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

E

emmah1979

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 February 2008
Messages
102
Location
Hampshire
Visit site
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?!
 
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
 
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 :)
 
Heartland where my ultimate favourite, could still read those now! Always hoped they'd put all the books together and make an adult version :o

Really enjoyed Sandy lane stables, the Saddle Club and the Jill series too :D
 
Last edited:
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 :D :D believe the librarian ended up getting a slap on the wrist for not properly classifying the innocent pony story!
 
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!
 
Last edited:
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.
 
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
 
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 :)
 
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.
 
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??
 
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
 
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.
 
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 .....
 
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
 
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.
 
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 :D

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!
 
'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 :o
 
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 :D

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. :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top