tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87821675996937887942024-02-27T10:50:29.478+00:00Books, Mud and Compost. And Horses.Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.comBlogger1365125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-22322820714864060652020-05-06T09:42:00.000+01:002020-05-06T09:42:10.887+01:00UpdateWhat's happening to this blog, you might be asking?<br />
<br />
Now that I have moved a lot of my old pony book encyclopaedia onto my new website, <a href="http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/">www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk</a>, I've started blogging there too.<br />
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I'm still keeping this site up, but do join me on the new one.<br />
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You can also follow me on Instagram (@janebadger.books), Facebook (Jane Badger Books) and Twitter (@janebadgerbooks).Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-21489939229765874532018-11-09T15:14:00.001+00:002018-11-09T16:45:20.109+00:00Will Dickens: 1879–1918There are some upsides to keeping absolutely everything, particularly
when it comes to finding out what went on in the past. My stepfather was a
great keeper of stuff, a trait he'd inherited from his mother. She kept everything that mentioned her father, Will Dickens, and my stepfather in his turn kept everything too. He'd never known his grandfather, for Will was in that sad cohort of servicemen who died after the Armistice was signed.<br />
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William Thomas Dickens was born on 27 March, 1879 in
Northampton, the son of William and Ellen Dickens. He worked as a carpenter and
joiner for Henry Martin Ltd, the same company as his father, and on 14 May
1905, he married Edith Gordon at St Edmund's, Northampton. They set up home at
151 Loyd Road in Northampton and their only child, a daughter, Margaret (Margie),
was born on 6 July 1907.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Will was 35 when war broke out in 1914, and he joined up in
May 1916 at the age of 37. It seems likely from the date that Will was
conscripted. The Military Service Act of January 1916 conscripted single men
between the ages of 18 and 41, and a second Act in May 1916 extended it to married
men.</div>
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Will wanted to join the Royal Flying Corps, and he produced
references to persuade the powers-that-be to send him there. Mr Smith, one of
his employers, described Will as 'very steady, industrious, and thoroughly
reliable, a very good joiner,' and the other references were similarly stellar.
It was probably the confirmation of Will's prowess as a joiner and carpenter
that sealed his fate: he joined the Corps of Royal Engineers and was sent to Chatham to
train.<o:p></o:p></div>
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While he was there, he sent a postcard of the Chatham docks
to Margie, telling her that he was working on the bank opposite the picture on
the postcard. 'My Dear Margie,' he wrote. 'This is a view of the river. We were
working just on the opposite side. Thanks for P.C. I hope Mother and yourself
are quite well. Wish I were at home with you for good. Your loving Daddy'<o:p></o:p></div>
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Edith was not forgotten either: he sent her a postcard on 26
August 1916:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Back home, life went on. Will's father wrote to him on 7
September 1916. It was, he said, very quiet in the shop: '<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i> the men are working in the bottom shop, not a soul upstairs we
did not run the machines at all on Friday, Saturday & Monday sent the
machinists to Dallington.'<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not only was there very little work, there were very few
people to do it. 'I do not know,' he wrote, 'how we shall get on for the
unskilled labour, as there are very few about … so it is pretty worrying if you
get a job to do, to know how to do it.'<o:p></o:p></div>
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William had missed Will's return home on leave. They hadn't
known he was coming, and had gone to Bedford. Will did have at least one other
leave, from 4–11 November 1916, by which time he had moved to Chattenden, and
was in 2 Company, 2 Reserve Battalion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It appears that Will remained in the UK until May 1917, when
he sent Edith a copy of his will. It was standard practice for soldiers to fill
these in before they were sent on active service, and Will sent Edith a copy of
his – a spoiled copy, as the original was with the Army, confirming that he'd left her everything.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He was posted to the 486th Field Company, Royal Engineers,
and fought in Palestine. The <i>Northampton Independent</i> of 14 December 1918 reported
that he had been 'in the thick of the fighting' there. They fought at Gaza and
Jaffa in 1917, and at Berukin and Sharon in 1918. The Turks signed an Armistice
on 31 October 1918, so war finished a little earlier for Will and his fellows
than it did for most: they had survived the fighting.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Northampton had celebrated on November 11:<br />
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<i>By one o'clock the main streets were simply ablaze with colour. Nearly every upper window was flying a flag, many persons were carrying a flag or flags and wearing red, white and blue ribbons, motor-cars, horses, vans, and dogs were similarly be-decked, and there were more flags about than have been seen at Northampton at any time during the last four years.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Northampton Chronicle and Echo, November 11, 1918</i></div>
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Margie was probably at school. Schools in Northampton had only just re-opened after being closed for three weeks because of the influenza outbreak. I do not know if Edith went along to the celebrations. I do not know if they knew that Will was ill. I'm not sure if it is worse to hope that they experienced some uncomplicated joy by believing that Will would return to them, or if that made it even more cruel, bearing in in mind the news they would receive just over 2 weeks later. It's impossible, too, to tell if Will was already ill by the time the 31 October Armistice was signed. The <i>Northampton Independen</i>t piece described his illness as 'brief', so I hope he at least had some happiness in thinking that he would soon be back with his family.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZcJE69F4LVYZOzMC-YJqqGM1S1BdgAsBHRZetc3pC7cWtu34bd5sNDb16fQ5t71G973Rlfpkz4qY2mwIP-6Vo4KJZvHAFto-rIqL8jamxHclPmhQFar742WEu2AT64j1oQzV72Fjpt_w/s1600/egypt+pc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="1600" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZcJE69F4LVYZOzMC-YJqqGM1S1BdgAsBHRZetc3pC7cWtu34bd5sNDb16fQ5t71G973Rlfpkz4qY2mwIP-6Vo4KJZvHAFto-rIqL8jamxHclPmhQFar742WEu2AT64j1oQzV72Fjpt_w/s320/egypt+pc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Postcard sent to Margie from Egypt</i></td></tr>
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While he was stationed in Palestine, he wrote to Margie: the
letter is missing its original stamps, so it's impossible to date. Margie's
birthday was in July, so he might have been writing before July 1918, or after
that hoping he would be home by July 1919.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">
<i>My dearest Margie</i></div>
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">
<i>Just a line or two to tell you I am getting on a little
better now and hope to keep so now.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I hope you are getting on all right & are taking care of Mother for me. I am sending you these few stamps which
Freddie got me from Port Said.
I hope you will like them as they are rather interesting and
unusual.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Write and tell me if you receive them safely. Kiss Grandpa, the girls
& mother for me. I do not think it will be long now before I see you. Even
at the very latest I hope to be home in time for your Birthday.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Night night and God bless you </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Your loving Daddy
</i></div>
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Without a date, there is no way of knowing if Will was
writing about the illness that killed him. On 17 November, he was admitted to
the military hospital in Cairo, suffering from broncho-pneumonia, brought on,
it was thought, by influenza. The so-called Spanish flu had cut a swathe
through the world-wide population in 1918, and pneumonia as a result was very
common. In the pre-antibiotic era, it was invariably fatal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Will died on 24 November 1911.
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By the time he reached hospital, he was already gravely ill.
The sister who had nursed Will wrote to Edith on the day he died:</div>
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<i>My dear Mrs Dickens</i><br />
<o:p> </o:p><i>Ere this you will have received
the sad blow of your dear husband's death. This is just a few lines of sympathy
from me, the sister in charge of his ward, and to let you know of his last
hours.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><o:p> </o:p>I enclose a letter from the
Medical officer telling you what the cause of his death was</i><i>.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><o:p> </o:p>He was only with me for six days
and was very ill all the time on Friday he seemed a little better but on Saturday
at 2.30 he got much worse and from then seemed to realise that he was going. At
10 pm he asked me to write to you and say good bye and tell you to take good
care of his little Margaret and that God would look after you both. He was so
short of breath that he could not talk much but smiled very sweetley [sic] and
said he was not afraid to die and he had always had a happy life.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><o:p> </o:p>At 12 o/c he became unconscious
and passed very peacefully away at 2 pm on Sunday morning.</i><br />
<i>He was laid to rest in the English cemetry [sic] in Cairo among all the other
brave lads.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><o:p> </o:p>Please accept my sincere sympathy
in your sad loss. Your husband must have been a good man to have met his good shepherd
and calling as he did.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><o:p> </o:p>I pray that same good shepherd
may take you and his little Margaret under his arms and give you true comfort.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I am yours very truly, Constance [surname illegible]</i><br />
<i>Sister i/c</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>P.S. all his little articles were
collected and will be sent through the War Office to you
</i></div>
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Edith received the telegram giving her the news on 28 November 1918.<br />
<br />
Will's father died that same day. The <i>Northampton
Independent</i> of 7 December 1918 reported the story, saying that he had died from
shock at the home of his daughter-in-law. The effect on the family of this
double tragedy is unimaginable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>William Dickens</i></td></tr>
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Will was buried in Egypt, in the Cairo War Memorial Cemetery.
Edith paid 4 shillings and 11 pence to have his gravestone engraved with 'Until
the Day Breaks', but neither she nor Margie ever managed to visit the grave. They,
in common with so many other families, just had War Office photographs of the
grave. My stepfather managed to visit Will's grave not long before he died.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And what of Will's family? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Edith remarried in 1921. Margie's scrapbook, given to her on her
fifth birthday by her parents, had its last pages decorated with cut-outs of World War I medals.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Margie kept everything that her mother passed on to her: alas
the collection of silk postcards she and Edith received from Will has gone
missing, but I hope that one day I will be able to track it down and complete
this history.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Margie, who was known as Margaret in later life, married
local artist Thomas Pote in 1933, and had one son, my stepfather, Alan Pote. She
lived in Northampton all her life, not far from where I now sing with the
Northampton Bach Choir.<br />
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<a href="https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/definitions-of-units/composition-royal-engineers-field-company/">More information on what a field company did</a></div>
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinai_and_Palestine_Campaign">A summary of the Palestine campaign</a></div>
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Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-90755309346964901902018-11-09T10:13:00.000+00:002018-11-09T10:13:50.385+00:00Desert Island Pony Books: Carolyn HendersonMy latest guest on the desert island is Carolyn Henderson. She's a journalist and author, who's written more than 40 non-fiction books. You've almost certainly read some. <i>Getting Horses Fit? </i>Carolyn. <i>The Horse and Pony Care Bible</i>? <i>The Pony Club Guide to Bits and Bitting</i>? Carolyn again. She's also written three novels. These include the excellent <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beside-Me-Carolyn-Henderson-ebook/dp/B00VPD0K1A">Beside Me</a></i>, which was one of my books of the year when it was published (and as a side issue, I really must start doing that again. But more of that anon.)<br />
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Carolyn is also a dog person, and her latest novel, <i>Florence: Dog Detective</i> (go to Facebook page <i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/allbecauseoffreda/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARDe3qXqFo0cKmREtrZFmGkESEHYRprqePdLwnuztIpiVKQzc9CS-f8rWRWevAdQ7_2LtSa50MoCHLnP&hc_ref=ARSQymyPW3M4cz6sD8dbCAxPX76lAmwDoHm735hQDGVtrB09aWN5YBkBi8r6021yYIE&__xts__[0]=68.ARA85pbj4lYOLHC7-1CgokdIDkLOcCutg-5ne14FTmascyzr5SagubuM0AVca8LRE43EP55AHpMsMXs_C5ud8lGOQXHCQVh36lICvxdm0WfdMV9xkrMiEF5juOA0Wd6NyDKR4MYGC6M9fkAj7sUXEn7b-BNbIg7U0Y1B2x8qclQpdZ3euOz44N9NPxz-MkJh94-RXjJukoszTfcWdSsk4VY">All Because of Freda</a> </i>to buy, or try <a href="http://www.carolynhenderson.co.uk/">Carolyn's website</a>) is for readers of eight years and older, including big kids of any age. All profits go to <i><a href="http://www.spanglefish.com/allbecauseoffreda/index.asp?fbclid=IwAR2xPJRfeI_jOXFDbbfIj6Da-yOs7_woQyCSnJ9PmAT8_Mrai-FqRvqsmQM">All Because of Freda</a>,</i> a rescue and re-homing organisation that helps dog here and abroad. As usual, a horse managed to sneak into the story.</div>
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And now it's time to find out what other horses have sneaked into Carolyn's life.<br />
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<b>Silver Snaffles by Primrose Cumming</b><br />
I was eight-years-old when a librarian suggested that I’d love this book. I wish I could go back and thank her. </div>
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It’s the innocent but wise story of Jenny, who talks to a pony and finds he can talk back to her. How many little girls, like me, whispered the magic password – Silver Snaffles – every time they were allowed near a pony? The story, like every great story, hit a nerve and without preaching, introduced the idea that horses can be the best teachers. The writing is timeless and re-visiting it as an adult showed how Primrose Cumming had made the unbelievable so totally acceptable. </div>
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Her writing is beautiful:<br />
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'Through the Dark Corner, and the password is Silver Snaffles,' repeated Tattles.<br />
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His voice was not like a human voice. It was the sound of hoofs thudding on the turf, of bits jingling and saddles creaking and of a horse nickering to his friend, all mixed into one and making words.</blockquote>
I lost the copy I bought, which had a gingham cover and would now be worth a fair sum. I wish someone would re-print it.<br />
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<b>Babette Cole’s Ponies</b><br />
This tiny book, comprising just five double spreads with pop-up illustrations, makes me smile every time I open it. Fun and humour were Babette’s greatest gift as an illustrator and a writer.<br />
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Choosing it is self-indulgence, but hopefully that’s allowed on a desert island. Babette, affectionately known as Babble, described herself as being 'childlike as opposed to childish' and knew how to entertain readers of all ages. Her better-known books include the Princess Smartypants series (girlpower with giggles) and <i>Mummy Laid an Egg</i>, which sold in thousands after an unenlightened parents’ group tried to get it banned.<br />
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I knew her as a horsewoman, a fearless side-saddle team chaser who chortled with delight when she found diamante heart-shaped buckles for her spur straps. She died in 2017 and this book reminds me of her: feisty and funny.<br />
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<b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b>Thinking Riding by Molly Sivewright FBHS</b><br />
If you don’t find a wild horse to bond with and ride on your desert island, this will inspire you until the rescue ship arrives. It was a close run thing between this and <i>Enlightened Equitation</i>, by Heather Moffett, but Mrs Sivewright died in 2013 and I hope younger readers and teachers who might not have heard of her books will seek them out.<br />
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This was the first book which made me think about why I should follow classical principles – and how they are sometimes misinterpreted. Mrs Sivewright was ahead of her time: while many of us were being told to 'drive with the seat' – and hopefully feeling unhappy about this – she wrote that 'The seat bones must never press back and down, into the horse’s back, instead they must always be positioned and ready to ease forward, to allow the horse’s back muscles to work freely under them.'<br />
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And when you return to civilisation, do read <i>Enlightened Equitation </i>…<br />
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<b>Flying Changes by Caroline Akrill</b><br />
Declaration of interest: Caroline Akrill, in her other identity as publisher of J A Allen Books, took on my first book. Even if she’d turned me down, she would have been one of my author heroines.<br />
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Caroline is best known for books laced with wit and humour, but <i>Flying Changes</i> is remarkable for its breadth, daring and tinge of darkness. Dressage rider Oliver is the perfect anti-hero and coincidentally, he and Jilly Cooper’s Rupert Campbell-Black came to life in 1985. Kathryn, Oliver’s sister, is in his shadow but finds a strength which you realise, at the end, has been growing gradually throughout the story.<br />
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This was the perfect teen novel before they really existed. If I could choose one book I wish I’d written, it’s this one. You get more from it every time you read it, and the ending hits hard even when you know what’s coming.<br />
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<b>Jump! by Jilly Cooper</b><br />
When you start trying to write fiction, you’re told to 'find your voice'. Jilly Cooper’s is irrepressible and irreverent. Her doorstep tomes are often dismissed because they’re easy to read, which some assume means they’re easy to write. I wish!<br />
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I haven’t enjoyed all her books and hated her latest, <i>Mount!</i> This one recaptures much of the spirit of <i>Riders </i>and although it’s unashamedly far-fetched – a mutilated filly found in woods turns out to be a spectacular racehorse – it has all the goodies, baddies, intrigues and pace that epitomise Jilly Cooper at her best.<br />
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<b>The one I didn’t enjoy…</b><br />
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I’m disappointed to admit that I didn’t enjoy Michael Molpurgo’s <i>War Horse</i>, even on the second reading. The beginning had too many echoes of <i>Black Beauty</i> and the ending was too sentimental. However, I’m probably marching out of step, because it’s enjoyed huge acclaim.<br />
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Thank you very much Carolyn – I have to admit that I am not a fan of either the film or (gasp) the play of <i>War Horse</i>. It is interesting that the equine biography does seem to be equestrian marmite.<br />
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<a href="http://www.carolynhenderson.co.uk/">Carolyn Henderson's website</a></div>
Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-75172216489052339442018-11-02T07:00:00.000+00:002018-11-05T09:53:17.717+00:00Desert Island Pony Books: Gillian BaxterGillian Baxter doesn't need much of an introduction from me: she's written some of the best-regarded pony books out there. She's the author of <i>Jump for the Stars, The Difficult Summer, Tan and Tarmac, </i> <i>The Stables at Hampton</i>, and the Pantomime Ponies series, to name just a few. She's now writing again, with <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vacant-Possession-Gillian-Baxter-ebook/dp/B07B7NLL9Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541411559&sr=8-1&keywords=with+vacant+possession+gillian+baxter"><i>With Vacant Possession?</i>,</a> the story of a woman who moves to a remote Welsh farm with her horses, and gets a lot more than she bargained for.<br />
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So I'm really excited to be able to hand over to Gillian to tell you about what books she would (and wouldn't) take away on a desert island with her.</div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">What books would I like to have beside me on my desert island? First, a book that will transport me home to the scents and sounds and weather of the British countryside, and the thrills and struggles of a brilliant but difficult pony. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Team by K M Peyton</b></span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">For this I would choose KM Peyton’s <i>The Team</i>, the story of Ruth, who is inexperienced but driven by her dream of owning and competing on the pony she had bought, with borrowed money in the market, the difficult one-time-winner Toadhill Flax. </span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">Sold by his high class dealer owner against his son’s wishes, and spoiled by his next owner, Ruth knows that if she can manage him, Toad could fulfil all her dreams. We feel with Ruth the warm winds and the hot sun, the rain in our faces, and the scents of trampled grass and warm horses.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes</b> </span></div>
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My next book is about another
girl driven by a dream, Sarah, in <i>The Horse Dancer</i> by Jojo Moyes. I think this is
the most original horse-related book I have read, though it is not a children’s
book. It deals with a girl whose grandfather was dispelled from the Cadre noir
riding academy in France, and who now, in later life, buys a Selle Francais
horse to train, with his daughter, in the art of high school.The horse is kept
at an inner city farm, and when her grandfather dies and gipsies want the horse for
road trotter racing, she rides it away
and makes her way across southern England. With many problems, she gets across
to France and eventually to the Cadre noir. It is vividly written, and highly
believable, and demands to be read more than once.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Not Quite a Horsewoman by Caroline Akrill</b></div>
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For my third book I would like
to laugh, and what better than Caroline Akrill’s <i>Not Quite a Horsewoman</i>? Her
misadventures with show ponies and hunting are hilarious and believable. Who
cannot laugh at the show pony mistakenly stabled at a show in the police kitchen
in the temporary showground stables?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Riders by Jilly Cooper</b></div>
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Fourth I would have to take Jilly
Cooper’s <i>Riders</i> for sheer length as well as a wonderful assortment of horses
and characters, settings and dramas. I think it is the only genuine horse-based
blockbuster, and although there is plenty to object to on the whole it is a
really good read and would transport me away from my lonely palm tree.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>The Wednesday Pony by Primrose Cumming</b></div>
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Finally, a pony book which I have
not seen for many years, but which was one of the first I remember reading, <i>The Wednesday Pony</i> by Primrose Cumming. This is the story of two children
who love to ride, but can only borrow the butcher's trap pony on early closing
day. He is a saint of a pony, only to be really appreciated when they get a
much showier riding pony who teaches them that not every pony has the kind
