Old Pony Books?

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Dizzy socks

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Hey,

I'm just wondering if anyone else here collects/reads old pony books? :) I have a collection of around 200, I believe.

Favourites are Pullein-Thompson, Patricia Leitch, Joanna Cannan, and Monica Edwards. :)

(If anyone is interested there is a fb group called Our old Pony Books, for discussing, selling and trading books. :3)
 
They are all my old favourites too, I`m still buying any that I find that have been thrown away over the years, and have to admit to reading them too! Thank you for the Facebook group, now off to investigate!
 
I have tons of them! I'm especially fond of the Pullein-Thompson Pony Club series and the Jill books :)
 
I could have thumped my mum - I found all my paperbacks had been sent to jumble when I left home!

Complete sets of the Pullein-Thompson sisters works, Ruby Ferguson, Joanna Cannan, Anne Bullen (loved her drawings), Monica Edwards, Walter Farley for the Black Stallion set, Mary O'Hara (loved the complete set of Flicker, Thunderhead & Green Grass of Wyoming etc)

The only ones that survived were the Golden Gorse books & I still have them to this day, the Older Mousie was a 1st edition owned by my grandmother :)
 
Golden Gorse, especially The Young Horsebreakers, is something i'm still searching for.

I think I have all the Pullein-Thompson's, minus Patrick's Pony.

K.M.Pyeton, especially Fly by Night, is another favourite.
 
Oh I love this thread.

Patricia Leitch (who didn't want to own Shantih as a young girl?!), Ruby Ferguson's Jill books, KM Peyton, Monica Edwards, Joanna Cannon - and of course her daughters the Pullein-Thompson sisters... My favourites were the ones in the Woodbury Pony Club series by Josephine. A failing pony club gets an ex-jockey to teach them after he's crippled in an accident. Success and hilarity ensues. I still read them every few years now!

Recently read 'Fair Girls and Grey Horses', the autobiography of the PT sisters written before Josephine and Christine passed away. I cried so many times throughout it! All the horses and places in their childhood were reflected in their books. I found it very very moving and ended up wishing I'd grown up with them in the 30s/40s. Makes you nostalgic for halcyon summer days with ponies in a time before cars - even if you were born many decades after this time passed, you still long for it. A very much recommended read.
 
Ooh and I also have a (now) very expensive edition of Silver Snaffles by Primrose Cumming. It took me years to track down a copy after reading and becoming obsessed with one chapter of it that featured in a compilation book of short pony stories and chapters of longer stories.

A girl visits some stables every day and dreams of having her own pony. One day, her favourite pony 'Tattles' speaks to her, giving her the password to a secret place - 'silver snaffles'. It takes her to a stable full of talking ponies for children who love horses but can't afford any.

She learns to ride thanks to her new friends who teach her compassion and kindness as well as how to ride etc.

It concludes with an adventure/rescue mission in our world, where most people have no idea how to handle ponies properly.

The messages in it are still appropriate today :)
 
Tnavas said:
I had masses of the Pat Smyth books about the 'J's, they got up to some great adventures. I had masses but like others mum dumped them when I left home.
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Oh yes, I have a couple of those. I always liked the first one the best though.

shadeofshyness said:
She was such a cow :D I know we were supposed to hate her but normally in these books, the horrible people always turn out nice in the end. She stayed a bitter little brat though.
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Exactly. I always thought they'd give her a talking to or something, and she'd reform. Never happened though.
 
I am actually disgusted and upset with myself, as last year I gave hundreds of old pony books to Charity, and now wish I had kept them.:( I did however retain one particularly old book that I go second hand when I was a kid. I just cannot part with it. It is "Princess Pony Book" Published in 1962. I was/am the third owner, the second owner was my older sister. Just adore this hardback book, that cost a massive 10'6 (for anyone who knows what that amount is!)
 
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Some of Joanna Cannan's books, and Silver Snaffles and Fly-by-Night among others have been reprinted by Fidra Books with the original illustrations
 
shadeofshyness said:
Not read that - ebay time...!

Woodbury is so good. I loved Rupert and Lesley and Hanif. Hated Sarah!
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I liked Alice - and I wanted Alice's pony. I quite liked that Sarah never changed (if anything she got worse) - more like real life that way. Great books and often re-read them.

Bede said:
Some of Joanna Cannan's books, and Silver Snaffles and Fly-by-Night among others have been reprinted by Fidra Books with the original illustrations
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They also have a couple of the earlier pony club series by Josephine PT - six ponies and one day event. I love the way that JPT managed to write two series of pony club books both of which reflected the times in which they were written.

Somebody, and I think it's Fidra, has re-printed The Team which is the sequel to Fly By Night.

Also worth noting that Saddle Club books have started appearing on Kindle. Actually I think some new ones might be out today, I need to trun on my kindle and see if it downloads any pre-orders.
 
She was very realistic wasn't she! I wanted Saffy too and Jupiter who wad Hanif's strong pony.

Are the Saddle Club ones still going? I had loads, and was never near up to date with them. Must be thousands of them! Never loved them as much as the old pony books though.
 
I counted all my old pony books recently, I've got about 120 including a lot of the authors mentioned above in paperback. In hardback my best buy has been a copy of Moorland Mousie, first edition, for £1 from a car boot sale, yay happy days! It's not the monetary value though, for all of them it's the stories and the illustrations and the lovely nostalgia. They really are the best sort of comfort reading. Husband doesn't get it at all, he keeps wanting me to get rid of all my books and get a Kindle. What!! No chance!
 
^^ I have the reprinted edition of Fly By Night, as well as an earlier edition. :3

Woodbury wise, Rupert was my favourite, and pony wise I wanted Saffron, or Jupiter.

Saddle club ones are still going, I had a few. I have to admit to not thinking much of them though.

I like the Team, although not as much as Fly By Night, but the one after that wasn't nearly as good.
 
I have plenty too, about time I revisited them. I think my favourite authors though are Monica Edwards, the pUnchbowl series was my favourite, and Monica Dickens, love the World's End series. I think my (current) favourite though is Lucy Rees, Wild Pony, really great book.
 
One of my absoloute favourites, that I forgot to mention earlier, is Monica Edwards' Wish For A Pony. Just brilliant.

I never really enjoyed The Silver Brumby, or Black Stallion series though.
 
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