Pony books - which ones did you read?

Oooh, yes! I remember the "King of the Wind" about the Godolphin Arabian and his little stable boy, Agba, who stayed with his horse right through - it made me cry, and I've probably still got the book somewhere, so I shall have to dig it out and read it again. I wonder if its a true story? I thought it was.

I also enjoyed the books that Pat Smythe wrote, but can't remember the name of them. Also the Follyfoot books (got them confiscated at school for reading in lessons!); and yes, all the Pullein-Thompson books: there was one about a big wild Palomino out in America and the girl brought it back to the UK on an aeroplane and it was this big adventure. Lovely!

Also, the Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship!!!, Keeping a Pony at Grass ..... all fantastic stuff which we all used to know practically by heart.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
and yes, all the Pullein-Thompson books: there was one about a big wild Palomino out in America and the girl brought it back to the UK on an aeroplane and it was this big adventure. Lovely!
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That was the phantom horse books. First one was all about this wild horse that they tried to catch, but they only succeeded when he was terribly ill and needed nursing back to health, then they brought him back to england in the second one. There were ones where they went to live in ireland and scotland too.
 
So pleased that my original post generated lots of interest. It has highlighted books that I had not previously heard of, and am now going to track down and read, especially King of the Wind.

Re-reading many of the old pony books expose those halcyon days before risk assessments where kids went off and had fun, and in all those that you mostly expressed as your favourites - Jill, Ginty, the Radney Riding Club, Fly By Night, The Team, Flambards, tales of ponies at Boarding school - none of them ever mentioned an indoor or outdoor school! Kids got on their ponies, struggled with them, fell off them, had huge challenges, but overcame them! Yes of course fiction - but there was little mention of giving up, or sending back a troublesome pony....elders were respected, especially the former Majors, Captains etc. Kids were told to get on with it - were not picked off the round and told that it was OK pony would be sent back and something better got instead! The 'good' kids in fiction, always appreciated their ponies, worked jolly hard to sustain them, and over came all sorts of tribulations. It was 'bad' kids who were given the expensive ponies, that they did not appreciate, had pushy parents et al. I am wondering if this could become a truism for the recession based 2010's again......?? Not that I am asserting that modern day kids who get expensive ponies are bad......
And the values of horse flesh - in Jill had Two Ponies - Mrs Derry's hunter was said to cost £500 - Jill estimated it would cost her 114 years to be able to purchase similar!
The last pony I bought for one of my children cost £2.5K....the most I had spent on anything, ever.......but many would consider that bargain basement!
I asked about the modern books - i.e. post 1980's.....not many featured - Saddle Club (was it?) seemed to irrritate most people - Sheltie (which I have not come across) many liked.
I think that one person mentioned the Caroline Akrill books (late 1980's?) - with the Fanes - yes they were fantastic - and she did another about a dressage rider that was brillaint as well - was it based on a Carl Hester type figure?

The timeless Black Beauty, got many a mention and it is truly a classic - I would love to do a poll on the all time favourites - something for H&H to take up?

And what about gems of literature in their own right.
Jill and the Pullien Thmpson books are cracking reads - but the well written books, those that can be enjoyed by the non-horsey as well as the obsessed, and maybe those that we went back to as adults, and thought blooming heck what wonderful, well written, prose....
For me I would nominate
Mary O Hara for the My Frend Flicka series (Flicka, Thunderhead, Green Grass of Wyoming)
Enid Bagnold - National Velvet
K M Peyton - Flambards series (she did have some duds, and I include the Swallow series in that) but Flambards for writing about an era, family relationships, and WW1, as well as class devide etc. Wonderful!

Is there someone out there who fanciess doing pony literature for a dissertation - if so please let me read it!
Once again many thanks for all your responses in what has been a truly entertaining couple of evenings for me in reading them all.