heart and manners of the butcher's pony.This book takes us back to the time, not
so long ago, when the delivery pony and cart horse were a central part of life
and not the luxuries that they are today.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not to be taken, through no fault
of its own—it is a wonderful classic—is <i>Black Beauty</i>. I could not bear to
sit under my palm tree and read about poor Ginger, and remember that so many
horses around the world are still suffering from similar treatment. I shall be
sorrowful enough, stranded on the hot beach, without seeing that ginger horse
with its head hanging lifeless over the end of the cart in the uncaring London
street.<o:p></o:p></div>
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***</div>
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Thank you very much Gillian! If you'd like to read more about Gillian and her books, I have a <a href="http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/ponybooksfile2/gillianbaxter.html">page on my website about her here</a>.<br />
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<br />Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-39929407669605343452018-10-26T09:31:00.000+01:002018-10-26T09:31:42.671+01:00Desert Island Pony Books: Sheena Wilkinson<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ebssy_uGuvWmL1OdNjBbfPjWEdnYHuY0ixwaIEB3a7dfHl3wNggk-TBYOqMIeGx2d1Cty9HFKXNrh0c8l4Z0F14H1rFqCyGjE31uT_0BH1GIIRnUOps6j7IpbbNp8N-bEnyOFSTp3Fc/s1600/Sheena+high+res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ebssy_uGuvWmL1OdNjBbfPjWEdnYHuY0ixwaIEB3a7dfHl3wNggk-TBYOqMIeGx2d1Cty9HFKXNrh0c8l4Z0F14H1rFqCyGjE31uT_0BH1GIIRnUOps6j7IpbbNp8N-bEnyOFSTp3Fc/s320/Sheena+high+res.jpg" width="214" /></a>I'm delighted to welcome Sheena Wilkinson to the latest edition of Desert Island Pony Books. Sheena has been described in <i>The Irish Times</i> as 'one of our foremost writers for young people.' Her first three books, including the award-winning <i>Taking Flight</i> and <i>Grounded</i>, all centre round horses, though very much at the gritty, realistic end of the spectrum. </div>
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Her 2017 novel, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Sheena-Wilkinson/dp/1910411531/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=">Star By Star</a></i>, published to commemorate female suffrage, isn't horsey but she always manages to sneak a horse in somewhere. Maybe that's why her current trend is for historic fiction -- where it's so much easier to do that! </div>
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This was HARD! So hard that I
had to make rules for myself – otherwise I would have wanted to cheat and bring
along, for example, all the Jills instead of picking one. Or I might have
filled my island with nothing but K.M.Peyton. So – no series, and only one book
per author, which made it even harder in some ways!</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilh5dG0jZ23DytL-7uz1lYnbC-46sK4O4e0VuBGp-Ge7G3CrZ-Df40kweQlksqtZbX5Vsa9joFhoZER_kvTG3HS0TgkXr3PuWkLQWhHqazC696dyxU7bLBN0ZKPMBVeF9tzjXxXg3MwZM/s1600/92afb9_971bde339e4040429236aad569c979c5%257Emv2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilh5dG0jZ23DytL-7uz1lYnbC-46sK4O4e0VuBGp-Ge7G3CrZ-Df40kweQlksqtZbX5Vsa9joFhoZER_kvTG3HS0TgkXr3PuWkLQWhHqazC696dyxU7bLBN0ZKPMBVeF9tzjXxXg3MwZM/s320/92afb9_971bde339e4040429236aad569c979c5%257Emv2.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><i>Sheena and Scarlet</i></td></tr>
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<b>The Team (K.M. Peyton) </b><br />
I love all her books, and I can’t believe I have left out <i>Flambards</i>! But I chose <i>The Team</i> because in some ways it’s the most classic pony story, and in other ways it’s so innovative. Ruth gets her period! She makes problematic decisions. People behave badly and awful things happen to good ponies. And there are boys. I had a crush on both Jonathan and Peter – I still think K.M. Peyton is the best at writing crush-worthy characters. When I went on to write three novels with horses at their centre, <i>The Team </i>was very much the book that inspired me. <br />
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<b>Jill Has Two Ponies (Ruby Ferguson)</b><br />
I love Jill because she is so funny. And the world of Chatton was so seductive to a girl in a Belfast housing estate, scrabbling money together to get a riding lesson a few times a year. I longed to be galloping over Neshbury Common with Jill and her friends. Jill’s difficulties in bonding with her new pony are another variation on the rash decision theme, but everything is much sunnier than in K.M.Peyton’s world. Jill still makes me laugh out loud: the cast of supporting characters is especially delightful – the hapless Cholly-Sawcutt girls, Mercy Dulbottle and ghastly cousin Cecilia. And the illustrations are wonderful.<br />
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<b>I Wrote A Pony Book (Joanna Cannan)</b><br />
Jill despised school stories, and I knew I was meant to. But I loved them so much that I ended up doing my PhD on them. <i>I Wrote A Pony Book</i> was brilliant because it combined school story with pony story. Alison is a wonderful character, fat, witty and original. The scenes with her friends Harry and Hop, when they try to collaborate on a novel, are among the funniest I know in any kind of literature. And there’s the most glorious wish-fulfilment, because not only does Alison have her own lovely Highland pony, but she has her book published! I could never decide, as a child, which one I longed for more. <br />
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<b>I Wanted A Pony Book (Diana Pullein-Thompson)</b><br />
Diana was easily my favourite P-T, and it was a toss-up between this and <i>Riding With The Lyntons</i>, but as Linda Newbery picked that one, I’ve gone for this, the first book in the Augusta/Christina series. Augusta’s loneliness when she is sent to her ghastly cousins is so well drawn, and then of course there are the exciting events which lead to her being able to buy her own pony, Daybreak. I was thrilled to meet Augusta again in <i>Three Ponies and Shannan</i>, and to see her make friends with poor little rich girl, Christina.<br />
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<b>The Summer Riders (Patricia Leitch)</b><br />
Wild Highland scenery, a wild Arab circus horse, a wild, artistic, selfish heroine – I loved all the Jinny books (though much preferred the ones without the magic realism), and this is my favourite. I so identified with Jinny’s jealousy and meanness when city girl Marlene has her beady eye on the beloved Shantih. It’s not a spoiler to say that Jinny’s better nature triumphs – though it doesn’t always, which is one reason I loved the books. And Shantih is beautiful and a bit scary, but for me the real equine star is Bramble the Highland trekking pony, who Knows His Rights.<br />
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And the one I’d throw away... <br />
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Oh, the misery of going to the library in a pony book mood and finding there was nothing on the shelves except… Jackie! The only title I remember is <i>Jackie Won A Pony</i>, which actually isn’t the worst, but I disliked these books intensely, though I must have read more than one – I think I must have travelled hopefully with Jackie, optimism triumphing over experience. Even as a child they just seemed shallow, Jackie and her friends two-dimensional in a way that Jill never was. I suppose they were written for younger children, but they looked the same as other paperback pony books in the seventies so it was easy to be taken in. <br />
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<a href="http://littleisland.ie/authors/sheena-wilkinson/">Sheena at Little Island</a><br />
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You can <a href="https://twitter.com/sheenawriter?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">follow Sheena on Twitter</a><br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #7232ad; font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076HBTKB2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">Star By Star</a>, </span></i></b><b><span style="color: #7232ad; font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif;">winner of the CBI Honour Award for Fiction is out now (Little Island)</span></b>.</div>
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<br />Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-5944648248451275992018-10-19T07:50:00.000+01:002018-10-19T07:50:05.876+01:00Desert Island Pony Books: Kate Lattey<div>
Today's castaway on the desert island where the horse and pony book rule is author Kate Lattey. She's written three series of pony books all set in her native New Zealand, and I admit I do envy their world, which seems so much less constricted than life here in the UK. I really enjoy her books, and you can read my review of <a href="https://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2013/11/review-kate-lattey-dare-to-dream.html">Dare to Dream</a> and <a href="https://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2015/01/review-kate-lattey-dream-on.html">Dream On</a>.<br />
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You can follow Kate on her website <a href="https://nzponywriter.com/">here</a>, which also gives you a <a href="https://nzponywriter.com/free-download/">free download</a> of the first in her Pony Jumpers series.<br />
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Kate's chosen a really interesting set of books – and if you've followed the series so far, you'll be intrigued to see which one she'd throw over the side!<br />
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The five pony books I would choose if I were stuck on a desert island…wow. I have over 100 pony books in my collection, and to choose just five? The concept is almost impossible. There are obvious choices that I’m sure have been mentioned before, many times, by many others – Ruby Ferguson’s entire Jill series and Patricia Leitch’s entire Jinny series immediately spring to mind – but in the interests of diversity, here are a few of my favourites that are perhaps a little more unusual, and unexpected. <br />
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<b>Dream of Fair Horses by Patricia Leitch </b><br />
This is, hands-down, my absolute favourite pony book. It just sings to me, every single time I open it up. There aren’t many pony books around with prose like this: <br />
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On a loose rein, Perdita galloped on. Her hoofs made hardly any sound on the soft turf. She felt as if she could go on forever. We shared a freedom of space, of air, this tranced motion. We rode the exploding world. Held it still by our movement.</blockquote>
I found <i>Dream of Fair Horses</i> in a secondhand bookstore only a few years ago. Patricia Leitch’s Jinny books had always been some of my favourites as a teen, so I scooped this one up eagerly. I opened it with anticipation, and finished it in tears.<br />
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It’s the story of Gillian Carridia, the daughter of an eccentric writer, part of an eccentric family, all of whom have unusual names like Ninian and Torquil, and live in an enormous run-down house with barely any running water. Gill has big dreams of riding at the Horse of the Year Show, after catching a glimpse of it on TV one day, but she has never had a pony of her own, and it seems an utterly unachievable dream. She rides what she can, when she can, filling her head with dreams…</div>
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I sat down in the saddle and touched Tessy into a canter and I was no longer a skinny, ugly girl on an old pony that didn’t even belong to me: I was changed into Velvet on the Pie, Gandalf on Shadowfax, Bellerophon on Pegasus, Tom o’Bedlam astride his horse of air. The magic that had haunted my life for as long as I could remember was still as powerful as ever. </blockquote>
Then a series of events lead her to finding Perdita: <br />
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In all my life I had never seen anything as beautiful as this grey pony. There was about her an absolute perfection. Lost in her enchantment, I sat and stared. I wondered if she had dreamed of a girl who would come and ride her to fame, just as I had dreamed of her. </blockquote>
Gill’s journey with Perdita from unkempt pony in a field to the bright lights of Windsor is the stuff that dreams are made of, but it only comes after a lot of hard work and a few failures along the way. Family strife continues to plague her, the pony’s owner is in constant ill health and money is always tight. But the dream never fades, and Gill never stops striving for it, never gives up, even when the obstacles stack up in her path, and never stops loving Perdita with all of her heart. The depth of her love is exemplified in the end of this story, which takes the reader to an utterly unexpected place, but it is the right place, even though it doesn’t feel like that at the time. This is the book that made me write <i>Dare to Dream</i>. I can only flatter myself that my work is anywhere near this good. I dream of writing something so vivid, so dynamic, so beautiful. I could read this book all day. <br />
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<b><i>The Valley of the Ponies</i> by Jean Slaughter Doty </b><br />
I first read <i>The Valley of the Ponies</i> as a child, and at some stage, either lost it or passed it on. We used to visit a local secondhand bookstore on the weekends, and while my mother would only let me pick one or two books each time, the shop owner would allow me to swap out books as credit. So if I bought a book that I turned out not to love, I would exchange it for another one a few weeks on. I don’t think that I ever took Valley of the Ponies back to the shop, but I can’t be completely sure. <br />
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Either way, I kept most of my pony books throughout my teenage and young adult years, and revisited many of them over and over during that time. <i>The Valley of the Ponies</i> was one that I came back to only a couple of years ago, when I bought it again as part of a secondhand job lot online. I opened it up with a vague recollection of the story, and was immediately transported back into that world. Nostalgia is a funny thing – sometimes it is the vaguest shimmer of a memory, other times it’s almost visceral, as if you’ve been taken back in time and can feel everything that you felt back then, all those years ago as a child, falling headfirst into a book. <br />
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For an awful moment, Jennifer wondered whether she had made a mistake. She'd never taken care of a pony completely by herself, and here was Melissa, so much bigger than she had seemed back at the riding stable, acting tired and fussy after her long trip in the horse trailer, and depending on Jennifer to make her comfortable in the old cow barn. Maybe she shouldn't have agreed to take the pony for the summer…</blockquote>
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But having a pony of her own, even a borrowed one, turns Jennifer's summer into a dream come true. Through long, bright days, she and the gentle Melissa explore the countryside and make friends with a herd of beautiful show ponies that run free in a fenced-in valley. The dream becomes a nightmare, however, when the ponies' lives are threatened and only Jennifer and Melissa can save them. </blockquote>
<i>The Valley of the Ponies</i> is not a groundbreaking story, but it’s beautifully written. It’s short and simple, but it transports you to the leafy trails and warm summer days that Jennifer and Melissa enjoy. The dramatic ending feels slightly tacked on, as if someone decreed that there must be drama and this was the only way the publishers (or author) could think of to bring it about, but it is brief and effective and I don’t mind it. The real beauty of this novel comes in the quieter moments, the meadows, the rainstorms, the seemingly endless days of a childhood summer. And Melissa is a great fictional pony – mischievous yet kind, playful yet wise, the kind of pony that you truly believe could be real. <br />
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<i>The Valley of the Ponies</i> may not be Jean Slaughter Doty’s best work – I’ve heard great things about her other novels, only a few of which I’ve read, but every time I open it, it takes me on a journey down memory lane. I can feel Melissa’s warm, broad back beneath me, can hear the crunch of her hooves on the fallen leaves, smell the woods in summer and see the sun dappled path between keenly pricked ears. It’s a journey into eternal summer and it’s a nostalgia trip well worth taking. <br />
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<b><i>Pony from Tarell</i>a by Mavis Thorpe Clark </b><br />
This is another book that I found at that secondhand store as a young teen, and you’d asked me back then if it was one of my favourites, I’d probably have said no. However, <i>Pony from Tarella</i> is another of those books that, when revisited as an adult, retains its magic and has a powerful story to tell. <br />
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The book is set on a vast station in a remote area of Australia, and is a tale of a boy and a pony whose strong bond comes under threat from outside forces. However, unlike a lot of similar stories, the factors that are keeping Sandy and Sunflower apart are not ridiculous, or contrived, but are so very real. It’s the harshness of that reality and Sandy’s powerlessness to change the fact that money talks, and privilege exists, and that simply loving someone doesn’t mean they belong to you, that really rings true. And yet there are no real villains in this book – nobody is entirely wicked or irredeemable. They just come at life from their own perspective, and have blinkers on when it comes to others’ experiences. Pony from Tarella is as much a story about social class and the effects of one’s upbringing as it is about horses, but it’s all the richer for it. <br />
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<b><i>Stranger Than Fiction</i> by Joyce Stranger </b><br />
I can’t remember when or where I first picked this book up, but I’ve loved it ever since I first read it, and it has to be one of my most revisited horse books of all time. <br />
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It is the biography of Elspeth Bryce-Smith, who was born into a wealthy English family, and contracted polio as a child. Confined to a wheelchair, unable to walk, she was utterly miserable until one afternoon when the gardener’s boy lifted her onto a pony, and her entire world changed. In defiance of her family’s expectations, ‘Elfie’ went on to shun the life that was intended for her, and after regaining the use of her legs, she went to work with horses, in the days when that certainly wasn’t the done thing, especially for a young woman from a wealthy family. <br />
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For many years she lived a double life, riding all manner of challenging horses by day while living a prim and proper life at home by night. Considered to be the ‘black sheep’ of her family and unworthy of their respect, nevertheless, she persisted, spending years working for dealers before embarking on a short but successful career as an amateur jockey. This was in the days before women were allowed to race, so she rode under the alias ‘John Graham’. <br />
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Beautifully written by Joyce Stranger, this is a compelling memoir that I have read and re-read countless times. Elfie’s courage and self-determination has been a constant source of inspiration to me, motivating me to always find a way to keep horses in my life throughout the years. <br />
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<b><i>Taming the Star Runner</i> by S.E. Hinton </b><br />
It was a tough call between this and Monica Dickens’ World’s End books, but in the spirit of unexpected choices, this seemed like the less obvious choice. S.E. Hinton’s classic novel The Outsiders is one of my favourites of all time, but Taming the Star Runner, while far less well-known, is of comparable quality, in my mind at least. It’s the horsiest of her books, and believe me, she knows horses. <br />
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The story’s protagonist, Travis, is not a rider but he is a writer, and despite his many flaws and troubled background, he’s a good kid that the reader is immediately drawn to. He has been sent to live with his uncle after a fight with his step-father turned violent, and on his arrival, becomes drawn to the riding school that operates from the barn on his uncle’s property. Head instructor Casey has a horse that nobody else can ride, a horse with so much talent that it seems a waste not to utilise it, but the horse is not particularly interested in fulfilling Casey’s ambitions. Sparks fly between Travis and Casey, but this isn’t a romance. It’s hard to define exactly what it is, but one thing is for sure – it’s very, very good. <br />
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Travis is an unusual character in pony fiction in that he doesn’t particularly like horses, and I don’t think he even comes close to sitting on one throughout the story. But S.E. Hinton knows people, and she understands teenagers. Her readers are never talked down to, and the characters aren’t treated dismissively, or as stereotypes. The adults are well-drawn here, too. <br />
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She also knows horses, and clearly has some experience in the riding school game. Small details, like Casey trying to reschedule an entire week’s lessons around one rider’s grandmother visiting from out of town, or a mother lamenting the fact that she didn’t buy her daughter the palomino pony whose coat colour would match her child’s hair, are perfect in their eye-rolling authenticity. <br />
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So, those are the five pony books that I’d take with me to a desert island.<br />
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My sixth choice would be a book full of blank pages, and a pen. <br />
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<b>The book I wouldn't take... </b><br />
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I don't know if it counts as a pony book but I remember hating Jilly Cooper's "Riders"! I was sick in bed when I read it which was the only reason I finished it. What a cast of unlikeable people! </div>
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Thanks, Kate!<br />
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Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-59653709573999444842018-10-12T09:01:00.000+01:002018-10-12T09:01:37.827+01:00Desert Island Pony Books: Christina Wilsdon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Christina Wilsdon is the author of some 200 books. She's written about sharks, opossums, birds, and also about that most feared creature of the natural world, the small child, with one title guaranteed to strike fear into anyone who's had anything to do with a child: <i>I Feel Sick. </i>There aren't many animals she hasn't written about, and she's also the author of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Horse-Crazy-Girls-Only-Everything-Horses/dp/0312603231/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=">Horse-Crazy Girls</a>, </i>which would have been right up my street when I was one, which I loved, even though I am now some decades adrift of its target market.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></div>
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You can read much more about Christina <a href="https://christinawilsdon.com/">on her website</a>, and I can also highly recommend her blog, <a href="http://www.piccalillipie.com/">Piccallilli Pie</a>, which is an absolute treasure trove of brilliant writing about the natural world.</div>
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<b><i>Last Hurdle</i> by F.K. Brown </b><br />
I came upon this book as a young girl while stalking the shelves of my local library, which was housed in a cramped portable building. The librarians kindly labeled spines of horse books with a cloth decal bearing a horse head, an extremely thoughtful social service. <br />
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<i>Last Hurdle</i> tells the story of 12-year-old Kathy Nelson, who (like me) lacked horse experience yet dreamed of owning a beautiful horse who’d be devoted to her. But Kathy (unlike me) actually buys a broken-down horse and brings him home to her family’s small farm. With hard work, good advice, and little cash, Kathy manages to bring the old horse back to life.<br />
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I took out this book again and again because I loved reading a horse book that was about a girl (most horse books available to me in the early 1970s were about boys living Out West and having adventures). It's also set in a familiar world; the horse, Baldy, is also like most horses I knew, fairly placid and mostly interested in oats and not Pining for the Wild Prairie. <br />
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<b><i>Jill’s Gymkhana</i> by Ruby Ferguson </b><br />
If I could glue together all of the Jill books and make an omnibus edition, you’d bet I’d do it. Barring that, I’d settle for taking along the first book in the series. I know I’d enjoy reliving Jill’s thrill at getting a horse, her embarrassment when the riding school students catch her pottering about awkwardly on him, and her satisfaction with her growing competence.<br />
