Old pony books

[KelpianCasserole]

Just that really. I had hundreds and I wish I still had them. Pullein-Thompson sisters, Monica Dickens, Dorian Williams, Patricia Leitch, Ruby Murphy, Flicka, Sarah Herbert...and memories of some whose authors and titles I can't remember. Does anyone still have theirs? What was the one where a girl moved into a house with her parents to find they had agreed to buy the pony with the house? I loved that one!

I have a small collection of Jackie books and the ‘Jill’ series. I got them on eBay for pennies in the hope that my children would be horsey and might enjoy them. No Mick so far. They are all terrified of horses. The oldest will read them though. I loved the ‘eventers trilogy’ the best so I don’t let them touch those (until they’re older)

That was no luck so far. Not Mick

I had hundreds & have kept all mine in case my DC’s wanted to read them. They did read some, but not as avidly as me. So I am now going to hang on to them in case I get grandchildren one day.

My oldest ones are The Three Jays series by Pat Smythe. I inherited these from my very horsey next-door-neighbour who was older than me and had outgrown them.

I loved the Jill series when I was younger and really wish I'd kept them

I loved the Jill series too & still have them

I still have my Jill books somewhere, I think, and one of the 3 Jays books. I always found the final Jill book really annoying - she goes off and becomes a secretary at the end? WTAF? (Sorry, spoilers )

I also remember being really pissed off because one of them mentions that a riding lesson costs 50p (although to be fair it is taught by Jill, who is about 14 at the time...) I think then mine cost £8, and I could only have one every other week because my parents made me pay for them myself.

A lot of them were quite educational I think

Loved the Jill books. Had a book called 'Only One Pony' which I read again and again. Really enjoyed '3 Ponies and Shannon'.
I moved schools in my teens and couldn't answer a chunk of the English exam as I was not at that school when they studied the book. I got to choose my own book instead (same diary style exam essay question was used). I chose a Jill book and wrote loads!! This was 30 years ago and I came top in the exams Good old Jill!

I loved the Ginny books and the Jill series. Think I have some of them still in a box at my mum's, might hunt them out for a bit of nostalgia

I have kept all my 'Jill' books, probably my most loved books from childhood. I also have some of the Pullein-Thompson sisters books, including 3 Ponies & Shannon and Riding with the Lyntons.

DD did read the Jill books when she was younger and liked them but she didn't love them as I did.

I still have loads. OP if the pony was neglected when they got her and called Tarka the book was First Pony. But I suspect a lot have a similar theme!

Did anyone come across Afraid To Ride? It has the most beautiful illustrations of any pony book I've come across. The story's only short but takes forever yo read because of that.

I have all the Jinny books and all the Jill books. I love the Jinny books, because re-reading them as an adult i really appreciate the 70s hippy vibe and the changes in society that they reflect. I love the Jill books because they're cosy, the relationship between Jill and her mum is really nice and Jill is quite often not perfect.

I also have a first edition hardback of Pat Leitch's For The Love of a Pony which has lovely illustrations in.

I’ve got a few at my mum’s. I loved Josephine Pullein-Thompson’s Prince Among Ponies.

Does anyone remember Monica Edwards? I so wanted to be those children.

I loved the Jill books and The Black Stallion also the Flicka books

And the Jinny books

I also remember being really pissed off because one of them mentions that a riding lesson costs 50p (although to be fair it is taught by Jill, who is about 14 at the time...)

It would have been ten shillings, not 50p, in the original version. That was quite a lot of money at the time the books were first published. The sort of sum you might get for a birthday or Christmas, not weekly pocket money.

Ah, that makes me feel better! I don't think 12-year-old me had much grasp on changes in the cost of living over time!

Who was the illustrator of pony books, maybe Anne somebody? She could draw movement and energy with a couple of brush strokes. I loved Jill too - didn’t she have a lower class friend who RODE HER PONY WITH NO NOSEBAND

Ah my people! I've still got all mine. My beloved copy of the eventer trilogy is practically falling apart. Loved jinny, the one where she finds the ancient statue was one of my favourites. And good old jill.

This thread got me googling and I found this site which has loads of pony titles. Bliss!

I always found the final Jill book really annoying - she goes off and becomes a secretary at the end? WTAF? (Sorry, spoilers

Someone wrote some fanzine literature and effectively re-did the ending. Hang on, I'll see if I can find it.

Can't find it at the moment but will try later, unless someone finds it in the meantime.

Oh, I loved all the Jill books and re-read mine so many times they fell apart in the end & had to be binned when we moved. I remember years later spending the weekend with a friend at her childhood home & she still had all her old Jill books, I was so jealous. I also loved the Monica Dickens books & read quite a few of the Pullen-Thompson books. I had forgotten that last Jill book & do vaguely remember being shocked that she didn't end up working with horse, but I suppose when it was written she would have been expecting to just fill in time with job until she got married - hopefully to someone with land and stables . Do you remember Jill's drippy cousin Cecilia who would only eat boiled eggs for breakfast when she came to stay with Jill & her mother? A couple of years ago I bought an old copy of Wish for a Pony from ebay & the first two of the Jill books from fidra books which re-prints a lot of the old pony books by various authors. It was wonderful re-reading them again.

Fidra books also re-printed the first Oxus book - The Far Distant Oxus - which were a lovely trilogy written by a couple of school girls, and very much collared the Arthur Ransome side of horsey fiction.