and I do remember Widdershins - I would have loved to have had a horse that did the opposite of what he was asked (that was the way he was trained)


----------



## MotherOfChickens (7 October 2012)

Silver Snaffles. best pony book ever


----------



## elliebrewer98 (7 October 2012)

Hechorsey said:



			Can anyone remember some books it was a series the cover was red and it was about a girl who had a crazy horse who i think was called Barney.  She found a trainer who was in a wheelchair...

I can't find them or remember what they were called and it's driving me mad!!  They were great books tho
		
Click to expand...

The Riders series by Samantha Alexander, I never knew so many people remembered them!


----------



## elliebrewer98 (7 October 2012)

SadKen said:



			One I haven't seen mentioned was the Bobbi and Shelta series (Jump to the Stars by Gillian Baxter being the first one).  I really enjoyed reading my tattered jumble sale 60s copy! They were a bit more grown up though, I think Bobbi ended up dating the YO. Well played.
		
Click to expand...

I REALLY need to read the rest of this series, I think 'Jump to the Stars' is one of my most reread books I have about of about 800, I love it! What are the rest called?


----------



## elliebrewer98 (7 October 2012)

tedster said:



			I love pony books and still own practically all the books mentioned on this thread!!
		
Click to expand...

Same!


----------



## Orangehorse (7 October 2012)

Black Hunting Whip by Monica Edwards, and alll her Punchbowl and Romney Marsh books


There was one book about a woman who bought a racehorse, which eventually won a race!
Another story about a pony that was owned by 4 different owners and what happened to it as it went to unsuitable owners.
A book, was it called "Lucky Purchase" about a girl who lost her confidence and then started riding a cob that turned out to be really good.  But I think it died in the end and my parents came home from a night out and found me crying my eyes out over the book and I wouldn't tell my mother why!


----------



## Orangehorse (7 October 2012)

Smokey - that was another one that I cried so much over I think it made the pages of the book crinkley.


----------



## elliebrewer98 (7 October 2012)

Madam Min said:



			As an adult, love Jilly Cooper especially Polo and the lovely Ricky France-Lynch! 

Click to expand...

Who doesn't love Ricky and Daisy, can't wait 'til her new book comes out!!


----------



## elliebrewer98 (7 October 2012)

Sameru said:



			I remember a book called Will to Win that I got free with horse and pony mag... There were more in the series and I loved them all!
		
Click to expand...

That must of been quite a while ago?


----------



## Highlands (7 October 2012)

Jill

Jackie

Jinny

Saddle club

But moorland mousie and older mousie

And no i am not old, just 30!


----------



## criso (7 October 2012)

Orangehorse said:



			Another story about a pony that was owned by 4 different owners and what happened to it as it went to unsuitable owners.
		
Click to expand...

Was that "A pony for sale" by one of the Pullein Thompsons?


----------



## Highlands (7 October 2012)

Poor Ricky, jilly does give him a happy ending though! Love jilly cooper and enjoy fiona walker too


----------



## Spot_the_Risk (7 October 2012)

So many of my favourites already mentioned, and I've only read to page seven!  I still have all my pony books, shelves of P-T, Jill, Jinny and Shantih, a whole shelf of cherished Monica Edwards (I finally have all of the Punchbowl books, and started The Wild One today).  

Hexx mentioned Caroline Silvers book Classic Lines, I have that and it's fascinating, and who remembers her book Summer with Tommy?  She bought a small feral pony, and backed and schooled him on, lovely, and always brought a tear to my eye at the end.  Dream of Fair Horses definitely makes me cry too!

Going to read the rest of the thread now...


----------



## cornbrodolly (8 October 2012)

Perhaps some of you Monica Edwards fans would be interested to know that GIRLS GONE BY publishers  have reissued some of the lesser known Romney Marsh series and are currently doing the Punchbowl series. Only 2 are offered each year, and I ve now a growing shelfful! Each book also has a different  intro by Shelley Edwards [ daughter who was model for both Tamzin and Lindsey], plus photos.
I ve found 'Four ride home' Primrose Cummings on Amazon - need to save up to buy these rare copies!