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This book also brings back the memory of getting a stack of Jill paperbacks when a relative returned to the U.S. from a trip to Ireland—I just sat down and read them over the course of a lovely long summer week. Jill was also unlike any other girl I’d met in books, let alone horse books: she was smart, funny, awkward, and real, and made observations about annoying everyday things that other authors never bothered with. I still crack up when I read about her getting a Christmas card with a bulldog dressed up in a blouse and bell-bottomed trousers, and the “wretched cornflakes” she had to fetch for horrible cousin Cecilia. <br />
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<b><i>Beyond Rope and Fence</i> by David Grew </b><br />
A buckskin mare named Queen is the star of this book, which arrived in the mail as part of my subscription to the World Famous Horse Story Library. Queen’s story is like a wild-horse version of <i>Black Beauty</i> and like that book is told from the horse’s point of view (in third-person rather than first).<br />
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Queen grows up on the Canadian prairie against a backdrop of constant flight from people; even when she makes a great escape, she is still shackled by humans because she runs off with a bridle firmly strapped to her head. Queen has multiple run-ins with cowboys, suffers the loss of foals and companions, and endures a span of miserable treatment before winning her freedom at last. <br />
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<b><i>My Friend Flicka </i>by Mary O’Hara </b><br />
What a wonderful book this is, with its beautiful writing and deep, complex characters. It would be simply fine as simply a boy-meets-horse story, but it offers so much more, especially if you read it at different stages in your life. As a kid, I was both sympathetic to dreamy, gentle Ken and annoyed with him. As an adult, I still am—much like his patient mother and hot-tempered but loyal father. These parents were among the first portrayed in a book that gave me a glimpse into relationships between adult human beings. O’Hara also does a great job at getting into the minds of the horses and other animals when she writes from their point of view.<br />
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<b style="text-align: start;"><i>C.W. Anderson's Favorite Horse Stories</i> </b><br />
<span style="text-align: start;">OK, so maybe I’m cheating bringing this, but not really, because it’s an actual for-real book and the World Famous Horse Story Library only charged two bucks for it, just as they did for all really-truly books. It’s 191 pages of horse stories and poems, including excerpts from <i>National Velvet</i> and the works of Will James, with C.W. Anderson’s gorgeous horses galloping through it. I met famous horses like The Tetrarch, Man O’War, and Stymie in its pages. </span><br />
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<b>And the one I’d chuck in the sea… </b><br />
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Oh, if only I could remember the name of the horse book that I’d trample, burn, kick, and throw in the ocean (not necessarily in that order). I’ve googled galore without success. It was a paperback book from the library, published in the 1950s or early 1960s (I read it in the early ‘70s). It had a horse decal on the spine, so I figured it must be good, right? <br />
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It seemed OK for many, many pages. It was about a dreamy girl who has her head in the clouds in school, longing for a horse of her own and barely paying attention at a school assembly. Somehow, that summer, she gets to spend time on a ranch. She returns home as a good rider and then nabs an opportunity to care for a horse at a local stable. Ungrateful wretch that she is, she becomes bored riding this horse, feeling that it is pointless after the useful work she did on the ranch on horseback. <br />
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Horse girls are always being lectured about their interest (in a way that boys seldom seem to be when they’re interested in sports, cars, or the like), and so it was with shock and dismay that the final pages of this book revealed how this girl, having shed her silly horse fixation, is suddenly mature, alert, confident, outgoint, and interested at school. At the first school assembly, she stands up and volunteers to run for office. She becomes president of the Student Council! Friends flock to her! Her life has turned completely around! I remember feeling as if I’d been hoodwinked. Only my respect for library books prevented me from throwing it out the window.<br />
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Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-1475860424135456512018-10-06T11:33:00.000+01:002018-10-06T11:33:56.744+01:00Desert Island Pony Books: Linda Newbery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm delighted to welcome the next castaway on the desert island where books are allowed. But not many. Linda Newbery has been one of my favourite authors for years: if you haven't read her<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Damage-Done-Linda-Newbery-ebook/dp/B005LDV8A2/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538663041&sr=8-1&keywords=linda+newbery+damage+done"> <i>The Damage Done</i></a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nowhere-Girl-Linda-Newbery/dp/0439011191/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538663171&sr=1-1&keywords=linda+newbery+nowhere+girl"><i>The Nowhere Girl</i></a>, or <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shell-House-Linda-Newbery/dp/0099455935/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538663228&sr=1-1&keywords=linda+newbery+shell+house">The Shell House</a>,</i> or <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lob-Linda-Newbery/dp/1780080832/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538663270&sr=1-1&keywords=linda+newbery+lob">Lob</a>,</i> you are in for a treat. </div>
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Linda's latest book is <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Key-Flambards-Linda-Newbery/dp/1788450043/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1538642132&sr=8-1">The Key to Flambards</a>, </i>which the acute will spot uses the name of a very well-known series indeed: K M Peyton's Flambards. That is because this book tells (with the blessing of K M Peyton) the story of Christina's descendants, Grace Russell, and her mother, who are visiting Flambards for the first time around a century since we left it in <i>Flambards Divided</i>. </div>
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I loved it. The more I think about it, the more staggerered I am at how well it weaves together the Flambards we all know with the modern day. </div>
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So it will not surprise you to learn who wrote one of Linda's choices ... </div>
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<a href="https://www.lindanewbery.co.uk/">Linda Newbery's website</a>.</div>
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Linda runs the <a href="http://reviewsbywriters.blogspot.com/">Writers Review blog</a> with Adele Geras and Celia Rees.</div>
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This has been a difficult though enjoyable task; I’ve dithered and changed my mind several times (though in no doubt at all about the one I’d happily shred to pieces). I had to include a K M Peyton and a Monica Edwards and <i>Black Beauty</i>, which left just two more places, which was where the problem lay – so I’ll cheat a bit by mentioning others that were in the running. Patience McElwee’s <i>Dark Horse</i>? Sheila Chapman’s <i>The Mystery Pony</i>? A Dick Francis, or a recent impressive surprise, Maggie Stiefvater’s <i>The Scorpio Races</i>? And how could I leave out Ruby Ferguson’s Jill, whose books I read out of order, starting with <i>Rosettes for Jill</i>? In the end I didn’t find room for Jill, knowing that she’ll appear on many another list. I’ve listed these in the order they entered my life. <br />
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<b><i>Black Beauty</i> by Anna Sewell </b><br />
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I first read this at the age of seven – in an abridged, illustrated version I remember so clearly that I can still see the pictures. Nowadays I think it would be considered quite a harsh read for a child so young, and I certainly grieved over the fate of poor Ginger, as surely all readers must. Later I read the unabridged text and was horrified anew at the cruel treatment endured by Black Beauty and other carriage horses in Victorian London, and the random chances that govern the fate of an animal that can be bought and sold. I think reading Black Beauty at a young age, together with Bambi and Tarka the Otter, had marked and lasting effects on my attitudes towards animals and human responsibility for them. <br />
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<b><i>Punchbowl Midnight</i> by Monica Edwards </b><br />
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I first read Monica Edwards at the age of seven or eight, starting with <i>Wish for a Pony</i>, and I owe her my early ambition of becoming a writer. When Armada paperbacks began to appear I bought them for myself, and this was the title that introduced me to Lindsey and her family in the Punchbowl Farm stories. I was captivated by the Punchbowl Farm setting and Lindsey’s life there – riding to school, helping Dion on the farm, watching badgers and deer in the Punchbowl. This was the only one of her books to be illustrated by the renowned wildlife artist Charles Tunnicliffe. Although his depictions of horses and riders in action were somewhat awkward, he captured the Jersey calf Punchbowl Midnight most beautifully, and that’s what I remember. This story includes the first meeting between Lindsey and Tamzin of the Romney Marsh stories, leading to several novels in which the two sets of characters interact. I loved the sense of place in Monica Edwards’ novels, helped by the frontispiece maps as the books went on; the Devil’s Punchbowl and the village of Westling (based on Rye Harbour) felt real to me. Well, they are real, and so skilfully evoked in all weathers and seasons by Monica Edwards that I felt I knew them intimately. Another aspect of her writing I admire is that she engaged very early with conservation and welfare issues we’re all aware of today: oil pollution, intensive farming, captive dolphins. She was a pioneer environmentalist. <br />
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<b><i>Riding with the Lyntons</i> by Diana Pullein-Thompson </b><br />
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I read my way through most of the books by the three Pullein-Thompsons, though I preferred Diana and Josephine (<i>All Change</i> was another contender here) to their sister Christine, for reasons explained below. All three often wrote about large horsey families but here the focus is on an only child, Lesley, who’s befriended by the confident Lyntons when she and her parents move to the countryside. They conveniently have a spare pony for her to ride and all goes well until an open gate leads to one of a pair of Dartmoors being fatally injured on the road, for which Lesley is blamed by the Lyntons and by herself. Diana Pullein-Thompson writes convincingly about Lesley’s longing to be accepted and about feelings of guilt and loyalty. I also liked Lesley’s arty parents and the glamour of her father being a writer, whose unexpected success leads to her being able at last to afford a pony of her own. <br />
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<b><i>The Perfect Horse</i> by Gillian Baxter </b><br />
This was the first of several Gillian Baxter novels I read at the age of twelve or so, and she impressed me at once with her delineation of human and equine characters and their settings and interactions. This was part of a sequence about Bracken Hill Stables; I read them out of order, but that didn’t affect my enjoyment. Here, main character Bobby, employed by Guy who is now also her fiancé, is tasked with training her cousin Ellen and her supposedly perfect horse, Minos, to top-class eventing standard. It’s years since I read it, but I seem to remember a handsome and dashing male rider, Jay, who vies for both Bobby’s and Ellen’s attention. (I’m sure Jane Badger will know!)*<br />
Gillian Baxter is very good on the conflict between ambition, privilege and exploitation on the one hand, and fairness, consideration and well-earned reward on the other. <br />
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<b><i>Prove Yourself A Hero</i> by K M Peyton </b><br />
It’s difficult to choose a favourite from K M Peyton’s impressive output, but I’m going for this: one of a series involving Jonathan Meredith. Peyton is good on teenagers resisting the demands of pushy parents, and Jonathan’s mother is harshly unsympathetic: when he’s kidnapped and held prisoner until a large ransom is paid, she blames him – for being taken hostage in the first place, and for failing to escape. Jonathan must redeem himself, which he does with the help of loyal friend Peter McNair, son of a horse-dealer. Horses feature largely in the rescue and afterwards in Jonathan’s restoration of self-esteem. No one writes about horses better than K M Peyton: they snort and breathe from the page with personalities to match the human cast of their stories, and the reader shares the exhilaration of forming partnerships with them. She is also very good at names: Florestan, Sweetbriar, Woodpigeon, Dogwood, Drummer and Toadhill Flax are among my favourites. <br />
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And the one I’d chuck into the sea … (no, of course I wouldn’t. The sea has more than enough rubbish in it.) <br />
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<b><i>A Day to go Hunting</i> by Christine Pullein-Thompson </b><br />
Even as a child, I was bemused by the doublethink that encouraged readers to lavish care, attention and consideration on horses and ponies while apparently feeling no qualms at killing another equally intelligent mammal for sport. It always bothered me when characters I otherwise liked saw nothing wrong with riding to hounds, and I’m pleased that I resisted what almost amounts to indoctrination. For this reason I never liked Christine Pullein-Thompson as much as her sisters; hunting is certainly mentioned in their books, but in this title of Christine’s, it takes centre stage.<br />
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What really angered me here was the hunt master’s airy dismissal of a landowner’s concern that her deer have been frightened by invading hounds: he thinks she’s petty and unreasonable for worrying about her “precious deer”, as if she has no right to protest that her animals have been terrified and endangered on her own land. However, he calls round and quickly wins her support. How improbable is that? If I were her I’d take legal action. <br />
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At least a book like this would never find a publisher today. Other Pullein-Thompson stories endure, but this one, with the uncritical sense of entitlement shown by its unappealing characters, belongs firmly in the past. </div>
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***</div>
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* Jay does indeed appear in <i>The Perfect Horse.</i> He wears a red-and-yellow spotted cravat, which in my mind is something truly hideous.</div>
Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-48994755973558543272018-09-21T08:14:00.000+01:002018-09-21T08:14:28.325+01:00Desert Island Pony Books: Kate Cuthbert<br />
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<o:p>Welcome to the latest episode of Desert Island Pony Books, where my guest is author <b>Kate Cuthbert</b>. As the series goes on, I am finding it fascinating to see why people like the books they've chosen, and if anything it's even more fascinating to find out about the ones they'd leave behind.</o:p></div>
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<o:p><br />Kate is the author of the excellent Hatters series, which is set in a school where riding is on the curriculum. The series is full of sparky and believable characters, and if you're looking for a new series to get your teeth into, I can highly recommend this one. The first book is <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Fly-Hatters-School/dp/1999790405/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537512796&sr=1-1&refinements=p_27%3AKate+Cuthbert">For the Love of Fly</a>, and it's had (deservedly) excellent reviews on Amazon. The second book will be out soon, and there are three more in the pipeline.</o:p><br />
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<o:p>You can follow Kate on <a href="https://twitter.com/cuthbertkate?lang=en">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kate.cuthbert/">Instagram</a>.</o:p></div>
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<o:p>So, welcome Kate – please tell us about your books.</o:p></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 125%;">National Velvet: Enid
Bagnold</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US">National Velvet</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> had to be on my list. It is such a
triumphant story about chasing your dreams with passion and determination,
about being female and brilliant and about living a life, poor in material
possessions, but rich in love and support. The main protagonist, 14-year-old
Velvet Brown, isn’t a typical sort of heroine. She definitely has some strength
of character, but is quite sickly, skinny and a bit nervy. I love the fact that
even though she isn’t a strong, super-human sort of heroine, she has the pluck
to do something like ride in the Grand National … there is hope for us all! I
also love the fact that, along with her own determination, it is the love and
support from her family and Mi that gets her through.</span><br />
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It really is a gloriously satisfying tale that would make me feel all
warm and fluffy inside, whilst I while away the hours waiting to be rescued. I
know that some people find the prose hard work and dated, but, to be fair to
it, the story was first published in 1935. For me, the reward of reading <i>National Velvet</i> as I sit under a palm
tree on the island would outweigh any struggle that there might be with the
text.</div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Mystery at Black Pony Inn: Christine Pullein-Thompson</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This choice comes from an eminent stable of equestrian authors, namely
the Pullein-Thompson sisters. Between them, Josephine, Diana and Christine
amassed an impressive body of work. The Black Pony Inn series, written by
Christine, saw the hard-up Pemberton family trying to make ends meet by opening
the doors of their home to paying guests; something I bet they sometimes wished
they’d never done as it seemed to bring with it a whole heap of misfortune and
drama. The B&B setting provides the perfect vehicle for the introduction of
new characters throughout the series. Some were desirable, and some less so,
like Commander Cooley in <i>Mystery at Black
Pony Inn</i>. He didn’t turn out to be quite the respectable gentleman that he
at first seemed.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I haven’t read any of the Black Pony Inn stories for years, but I
remember enjoying them immensely as a child. I would happily take any of them
with me to read on the island, but I have chosen <i>Mystery at Black Pony Inn</i> for a very special reason. When I was
about 8 years of age I travelled with a family friend, a young man of about 28-years-old,
from Cambridgeshire to Anglesey, a journey that lasted some 4.5hrs. I had this
story on a cassette tape and he put up with listening to it over and over and
over again. As I remember it, the entire 235-mile journey was accompanied by <i>Mystery at Black Pony Inn</i>. The friend,
sadly, was tragically killed a few years later, but I always felt indebted to
him for letting me listen to this charming story on what could otherwise have
been a very boring journey. Who knows, maybe he did actually enjoy it on the first
listen, but I suspect by the fourth or fifth time around, he was just being
kind. So, in that friend’s memory, and because I would love the time to read it
once more, I would definitely want <i>Mystery
at Black Pony Inn</i> with me on the island.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 125%;">Slay Ride: Dick Francis</span></b><b><u><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 125%;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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For pure self-indulgent comfort reading, I have to include a Dick
Francis novel on my list. To be honest, I could have picked pretty much any of
them, but after some consideration I have chosen <i>Slay Ride</i>. As a young teenager this was the first book for adults
that I read, and it has everything that I love; horses, mystery and
bone-chillingly cold weather.</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Francis’s writing style is unfussy and straightforward. I always feel,
when reading one of his books, that you are getting a gripping and exciting
adventure without having to work too hard for it. Perfect if you just want
sheer entertainment from a story.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The hero narrates all of Francis’s novels. In this particular book the
hero is David Cleveland, a Jockey Club investigator, sent to Norway to
investigate the disappearance of a British jockey, whom we later discover has
been murdered. Cleveland comes across as a very sensible, reliable,
resourceful, determined, straight-thinking sort of a man. Even when his life is
under threat he remains calm, stoic and courageous. These character traits are
often seen in a Francis protagonist, and, as a child, I couldn’t help thinking
that if all adults were a little bit more like one of Dick Francis’s heroes,
then surely the world would be a better place. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 125%;">I’m
Champion, Call Me Bob – My Story: Bob Champion</span></b><b><u><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 125%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>I haven’t yet had time to read Bob Champion’s autobiography, which came
out earlier this year. I would like to though, and living alone on an isolated
island should provide the spare time to do so. As a child I remember watching
the film <i>Champions</i> and being struck by the amazing tale of determination
and survival, both human and equine. The story of how jockey, Bob Champion,
battled cancer to win the 1981 Grand National is a real fairy tale. The fact
that, in addition, his mount, Aldaniti, had overcome a near career ending leg
injury to run in the race, provides a story worthy of Hollywood’s finest
writers. I couldn’t believe that it was actually true when I watched the film
back in the 80s. This part of Champion’s story is interesting enough, but add
details of his life since that day and the amazing fund raising work of the Bob
Champion Cancer Trust and I suspect you have a very worthwhile and inspiring
read.</div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Veterinary Notes for Horse Owner: Captain M. Horace Hayes</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This one is a bit of a curve-ball and probably not everyone’s idea of
riveting page-turner! The weighty tome, written by artillery officer, Horace
Hayes, was first published in 1877, so it’s been knocking around for a while.
Revised and reprinted over the years, this book has remained an important
source of information for horse owners for well over a century. Covering topics
from anatomy, breeding and behavioural problems to diseases, first-aid and
surgery, I’d say that there is something for everyone … or maybe that’s just
me! The 1987 edition (edited by Peter Rossdale and reprinted in 1994) was
definitely a go-to reference book when I was in sixth form and studying for my
BHSAI exams. Even at university, when peer-review journals took over from books
as the expected source of information, it had its place on my desk. Providing a
comforting voice of authority on the stuff that I really should have already
learned, it also worked well as a coaster and, due to its size, a rather e</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">ffective</span><span lang="EN-US"> paperweight. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">My well-thumbed, coffee-ringed copy still sits on my bookshelf today
and, if my stay on the desert island ended up being a long one, I think I could
quite happily fill my time re-reading this great work and remembering the good
old days.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Now for the one
I would pay to leave behind …</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 125%;">Black Beauty: Anna Sewell</span></b><b><u><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 125%;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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I suspect this one will be a controversial choice. I’m guessing <i>Black
Beauty</i> would feature highly on many lists as a must-have horsey book, and
justifiably so. After all, it is a true classic that has sold in its millions
around the world for well over a hundred years. With Black Beauty as the
narrator, the book is convincingly written from a horse’s viewpoint. Sewell’s
message is a forceful one about considering how we treat animals, as well as
our fellow man. Despite being littered with moral lessons, the text manages to
avoid becoming too preachy, partly because the power of the story is so
distracting. The writing is clear and, if you don’t mind tackling a little
Victorian equestrian vocabulary, it is not difficult to understand.