I can only hope that the Silver Brumby connection (again a series that many of you mentioned)- Thowra, is a good omen for my upcoming P2P season in 2011, as I have just purchased a horse by that sire at Ascot - he is called Railway Ranger - which is straight out of a Jill book - but of course he would have been Captain Cholly Sawcott's showjumper not a race horse needing a wind op, that is going to be campaigned by a bunch of amateurs!
 
nic0la said:
How weird is that! I was tiding my loft the other day(i know how boring!) and came across Jill and the Perfect Pony! The loft didn't get tidied that day! I also remember reading about Jinny and Shantih the chestnut arab - anyone read those? Oh and Caroline Akrill (?) and Elaine with the Fanes??! lol
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Ooh, I remember Caroline Akrill! She was great, and I do believe wrote adult books too
 
I think it was was Toadhill Flax but I still have the book, I'll check up. Definitely Peter McNair. Peter then went on into racing - sure there was a book about National Hunt, if not the Grand National
 
Thank you so much - I have had so much fun reading this thread over the past two days. I also read the Pennington books by K M Peyton - very teenage angst! Useful to give my daughter now.

I also had "A pony in my luggage", you are not dreaming about this one. It was set in a city in Scandanavia - remember the Tivoli Gardens? Two children won a very naughty shetland pony at a fair or in a competition and had to smuggle it back home. It was hilarious. I think it was by Astrid Lundgren or something like that.

The one about the pony called Plum was different, he became an astronaut (bit weird this one) but I remember fab illustrations in this book. I will no doubt remember more about it in the middle of the night.
 
kirstyl said:
I think it was was Toadhill Flax but I still have the book, I'll check up. Definitely Peter McNair. Peter then went on into racing - sure there was a book about National Hunt, if not the Grand National
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Yes you are right - can you remember the book that Peter went on to star in as a NH rider?
I always hoped that K M Peyton would somehow try to bring Flambards characters into future books i.e have Isobel's (Christina's daughter) grand-daughter meet up with Ruth Hollis's son Ludwig (who I think was Daniel?) and re-vist Flambards that would probably have been turned into a Care Home or something similar..........!!
 
What a fantastic thread!!!!

I loved the silver brumbry ones, and shantith and of course Jill. There was a good one called showjumping secret and I also remember the zodiac book, though can@t remember its name.
 
Ah this thread brings back so many good memories! :)

There are a few I've been trying to remember the names of for a long time - A series about girls at a boarding school I think there were about 4 books one centering on each girl. A series about a girl who did showjumping, I think there were 3 one for her 12.2 one for 13.2 and one for 14.2. A book about a girl and a grey pony qualifying and winning a showing class at hoys, think the pony was called Perdita or something similar.

ANy of those ring a bell with anyone?
 
One with a girl called heath and a riding school, I remember a scene when they were coming back from a show and there was a fire at the stables.

[/QUOTE]

I think I remember this, was there one called The Perfect Horse, Minos or something? Ended up being jumped round Badminton (or equivalent) by the heroine?

Brilliant thread OP, I am sure a lot of us are now rummaging through our old book collections looking forward to a good read!
 
jodie3 said:
One with a girl called heath and a riding school, I remember a scene when they were coming back from a show and there was a fire at the stables.
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I think I remember this, was there one called The Perfect Horse, Minos or something? Ended up being jumped round Badminton (or equivalent) by the heroine?

Brilliant thread OP, I am sure a lot of us are now rummaging through our old book collections looking forward to a good read![/QUOTE]

These are by Gillian Baxter Difficult Summer is the book with the fire there are 3 in the series I cnat remeber the name of the first book but do have it at home the horse in called Shelta
 
Dressedkez, you asked if anyone was going to write a dissertation on pony books.

I have been commissioned to write a book on pony books (which should come out next year if I get my act together). It has been fascinating reading all your comments. One thing I'm looking at putting in the book is short pieces from people on what pony books they loved and why. It doesn't matter who you are, or how stellar or otherwise your equine career has been: what matters is the passion you have for what you read! 150-200 words should be enough. I can't guarantee to include everything I get as I have a strict word limit!

If you'd like to contribute, you can reach me via

janebadger dot books at btinternet dot com

and if you like pony books, you might like my website, which has information on over 300 authors. It's here: http://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/
 
I used to love the Jinny and Shantih books until I was studying the front cover of one, it had a picture of a girl with red hair riding through braken on a chestnut gelding or stallion. It deffo was'nt a mare, that done it for me lol :D.
Used top love watching horsey films too my fav was one called Blue Fire Lady it was about a racehorse and I loved it. No one has ever heard of it though x.
 