----------



## janebadger (9 October 2012)

Orangehorse said:



			A book, was it called "Lucky Purchase" about a girl who lost her confidence and then started riding a cob that turned out to be really good.  But I think it died in the end and my parents came home from a night out and found me crying my eyes out over the book and I wouldn't tell my mother why!
		
Click to expand...

I love that book. It's be Pamela MacGregor Morris, and yes the pony does die and it makes me cry too. I quote that bit in my book.

Thank you *ElleSkyWalker*  and *Maesfen* I still read them too. I do have quite a few. We're selling the house at the moment and everyone has asked "Where are the books?" Hidden between the beds for the photo shoot is where.

*Capriole* I wonder if your book is K M Peyton's Poor Badger? But I'm not absolutely sure. I will ask around.

*Elliebrewer98* There's two more in the series: The Perfect Horse and The Difficult Summer. There's pictures of them here: http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/ponybooksfile2/gillianbaxter.html


----------



## Capriole (9 October 2012)

janebadger said:



*Capriole* I wonder if your book is K M Peyton's Poor Badger? But I'm not absolutely sure. I will ask ]
		
Click to expand...

I dont think so, doesnt sound right. It was at least two books, possibly a series.


----------



## janebadger (9 October 2012)

Might it be the Blackbirds series? Jo Furminger?  Pics here: http://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/misc/furminger.html


----------



## Capriole (9 October 2012)

&#8220;Claire Forrester had once been pony mad. But that came to an abrupt stop when she and her mount parted company on a trek. So the discovery that her new home came complete with a resident pony was NOT good news. But suprises are in store for Claire, particularly when she finds herself a founder member of the Blackbirds pony group.&#8221; [From the DW of Pony At Blackbird Cottage]


That sounds like it


----------



## Oberon (9 October 2012)

janebadger said:



			Might it be the Blackbirds series? Jo Furminger?  Pics here: http://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/misc/furminger.html

Click to expand...

I can't remember anything like that in the Blackbird's series.

Misty (the pony she gets) doesn't die.


----------



## Capriole (9 October 2012)

Oberon said:



			I can't remember anything like that in the Blackbird's series.

Misty (the pony she gets) doesn't die.
		
Click to expand...

Nobody has mentioned it dying afaik.


----------



## Oberon (9 October 2012)

Capriole said:



			JaneBadger, your username has reminded me of a book and I cant think of the details.

Girl moves to the country with parents, not best pleased about it. Small grey pony came with the cottage, left behind by the previous occupants. Eventually girl takes an interest and starts to ride.  Pony outgrown (possibly in second or third book in series) and she buys herself a bay with a white face, which she calls Badger (?).  

Not sure how much Im remembering was real and how much Im imagining, does anyone else remember it?
		
Click to expand...

Apologies - I was getting posts mixed up 

Yes, it's A Pony at Blackbird Cottage.

It had Misty in it and mean twins with ponies called Juno and Icarus that eventually become friends and they form a group called The Blackbirds.

Later on in the series she buys a horse called Brock.


----------



## Capriole (9 October 2012)

Oberon said:



			Later on in the series she buys a horse called Brock.
		
Click to expand...

BROCK! Thats it, Id remembered it as Badger


----------



## OldNag (9 October 2012)

casinosolo said:



			I'm an English teacher and one of my Year 7s was actually reading a copy of this today:

http://childrensbookshop.com/images/bookimages/70/70579.jpg

It looked equally old and yellowed and she said it had been her mum's! It's so lovely to think kids still love reading what I did when I was their age 

Click to expand...

Blimey I've still got that book!

For me it was the Jill books, Monica Edwards' Punchbowl Farm books and anything at all by the Pullein-Thompsons.  Fabulous.


----------



## Capriole (9 October 2012)

quite honestly you could lock me in a library full of all these old pony books and Id be in heaven.  Id love to read them all again.  I have one of those mothers who 'disposes' of things however, so much of my lovely old  stuff...gone. Would cost a fortune to replace, if it were even possible. 

I had the entire series of a old book about a girl called Kit Hunter, show jumper...dont remember much about them but she had adventures.