Descriptions of small things, the tones of voices and the stable yard smells
are vivid and evocative. As a child, the
images that she conjured in my mind of the gritty hardship of life on the
streets of Victorian London will stay with me always.</div>
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<i>Black Beauty</i> is a story that has stood the test of time and I have
nothing but praise for it, so why would I pay not to take it with me? Simple …
because it would make me cry, and I’m not really all that keen on crying. There
is just one sad, tear-inducing moment after another. I think the cruelty,
neglect, illness, injury, farewells etc. etc. (the list goes on) would be too
much to deal with whilst also dealing with the emotions of being stranded on a
desert island. I think the moment when the chestnut horse is taken away on the
cart might just send me over the edge. This scene always caused the biggest
blub for me. Beauty believes the dead creature to be his friend, Ginger,
although we never actually find this out for certain. The only thing more sad
than the thought that Ginger is dead, is the thought that Ginger is alive and
still having to endure her miserable, painful life at the hands of humans.</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">It isn’t all complete
doom and gloom; there are strong positive themes in the story; kindness,
sympathy, understanding, courage and perseverance, for instance. However, even
the happy scenes made me cry, and I cried right to the very end, literally to
the last line, when Black Beauty remembers his old friends under an apple tree
…that is why I would pay not to take it with me.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Thank you very much Kate for a wonderfully eclectic selection.Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-29365756605483561462018-09-13T08:52:00.000+01:002018-09-14T08:16:41.956+01:00Desert Island Pony Books: John Rees<div class="MsoNormal">
I'm delighted to welcome John Rees to the blog to talk about his desert island book choices.</div>
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John is a man of many talents: he's an expert on
vintage antiques, and is starring in the S4C programme <i><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06jx2rn">Trysorau’r Teulu</a> </i>that started this week (for those who don't speak
Welsh, subtitles are available!) He is co-founder of <a href="http://cowandghostvintage.blogspot.com/">Cow and Ghost Vintage</a>, and
organises vintage fairs across Wales. John's also the founder of the very
popular <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/40016037670/?fb_dtsg_ag=AdyNDqkoeaMGKlR4d6h4Q1l-z9tWeaxuFCdCacyxgOjd4Q%3AAdxOmVAcJwUSAJ4n8tAtFDsDn15Ad52x9UiydazkYtsLtg">Ruby Ferguson Facebook grou</a>p celebrating all things Jill. So will John choose a Jill book? I think we know the answer ...<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Jill's Pony Trek </b><b>by Ruby Ferguson</b><br />
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I've adored Jill for over 35 years and she has never lost her charm. I read them out of order after discovering the fourth in Granny's attic. Hard to chose a favourite. This is perhaps slightly different from the format of the rest: less gymkhana and school and set in a shorter time period. I like the road trip style of it and how the events flow into each other in such an unexpected way. I also think it's the funniest. The Mrs Appleyard sequence still makes me laugh out loud. </div>
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<b>Eventer's Dream by Caroline Akrill</b></div>
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I feel for Elaine. The Fane's could drive a saint to – well anything really ... Funny and heart warming trilogy, but I'm choosing this one as it is the most 'stand alone' as a one off novel of the three. The writing is so alive. Caroline Akrill has always been able to make me believe in her 'people'. I still get upset when things look really bleak for the Fanes in the third. The last scene of the third always brings a tear to my eye, so on an island, I'll stick with this. </div>
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<b>Flambards by K M Peyton</b></div>
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A wonderful writer in many different genres, and this was the first I read: a set school book in Form 3. Couldn't believe my luck!! Swiftly bought the other three. I've yet to see the television series and still have my own image of Flambards from school days. Love how the saga evolved, and didn't see the ending coming. Who could? I know when I read it on the island I shall be really annoyed I can't go straight into <i>The Edge Of The Cloud</i>.</div>
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<b>Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey</b></div>
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I adore Tey and Dorothy L Sayers. Thought I'd better get an adult one in. Brat is my favourite Tey. Not sure if it's the VERY clever plot or how the setting on first reading reminded me of the pony books of my youth that make it a favourite from an author who wrote eight faultless mysteries. Brat riding round the estate meeting the locals could be straight out of 'Jill'. The quarry scene at the end could be Stephen King. This book has it all. </div>
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<b>Flying Changes by Caroline Akrill</b></div>
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Yes!! Caroline again and justifiably so. No review I could ever write will do justice to this little masterpiece. Not what I was expecting after having read her others. It's darkly compulsive. I will never forget the chill I felt at the end. The epilogue / last monologue from Kathryn: words fail. I love this under valued gem. I can't imagine not having a copy ... </div>
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<b>The one I'd pay NOT to take .... Black Beauty by Anna Sewell</b></div>
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I know!! It's a classic!! Shoot me!! I was given a copy when I was at the height of my pony book reading. Not a phase, as have yet to stop. It was a thoughtful gift, but I couldn't get on with it – not keen on the style. It can't be the period, as I read and re-read the Susan Coolidge 'Katy' books, with the first written just 5 years before <i>Black Beauty</i>. Tried again in University when looking for works to compare with Frances Hodgson Burnett and failed. The thought of having it and nothing else unread on an island is not something I relish. Sorry Anna. Loved by thousands, but not me ...</div>
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***</div>
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Thank you John! It's always fascinating to find out what people like and why. If you'd like to read more desert island pony book choices, you can read about author <a href="https://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2018/09/desert-island-pony-books-cressida-ellen.html">Cressida Ellen Schofield</a>, or perhaps <a href="https://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2018/09/my-desert-island-pony-books.html">mine</a>.</div>
Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-71910922036157417342018-09-07T06:30:00.000+01:002018-09-07T06:30:06.318+01:00Desert Island Pony Books: Cressida Ellen Schofield<span lang="EN-US">A very warm welcome to my first guest on Desert Island Pony Books: Cressida Ellen Schofield. Cressida, like me, keeps body and soul together by proofreading and editing. But unlike me, she gets out there and writes. She's the author of the very funny Magpie Chronicles, and has just released part two of the series, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GNMHBNN">Lindian Summer</a>. </i>I can't do better than Cressida at telling you what it's about, so here you are: </span><i>Ten holidaymakers. Ten days. One small villa. One hot mess.</i><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">There are details for Cressida's website and her books at the bottom of this blog. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">So, take it away Cress ... what pony books would you make a shelf for on your desert island?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Phantom Horse – Christine Pullein-Thompson</b></div>
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For me, there was always something so romantic and exotic about the rather brash and gauche Jean – our heroine – and her family being flown out to live in West Virginia due to her father’s job relocation, Early on Jean learns about the ‘wild horse’ – the eponymous Palomino of the title – and how whoever catches him can keep him. The severe contrast between our very British family and the laid-back Americans that are hosting them is of its time, as is some of the now extremely inappropriate references to their staff, and I feel that this book really does now have to be read as a historical piece, even though it’s only from the 1950s. It is a tried and tested formula though – pony-less, stubborn and willful girl falls in love with dazzling, unattainable pony, and will go to any lengths to acquire him – but <i>Phantom Horse</i> is done so well.</div>
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<b style="text-indent: -36pt;">Prince Among Ponies: Josephine
Pullein-Thompson</b></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -36pt;">The relationship between ‘unrideable’ grey Arabian, Adonis, and the book’s hero
and heroine is another ‘pony quest’ story. Unlike </span><i style="text-indent: -36pt;">Phantom Horse</i><span style="text-indent: -36pt;">, where the
Americans seem to out-do Jean and Angus in every aspect of life, </span><i style="text-indent: -36pt;">Prince Among
Ponies</i><span style="text-indent: -36pt;"> has more balance. The eccentric Merrimans have the picture-perfect
country lifestyle, and all the ponies, but Sara and Patrick are technically the
better riders. Ah, those riding school taught kids! Captain Stefinski’s anyone?
There are some lovely aspects to this book: collecting mushrooms from dewy,
summer fields as a guise for secret dawn rides, a pony called Christmas, and a
splendid end-of-summer-holidays gymkhana to top it all off! And, honestly, who
didn’t fall in love with Adonis?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: -36pt;"><b>Polo: Jilly Cooper</b></span></div>
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For me, <i>Polo </i>is Jilly Cooper’s greatest achievement as a writer. Darker than
her previous two Rutshire Chronicles (<i>Riders</i>, and, my personal favourite,
<i>Rivals</i>), it contains a few deeply unpleasant themes – abusive relationships,
child bereavement and the consequences of enjoying the wild life in the 1960s a
little bit too much – which are handled intelligently, whilst still managing to
be extremely funny. We meet the heroine of the piece, Perdita MacLeod, aged
fourteen. She’s fierce, feisty and equal to any of her male counterparts, but
also a real enough character to make some very human mistakes, especially when
it comes to men. Not always likeable, Perdita does adore her horses, and her
ultimate redemption is satisfying. A bit more comeuppance for the villains
would have been welcome, but my opinion on what is unacceptable male behaviour
does differ from the author’s, so hey-ho. However, there are some fabulous
equine characters in this book, which whizzes through the jet set world of
international polo from Windsor, via Palm Beach, to the Argentine pampas. This
is simply a big, chunky comfort read at its very best.</div>
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<b>Jill’s Pony Trek: Ruby
Ferguson</b><br />
Of all the pony books in my collection, the Jill series is the one that I
reread the most regularly. Jill’s life in Chatton with her friends and her ponies, Black Boy and Rapide, is <i>The Beautiful Golden Dream.</i>* I would choose <i>Pony Trek</i>, the ninth
and last of the series, because it is one of the funniest. Anyone who has read
this book knows that the events of The Fifth Day, where Jill and Ann get lost
on the way to Stedmoor, are some of most guffaw-inducing in any pony book. All
I need say here to anyone familiar with this book is: ‘wakey wa-a-a-key!’ This
book also features so many favourite characters from the series – Diana Bush,
Mercy Dulbottle and April Cholly-Sawcutt – and, quite simply, depicts the most
perfect way to spend six days with your bezzie mates and your favourite pony. Absolute
pony bliss!<br />
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<b>The Pony Clue: Mary Gervaise</b><br />
Probably not in many pony book readers’ top five, but I love this
book. A ‘G for Georgia’ book, <i>The Pony Clue</i> is set in a 1950s equestrian
boarding school. I loved the entire series because it brought together two of
my very favourite genres – the pony book and the boarding school book – and, it
has to be said, was an early inspiration for me as I now write in that exact
hybrid genre. <i>The Pony Clue</i> is actually the sixth out of the series of ten, but
has always been a top pick of mine. As usual, Georgie and her friends have to
solve a mystery, this time involving a missing head mistress, an Australian
flower and some forbidden caves. The answer unfolds over the course of a
frost-hugged term, and against the backdrop of The Grange School, a spooky 17<sup>th</sup>
century manor house. It’s simply a wintry comfort read that I can tank through
in an afternoon, and I go back to it again and again.<br />
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And lastly – what book would you leave behind on the dock?<br />
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Couldn’t pay me
to take it!<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>Mount! – Jilly
Cooper</b></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">I read <i>Riders</i>,
the first of Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles, when I was fourteen. I
borrowed a hardback copy out of the library (they knew I was an advanced reader
and let me check out grown-up fiction). I fell in love with Jilly’s wit, her
heroines and (not knowing any better) her heroes too. It’s only in later life
that I have come to appreciate how singularly unacceptable some of her
characters’ behaviour is and was. Perhaps in the ‘80s she got away with it, but
not now, and <i>Mount!</i>, her latest offering set in the world of flat racing, is
pitifully out of touch with our desperate need for gender equality. I don’t
like the direction that the author has taken here; the heroine of the piece is
not likeable, previously strong women have become submissive, most of the men
are the sort you wouldn’t touch with a jumping pole if you had any sense, and
the main character, Rupert Campbell-Black seems to have had a personality
transplant. Also, there are serious issues with timelines, factual consistency,
over-writing and editing in general. I struggled to finish this book, and
confess to skim reading it on several occasions. Ultimately, it left me feeling
a bit glum. I’ll keep my copy purely for completeness of my collection, but I shan’t
ever reread this book. Not even the equine characters could make this a winner.
Sorry, Jilly!</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">***</span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US">* <i>The Beautiful Golden Dream </i>is the title of the chapter on Jill in my book, <i>Heroines on Horseback.</i></span>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i><br /></i></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><i><br /></i></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><b>Cressida Ellen Schofield</b></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Here are the links for all things Cressida.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GNMHBNN">Lindian Summer</a></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0098ABUD4">Incapability Brown</a> (which I can highly recommend)</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<a href="http://ow.ly/qPPS30lB9c2"><span lang="EN-US">Cressida's </span>Amazon Author Page</a><br />
<a href="http://www.cressidaellenschofield.co.uk/">Cressida's website</a><br />
Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/CressidaEllenSchofieldAuthor">www.facebook.com/CressidaEllenSchofieldAuthor</a> <br />
Instagram: cressidaellen<br />
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Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-28342710322633919262018-09-04T12:23:00.001+01:002018-09-04T12:23:32.074+01:00My desert island pony books<br />
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Welcome to the start of a new series in which I ask people
which five horse or pony books they'd take away with them on a desert island. (This
is all based on <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr">Desert Island Discs</a>, a very long running radio programme here
in the UK where the great and the good choose which music tracks they'd take
with them were they to be cast away on a desert island). We'll assume, for the
sake of argument, that the five books are suitably packed in a waterproof
container and make it to shore unscathed. And that there are no beasties who
would fancy a nibble on the books .…<o:p></o:p></div>
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But moving on, I thought I'd start off by giving you my own
choice of books. I did toss up whether the lure of the book loved in childhood
would be enough to overcome the fact that, reading with a grownup eye, the book
didn't work its old magic, and so the books I've gone for are ones I still pick
up.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Ruby Ferguson: Jill's Gymkhana</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I had to start with Jill, who still has the same magnetic
charm for me she did when I read her as a pony-less child. I've chosen the
first one because so much of it encapsulates what I was like: utterly pony obsessed
but not able to do anything about it, only too aware that there was a golden
strata of riding and horse ownership I didn't belong to, and like Jill, I'd
moved somewhere new and strange.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I also liked Jill because when I was growing up, I literally
knew no one else whose father had died, or whose father wasn't living with them.
Everyone else had a father very much present, so Jill to me was a sort of
touchstone. Of course when Ruby wrote the book in 1949, only too many of her
readers would have been in Jill's situation, with family who had not come back
from the war. But Jill was feisty, sparky and funny, not in the remotest bit
self-pitying about her situation, and just incredibly good fun.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Veronica Westlake: The Ten-Pound Pony</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>The Ten-Pound Pony</i> by Veronica Westlake is the book that is
absolutely guaranteed to make me cry every time I read it. I first found it at
our local library, and read it pretty much obsessively until the terrible day
when the library was 'updated' and all the 1950s books went I know not where.
It's about another fatherless family (are you seeing something of a theme
emerging here?) who move from London to the New Forest and slog and slog until
they can manage to buy their pony. I loved the way that it is a huge effort for
them to get the pony, and of course I particularly loved the fairytale ending,
where the long lost is found (trying not to give too much of a spoiler here in
case you have not read it). Veronica Westlake does give that little bit of edge
to the ending too, with the heroine's acid comment on her family. In fact the sharp
depiction of family relationships is another of the joys of this book.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Maggie Stiefvater: The Scorpio Races</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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This is the youngest of the books I've chosen. It's a
fantasy about the water horses that live in the seas off the coast of an Irish island. These are not the loving, wafty creatures of the more Disneyfied
fairytale. They'll kill you if they can. Many pony books are all about the
mythical relationship only you have with your horse, and in many ways this
turns that right on its head. Even the hero has to be careful with the horse-that-only-he-can-ride.
The book is also brilliantly plotted and gripping from start to finish. If you
want a book you can dive into, and emerge from a few hours later having been
immersed in a completely believable alternative world, this is the book for you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Patricia Leitch: The Magic Pony</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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This book was published when I was in a (temporary) stage of
not reading pony books, so I didn't catch up with it until I was well and truly
adult. I love all the Jinny series, but this I think is probably my favourite
because it tackles death and holding on to those we love absolutely head on. And
why, you might well ask, would that make that book so relevant to me? I think
because as my father died when I was small, death had always been something
familiar, but it wasn't something that was talked about either in my family, or
in society as a whole, so I was always aware of being different, and also aware
that it wasn't something anyone was particularly keen to talk about. Perhaps
that's because, growing up just 20 or so years post-war, people clung to the
new normal of families where no one had died. Or perhaps it was symptomatic of
changes in healthcare when people survived things they hadn't and death became
that much more remote.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That's why I found this book so refreshing, even coming to it as an adult. Patricia Leitch did have a particular gift for tackling subjects no one else did.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Monica Edwards: Black Hunting Whip</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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It's a real fight to pick just one Monica Edwards, but I think one thing all
the books I have chosen have in common is strong family relationships. Whatever
state the family is in, you can see the strength of their bonds. The Punchbowl
Farm books showed a family pulling together in the early stages of living in
their ramshackle farmhouse, and connecting with the history of the place in
perhaps surprising ways. I think if any family in a pony book represented an idyll
to me, it was the Thorntons. They lived in the country, had plenty of animals,
and an obviously warm and loving family. Still one of my favourite winter
reads.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And now for the book I'd chuck over the side:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Judith M Berrisford: Jackie on Pony Island</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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There are so many Jackie books I could pick that
infuriate me beyond measure, but this is probably the worst. I had a few
Jackies as a child, but they weren't favourites because I found Jackie's
endless rushing impetuously on and never learning incredibly infuriating. Jill
took on board what she'd done. Jackie did nothing of the sort: just berated
herself and carried right on doing it again in the next book.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And as an adult, who has now read all the series, it's the attitude to boys
that I find teeth-grindingly infuriating. There are so many of them marching
through the series, men and boys, all of them finding Jackie and Babs
irritating. Jackie and Babs know this full well, but happiness in the books is
only ever found when Jackie and Babs do when the male figures think they
should. The series pays lip service to girls' empowerment, but only sees it in
terms of doing what the male figures think they should. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Off to the deep dark depths with you, Jackie series.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p>***</o:p></div>
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So that's my books: keep an eye out for the next in the
series, when author Cressida Ellen Schofield tells us about her desert island
books. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-7166523640022711182018-06-19T17:25:00.001+01:002018-06-20T17:27:07.673+01:00Controversial: Riding Magazine and equestrian controversy in the 1940s II<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Forward Seat, by Henry Baron (December 1940)</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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The next topic in <i>Riding Magazine’s</i> series on controversial
subjects of the day (<a href="https://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2018/06/controversy-riding-magazine-and.html">here's the first</a>) was one that would have generated pages of choleric
spleen had it been written 30 years earlier. By 1940, using the forward
seat while jumping, and while riding cross-country, was already pretty much
accepted, but the very fact the subject made it into this series suggests that those
who commissioned articles for <i>Riding</i> were
aware of a small, but presumably persistent, group still using the backward seat.<br />
<br />
If we look forward a decade, there is evidence for this, as it appears this group was still alive and well in the 1950s. Josephine Pullein-Thompson, in <i>Show Jumping Secret</i>, which appeared in 1955, tells the story of polio-stricken Charles, whose cousins all ride. They attempt to teach him to ride – sitting well back, feet well forward so he can see them, and hands in his lap. It does not go well. Charles goes to have riding lessons at a riding school, where he is taught the forward seat. He then attempts to ride one of his cousin's horses with the forward seat. That does not go well, and his cousin Prudence tells him: 'No one can ride a horse by sitting half-way up its neck like a monkey on a stick.' Charles defends the Italian seat, and is told:<br />
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But Charles, don't for goodness' sake pay any attention to these funny foreign ideas,' begged Patience in a kind voice, 'everybody knows that the English hunting people are the best natural riders int he world.'</div>
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'That's what they think; I don't agree.'</div>
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'Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating,' said Patience. 'You can't stop Bruce, and Daddy, who's never had a lesson in his life, can manage him easily.' </div>
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An attitude that I suspect came straight from life.<br />
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As with many equine practices, the backward seat resulted from a misguided attempt to do the right thing by the horse. It resulted from the incorrect assumption that for the horse to land front legs first over a jump was very bad for it. Leaning backwards on landing was intended to remove any strain on the horse’s front legs and encourage it to land hocks first, but what it often did in practice was result in a severe jerk on the horse's mouth, and a rider thumping down on its tender back.<br />
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If you are so young you have not come across the backward seat, it is illustrated below in a somewhat
surprising 1970s illustration commissioned by Armada, by which point the backward seat was vanishingly rare. The horse in this illustration might well have its ears forward, but I doubt it would have in real life. The whole weight of the rider is leaning back against that horse's mouth. </div>