I remember reading;
Black Beauty
Spirit ;)
Sheltie - Whole series of books
Heartland :)
Probably loads more, but I can't remember at the moment :)
 
Loved Black Beauty, used to pinch neighbours Jill books when I did her cleaning liked those didn't like Jinty and always thought she was a pain but I was about 50 when I read them for the first time! I collect old novels from the 30's and love them all very instructive as well, favourites are Chestnut Filly, Horse Lovers and Let's Go Hunting by Geoffrey Brookes Silver Eagles about a riding school just before outbreak of war and Riding with Reka by a girl called "Heather" who died very young had this when I was about 7 or 8.Caroline Akrill is wonderful do try and read her book called "Not quite a Horseman(woman)" very entertaining. Also a book set on Jersey just as the occupation started "We couldn't leave Dinah"
 
My mum collects children's books, especially horsey ones so I carefully re-read them every so often.
I still love Rosina Copper, makes me cry every time!
I re-read all the Jinny ones recently after finding them on ebay - i was prompted by a thread like this one on here a couple of years ago!
Love all the Pullein-Thompson ones, especially the one where she gets a grey horse called Oberon. It's probably what made me always want a grey, which i would have called Oberon!
And the Jill books.

I know they're a bit dated now, but they're still great to read and go back in time!
 
janebadger said:
Dressedkez, you asked if anyone was going to write a dissertation on pony books.

I have been commissioned to write a book on pony books (which should come out next year if I get my act together). It has been fascinating reading all your comments. One thing I'm looking at putting in the book is short pieces from people on what pony books they loved and why. It doesn't matter who you are, or how stellar or otherwise your equine career has been: what matters is the passion you have for what you read! 150-200 words should be enough. I can't guarantee to include everything I get as I have a strict word limit!

If you'd like to contribute, you can reach me via

janebadger dot books at btinternet dot com

and if you like pony books, you might like my website, which has information on over 300 authors. It's here: http://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/
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Your website has just reminded me of so many more i'll have to find and re-read!
 
A few more I've thought of:

Mylor the most powerful horse in the world - Michael MaguireThe Runaway Flying Horse - (?)
Snow Cloud Stallion - Gerald Raferty
The January Queen - Joyce Stranger
Tam the Untamed (I also used to love the Ajax books!) - Elaine (?)
The Brumby & Come Home Brumby - Elaine (?)
The Horse & his boy - C S Lewis
Dream Pony - Eleanor Havers
The Horse from Black Loch - Patricia Leach
Dream of Fair Horses - Patricia Leach
The Penny Pony - (?)
Ludo & the Star Horse - (?)

I'm really going to have to get my children's books out of the loft now. Don't think my OH will be too pleased :D
 
My absolute favourite was ' Dream of Fair Horses' by Patricia Leitch. gets me every time...the way she describes how a young girl felt about horses, and her parents couldn't possibly afford one...described exactly how I felt as a child. I'm welling up now....the ending is so sad and yet so....hopeful.

I had all the Jinny and Shantih books too....may be responsible for my love of flightly spooky arabs:rolleyes:

I'm currently tracking down and buying all these for my daughter.....she's halfway through Dream of Fair Horses and has already read Black Beauty- she's only 7.
 
I love all of KM Peyton's books, they're brilliant :) prompted by this thread, I re-read the "Swallow" trilogy, and still think they're great.

One of my all time favourites is "The Enchanted Horse" by Magdalen Nabb, has anyone else read it? It's about a girl who persuades her parents to buy her a model horse, it comes to life at night ... :)
 
Loved the Jill books and I still collect pony books.

Silver Brumby series,

My friend flicka series

Lots of really old ones - Countrylife did several lovely hardbacks. The Joker and Jerry. Moorland Mousie. Oh too many to mentions, but Jane Bagder Books is excellent if you want to buy/remind yourself!

The Red Pony (Sob)
 
Jackie rides for a fall??

Got quite cross with Jill in Jill had two ponies, becuase she didn;t like one of them. Ungrateful cow. :D
 
A devil to ride!!

Prince among ponies.

There was a commen theme of non horsey kids having horsey cousins etc wasn't there?
 
Plum was the operfect Pony in one of the Jill books.

Has any oen else read any of Lucy Rees books, Wild Pony and Horse Of Air, all the other books are very middle class pre 60's feeling - hers were set bang on hip in time (well they were when they came out in the 70's!)!
 
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