Pony Books in the 1970's

DD said:
Fly -By-night and The Team have got to be the best pony books ever written , closely followed by Flambards. Am re reading FBN just now am nearly 60 and know the story well it still has me enthralled.
Click to expand...

I think KM Peyton stands out as she wrote so well about both people and horses, and her stories often had a gritty, more realistic edge. The Flambards novels would make a great film or tv series. Those who read Darkling as teenagers should definitely give the more recent Blind Beauty a try.

The other thing about re-reading pony books from decades ago is how the countryside has changed. Particularly in the P-T sisters' many books, the kids all keep their ponies at home, and can easily hack to their friends' houses, the nearest riding club, and the local show. They seem to have huge choices of rides over different terrains and are largely unsupervised. Sounded idyllic.
 
I am trying to find a book I read in the 1970s, and all I remember is that it was a riding school with a mean/tough instructor who gave out demerits to the riders. One girl cleaned her horse's stall from top to bottom and got a demerit for an encrusted oat under the manger. So little to go on - anyone have any idea? Of course as the story proceeded they learned something about the mean instructor that helped them understand her. I think the instructor was female??
 
Sharon S said:
I am trying to find a book I read in the 1970s, and all I remember is that it was a riding school with a mean/tough instructor who gave out demerits to the riders. One girl cleaned her horse's stall from top to bottom and got a demerit for an encrusted oat under the manger. So little to go on - anyone have any idea? Of course as the story proceeded they learned something about the mean instructor that helped them understand her. I think the instructor was female??
Click to expand...
Can't remember that one, esp the encusted oat under the manger! You could try the Jane Badger Books page, lots of stuff on there, it sounds like a good read!
 
Sharon S said:
I am trying to find a book I read in the 1970s, and all I remember is that it was a riding school with a mean/tough instructor who gave out demerits to the riders. One girl cleaned her horse's stall from top to bottom and got a demerit for an encrusted oat under the manger. So little to go on - anyone have any idea? Of course as the story proceeded they learned something about the mean instructor that helped them understand her. I think the instructor was female??
Click to expand...
That would be the Horsemasters. I have it somewhere and have read it fairly recently.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Horsemaste...rsemasters,aps,102&sr=8-25&xpid=Cq_YNR94hxiX9
 
 
HashRouge said:
I love pony books! Don't know if the OP confirmed but if definitely sounds like the first Jill book to me. My favourites were the Jinny at Finery stories, but I really like JPT too and the Mory and Midnight Dancer stories, though less people seem to have read them. They had the most beautiful illustrations.
Click to expand...
I love the Jinny books, Patricia Leitch was such a good writer. I used to dream of having my own chestnut arab (sigh)!
 
Red-1 said:
There was another where the girl could ride a ride and drive pony. I think it was her father's pony who pulled the milk float. Of course there was posh girl who had clipped and blanketed horses, and I had to look up what a passage was, as apparently the posh horses could do this whilst out hacking, but the milk float pony could not. I thin the milk float pony went and won a show too.

Seems now like they were all awfully to a formula, although when I was young it did not seem that way!
Click to expand...
This sounds like For Want of a Saddle by
one of the Pullein- Thompson sisters.
 
 
 
wispagold said:
Loved that book! I read it in the 90s and thought it was brilliant. Would have given anything to have had my pony in the garden!

Can anyone remember the book about a girl who gets given a pony that is skin and bone from some posh family? I think he was described as a hat rack, or a toast rack. Bay pony I think. The girl couldn't ride to start with and went onto to do the local pony club rallies with him. Pretty sure that was kept in the stable in the garden too. Or am I thinking of the same book?
Click to expand...
Could be Fly by Night by k m Peyton
 
PurpleSpots said:
Did anyone read The Silver Brumby books by Elyne Mitchell?
Click to expand...

My username kind of gives that away! I’ve been dragging this name round the net since the mid 1990s.

Silver Brumby was and remains my favourite book of all time, and I think it influenced my writing quite a lot - I write a lot of fantasy type stuff with the very vivid descriptions of nature and focus on the weather seeping through as background.

Her later books where the animals no longer talked felt a lot less engrossing to me, but I still enjoyed them, especially Colt at Taparoo.

I’ve got a beautiful hardcover illustrated copy of Silver Brumby Whirlwind which I’m basically too scared to read very often in case I crease it, but the rest are those lovely Green Dragon series paperbacks with the painted front covers.
 
Squeak said:
Yes, loved them and would love to read them again. My book shelves are mostly full of my old pony books as I know I couldn't buy them again. Sadly I don't think the Silver Brumby books are there, not sure what happened to my copies :(
Click to expand...

The main set of stories are fairly easy to come by on eBay, I know it’s not the same as your own copies but at least you could read them.
 
Sanversera said:
Could be Fly by Night by k m Peyton
Click to expand...
No Ruth bought Fly from an old farmer. He was one of a herd and the old farmer wanted her to take one of the more kindly ponies but she wanted Fly and pretty much struggled to do anything with him. Peter McNair was the local dealer's son and could basically ride anything. Peter's family broke down and he ended up being fostered by Ruth's family where he help Ruth with Fly and got him going but would rather help Ruth's brother with his motorbike. Peter had a palomino, Toadhill Flax. Fly was a strawberry roan.
 
I sooh wish I'd never got rid of my old pony books; especially now as you can get a good'ish price for them.

OP it might be worth a look on "My Old Pony Books" on FB, you might find what you are looking for there?

What was so very "innocent" about those books was the way in which Jill, or whoever it was, could just rock-up at someone's place (whoever had horses) and just ride in exchange for helping out. Isn't that just so different from the way things are now, sadly, with insurance, H&S, "Liability", and all that stuff. Those were such sweet innocent days weren't they. You also had to take along a couple of 1d coins for a phone-box in case you were stuck anywhere! I remember that. Good grief, showing my age here.

Also "Jill" and her generation never seemed to be up to their backsides in mud in the winter - it was always glorious radiant summer. She never had to haul water buckets for miles, or take haynets out to horses miles across swampland. Or pay vets or farrier bills. It was all such gloriously jolly good stuff wasn't it.
 
PurpleSpots said:
Did anyone read The Silver Brumby books by Elyne Mitchell?
Click to expand...
I've still got them. I didn't have a pony when I was a kid but my mum used to take me into town on a Saturday and we'd go to Taylor and Colbridge and she'd let me pick a book. Apart from Famous 5 it was always a pony book. I think it was her way of trying to make up for not being able to afford a pony or lessons.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top