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Through the wonders of Youtube, we can see some rather dramatic real-life examples of the backward seat in this 1924 video. (Watch from 0:29 on).</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jGXd5yWTjAU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jGXd5yWTjAU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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It was earlier experiments in photography that brought about the forward seat at the turn of the 19<sup style="font-family: "times new roman";">th</sup> century. Photographs of the horse frame-by-frame meant that Italian cavalry officer, Federico Caprilli, was able to study how the horse jumped. He realised that the horse always landed on its front legs (unless things were going dramatically wrong), and that leaning forward and not jerking the horse’s mouth on landing was considerably better for both horse and rider. His theories were soon taken up by the Italian military establishment, and spread around the continent, helped by the fact that Italian equitation teams began to do very much better in international competition than those retaining the backward seat.</div>
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R S Summerhays, the editor of <i>Riding Magazine</i>, in his Notes
of the Month, acknowledged the furore the subject had generated in past years:</div>
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Few subjects connected with horses
have been more hotly discussed or torn to threads by its opponents—more
strongly proclaimed by its adherents. But the heat of all this died down many a
year ago now, and by the great majority of students of riding, the forward seat
is accepted …’<o:p></o:p></div>
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Indeed it was: and on reading the article it seems that the existence of the forward seat was not, after all, at issue (perhaps a disappointment to those picking up the magazine, frothing at the mouth and delighted in the expectation of revisiting an old controversy). It was instead a convenient
hook on which to hang Henry Baron's strong and particular dislike of the incorrect interpretation of the
forward seat. He shudders at people indulging in what he calls 'exaggerated
horse-show stunts'. </div>
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Summerhays, in his commentary on the article, obviously feels that these things are not done in the best circles, and declares that such
antics are not seen at Dublin, Olympia, The Royal or Richmond. Perhaps not, but
they appeared in the previous month's <i>Riding</i> in an article on the correct use of the martingale.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQzMSe2biCHtzxhCGvqxiiw1dnhY2mC5BVNdFZFwd0WiOiaaCKU1zsJ8dhzfpTFyi4xJ112RIMySULfoTsqgUxJ75CSc7M2RbTTD2wWoDv41s1sFo_VT9pmskA9zUk14sFHFwQyp0Lt4/s1600/forward+seat_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="941" data-original-width="1018" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQzMSe2biCHtzxhCGvqxiiw1dnhY2mC5BVNdFZFwd0WiOiaaCKU1zsJ8dhzfpTFyi4xJ112RIMySULfoTsqgUxJ75CSc7M2RbTTD2wWoDv41s1sFo_VT9pmskA9zUk14sFHFwQyp0Lt4/s320/forward+seat_0001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Baron objects to people riding with rounded backs, ‘allowing themselves to be propelled in every kind of posture way up into the ether’, and with a lack of controlled balance. He compares English riders (perhaps the Scots and Welsh were better – we are not told) with the best continental riders, who he says, have a slightly hollow back: ‘control of the legs, body and of the head in particular is their secret’. </div>
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But there was a small, but definite cadre of show jumpers over the decades to come for whom the word 'exaggerated' could have been coined. Alan Oliver chose a particularly dramatic photograph of himself for his book, <i>Show Jumping</i>, which appeared in 1957.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgp5Kf4tFfVU1R3hhyphenhyphenp0Xp8sdHSbuz5PNRz81Fa0qRCjeIy8T4Yrh2bLKFqjK_SYKF8yAuDEBucHBFb_eul-SGaa_CZFHMWQhiQoCHLPwKlfaUs3KQZfyZ_zv7G-YatSKxToUeihk84Y/s1600/alan+oliver+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgp5Kf4tFfVU1R3hhyphenhyphenp0Xp8sdHSbuz5PNRz81Fa0qRCjeIy8T4Yrh2bLKFqjK_SYKF8yAuDEBucHBFb_eul-SGaa_CZFHMWQhiQoCHLPwKlfaUs3KQZfyZ_zv7G-YatSKxToUeihk84Y/s320/alan+oliver+book.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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And then Baron does venture on to more dangerous ground –
should steeplechase jockeys ride as short as they do? Might not riding a hole
or two longer be both safer and pleasanter? He certainly had a point. Stirrup lengths in racing had shortened to a quite staggering extent, as you can see from the Grand National winners below.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikMDuE4pH08bqVnKT-n5TH_w-2OSJxVCIvFNZjF0fgZMs_nj73wG27TlD08IblilK7eQl3KXgnoT9jM9T2-rcIv-9BNHyKf89CWjT8gv0Q487XFcuvq8ny_HUF1w-IseLC38QbyTFfpGM/s1600/forward+seat_0002+-+Copy+-+Copy+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="977" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikMDuE4pH08bqVnKT-n5TH_w-2OSJxVCIvFNZjF0fgZMs_nj73wG27TlD08IblilK7eQl3KXgnoT9jM9T2-rcIv-9BNHyKf89CWjT8gv0Q487XFcuvq8ny_HUF1w-IseLC38QbyTFfpGM/s320/forward+seat_0002+-+Copy+-+Copy+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>1902, Shannon Lass, David Read</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4SdvtIeIpdEpYsfDg_4tHnfLtfJG4gZKo7uwlxycKtX4scGZRDPcs34L_lu7E9RVao1Ht7Q6LsvfAaARv9ExOpm6tTwxRYvoShqWlmsJOaKbzwwWqF3EqH-AHhXGKozXH5FAZ4WJs7I/s1600/forward+seat_0003+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="949" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4SdvtIeIpdEpYsfDg_4tHnfLtfJG4gZKo7uwlxycKtX4scGZRDPcs34L_lu7E9RVao1Ht7Q6LsvfAaARv9ExOpm6tTwxRYvoShqWlmsJOaKbzwwWqF3EqH-AHhXGKozXH5FAZ4WJs7I/s320/forward+seat_0003+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>1920, Troytown, Jack Anthony</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1PJKceml1ZWPIep-lHK3Lgo_ehek2s6joB4HrbiYDdq-fT5SXsUFBhkeCYqqWau4gyZ-QTTBkGmU23zEB5LWFXCuSAwRT7KYyDdn9yyyL863F6iD73_5uDsOfzAd8DBvS-1OvtOcDnY/s1600/forward+seat_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="963" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1PJKceml1ZWPIep-lHK3Lgo_ehek2s6joB4HrbiYDdq-fT5SXsUFBhkeCYqqWau4gyZ-QTTBkGmU23zEB5LWFXCuSAwRT7KYyDdn9yyyL863F6iD73_5uDsOfzAd8DBvS-1OvtOcDnY/s320/forward+seat_0003.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>1935 & 1936, Reynoldstown, Frank Furlong</i></td></tr>
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But Baron does not answer his question. I suppose the answer was then, as it is now, that effectiveness sometimes trumps style.</div>
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Caprilli did not commit much of his work to paper, but his adherents did. Foremost among them was Major Piero Santini. There is an <a href="http://eventingnation.com/revisiting-piero-santini-apostle-of-forward-riding-part-1/">excellent article on him on Eventing Nation</a>.<br />
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Josephine Pullein-Thompson was right there with Baron. In <i>Show Jumping Secret</i>, riding instructor Claire accuses Charles of 'aping Martin Hastings, one of the well-known, show jumping riders, who does strange acrobatics over the fences, instead of remaining quietly in his stirrups throughout the jump and merely following the movement with his hands in the Italian manner.'<br />
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Alan Oliver was not alone in having his own approach to the forward seat. Many thanks to those who follow my Facebook page, who contributed Jeff McVean, Joe Turi, Nick Skelton in his early years, Hugo Simon, and the phenomenal Annette Lewis, who deserves to be seen. So here you are:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YOjL0dYM3Uk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YOjL0dYM3Uk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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I found a 1920s video of a Berlin horse show, which gives you a nice introduction to a whole array of approaches to jumping: many, it must be said, using the classical forward seat, but there's the odd backward seat, and a few hailing cabs as well.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/boALdjFlEYk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/boALdjFlEYk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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And in support of R S Summerhays, some generally elegant jumping at Dublin in 1936 (though note the extreme docking of one Belgian horse):</div>
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Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-39519680824601217432018-06-04T16:29:00.000+01:002018-06-06T16:29:42.757+01:00Controversy: Riding Magazine and equestrian controversy in the 1940s<br />
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On my Facebook page a few weeks back, I posted a cover of <i>Riding Magazine</i> from 1941,
really because it was the Pullein-Thompsons’ first appearance in print
(Cocktail Capitulates – a piece written by all three on the schooling of a
difficult pony). The whole point of a front cover is to encourage people to
dive into the delights contained within, and as the magical pull of this
edition had not faded over the 70 plus years since it was published, people
wanted to know what was the controversy mentioned on the front cover?</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfntr06a8l6oqxzys6MVKqw6YGMRkWHj0S-5vfTY6-T-fhoDUz1bCB-4uI2i8InQGhepGCqxuKzQfpubgHkq1wom7-S0RbdJbLTWv407k-QbOmjHl9aKoOYUc4sj7zj4RkcxldHSmLzE/s1600/ridingmagazinept.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfntr06a8l6oqxzys6MVKqw6YGMRkWHj0S-5vfTY6-T-fhoDUz1bCB-4uI2i8InQGhepGCqxuKzQfpubgHkq1wom7-S0RbdJbLTWv407k-QbOmjHl9aKoOYUc4sj7zj4RkcxldHSmLzE/s320/ridingmagazinept.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Riding, January 1941</i></td></tr>
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The controversial horse was a series of articles appearing
each month on a topical controversy. I’ve found three so far, and when I’ve
found the rest of my 1941 copies, I shall be able to tell you if they continued
beyond that. The series kicked off a couple of months before the issue above, with an article on how best to control the horse.</div>
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<o:p><b>(i) Using physical or mental methods to control the horse (November 1940)</b></o:p></div>
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If you fought off the temptation to go straight to the article
in November 1940’s issue, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mental
Aspect of Control – Ascendancy of the Human Mind</i> by Rufus, but read the
editor’s Notes of the Month, you would have been left in no doubt about the
editor’s opinion on controversy number one. ‘The author, it would seem,’ wrote
RS Summerhays, somewhat disingenuously as presumably he had had at least
something to do with the commissioning of the article, ‘is against physical
correction and would rely entirely upon mental control … he looks upon the
association between man and horse as a battle of brains devoid of the element
of physical contest, adding, in effect, that if it comes to the latter, it is a
case of pitting strength against strength to the rider’s disadvantage. We think, however, that is where the argument lies. Does the
rider, in fact, come off worse?’</div>
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The editor then makes a comparison that I’m not entirely
sure stands up to rigorous examination, when he draws a parallel between the
author’s rejection of reprisals to the country’s current fight against the
Nazis:<o:p></o:p></div>
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The author is against reprisals
of any sort, a matter of great concern to us just now in more important matters
than the relationship existing between horse and man. We doubt the
effectiveness of mental persuasion on the Nazis.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Just because something’s true in one set of circumstances,
it does not mean that it is in another. But the editor left this fairly
colossal sideswipe as his last, and one would presume he thought, unanswerable,
word on the subject.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rufus takes what is still a thoroughly topical debate – think
of the controversy about <a href="http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/The-Whip">the use of the whip in racing</a>, or <a href="https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1064870/british-horse-society-to-raise-concerns-over-use-of-whip-by-townend-with-fei">the tremendous huhaOliver Townend found himself in</a> when having over-used the whip on both his
Badminton horses – and questions how far one should go when using physical
methods to control the horse.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfi7xsbJJVvADjRdxNJlAkw22-pbESctCZ6NetR_oleiU6LRNi-EJCZq4odfper9u-lJBHbo1p6vakT-e7peGcFhhyphenhyphen7nWTXu29OLBdk6VGRMGRmTBbfui-JmiUAN7i846p4vQUAZd1Wek/s1600/charlton-threewhitestockings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="461" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfi7xsbJJVvADjRdxNJlAkw22-pbESctCZ6NetR_oleiU6LRNi-EJCZq4odfper9u-lJBHbo1p6vakT-e7peGcFhhyphenhyphen7nWTXu29OLBdk6VGRMGRmTBbfui-JmiUAN7i846p4vQUAZd1Wek/s320/charlton-threewhitestockings.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Moyra Charlton – Three White Stockings</span></i></td></tr>
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Rufus, I strongly suspect, would not have approved at all of
Mr Townend, or the many examples you can see every day of riders using the
latest fashionable bit of equipment as the answer to all problems of equine
disobedience.</div>
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… invariably,’ he says, ‘we find
that far too much stress is laid on the practical side of the question, on this
or that bridle, on this or that method of holding the reins, and not nearly
enough attention is paid to what might be termed the mental aspect of control. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Using force against a horse which
disobeys is equivalent to kicking the electric light switch when the lights
have fused: it only makes matters worse.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rather, says Rufus, you must use your brain when trying to
persuade your horse to do what you want: because in a straight trial of
strength, a human being will never win. He believes that ‘the horse never disobeys
out of “sheer spite” but over-freshness, bad riding or bad training.’ Rather
than spite, perhaps, I would allow some ponies I've met sheer bloody mindedness.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But for whatever reason your equine misbehaves, to overcome behaviour you do not want, you must play a sort
of game in which ‘we must know how to lose should the horse momentarily get the
better of us.’ Wise words.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rufus believes that it is impossible to transform a horse
into a mere robot – the ‘rigid German school of horsemanship’ being the nearest
example he can think of, which he compares to the Italian school at the other
end of the spectrum, which aims to give ‘the maximum possible scope to the
horse’s individuality compatible with control.' I wonder what Rufus would make of equestrianism now, when the pendulum does seem, in some quarters at least, to have swung very much over to the German approach.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rufus advises tact, and putting yourself in the horse's place. Rather than try what seems logical to <i>you</i>, think about what is logical to the horse you are riding. If you have a well-schooled but impetuous horse,
don’t start off by galloping round the field and then expecting the horse to
settle to schooling now that you have thoroughly worked it up. But if the same
horse frets at the back of the hunting field, let him go along in front for a while,
so that having temporarily given in you can get him back to what you want
through tact and guile.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAj0fteHtdVBHVCi0gn1roapFAZAe4vIsglNAWe8H1nFf_1YQ1onu0JBtRuoRuoCVFTNaAeT7kL-7lWk4KkmSw7lmCuwvuDYhoRbkObJfwVIYyptsg35y_3Pta4vyJn5z0yRVNnu80XOA/s1600/hildebrand1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="600" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAj0fteHtdVBHVCi0gn1roapFAZAe4vIsglNAWe8H1nFf_1YQ1onu0JBtRuoRuoCVFTNaAeT7kL-7lWk4KkmSw7lmCuwvuDYhoRbkObJfwVIYyptsg35y_3Pta4vyJn5z0yRVNnu80XOA/s320/hildebrand1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>John Thorburn – Hildebrand</i></td></tr>
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I don't claim to be an expert rider (very, very far from) but the small riding success I have had is in trying to meet a horse at least half way. So, writing many decades later, I have to say I am pretty much
in agreement with ‘Rufus’. I find watching Badminton, and its ilk more and more
difficult as, whether for reasons of commercial imperative or sheer
competitiveness, the role of the horse as ‘a willing co-operator*’, as a
partner, is ignored by a small but definite percentage of riders. And in the
wider equestrian world, the latest gadget or practice, whether it be the flash
noseband, crank noseband, or rollkur is (mis)used to force the horse into
obedience.</div>
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* John Thorburn’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hildebrand</i>
(Country Life, 1930), is a fantasy about a horse who has ceased to be ‘a
willing co-operator’. As Hildebrand is also blessed with considerable brains
and the ability to talk, tact and guile (or possibly outright bribery) would be
the only ways to persuade him<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to even
consider doing what you would like him to do. You can read more about <a href="http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/misc/johnthorburn.html">John Thorburn on my website</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-23037882976829724072018-05-17T14:46:00.002+01:002018-05-18T10:31:06.170+01:00Seahorses, wolves and the Labrador who wouldn't: a conversation with animal photographer, Deanne WardI’m taking a slightly different tack here to my usual
interviews-with-authors, and interviewing a photographer, Deanne Ward, who
specialises in horses and dogs. I happen to know this particular photographer,
and have done since we were horse-mad girls at school together, made felt
ponies together, had model pony gymkhanas, rode real ponies …. and now, after
detours for both of us, we’re both working with horses, although Deanne gets
closer up than me. You’ll see just how close in a bit.<br />
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And so, one sunny May morning, Deanne came to visit, armed
with her photography equipment. I provided tea, an elderly Labrador who made
sure Deanne spilled that tea over her lap, and who then, having been virtually
comatose up to the point of having her photo done, decided she was going to
prove just how good Deanne is at working with animals who, well, are just not
feeling it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">JB: Welcome to my
blog Deanne – so, how did you get started – have you always been keen on
photography?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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DW: Well, I actually started at university – and then I met
my now husband and we started a family and then we started a business. When we
decided we were going to stop working on the business after 28 years, I’d
already been doing a lot of Photoshop work with the business, so it was just
like an extension of that, and then it was a case of well, what would we
photograph? And for me, it had to be animals because I love them, and so it was
really a case of follow your passion. Do what you want to do.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I remember you always
had animals – first family I knew that had backyard chickens! <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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We had chickens, a cat, lots of rabbits, gerbils – quite a
menagerie!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yes, I remember that.
You had more animals than anyone I knew.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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In a little house in the middle of a village, with a small
garden. And of course I used to ride for other people in those days, as well,
so I’ve always had that connection, and then I worked on a farm after
university for a while. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So, now you’ve gone
back to photography, how did you start?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Well, we started off with dogs – we would basically accost
people in the street and say, ‘Can I take a picture of your dog please?’ which
kind of took people aback a bit, but once they knew what we were doing it was
absolutely fine. We practised on a few dogs and then we started on the horses,
and that’s been fabulous. We’re building our portfolio, and we’re working with
Huntingdon racecourse.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yes, I saw you’d
been doing that. What do you do when you’re there?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Well, at the moment, we’re creating stock photos, so we’re
going around trying to get images that illustrate what it’s all about but we’re
also covering family days. Over the summer they’ve got Pony Club, so we’ll be
getting involved with that as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But we do all sorts of things – we’re working with a lady in
Daventry who does dog hydrotherapy. So there may be some underwater photography
– who knows what’s going to happen? I’ve never done anything like that, but she
knows that. It’s a little bit out of the comfort zone, but It’ll be such good
fun.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We’ve also worked with Watermill Wolves. They are amazing
animals: theyre going to appear in <a href="https://www.thronefest.co.uk/">Thronefest</a>, and we'll be working with them there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Oh, I was just going
to ask you if they were involved in Game of Thrones. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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They weren’t, but they were on <i>Penny Dreadful</i>. Thronefest is
not what I normally do, but I couldn’t resist. [Deanne and I are both fans and
detoured into a GoT fan conversation that you probably don’t need to know
about].<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So you’ve worked with
lots of animals – what is it that makes working with them special?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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One of the things I really love – it’s the relationships we
get to see. Because it’s so special. And we <o:p></o:p></div>
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we love to see it, to capture it, to experience it’s just really,
really rewarding. You see our lifestyle just doesn’t let us do it [keep a dog]
– we are just out all the time and sometimes, we might be working with dogs
that may not like other dogs. So – we have a cat!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tell me about Caspar.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Well, he’s a hunter. We get brought a lot of rabbits … they
love him at the allotments. He just wanders through the allotments with a
rabbit in his mouth, and they say there goes Caspar –<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What a cat!<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Yes, what a cat. Very popular!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Very popular in the
village<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Not so much with us …<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkYA4tQf2tOKJwTZGPLpqXYswjdUJlc9Q_cth_vpFS90y6sMpcGhQK9KWNdQfgQ2ivB6P5TNJDHX_FyAVs3WQ2gBUo5nZwvgidzhlvjFntwYWNTtqE20AV6Y4K-jkCDJ6l7W8YbmoReH4/s1600/Xena2-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="1600" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkYA4tQf2tOKJwTZGPLpqXYswjdUJlc9Q_cth_vpFS90y6sMpcGhQK9KWNdQfgQ2ivB6P5TNJDHX_FyAVs3WQ2gBUo5nZwvgidzhlvjFntwYWNTtqE20AV6Y4K-jkCDJ6l7W8YbmoReH4/s640/Xena2-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Xena, Worrier Princess - Deanne's other cat</i></td></tr>
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<b>Something your clients
probably don’t know about you is that you had an awful lot to do with another
sort of horse …</b></div>
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Yes! I kept sea horses for about 10 years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It must be very
complicated, getting the conditions right.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It is – making sure that the sea horses are stable and that
they are feeding. They can be very challenging. A lot of seahorses are
endangered, so you really have to stick to tank-bred seahorses to be
environmentally sound, and we started breeding our own – that really was
challenging. You have about 1000 teeny tiny baby seahorses and of course they
all need feeding.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sounds like a
fulltime job.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It was literally a fulltime job. In the ocean baby seahorses
float away like plankton, but with tanks, they’re not used to them, and so they
gather by the side of the tank and die.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So what you have to do is create like a washing machine
effect so the water travels in a circle – you do that with air, and it travels
very slowly. They can’t go around too fast, or they won’t be able to eat, and they
can’t go too slowly or they’ll all gather by the side and die. They’re very
good at dying, baby seahorses. And then you have to feed them nutritious food,
which is live, so you have to grow teeny tiny plankton and feed it nutritious
algae, so you have to grow nutritious algae.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So you’re growing
three things – so you’re growing algae, and you’re growing plankton and you’re
growing baby seahorses.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Correct. You end up with Dexter’s laboratory with all these
little containers …. it’s very rare to get a lot of the sea horses to survive.
We’d manage a few dozen but we did a lot better than Mother Nature, who manages
probably zero to one out of every thousand. We loved it, but in the end, I just
kept the ones I had: we basically ended up with a fish room! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So, moving on, how do
you start when you’re photographing?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Well, you’ll find out for yourself shortly!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The most important thing, I think, is that we take our time,
and we don’t worry about how anybody is behaving – we have an idea of what
we’re going to do and then we take what we’re given. If an animal doesn’t want
to behave or doesn’t want to do the session or what have you – hasn’t happened
yet, to be fair – what we do is adapt. [Neither of us had any idea at this
point that Holly and I were going to be the first time …] <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So, it’s animal-led.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Absolutely animal led<o:p></o:p><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">But what if, the
owner, say, says but I want Fluffy to be like this? And you can see that Fluffy
has got no intention whatsoever of cooperating?</b></div>
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I think gentle guidance is probably the way I would describe
it! We haven’t come across anybody who was being, shall we say, dictatorial. We
try and accommodate but it’s always according to what the animal wants to give
us, and I do have the ability to fake it somewhat! We did have a shoot recently
where we had two dogs, where the owners were very keen on having the two dogs
together. On the original picture, they were both looking at their owner either
side of them, completely not looking at each other, but in the final picture
they look like they’re staring at each other: that there was a lovely, lovely
connection. If we can’t deliver on the day then we’ll deliver afterwards – and
I also make that point. I do it with complete honesty as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Another thing I should say is that it’s important to be safe.