----------



## popeyesno1fan (9 October 2012)

I never got to read any pony books as a child. It was Enid Blyton all the way and Nancy Drew. (Think that was enid blyton too). The nearest I got to riding a pony until i was 12, was my sister and I cycling our bikes up and down the road, doing rising trot, breaking our bums off the saddles, pretending they were ponies..... how sad, but great fun!!!


----------



## Tillypup (9 October 2012)

I loved Enid Blyton books when I was younger!!


----------



## millikins (9 October 2012)

I had the entire series of a old book about a girl called Kit Hunter, show jumper...dont remember much about them but she had adventures.[/QUOTE]

I remember that name, but like you, not a lot else!


----------



## Tillypup (9 October 2012)

I've just spent a happy hour looking at Jane Badger website which reminded me of Ponies Plot! Anyone else remember this one? Told from the ponies point of view! I've just bought it from eBay too, yay!


----------



## Capriole (9 October 2012)

I still have that I think Tillypup.


----------



## dressedkez (9 October 2012)

Millikins said:



			I had the entire series of a old book about a girl called Kit Hunter, show jumper...dont remember much about them but she had adventures.
		
Click to expand...

I remember that name, but like you, not a lot else![/QUOTE]

What a mind reader you are - I was about to post that! I read a couple of books - they were sort of mini thrillers - generally involved a baddy or two and I think were set on Dartmoor.....
Something Grange? The three Jays have been mentioned - and they were sort of OK - but little has been said on this thread about horsey autobiographys - I did like Pat Smythe's - Flannigan, my friend was one I think - though she was a bit before my time - but in my youth I found Sheila Wilcox, Lucinda Prior palmer and Ginny Holgate's auto's brilliant.
Also like the racehorse autos......I would give a big thumbs up to Jimmy Frost (local, so knew lots of people he was referencing, Martin Pipe - ditto, Charlie Brooks and Graham Bradley, because they were warts and all characters - hated the Paul Carberry book - ditto Richard Dunwoody. AP - OK - but so driven, Steve Smith Eccles and John Francome - hugely amusing, Fat Face (whoops) I mean the lovely Mr Nicholls - a bit predictable.
And then what of the horse bio's.....Red Rum, Desert Orchid, Persian Punch - are we going to see a Frankel, I wonder - I would certainly buy Henry Cecil's book - but I am guessing that we will not see that in his lifetime - as he not one to cash in........


----------



## Tillypup (9 October 2012)

Capriole said:



			I still have that I think Tillypup.
		
Click to expand...

My Mum and Dad are due to move house in the next year, I reckon they will uncover loads of treasures like this!!


----------



## Capriole (9 October 2012)

dressedkez said:



			little has been said on this thread about horsey autobiographys - I did like Pat Smythe's - Flannigan, my friend was one I think - though she was a bit before my time - but in my youth I found Sheila Wilcox, Lucinda Prior palmer and Ginny Holgate's auto's brilliant.
		
Click to expand...

Some of the few Ive got left are these ones, Ginny and Lucinda were favourites, Ive got the Pat Smythe and some others I think. Also the story of Penwood Forge Mill. I must get in the attic and see.

I was never interested in racing so havent read any of those, apart from possibly something about Red Rum.


----------



## janebadger (10 October 2012)

dressedkez said:



			I remember that name, but like you, not a lot else!
		
Click to expand...

 are we going to see a Frankel, I wonder - I would certainly buy Henry Cecil's book - but I am guessing that we will not see that in his lifetime - as he not one to cash in........[/QUOTE]


Yes, and in time for Christmas too:

Kauto Star: A Steeplechasing Legend (Andrew Pennington), 19 October, £20.00
Frankel, the Wonder Horse (Andrew Pennington, who has obviously been busy) 16 November, £20.00
Eclipse: Nicholas Clee, reissued on 24 December, £10.59. Nook, $14.99

Peter Grey wrote the Kit Hunter books - more pics here: http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/pb1/petergrey.html


----------



## camilla4 (10 October 2012)

Tillypup said:



			I've just spent a happy hour looking at Jane Badger website which reminded me of Ponies Plot! Anyone else remember this one? Told from the ponies point of view! I've just bought it from eBay too, yay!
		