With the equipment that we use there’s very few pieces – everything runs by
battery so there’s nothing you can trip over or animals can get tangled up in
or eat!<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you’re dealing with horses, that can bring its own
challenge because it needs to really be in a situation where you’ve got a
background. And there are things you can’t control. You may have wind, rain –
changing conditions: sunny one minute and cloudy the next so you’ve got all of
that to deal with quickly, without anybody else knowing that you’re actually
frantically trying to change everything. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What tips would you
give to someone who wanted to photograph their horse?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Be patient. Just take time. A good height for the camera
would be around a horse’s shoulder, or a little bit lower, gives a horse
stature. Also, watch your angles. When I’m taking photos of horses I quite like
the 45-degree angle. From a personal point of view, I like hooves too, walking
away – legs, tails, all those sorts of things, which is just a bit different to
just a horse in a field.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
It’s best to have somebody to help you as well. I did a
picture of a grey, Bertie, walking down a river, and that was taken at
Wittering Grange. The owner saw the shot, and said it wasn’t very safe, and not
a good idea to show the horse walking down the river on its own.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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And they were told, no, there was somebody holding it, but
they’ve been Photoshopped out!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another really important tip is the background – have a
really good look at the background. Is there any rubbish, pallets, or stuff you
don’t want? And always look for something that’s fairly clean, like a
background of trees. Framing is good, if you’ve got a nice gateway or something
like that.</div>
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***<o:p></o:p></div>
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At this point Holly knocks tea over Deanne, who nobly
carries right on. We then get set up for Holly’s photoshoot. All this Holly
watches with just a flicker of an elderly Labrador eyebrow. She is chilled. She
does not care. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<i>© Jane Badger</i><o:p></o:p></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Dog number 4 (Deanne has three others) takes his place so Deanne
can check the light levels. Flash, goes the flash.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: 12.8px;">© Jane Badger</i></td></tr>
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IT IS THE DEVIL IN LIGHTNING FORM, says Holly. I want none
of this.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Deanne is ready. We don’t have to have the flash. Dog number
4 waits, patiently, for his next shot. The camera clicks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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THE CAMERA IS THE INSTRUMENT OF THE DEVIL NOW HE HAS
FINISHED WITH LIGHTNING, says Holly, quivering. I think I will go.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Deanne takes this absolutely in her stride. Holly is a
rescue dog, and having been shut up in a yard for much of her early life, is
very prone to FEARS. Fortunately, she is very, very food-orientated. I go off
to raid the fridge. We decide to use the camera as a sort of clicker for
clicker training. Deanne counts to three, and presses the shutter. The moment
it clicks, I shove cheese down Holly. After a few shots she now associates the
shutter noise with food. She is a Labrador, after all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoKY-_gJFd37XdIeqMoEtw7K0AlpRBcy014sWdugu1UP59aUqgN8Kr8CV4OZ4sjz9hxm13X9RPuUqSY0vPOxRLs-uy1l8dxYnPjR-RTBlQBTCuNpMswmHPD2Q7f8w_YhCh9n86KDRJZs/s1600/20180501_125352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoKY-_gJFd37XdIeqMoEtw7K0AlpRBcy014sWdugu1UP59aUqgN8Kr8CV4OZ4sjz9hxm13X9RPuUqSY0vPOxRLs-uy1l8dxYnPjR-RTBlQBTCuNpMswmHPD2Q7f8w_YhCh9n86KDRJZs/s320/20180501_125352.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: 12.8px;">© Jane Badger</i></td></tr>
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<o:p> </o:p>She is now back to being chilled elderly Labrador who quite
fancies getting back to sleep, so we seize the moment and encourage her on to
the nice comfy foam bed Deanne uses. Holly approves of this and settles down
for a bit more kip.</div>
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Deanne is equal to this too. She has a repertoire of strange noises it is just
as well she did not use at school or she would have been permanently in
detention. It does the trick. Holly is interested, looks where she’s supposed
to look, and a few minute later, we’re done. Holly is so chilled she decides to
hang out on the foam bed while everything is packed up round her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So we can highly recommend Deanne, who managed a Labrador
full of FEARS with effortless ease. It was really impressive.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And here are (some of) the results:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEira_OcEgw2dsqQpoD63W2X6tMbUYjNYgzR_NUl354XUH-fu85EXwMzOspE2kJ5-6Wevx4x8SKhWJc2r7KnL5kHFX-KwUayP3-c34bfGKkzrbHpDnc7DRH1LE1Q7cZbV6crxNZKzODRvlQ/s1600/Holly-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEira_OcEgw2dsqQpoD63W2X6tMbUYjNYgzR_NUl354XUH-fu85EXwMzOspE2kJ5-6Wevx4x8SKhWJc2r7KnL5kHFX-KwUayP3-c34bfGKkzrbHpDnc7DRH1LE1Q7cZbV6crxNZKzODRvlQ/s640/Holly-8.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5A3HVmWqQ4OjPBiQnF-g-nmiBKts0XVWIkTJtbvDwy_VV2UKAsekg8oHcmZ86Xq9ZwXcuU9NPYcE_oMOmYdLt3CDuSAugGeZIjZefzT_6c-pbxg4m5qkBex5jYQdXQXgf_nTI3tM6Dw/s1600/Holly-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5A3HVmWqQ4OjPBiQnF-g-nmiBKts0XVWIkTJtbvDwy_VV2UKAsekg8oHcmZ86Xq9ZwXcuU9NPYcE_oMOmYdLt3CDuSAugGeZIjZefzT_6c-pbxg4m5qkBex5jYQdXQXgf_nTI3tM6Dw/s640/Holly-10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPwdDsVfIZHG1qS7oymaGe1uP-NUu4Ak1AqzooiPM7W-w4llilXiJIuvyttNzWVnTGa_JZr-Vr2TiCr2f0PCoKIoGnjY07JDfvnguX2Y7q8GLMAa0QuVDy6A53DWY4Qlz8zb_bJ-6g7hM/s1600/HollyPainted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1281" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPwdDsVfIZHG1qS7oymaGe1uP-NUu4Ak1AqzooiPM7W-w4llilXiJIuvyttNzWVnTGa_JZr-Vr2TiCr2f0PCoKIoGnjY07JDfvnguX2Y7q8GLMAa0QuVDy6A53DWY4Qlz8zb_bJ-6g7hM/s640/HollyPainted.jpg" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Amazing transformation of photograph into painting</i></td></tr>
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And you get a video featuring all the shots of your lovely animal (I did not cry when I saw it, oh no).<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzRDwrbgflEEwJsE3LC2DJEJgKk4cDtrzZozu8TL8K2xycsrdxnIVzJhZZ8XJusXnxJmGu6QUubswC3EzEwgw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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If you want to get in touch with Deanne to work with you and your animals, you can reach her here at <a href="https://www.deanneward.co.uk/">Deanne Ward Photography</a>.</div>
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All photographs © Deanne Ward Photography, except where indicated</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Disclaimer: my very kind friend gave us this photoshoot as a present.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br />Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-27048607204022542512018-05-14T17:22:00.002+01:002018-05-14T17:24:14.600+01:00Interview: Gillian BaxterDid you have any of these, I wonder? The books you knew existed, because you'd seen them mentioned on the dustjackets of books you <i>had</i> read, but which you never managed to track down? Gillian Baxter fell into that category for me. Not one did I manage to find, not a single one until Louise Simmonds started Ozbek Books, selling vintage pony literature. Through her, at the advanced age of 40+, I finally found Gillian Baxter. She was well worth the wait. A few years after that, I interviewed Gillian, who's still involved in the horse world, and is still writing<br />
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When you write pony books, it makes life much easier if you have ponies trotting through your own consciousness: the Black Boy you learned to ride on, or the evil Benjamin who dumped you on your first riding lesson. When I talked to her, I was struck by just how many of Gillian Baxter's equine characters were based on her own horses and ponies. Her books are full of ponies she has known or owned.<br />
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But ponies weren't always part of her life. None of her family were horsey, but her grandmother used to tell Gillian stories of horses. 'One used to pull my great-grandfather's cobbler's cart around big houses in the Midlands, where he would fit shoes for everyone; from the maid to the owners of the house. The horse was called Bob, and he was terrified of steam-engines and newspapers. I think that was the start of my fascination with horses.'<br />
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Gillian went to a convent school, and then Camden School for Girls in London – not to a boarding school, which I asked about as I wondered if the school Roberta and Ellen go to in <i>Jump for the Stars</i> existed. It did, and was based on one a friend of Gillian's went to, out of which she used to sneak on regular occasions. I asked Gillian if she had ever done this but she laughed and said she was rather more law-abiding!<br />
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Gillian first started riding when she was 12 at the De Vere Stables in Kensington, London. Kensington was as built up then as it is now, and so most of Gillian's early riding experiences took place in about as urban an environment as you can think of: one very, very far away from the traditional rural idyll of most pony books. Once she started riding she rode many of the De Vere Stables' own ponies, but also kept her first pony, Tommy, there at part-livery. Tommy, a 14.2 bay cob, was 'lazy but nice-looking.' Did he ever find a spark, I asked, imagining Gillian careering round Hyde Park. 'No!' she said. 'He never changed!'<br />
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She told me about some of the ponies she had ridden who treated Hyde Park without sufficient and proper respect. Amber, one of her favourite ponies, did apparently 'career around the park, but she wasn't as bad as one pony I knew who got loose, jumped the railings into Park Lane and was eventually banned from the Park by the police.' Unlike Gillian, I learned to ride in the country so had room to spare when ponies cared off with me. Had I ridden in Hyde Park I think that I, like the Bad Pony, would also have been banned.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvDLpssaKPMM0rB0HMHKWZAjb1tRiVi5X8F8cGguTxvKMoi_fqCkltj6tEUt5VXRDKJv8jgtWTEBezmow8qFY4G6XAmOebDcDSUA5Nic9wdK6MsIk2NsI1NpB9reiP4dmV3dFwN_3KKM/s1600/Horses-and-Heather-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="668" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvDLpssaKPMM0rB0HMHKWZAjb1tRiVi5X8F8cGguTxvKMoi_fqCkltj6tEUt5VXRDKJv8jgtWTEBezmow8qFY4G6XAmOebDcDSUA5Nic9wdK6MsIk2NsI1NpB9reiP4dmV3dFwN_3KKM/s320/Horses-and-Heather-cover.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
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By the time Gillian and her family moved to Surrey – Gatton Park near Reigate – she had well and truly left school. 'I didn't,' she said, 'go to school as much as I should have, and I left as soon as possible.'<br />
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She had already had a book published, <i>Horses and Heather </i>(1956), which appeared when she was fifteen. It is set firmly in the countryside, and concerns the adventures of a group of children who achieve that pinnacle of childish horsey ambition: running the riding school. Gillian's early literary endeavours, however, were concerned with much smaller animals. 'I always wrote,' she said, 'but I started by writing stories about guinea pigs and mice. I had a lot of small animals – at one point I actually had over 100 mice! I was always writing when I was a child, and even more so when I got my first typewriter.' Gillian's mother also wrote, and had some children's stories published in ladies' papers, so like the Pullein-Thompsons, Gillian had maternal encouragement. Her parents were thrilled when her first book appeared.<br />
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The books Gillian wrote over the next ten years were unusual because she focussed on teenagers and girls in their early twenties. I asked why she wrote about teenagers when so many authors wrote about younger children. 'I wrote about the age I knew and stayed with them as they grew up. I think it's important to go with your characters.' She was lucky with her publishers: not all were happy for their authors' characters to age. After the Noel and Henry series, Collins forbade Josphine Pullein-Thompson from writing another series where the characters aged. Gillian's publishers, Evans, were already publishing Lorna Hill's Sadler's Wells ballet series, in which the heroine Veronica not only ages, she has a child, so presumably didn't have Collins' objections.<br />
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The next book to appear after <i>Horses and Heather </i>was the start of the Bracken Stables series, <i>Jump to the Stars </i>(1957)<i>. </i>Gillian wasn't writing full-time at that point, but had to fit writing between her two jobs, working for <i>Country Life </i>magazine as a typist, and driving her father (an economist) around the country.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT09HcemS66bnDWbgT6SlbtzZVpiyC_jJVhtFSIX1LGVOnkpGno4nIFq0y34TiI1zlnoo3gmLiMOVJQdh70eSoLr7vVRfSODs4Z4g6-QNMA5yUzvMzhX0VZdHPyZVgVnWHQgEQtn48Y_c/s1600/jumptrimmed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="367" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT09HcemS66bnDWbgT6SlbtzZVpiyC_jJVhtFSIX1LGVOnkpGno4nIFq0y34TiI1zlnoo3gmLiMOVJQdh70eSoLr7vVRfSODs4Z4g6-QNMA5yUzvMzhX0VZdHPyZVgVnWHQgEQtn48Y_c/s320/jumptrimmed.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
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Her heroine, Bobby, goes, over the course of the series, from school girl to professional rider who is about to marry Guy. And there the series ends ... leaving many of us champing at the bit wondering what happened next. What happened next never made its way into a book (although Gillian when I spoke to her was toying with the idea of putting it there), but the story was all there in her head. Bobby and Guy marry, and have twin children, a girl (keen on horses) and a boy (not). Shelta is in foal, but to a half-wild Gipsy cob. She eventually has the foal after a difficult birth, and the boy bonds with it.</div>
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The Bracken Stables themselves were an obviously professional environment, for which Gillian had plenty to draw on from her experiences working for Robert Hall, at the Fulmer School of Equitation, when she was about 17. Robert Hall had studied at the Spanish Riding School, and brought Lipizzanners over to the UK. I asked what it was like working for him. 'It was hard work! He had two distinct yards: one was a riding school, and one of my first jobs was to wash all the tails of the riding school horses. They hadn't been touched for weeks – only a quick brush. His other yard had his Lipizzaners and dressage horses and it was absolutely perfect. I had to groom the dressage horses, and when I did, I had to knock out the curry comb on the floor outside so he could check how much grease I was getting out!'<br />
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All this inspired Gillian's dressage novel, <i>The Stables at Hampton </i>(1961). The heroine of the story, Tamara, came to Gillian before the story itself. 'Tamara wasn't the right character for a jumping novel, but she did fit one based on dressage. The palomino horse in the story existed: he was stabled at De Vere, and danced and acted just as he does in the book.'<br />
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Gillian was the first UK writer to write a pony book about dressage, and several of her books are unique: I cannot think of another book which combines ponies and racing cars (<i>Ribbons and Rings</i>, 1960), and <i>Tan and Tarmac</i> (1958) is quite possibly the only pony book centred around riding in London, without a later escape to the more horse-friendly countryside.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClTYCDZhV07XHxslp7wCwZnqEy2d9wpw_xtT5ff19p-J3W-M9kSZ5Nm0tl-KlupRQlIuMWwTCtznYD8cXO531jR0F3bDdvC0c9SumBbBW39phLQ_lhVbP9TbCTDCZY9kGLYa10ghpNi4/s1600/ribbons+and+rings.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="385" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClTYCDZhV07XHxslp7wCwZnqEy2d9wpw_xtT5ff19p-J3W-M9kSZ5Nm0tl-KlupRQlIuMWwTCtznYD8cXO531jR0F3bDdvC0c9SumBbBW39phLQ_lhVbP9TbCTDCZY9kGLYa10ghpNi4/s320/ribbons+and+rings.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
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The De Vere stables, where Gillian learned to ride, made an appearance in <i>Tan and Tarmac</i> – long gone now, the stables were used by the Civil Service Riding Club until they were re-developed. They, and the ponies who lived there, now live on only in memories and in <i>Tan and Tarmac</i>. The ponies in <i>Tan and Tarmac</i> were nearly all real, as were some of the characters: in fact Gillian went to the 70th birthday part of the real life Tessa! The filming the stables in the book go for were however based on another London stable: Robert Barley's stables in Hyde Park worked on many films. Robert was known for driving a stagecoach through London to advertise films.<br />
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Gillian's books for an older audience came to an end when Evans, in common with other publishers, decided there was no more mileage in pony books, and no longer wanted to publish them. She had already written a book for younger readers for the educational publishers, Arnolds, to encourage reluctant readers: this was <i>Sweet Rock </i>(1966), which is also a pony story. 'After Evans, my agent suggested I write for a younger age group, and so I wrote the Magic and Moonshine series. The first of them, <i>Pantomine Ponies </i>(1969), was my most successful book. After this series came to an end, I carried on writing for D C Thomson [the magazine publishers].'<br />
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I knew Primrose Cumming, another pony author, had also written for D C Thomson at this time, and asked Gillian if she'd ever met her: she hadn't herself, she said, but knew of her. Apparently Primrose would meet the publishers in a station wagon car with grass growing out of it!<br />
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Besides writing stories for D C Thomson on a whole range of subjects, including dancing and a haunted computer (though not in the same story), Gillian wrote stories for D C Thomson about a girl called Wendy. 'Her parents owned a dressage and jumping stables. Wendy had a boyfriend, and also some quite unlikely adventures – wild horses to tame, ghost horses – there was one story based on mobile phones, and one set in the USA where she was cornered by a cougar.' The stories were developed into books and published in Swedish, but not under Gillian's name. Eventually these stories came to a stop as there were problems with the translations.<br />
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During this period, Gillian wrote another book which did not appear under her own name: <i>Sue-Elaine Draws a Horse </i>(1970), which she ghost-wrote with Marion Coakes. The book appeared under the names Marion Coakes and Gillian Hirst (Gillian's married name). I asked if they had written the book together. 'No, I did that!' And who had the idea for the book? 'I did! Doing the research for the book with Marion was great fun: she was a lovely person. I went to visit her to find out how she thought of things, and the sort of words she used.'<br />
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Gillian's last pony book, <i>Bargain Horses</i> (1992)<i> </i>came about when J A Allen asked her to write a book for their Junior Equestrian Fiction series. It's the story of Mary Conway and her daughter Gemma. Mary is determined to prove to the world that she can train event horses, but it is her daughter who has to suffer the difficult, and sometimes downright dangerous, horses her mother buys for peanuts. 'Some aspects of the mother and daughter in the story are based on me and my daughters, but I don't think I was anywhere near as pushy as the mother, though I have seen a lot of very pushy mothers as both my daughters ride: one events, and one does dressage and jumps. The horse Weston was based on a big strong horse my daughter and I had to give up on.'<br />
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Gillian still rides and has horses about the place herself. When I spoke to her last, she had just come in from trying to get one of her daughter's horses to load into their new horsebox, which ended, as she said, with her swinging from his head. She now lives in Pembrokeshire, and has four horses of her own and one who is retired – he is a pony left over from when she did trekking. 13.2 Nimble once distinguished himself by taking off with a trekker and jumping two cattle grids, by which time his rider had wisely baled out. Horses are still very much part of Gillian's life, and she still loves writing. She has just brought out <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vacant-Possession-Gillian-Baxter-ebook/dp/B07B7NLL9Q/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1526313714&sr=8-6&keywords=gillian+baxter">With Vacant Possession</a></i> as an e-book.<br />
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<b>More on Gillian Baxter</b><br />
The original version of this interview (I've re-written it for this blog) appeared on my website. If you'd like to see all Gillian's horse books, in glorious colour, <a href="http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/ponybooksfile2/gillianbaxter.html">I've written a bibliography there</a>.<br />
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J A Allen, the equestrian publisher, produced their Junior Equestrian Fiction series under the aegis of Caroline Akrill, who was their publishing director. <a href="http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/articles/jaallen.html">I've written about that, and the serie</a>s.<br />
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The De Vere Stables are on my list of London landmarks to write about. <a href="http://csrc.org.uk/">The Civil Service Riding Club</a>, who were based there, are still going. I'll update this piece when I've (finally) written up my article.Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-38226861074031508132018-05-08T15:14:00.000+01:002018-05-08T17:35:29.353+01:00Interview: Kate Cuthbert, authorIt's been a while since I did an interview, but knowing Kate Cuthbert had released <i>For the Love of Fly</i> has sparked me into action. The book's had a long journey to publication. When Kate first got in touch with me, a publisher had just decided that the mixture of horses and school wouldn't work for today's children. I worked on the story with Kate (and on book number two), and she's now brought it out as a paperback.<br />
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Today, I talk to Kate about why she thinks combining horses and school <i>does</i> work, and on how she's got to publication.</div>
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<b><br />JB: Welcome Kate! It's good to have you on the blog. First things first: how did you start writing?</b></div>
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I enjoyed writing when I was younger. I used to write stories set in a stable yard and I would draw out a map of the yard to go with it, writing a horse’s name into each little square that represented a stable. As I got older I followed a more scientific path, eventually gaining BSc and MSc degrees, and, because of this, I convinced myself that my writing was now ‘too scientific’. I felt that my style was too structured, too rigid to write fiction, so for years I wasn’t brave enough to try it again. Then, when my children were younger, I decided to give it a go again, mainly because it was something just for me. It gave me a little time to indulge myself and acted as an antidote to the endless round of toddler swimming, music and play groups that I was attending. I wrote the words for a picture book called Bette’s Pet before writing the Hatters series. Sadly, Bette’s Pet is now just filed away at the back of a drawer somewhere … it got me started though. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><i>Kate, and 'a very special chap by the name of Dancer'</i></td></tr>
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<b>JB: </b><b>Tell me about your writing process – do you find it easy to get down to it?</b><br />
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When I was at university I shared a house with a girl who found it very difficult to sit down and get on with her work. We lived in the cleanest student accommodation ever because cleaning was her favourite distraction activity. I am the opposite with my writing, I love writing and find it very easy to get down to it. My children know when I have been on a bit of a writing binge because they have no clean clothes to wear and there is no food in the fridge!<br />
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<b>JB: </b><b>This is very unlike Badger Towers, I have to say, where there is no writing for quite disturbingly long periods of time. And not much cleaning either. When I do get down to it, I tend to stick to non-fiction so I can avoid the monster that is plotting. How about you? How do you plot? Do you do it as you go along, or have it all worked out before you start?</b><br />
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I love a notebook. You can never have enough notebooks. My husband always jokes about my notebook obsession. I have a gorgeous pastel green one for plotting in. It’s A4-sized and I usually start by marking out twenty chapters across a double page. Don’t ask me why it’s twenty chapters; with the Hatters series my thinking always started with twenty chapters. The completed stories haven’t necessarily ended up with twenty chapters but they always started there. Under each chapter heading I write brief, and often very scruffy, notes about roughly what will happen in each chapter. These notes might only consist of one or two words but when I sit down and start to write they give me a rough guide as to the direction I am heading in. Things always change as you go along and invariably it takes me longer than predicted to get from one place in the story to another. Every now and then I’ll do a new layout of chapters and make revised plans for the forthcoming chapters. I will also fill in detailed notes for chapters that have already been written because I know exactly what has happened in them. I do this for no other reason than it is very satisfying. It is like writing a list of jobs to be done and adding one or two that you have already completed just so that you can tick them off straight away.<br />
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<b>JB: </b><b>I'm with you on the notebooks. And am impressed at how you do things. So what was the result of the plotting – what is <i>For the Love of Fly</i> about?</b><br />
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<i>For the Love of Fly</i> is about friendship; the ups and downs of friendships and riding the storm when things get tough. Ultimately, it’s about what it takes to be great friends, with a big dollop of horsey adventure thrown in for good measure.<br />
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<b>JB: </b><b>And what made you want to write it?</b><br />
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There is an old adage to write about what you know and this seemed sensible advice to follow as a newbie writer. I know about horses and I’ve experienced a school with horses, so from that point of view it seemed a good place to start. Equestrian fiction has an enduring charm and I think that this is true for writers as well as readers.<br />
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<b>JB: </b><b>Did you worry you might be cutting down the market for your book by setting it in a boarding school</b>?<br />
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This is always a danger but I didn’t set out to write books about privileged girls for whom life is a breeze. I have tried not to make too much reference to privilege or money and I’ve tried not to write the characters as supercilious, pretentious or snobby because for me that is not what the stories are about. I’m not convinced that most children are negatively swayed by the stereotypical view of boarding schools, I think they are much more interested in a good story, with believable characters and an engaging plot. Parents on the other hand … that might be a different matter and only time will tell if the setting will influence their perception of the book. </div>
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<b>JB: Yes, that's true! As a child I lapped up Enid Blyton's Malory Towers, and Anthony Buckeridge's Jennings books, even though I was state school educated all the way. Perhaps it's the adult looking back from a very different perspective that means i</b><b>t's not so easy to persuade publishers to go for boarding schools for these days, unless it’s a fantasy school like Hogwarts. What made you want to set your book in a real-life boarding school </b><b>where riding is on the curriculum</b><b>? </b></div>
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During term time the girls are with each other 24/7 in a boarding school so it gives a strong sense of place for the characters. It is a setting that also provides plenty of scope for the stories. If I want to write a scene early in the morning or at lunchtime or in the middle of the night, I can. I don’t have to wait until the characters meet at the yard the following evening or at the weekend for something to happen.<br />
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<b>JB: </b><b>It's certainly a full-on environment! Do you think setting your book in a boarding school allowed you to look at other things you otherwise couldn’t? Like bullying in a world where you really can’t get away?</b><br />
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The fact that the girls are together all of the time is quite intense, and even claustrophobic, at times, which provides a very interesting setting in which to explore their friendships. Certainly, Roxanne struggles with the slightly all consuming way of life in <i>For the Love of Fly</i>. On the flip-side, living together so closely means that the girls get to know each other very well and this can make for a very supportive environment when life gets tricky.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>JB: </b><b>Do you think your characters would have acted differently if they’d been at a day school?</b><br />
Possibly. I think that the friendships would still have been tested in the same way but maybe the emotions wouldn’t have bubbled away as they did at Hatters because the girls would have gone home at the end of the day. This break from each other might have been enough to calm them down. Writing <i>For the Love of Fly </i>with the girls at a day school also wouldn’t necessarily have given them the opportunities to behave in the way they they did and get up to the antics that they were able to with the horses so close at hand all of the time.<br />
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<b>JB: </b><b>What part do you think the horses play in the world of your book?</b><br />
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The horses provide a focus for the stories, something in common that gives the characters a reason to be together. I could simply have just written them as classmates or they could have all been musicians or members of the same football or netball team but I like horses, I know horses … so horses it was. I also loved writing about the horses; they have their own personalities as much as any of the girls or members of staff.<br />
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<b>JB: I did enjoy the equine characters in your book, and the people too. There was one in particular who stood out for me. When I was editing the book, I wondered if any of the characters you'd created surprise you as you wrote the book?</b><br />
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I’ve heard other authors talking about characters having minds of their own and it does sound a bit bonkers but they do. In <i>For the Love of Fly</i> I sometimes found that I’d written several pages and then wondered how on earth I’d got to where I was because it wasn’t where I was supposed to be. It was usually down to one of the girls having gone off on their own tangent without me noticing. Roxanne was a horror for it; she was a real troublemaker, particularly in the early days. I often found her doing her own thing and she and I had many a discussion in my head about the way forward. Sometimes I won, sometimes she did.<br />
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<b>JB: </b><b>I thought it might have been Roxanne! She is a fantastic character, and she's certainly lived with me. I'm glad she's now out there for the rest of the world to experience. So how have you found the process of making your book into a POD (print on demand) book?</b><br />
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I would be lying if I said that there hadn’t been tears and raised voices along the way. My husband and mother have been very patient! I knew nothing of the publishing industry before I started and it has certainly been a very steep learning curve but, somehow, when you hold the first copy of your book in your hand or the first person comes up and tells you that they like what you’ve written then it all seems worthwhile.<br />
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<b>JB: I can certainly sympathise there! It is quite a process - are there any tips you'd like to pass on to anyone else thinking of launching into publishing?</b><br />
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My first tip would be to be persistent and resilient. It can be tough when you have no idea what you’re doing but if you can stick with it the sense of achievement will be very rewarding. A friend of mine once told me that the tougher something got, the more worthwhile it became and I like to remind myself of that every now and then.<br />
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My second tip is more practical. Think about the skills that you don’t have and about your budget and, bearing these two in mind, engage the professionals that you need and can afford to make your book what you want it to be. For me, I couldn’t have produced <i>For the Love of Fly</i> without a story editor, copy editor, typesetter and cover designer. The more professional the end product looks the more satisfied you’ll be and the more likely it is to sell.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LmdnFqVScSMEHSW3dxQebiMvBvJDcr44m5i-gdRXHUMLQoNd93IZhWzCCOhNszVQGxNL4SLv82O5iBjYwnmbI7-w9jrr2hAGVp2oKs6AyA5TDCk9TIMyNR9UC_311UKKfQ1nmDNtioU/s1600/full+cover+jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="1122" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LmdnFqVScSMEHSW3dxQebiMvBvJDcr44m5i-gdRXHUMLQoNd93IZhWzCCOhNszVQGxNL4SLv82O5iBjYwnmbI7-w9jrr2hAGVp2oKs6AyA5TDCk9TIMyNR9UC_311UKKfQ1nmDNtioU/s320/full+cover+jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>JB: So now you've done the whole process from start to finish, do you have any plans for any more books?</b><br />
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Yes, definitely. Books 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Hatters School series have already been written and are all at various stages of the publishing process. I have lots and lots of ideas for other books as well. Too many ideas and not enough time! Maybe, when life allows it, I’ll take my notebooks and go and hide away in a little shed on some lonely hillside somewhere and try to get them all down.<br />
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<b>JB: Good luck – I'll look forward to reading them as they come out! So if you're not writing, what else fills life up for you?</b><br />
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I’d like to say that I have a yard full of exciting young stock that I am bringing on to be the eventing and racing superstars of the future but sadly I don’t. What I do have is a husband and two sporty children who keep me very busy. I seem to spend most of my spare time standing at the side of some pitch, pool or arena. What I don’t do enough of is riding. I’d love to find the time to do much more. Maybe I’ll take a horse with me when I go and stay in that shed on a hillside!</div>
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<b>JB: Thank you very much, Kate. Please keep in touch and let me know how it all goes. </b></div>
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<b>If you'd like to experience the world of Roxanne, Hatters and Fly, you can buy the book here:</b></div>
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Age range 8 upwards</div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Fly-Hatters-School/dp/1999790405/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525787992&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=kate+carpenter+for+the+love+of+fly">Paperback: £6.99</a></div>
Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-7253684148177843872018-05-04T15:18:00.000+01:002018-05-04T22:17:36.241+01:00Camden Stables – in Search of Horse Ghosts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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In most towns and cities, you can probably, if you look hard
enough, find evidence of the working horse, even if it’s just in the names of
streets. And although many buildings have disappeared entirely, some still
survive, even if they have found other uses entirely.</div>
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One such is the railway stables that served the goods yards
of Euston Station and the surrounding canals. Inner city stables like these housed an
astonishing number of horses, often in surprisingly small spaces. If you are
used to the open spaces of most modern yards, it’s difficult to imagine that
once hundreds of horses were stabled around Chalk Farm Road, in what has become
known as Camden Stables. At its peak, the goods stables housed 700–800 horses, with more
stables at the termini for those horses who transported passengers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first run of stables was built in 1839, but they and the
surrounding buildings saw decades of expansion and rebuilding. The earliest range
of stables that still survives today was built in 1844–6, and housed around 160
horses. These stables, large as they were, were joined by more and more as the
Victorian era strode on and the boom in trade required more cartage. Stables
were built to the west of the railway line in 1856 for another 150 or so
horses. North of this another building was added for about 70 horses. The buildings
were dramatically extended when Gilbeys, the drinks manufacturer, arrived at the
site. By 1881, when more space was needed, there was not much option of where
to go, other than up. Although room was found to build a two-storey horse hospital,
new floors were added to existing ranges, and the horses found their way up via
ramps or horse stairs.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ramp up to the horse hospital</i></td></tr>
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Not only were there horses, there was a forge, saddler,
harness room, provender department, and housing for the superintendent. And not
only were there were stables, there were tunnels, used to get the horses from
the stables to the stations where they were to work.</div>
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The picture below shows Lilian Carpenter leading Snowball
along the horse tunnels. It’s interesting to note that he didn’t need leading
back – he could apparently be left to make the journey back to his stable on his
own. Lilian Carpenter joined the LMS (London, Midland and Scottish Railway)
during World War II, and was one of the subjects of a photo essay in
1943 by Ministry of Information Photo Division photographer Richard Stone,
showing a day in the life of a van girl during the war.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX8h1TmBW1RYe7tedIKk1aTr5Oy0pxRZGbVFyNnUDdNyfegvP8WeNzqSvvfCJQbCZdAjbMCZX4zgq_DaUAWgbkI2fT_lFAdvyUYo7PzpiVE3afO8g2YZreppl2gU3JVa_1s9LzRXALBC0/s1600/iwm+-+snowball+and+tunnel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="774" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX8h1TmBW1RYe7tedIKk1aTr5Oy0pxRZGbVFyNnUDdNyfegvP8WeNzqSvvfCJQbCZdAjbMCZX4zgq_DaUAWgbkI2fT_lFAdvyUYo7PzpiVE3afO8g2YZreppl2gU3JVa_1s9LzRXALBC0/s320/iwm+-+snowball+and+tunnel.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205200497" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #7d171d; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 10.4px; text-decoration-line: none;">© IWM (D 16821)</a></td></tr>
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Everyday life in the stables is difficult to imagine if you
visit them now, but there is an excellent British Pathé film shot in 1949 about
the flu epidemic that swept the Chalk Farm stables that gives you a fine idea of
what life was like. It shows the forge, stables, tack room and provender store,
and a vet administering medicine.</div>
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Less than twenty years after this film was shot, not a
single horse remained. The last horse working on the UK railways worked at
Newmarket and retired in 1967.</div>
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Most of the Chalk Farm stables have now been demolished, apart from
the stables immediately to the west of Chalk Farm Road. Of the others, little
else remains apart from the tunnels and horse stairs that once connected them
to the goods yard. Like the ghostly unused tube stations that still survive
beneath London, these reminders of London’s equine past still exist. You can see an <a href="http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/c/camden_catacombs/index2.shtml">excellent set of photographs by Nick Catford here</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The stables themselves are very different now. Most of what
survives has been converted into retail units after the stables underwent a
huge conversion programme in the first decade of this century.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Camden Stables is listed, and while it’s good that the
country does recognise the importance the horse played in its past, it leads to
interesting problems when attempting to reconcile this past with the needs of
the present. In an attempt to relate to its past, the developers have scattered
the place with bronze horses and murals. I’m not sure how successful the bronze
horses are in conveying much of a sense of what life was like.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The bronze horses feel something of a
sop to the conservation authorities, who like conversions of industrial
properties to have some sort of nod to their past. The whole concept seems
muddled. At the entrance are wild horses, bursting out of the arch, and on the
floor below them is a farrier. Is this intended as a comment on man’s
domination of horses’ essential wild nature? Or of the horses escaping the
domination of man? Or just a clumsy juxtaposition? Whatever, there are a great
many better horse sculptures in the world. But there are an awful lot of them
at Camden, so if quantity is your thing and not quality you will not be
disappointed if you visit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As for getting any sense now of what it was like to live and
work in the stables as they were built, I found it a struggle when I visited in
2016. Although the basic format of the stables still remains, as do the loose
boxes, there’s very little sense of horse, despite all those large metal horses.
I’m not quite sure what it is that gives it (to me at least) so little sense of
its industrial heritage. I think it’s because the most noticeable thing about
the place is the reason why people are there, and that’s to buy things, or
wander along and inspect what has become a tourist destination. You are
surrounded by people whose focus is things, and not by people and animals performing
hard physical work. <o:p></o:p><br />
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That is fair enough, as that’s why the buildings now survive,
and have to some extent been preserved. But the atmosphere of the place is not
that different to anywhere else. We went to Carnaby Street afterwards, and the
feel of the place was similar: if anything, Carnaby Street had an honesty that
Camden Stables lacked. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Those bronze horses had a feeling of a case full of dodos.
The real horses were extinct, and like dodos, the bronze horses were something just to look
at, or to pass by, incurious, on your way to the next food stall. <o:p></o:p><br />
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The horse ghosts are still there in Camden, but you need to look
for them. The horse hospital was easier to imagine as it had been, probably
because it is now a club and not a retail space, and it was pretty much
deserted when we went there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I felt, I think a rueful sort of sadness when I visited.
There was nothing there I wanted to buy: I have enough t-shirts. It was as if a
cathedral had been turned into a shopping centre. Instead of that pull of
centuries of tradition with generation after generation using the building for
the purpose for which it was intended, this was I suppose, overlaying one
manifestation of capitalism with another. The market had indeed moved on.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p>******</o:p></div>
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<o:p> <b>More on the stables</b></o:p></div>
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<ul>
<li>There is an excellent piece on the <a href="http://www.crht1837.org/history/horsesstables">construction of the stables</a>, on the Camden Railway Heritage Trust website. It has wonderful, atmospheric photographs of the Stables as they were in 2007 before they were polished up by the juggernaut Retail.</li>
<li>The same piece also has <a href="http://www.crht1837.org/history/horsesstables#TOC-Horse-tunnels-">detailed information on the horse tunnels</a>. </li>
<li>Nick Catford, who took the photographs of the horse tunnels linked to in my piece, has written what is probaby now the definitive guide to the London that lurks, unseen, beneath our feet: <a href="http://www.bradford-on-avon.org.uk/secretundergroundlondon.html">Secret Underground London</a>.</li>
<li>Many women worked on the railways during both World Wars,
and you can see something of what life was like for them on <a href="http://booksandmud.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=railway+women">my piece on railway women</a>. It also has many
more photos of Snowball.</li>
<li>Even retail moves on – there are now plans afoot to gloss up
the stables, displacing some of the small retailers who replaced the horses.
You can <a href="http://camdennewjournal.com/article/barber-told-to-leave-stables-market-after-23-years-refuses-to-go">read more about that here</a>. </li>