Click to expand...

Yes - remember it very well!  Still have a rather battered copy.....  Might ready it again actually as it was very funny....


----------



## Tillypup (10 October 2012)

camilla4 said:



			Yes - remember it very well!  Still have a rather battered copy.....  Might ready it again actually as it was very funny....
		
Click to expand...

Apparently the author of this book is best known for defining "Parkinson's Law" which states that work expands to fill the time available!! He was very right!


----------



## JFTDWS (10 October 2012)

popeyesno1fan said:



 I never got to read any pony books as a child. It was Enid Blyton all the way and Nancy Drew. (Think that was enid blyton too).
		
Click to expand...

Nancy Drew was NOT Enid Blyton   

I loved Five Go to Mystery Moor, as it combined ponies and the Famous Five, my two loves as a (very) small child


----------



## Amigo (10 October 2012)

Animal Ark series by Lucy Daniels, I had dozens of them and still have a few of my favourites in the attic!


----------



## hayinamanger (10 October 2012)

The Jill books (I bought them all last year on ebay and read them again )
Prince Amoung Ponies, I Had Two Ponies, We Hunted Hounds
The Silver Brumby books
All the Three Jays books by Pat Smythe (I wrote to her and she wrote a lovely letter back to me)
The Wild Heart by Helen Griffiths
Pilot the Chaser by HM Peel (I think)


----------



## falaise (10 October 2012)

I absolutely loved Prince Among Ponies and Fly By Night

Also remember a book/books with a palomino pony in and a girl I think Lyn or Linda? My obsession with palominos means it sticks in my mind!! 

Also a book about a pony called Badger who was neglected and a girl looked after him


----------



## tankgirl1 (10 October 2012)

Ok - I apologise - I read the first few posts, and then skipped to the end... because I just had to post! 

The Silver Brumby series was amazing! I bought them all back off eBay as an adult, and re-read them.... Thowra - the creamy silver stallion who outwits 'Man' with his hidden valley, steals 'Golden' - It was just as good a read second time round if not better!


----------



## tankgirl1 (10 October 2012)

Pullien- Thompson sisters also rocked! As well as the ones about a girl who won her pony - Was that Jill?

Plus the ones about the girl in scotland with the mad chestnut arab who she used to ride to school... Jinny?


----------



## elliebrewer98 (13 October 2012)

tankgirl1 said:



			As well as the ones about a girl who won her pony - Was that Jill?
		
Click to expand...

Are you thinking about a book called the Prize Pony by Josephine Pullein-Thompson? About a girl called Debbie who wins a pony called Easter and at first it was all a massive disaster? Falling off, etc, etc??


----------



## bobajob (13 October 2012)

Madam Min said:



			Fly by Night by KM Peyton, Silver Brumby and The Saddle Club!
		
Click to expand...

Fly by night was my favorite. Read it again not long ago. Also 'A Pony for Summer' and nearly all the Pullen Thompson books.


----------



## Maesfen (13 October 2012)

elliebrewer98 said:



			Are you thinking about a book called the Prize Pony by Josephine Pullein-Thompson? About a girl called Debbie who wins a pony called Easter and at first it was all a massive disaster? Falling off, etc, etc??
		
Click to expand...

There was also another Prize Pony, by Kathleen Mackenzie I think about winning a pony in a raffle based in London.  Haven't read it for years, will have to hunt it out.


----------



## jess31 (13 October 2012)

Phantom Horse was my fave


----------



## tankgirl1 (13 October 2012)

Maesfen said:



			There was also another Prize Pony, by Kathleen Mackenzie I think about winning a pony in a raffle based in London.  Haven't read it for years, will have to hunt it out.
		
Click to expand...

This is the one I meant - Jackie won a Pony by Judith Berrisford 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JACKIE-WON-A-PONY-JUDITH-M-BERRISFORD-GEOFFREY-WHITTAM-PB-/380460366190?pt=Children_s_Young_Adult_s_Fiction&hash=item589534796e#ht_533wt_952


----------



## mulledwhine (13 October 2012)

My friend flicker , and the silver brumby


----------