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Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-38935998182319225342018-04-25T08:00:00.000+01:002018-04-26T11:42:14.800+01:00Ten pony book covers you’ll wish you hadn’t seenThere are some wonderful pony book covers out there, and then there are the ones that stick in your mind for all the wrong reasons.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33tPFoCnC1qIeNxIDEMHD1nxMGx5PiI0yU08iaRI42E_Y0D5MYYigRtzGcj55qGwYm02mg94V94O_MiEpcC32hQSFWgP9IIYwQ7k49yQpe510buvpJLLcxu0FebWnYwLfEwFGnwUCdqE/s1600/horsesintheglengb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33tPFoCnC1qIeNxIDEMHD1nxMGx5PiI0yU08iaRI42E_Y0D5MYYigRtzGcj55qGwYm02mg94V94O_MiEpcC32hQSFWgP9IIYwQ7k49yQpe510buvpJLLcxu0FebWnYwLfEwFGnwUCdqE/s320/horsesintheglengb.jpg" width="198" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvo_OOl9nq5OobSqdiClD5FaksZ5nuZ8spAR7zeMdrwQnkLz4Cw2F4Ol0DllEQmTbJ5QPkalRJsbrquXeeG8qEWF4iP2WVBKwYMjFgeyrRoG30l-pwJsCg4DHuzYGNxoPSWhhQkhhAcA/s1600/100_0535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1573" data-original-width="1071" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvo_OOl9nq5OobSqdiClD5FaksZ5nuZ8spAR7zeMdrwQnkLz4Cw2F4Ol0DllEQmTbJ5QPkalRJsbrquXeeG8qEWF4iP2WVBKwYMjFgeyrRoG30l-pwJsCg4DHuzYGNxoPSWhhQkhhAcA/s320/100_0535.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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The original hardback edition of Gillian Baxter's <i>Horses in the Glen</i> had a prettycover by Elisabeth Grant. The Children's Book Club edition had something copied, rather badly, from Mathilde Windisch-Graetz's <i>The Spanish Riding School.</i><br />
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The Children's Book Club had form for producing iffy covers. Here is their version of Monica Dickens's <i>Cobbler's Dream</i> (which arguably is not a children's book anyway – or at least only for a child with a strong stomach). The Michael Joseph first edition is infinitely better.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTe_lOxImRVgcWT8yWeGByF-KmGVdvhrVHSKegFgopDy7y9fBimZH4Co9498_mB6AfMVDWzqgpc5-PLvSL8vkhQQLX-vMy5pI_nPdVgAzbL2MDkepAFj8xlP3N5e9zfdZ1JxP3DRBihyphenhyphenY/s1600/cdreamcbc.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="385" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTe_lOxImRVgcWT8yWeGByF-KmGVdvhrVHSKegFgopDy7y9fBimZH4Co9498_mB6AfMVDWzqgpc5-PLvSL8vkhQQLX-vMy5pI_nPdVgAzbL2MDkepAFj8xlP3N5e9zfdZ1JxP3DRBihyphenhyphenY/s320/cdreamcbc.JPG" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrAe9hDFp4kNiqwWVBP0ItiPAb6OigWuDwOzpUcAimdla50q-Zg3I8EtYS5pLXzX7Pu8k_-PPOoyZvOSXW7l4E7fFL0mRW6lyUnlkCWw5dukJhXPMWklNAExwQNuVo-K34vH47NsBWhk/s1600/cdream1st.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="389" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrAe9hDFp4kNiqwWVBP0ItiPAb6OigWuDwOzpUcAimdla50q-Zg3I8EtYS5pLXzX7Pu8k_-PPOoyZvOSXW7l4E7fFL0mRW6lyUnlkCWw5dukJhXPMWklNAExwQNuVo-K34vH47NsBWhk/s320/cdream1st.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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Possibly the most glorious Children's Book Club effort is this one, for Monica Edwards's <i>The Wanderer</i>, which does make you wonder if the illustrator had ever seen an actual horse.</div>
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Fortunately the original artist, Joan Wanklyn, had.</div>
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Scholastic Book Services (who, like the Children's Book Club, did also produce some perfectly decent book covers) were guilty of plumbing the depths at times, as they did for their version of Christine Pullein-Thompson's <i>I Rode a Winner</i>. It's a whole world away from the Armada original.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9NLxNAQlPGAetnKZ2OBYDYuONqsEoBhHcXs1MXiYwMu6tu1eYWXkzdd35sMZTknlocMYUnz7U3ZZltTKCYA-TMRc81IC4r-V8BC7n0geKRjuZ3cg9YTed1SSCe5Q8z3xEf8_3pCq0rg/s1600/i+rode+a+winner+scholastic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="963" data-original-width="571" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9NLxNAQlPGAetnKZ2OBYDYuONqsEoBhHcXs1MXiYwMu6tu1eYWXkzdd35sMZTknlocMYUnz7U3ZZltTKCYA-TMRc81IC4r-V8BC7n0geKRjuZ3cg9YTed1SSCe5Q8z3xEf8_3pCq0rg/s320/i+rode+a+winner+scholastic.jpg" width="188" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrVlkBp-c3ox2RtMEKqUtCRIfyrPFwGT15R48ivACGiSIyq-gst1MWejZ4qrcMz2Nkq8Dz9gwrTrjcsrVahKl2M-jSoOoLNtK_KCQOn64AZKEnOWEl3162DDUGiReuuq2M4U5mkAlx5E/s1600/rode+ea+winner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="367" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrVlkBp-c3ox2RtMEKqUtCRIfyrPFwGT15R48ivACGiSIyq-gst1MWejZ4qrcMz2Nkq8Dz9gwrTrjcsrVahKl2M-jSoOoLNtK_KCQOn64AZKEnOWEl3162DDUGiReuuq2M4U5mkAlx5E/s320/rode+ea+winner.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">A rather unlikely horse also graced the 1996 Hodder edition of Ruby Ferguson's </span><i style="text-align: start;">Jill's Gymkhana</i><span style="text-align: start;">.* Where Jill herself has gone to in this cover I do not know. She's firmly where she should be in Caney's original.</span></div>
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Sadly, there are whole herds of ponies out there drawn by illustrators who you suspect must have groaned when the commission to illustrate a pony book arrived. The Armada version of Diana Pullein-Thompson's<i> Janet Must Ride</i> is a prime example. The original is by Mary Gernat: a rare hardcover outing for her. She's better known as an illustrator for the Armada and Dragon imprints.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUuIIqK-p4psp3KnGlRzsI45YdiMLswuv5z3GCgvoSk9Tdk3NkOdY2EeVemtE7Q-f_vU_S8GnKwnJ0Yu8w3xlQTdlnSVgVuxyqT-IhTMFq1CepOJYVS8ICCz461SPBWuWqGMvhkr3x-0/s1600/janetarmpb2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="345" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUuIIqK-p4psp3KnGlRzsI45YdiMLswuv5z3GCgvoSk9Tdk3NkOdY2EeVemtE7Q-f_vU_S8GnKwnJ0Yu8w3xlQTdlnSVgVuxyqT-IhTMFq1CepOJYVS8ICCz461SPBWuWqGMvhkr3x-0/s320/janetarmpb2.JPG" width="194" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJExa6sUYb80cjFGnh50XOVDH-JY91JWLkS8XUMZ9qOQD7ruBOGs50Nw2ZBJRnzRXewVvdQaOWe36KAgcQKhePngy9UcOXNuvSwC5lbdfoce2sa0PaF4NPWrhAP_FIYwDQ_6NEq_j8mxM/s1600/janet+must+ride+hb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="428" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJExa6sUYb80cjFGnh50XOVDH-JY91JWLkS8XUMZ9qOQD7ruBOGs50Nw2ZBJRnzRXewVvdQaOWe36KAgcQKhePngy9UcOXNuvSwC5lbdfoce2sa0PaF4NPWrhAP_FIYwDQ_6NEq_j8mxM/s320/janet+must+ride+hb.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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And if you're a little bored with horses, you can always turn to the rider. Joanna Cannan's <i>A Pony for Jean</i>, in the 1970s Knight reprint, paid more than lipservice to the fashions of the time. And also inflated her pony into a thumping great horse.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitv4_HFNvkXEnDKPDLPJsKi2PIpZECZbtpFF7Oj5V3Aeg8WYRQ9qOZJEEksG4swFF-X5CMmudjbCAxX49t_93VGpBqJxVFr45xVeVxP0Of8hcd5Buz8OFIFmAEXIlWf6z3Pe5KiylDD0s/s1600/pony+for+jean+hb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1189" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitv4_HFNvkXEnDKPDLPJsKi2PIpZECZbtpFF7Oj5V3Aeg8WYRQ9qOZJEEksG4swFF-X5CMmudjbCAxX49t_93VGpBqJxVFr45xVeVxP0Of8hcd5Buz8OFIFmAEXIlWf6z3Pe5KiylDD0s/s320/pony+for+jean+hb.jpg" width="236" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1OaopGw15L2XQ4-O9KGLo1Ug_vqhXvgHvn4XdQf6XOPcwiCjEkHeEv5PEjMGnZTLKGvya3mytmU0OhK8mzJRs2uotyTDAif3MKvo3Nsy19EXDauF6h7nLb4lNRQI92pwCn7bnw6SOeks/s1600/ponyforjeanlaterknight.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="376" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1OaopGw15L2XQ4-O9KGLo1Ug_vqhXvgHvn4XdQf6XOPcwiCjEkHeEv5PEjMGnZTLKGvya3mytmU0OhK8mzJRs2uotyTDAif3MKvo3Nsy19EXDauF6h7nLb4lNRQI92pwCn7bnw6SOeks/s320/ponyforjeanlaterknight.JPG" width="201" /></a></div>
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The Ravette edition of Christine Pullein-Thompson's <i>Phantom Horse</i> was another that completely dispensed with the grace of the original - this also first appeared as an Armada paperback.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipB-T_dnSjkY1wnyRc6B3NgPfLmZ1JIGsrhwNoHVDsPiT4JhdoylSNSKH8I9g3HTkP23a56bysTDdvhreQJ0MUOyofDDqtzy6NuZVYv-IE7wF_KJ8qRPk6RdRlr7dt9sVPXOyo_AFwJlk/s1600/phantom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="359" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipB-T_dnSjkY1wnyRc6B3NgPfLmZ1JIGsrhwNoHVDsPiT4JhdoylSNSKH8I9g3HTkP23a56bysTDdvhreQJ0MUOyofDDqtzy6NuZVYv-IE7wF_KJ8qRPk6RdRlr7dt9sVPXOyo_AFwJlk/s320/phantom.JPG" width="197" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2rOKVLtoivSU4zO8n_-Qt_WUPkbC7Poi3mnKSBEXpWyKa0tGZLyor6kUMNeMizrRqUGmNREmZTVrUtDeCNDv_sR3_YxCEEHC5wrzUt9sO5p6NoN959qboJz6oGTSVX0dGhQYvrARm43g/s1600/phcomeshomesravette.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2rOKVLtoivSU4zO8n_-Qt_WUPkbC7Poi3mnKSBEXpWyKa0tGZLyor6kUMNeMizrRqUGmNREmZTVrUtDeCNDv_sR3_YxCEEHC5wrzUt9sO5p6NoN959qboJz6oGTSVX0dGhQYvrARm43g/s320/phcomeshomesravette.JPG" width="196" /></a></div>
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Kathleen Mackenzie's <i>Nigel Rides Away</i> is unusual in being the original edition (and indeed, the only one). It was published in Evans in 1960.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pwHMbIpALRNWkRWqyTGSFTf3QU-EoXC6YP-8jBGf2C_1cP1yxq7C-iPAbvZmVqrZLGCwKNZ5QpCuNj0iWxyhB6ngHJCvaYP5IC6xqCyo7-WVzrhyphenhyphenNy0X7PIPsne0sOsUTDtqdLhma0w/s1600/nigel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="397" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pwHMbIpALRNWkRWqyTGSFTf3QU-EoXC6YP-8jBGf2C_1cP1yxq7C-iPAbvZmVqrZLGCwKNZ5QpCuNj0iWxyhB6ngHJCvaYP5IC6xqCyo7-WVzrhyphenhyphenNy0X7PIPsne0sOsUTDtqdLhma0w/s320/nigel.JPG" width="215" /></a></div>
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And then there are the covers that are just plain disturbing. Look away now if you don't like clowns. The clown is at least relevant: in Catherine Harris's <i>They Rescued a Pony</i>, as the pony in question is rescued from a circus. The original edition was illustrated by Geoffrey Whittam, and is blessedly free of anything disturbing.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYHo-Vt2mAfF3B3rnTP9bKkvPjcqeLgHFTUaOpzKdFMbFh5JZBSBGr7YtKpGle36Kd89UkRyMjOD1-kQMY9c9LDjEtwbkB9TaWIGUCYZvUMb679LdaUem_pmrKmkMjdAeBGRlBL4_PvXU/s1600/they+rescued.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1059" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYHo-Vt2mAfF3B3rnTP9bKkvPjcqeLgHFTUaOpzKdFMbFh5JZBSBGr7YtKpGle36Kd89UkRyMjOD1-kQMY9c9LDjEtwbkB9TaWIGUCYZvUMb679LdaUem_pmrKmkMjdAeBGRlBL4_PvXU/s320/they+rescued.JPG" width="211" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1t5gnFzZew0YbcMQUcsq5RxVIR9JgyIBJCLhdIKG0bc0J7JJ5N_1Tg2HIprXz2n_z_AFBzaTyKICAZsq8ge2fU1GfWg8Bt9BCxknWcgU0VHrnVtFwG7II9pWmrr7-mBwaT1PGUKWkTU/s1600/theyrescuedapony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1213" data-original-width="869" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1t5gnFzZew0YbcMQUcsq5RxVIR9JgyIBJCLhdIKG0bc0J7JJ5N_1Tg2HIprXz2n_z_AFBzaTyKICAZsq8ge2fU1GfWg8Bt9BCxknWcgU0VHrnVtFwG7II9pWmrr7-mBwaT1PGUKWkTU/s320/theyrescuedapony.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
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When I was a bookseller, one thing I noticed was that it was the edition they'd read as a child that people wanted. It didn't seem to matter how terrible the cover was: it was that pull to a joyful thing remembered from childhood that mattered. And so I guess that for some, these covers, however bad, will conjure up for them the enchantment they found when they first read the books. And it is, after all, what's inside the book that matters.</div>
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* Jill's pony, Black Boy, was black in the original publications of the books, but became a piebald once Knight started issuing paperback editions. There was also one edition of <i>Jill's Gymkhana</i> (the Knight 1968 edition), in which Black Boy was renamed as Danny Boy. He changed back into Black Boy after that, so that book remains a single, solitary (and inexplicable) blip.Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-67756059933811967392018-04-02T07:00:00.000+01:002018-04-02T07:00:20.554+01:00What to call your pony book<br />
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Have you written a pony book? Writing a book is one thing,
but thinking of a title for it is quite another. Do you tell the reader exactly
what they’re going to get, or do you hint at it? Publishers in the past worked
on the fair assumption that if you were looking for a pony book, the word
‘pony’ shoe-horned into the title would probably do the trick.</div>
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And going by the evidence of the eighty years of so that the
pony book has been going, they were not wrong.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What do we want? We want a pony (and there’s a title for you
for free, because as far as I know, no one’s snaffled that one, nor, oddly
enough, <i>He Wanted a Pony</i>). Diana Pullein-Thompson kicked off her solo
publishing career with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Wanted a </i>Pony
and Peggie Cannam followed with <i>She Wanted a Pony</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqtZTTEhHJK4qfA-SUxz0nhF78q7qkdsfRVB8EHjdEy9UfMCX3556ziv0q33PYjVkaTYwGryn9ucg47-JL4n8VRYBbNwHkWO92E0PBgsR-cVl5uwJmOjxEuuGKl_kuxrPIRRYdGjzrrZY/s1600/iwantedapb.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="355" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqtZTTEhHJK4qfA-SUxz0nhF78q7qkdsfRVB8EHjdEy9UfMCX3556ziv0q33PYjVkaTYwGryn9ucg47-JL4n8VRYBbNwHkWO92E0PBgsR-cVl5uwJmOjxEuuGKl_kuxrPIRRYdGjzrrZY/s320/iwantedapb.JPG" width="194" /></a></div>
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There were titles that addressed the fantasy of owning a
pony: the iconic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wish for a Pony, </i>followed
by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dream Pony</i> (a popular title, this
one), joined by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Very Special Pony</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Magic Pony</i> and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> The Paradise Pony </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jill
and the Perfect Pony</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClW1nk_yPRwanADXcxDgSsvLmkEbKp0KfSc0KmeZsGZrOyqBdquMRDUIOUtq4IkwXqiW01YIzzUK8oQ_BRw6vv7LHMNgeyNerIhfGnRaVwrma8RnJRs14vodeTirhdSLrwpb58NPGRzo/s1600/veryspecialpony.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClW1nk_yPRwanADXcxDgSsvLmkEbKp0KfSc0KmeZsGZrOyqBdquMRDUIOUtq4IkwXqiW01YIzzUK8oQ_BRw6vv7LHMNgeyNerIhfGnRaVwrma8RnJRs14vodeTirhdSLrwpb58NPGRzo/s320/veryspecialpony.JPG" width="210" /></a></div>
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How were you going to get that pony you dreamed of? There
was the prosaic, and for most people, accurate, <i>They Bought Her a Pony</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Pony for Sale.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYqQdbtwrNBNttygp-dtX0GwHBEZookQYOv-CVGzghuabx4Vm47T7ARkPmANWOsDC4AvrelxA-duYm7tJx-qnR_gbapXRnbAWsmmthHaikYQh4Xj1PVDnQ8SUJNjQVRRSO-v917gcmBPE/s1600/cannan+bought+pony+good.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYqQdbtwrNBNttygp-dtX0GwHBEZookQYOv-CVGzghuabx4Vm47T7ARkPmANWOsDC4AvrelxA-duYm7tJx-qnR_gbapXRnbAWsmmthHaikYQh4Xj1PVDnQ8SUJNjQVRRSO-v917gcmBPE/s320/cannan+bought+pony+good.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
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If you were going to have to rely on your own resources,
well, then there was<i> Quest for a Pony, The Pony Hunt </i>and <i>The Pony Fund</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqn_g2ZxM5Zp8GNz_Zxm7SbX4fi0azzYpFnhSgQ8i9JiZlKhZqZ_bpDLsJsSpVN6bTEcggIPWyuXbKXWCkVvicVQjsz1pW1Gw4ua7GSH_yZyJExTQik2TCcbQd8XC0Tihyo_edQc-qvXo/s1600/questforapony.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1045" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqn_g2ZxM5Zp8GNz_Zxm7SbX4fi0azzYpFnhSgQ8i9JiZlKhZqZ_bpDLsJsSpVN6bTEcggIPWyuXbKXWCkVvicVQjsz1pW1Gw4ua7GSH_yZyJExTQik2TCcbQd8XC0Tihyo_edQc-qvXo/s320/questforapony.JPG" width="209" /></a></div>
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Or maybe you could win one. <i>Jackie Won a Pony</i>. Wendy won one
too in <i>Wendy Wins a Pony</i>, and so did Tessa in <i>The Prize Pony. The Pony Raffle</i>
might have turned up trumps for you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuptFzJCrAdsM3TQ1m0VU8xJJwPxs7GSlr-UKKQXf2bb2YxgOgWpM0aYs6ZmyL0LObmMgn1jmQjhYkixbk1POLtKIS3KelrfLrM8hnVYjgtw4CbsFi4uI5Ol1Z1eYKn5-tTxc9OoOZVo/s1600/jackie+won.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="407" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuptFzJCrAdsM3TQ1m0VU8xJJwPxs7GSlr-UKKQXf2bb2YxgOgWpM0aYs6ZmyL0LObmMgn1jmQjhYkixbk1POLtKIS3KelrfLrM8hnVYjgtw4CbsFi4uI5Ol1Z1eYKn5-tTxc9OoOZVo/s320/jackie+won.JPG" width="227" /></a></div>
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If you weren’t lucky enough to win a pony, and had to pay
for it, Margaret Stanley Wrench was prepared to ask that question for you in <i>How Much for a Pony</i>? Answers came in
the form of <i>The Penny Pony, Pennies for a Pony </i>and <i>The Bob-a-Job Pony</i>, and,
showing the unfortunate effects of inflation, <i>The Ten Pound Pony</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIv9Nnr3LvWTbOUb8qzFg9MzD0RA51oPtzCsId2u6zL6r08jPIEPlCzWkruFmM-zBnwNOSa-KqdRpzKgb-wueTQJaYL7ql0NgHMPTyMS55V6Wi5xLmVScxNIUG_zfIbwow_nL3cDxQuw/s1600/bobajob1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="346" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIv9Nnr3LvWTbOUb8qzFg9MzD0RA51oPtzCsId2u6zL6r08jPIEPlCzWkruFmM-zBnwNOSa-KqdRpzKgb-wueTQJaYL7ql0NgHMPTyMS55V6Wi5xLmVScxNIUG_zfIbwow_nL3cDxQuw/s320/bobajob1.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
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Some authors had more imaginative solutions than simply buying
a pony. Lucy Daniels had <i>A Pony in the Post</i>. Myrtle Ellen Green came up with
<i>The Part-Exchange Pony</i>, and one of my particular favourites here, <i>A Pony –
Doctor’s Orders! </i>Would that have been a solution to <i>Pony Madness</i>, I wonder? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
If only ponies were available on the NHS.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk08APa9Cm26dYP_yFp0-Eu8Q4IBBlkLpKMAzP92fTNj5vMDb2KYLQp5Kj952uWMCy5wcIcgxxiRvf8i7k_U-cv4C7dKCgHHfTuOaQzM51EyBdwthgimpVY_l_d3RBcDcRh__fMdwqYKM/s1600/ponydoctorsorders.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1065" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk08APa9Cm26dYP_yFp0-Eu8Q4IBBlkLpKMAzP92fTNj5vMDb2KYLQp5Kj952uWMCy5wcIcgxxiRvf8i7k_U-cv4C7dKCgHHfTuOaQzM51EyBdwthgimpVY_l_d3RBcDcRh__fMdwqYKM/s320/ponydoctorsorders.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
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The word ‘pony’ was tacked on to all sorts of things: <i>The
Pony Picnic, Black Pony Inn, </i>and <i>The Wednesday Pony</i>. There were <i>Pony Tracks,
The Pony Clue, Pony Plot </i>and <i>Pony Sleuths</i>. There were <i>Pony Jobs for Jill</i>, and
Sue had a TV Pony. And then two books which really should be shelved together:
<i>The Strawberry-Jam Pony</i> and its friend, <i>The Marmalade Pony</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilpLlnhdLDZLw14ria0W08pC86U_Bd7ErHljBpyp9IS414C0Qr2hXnkoQkh27nImIVk88UhJg7uYe8u0LbpSc9CvfpLSQU-zXSvdfeA_L4hgjJcxrbA-vFKEzV42QdXad7-JcheIBbGLQ/s1600/lavelle-strawberryjam.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="283" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilpLlnhdLDZLw14ria0W08pC86U_Bd7ErHljBpyp9IS414C0Qr2hXnkoQkh27nImIVk88UhJg7uYe8u0LbpSc9CvfpLSQU-zXSvdfeA_L4hgjJcxrbA-vFKEzV42QdXad7-JcheIBbGLQ/s320/lavelle-strawberryjam.JPG" width="207" /></a></div>
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There were titles telling you pretty much all you needed to
know about the pony: <i>Misty the Grey Pony, Asido the Mexican Pony, Sheltie the
Shetland Pony, Molly the New Forest Pony </i>(and<i> Trusty our New Forest Pony</i>), and
another of my favourites, <i>Hua Ma the Flower Pony</i>. And <i>The Pink Pony</i> and <i>Rebel
Pony</i> and <i>The Wild Pony</i> and the <i>No-Good Pony</i>. And there were ponies to pull on
the heartstrings: <i>Nobody’s Pony, Second Best Pony, </i>and <i>The
Lonely Pony</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWysdsagdxds4aIlXHrSkGvKRPhmG8nOa-IMLP-EuemNtbRsYXDpxLQK_lH0GAxbF3hYtAuIPoFIQAvLUukwuEdIsvHxwCFs2laF1TjC5V8Wg94YnXjwr7EAUZayR4_tp9jQJ0KCkHDs/s1600/secondbestpony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="377" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWysdsagdxds4aIlXHrSkGvKRPhmG8nOa-IMLP-EuemNtbRsYXDpxLQK_lH0GAxbF3hYtAuIPoFIQAvLUukwuEdIsvHxwCFs2laF1TjC5V8Wg94YnXjwr7EAUZayR4_tp9jQJ0KCkHDs/s320/secondbestpony.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>
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And if there were plenty of books devoted to getting that
pony, there were certainly those where the opposite was true: <i>The Lost Pony</i> for
a start. Mary Treadgold had<i> No Ponies</i>, where the ponies had disappeared in the
aftermath of the Second World War. Sticking with the theme of doom, she wrote <i>The Rum
Day of the Vanishing Pony</i>. Mary Gervaise wrote an even rummer story where ponies vanished through cracks that opened up in the ground into underground caverns in her <i>The Vanishing Pony. </i>Josephine Pullein-Thompson wrote <i>I Had Two Ponies</i>
about a girl who sells both her ponies in the first chapter. And then comes to
regret it. .More recently, there’s
one of my personal favourites, <i>Trixie and the Dream Pony of Doom</i> which sounds
like the sort of pony that if you had it, you’d want to get rid of it in the
first chapter.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrBcemC9cOsFefm5wkz8KCSbGJf1p_M9HlOiOe13C7mNYt9_OuEJoRq-qxtwA6BndFntKVWOJ60AdjpxJ9htbr-Ev8Ynyu9XJfCTTmQscD1ktMXXXnuaaJ3bwXdmvMMD8DDICtm_-XYI/s1600/trixieandthedreamponyofdoom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1038" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrBcemC9cOsFefm5wkz8KCSbGJf1p_M9HlOiOe13C7mNYt9_OuEJoRq-qxtwA6BndFntKVWOJ60AdjpxJ9htbr-Ev8Ynyu9XJfCTTmQscD1ktMXXXnuaaJ3bwXdmvMMD8DDICtm_-XYI/s320/trixieandthedreamponyofdoom.JPG" width="207" /></a></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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So there you are. All human life is there, tacked on to the
word pony. What are you waiting for? Could you be the author who tackles <i>He
Wanted a Pony</i>? And no one’s written <i>The Instagram Pony </i>yet. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Titles mentioned</b></div>
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In case you’re wondering how you can find the books mentioned in the piece,
here is a full list of the titles mentioned and who they’re by, in author order.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ros Asquith: <i>Trixie and the Dream Pony of Doom</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Judith M Berrisford: <i>Jackie Won a Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Judith M Berrisford: <i>Sue’s TV Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Judith M Berrisford: <i>Nobody’s Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mary Buckland: <i>Trusty Our New Forest Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Beryl Bye: <i>Nobody’s Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Peggie Cannam: <i>She Wanted a Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Joanna Cannan: <i>They Bought Her a Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Catherine Carey: <i>The Pink Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Peter Clover: <i>Sheltie the Shetland Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Primrose Cumming: <i>The Wednesday Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Lucy Daniels: <i>A Pony in the Post</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wendy Douthwaite: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Very Special Pony<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Ruby Ferguson: <i>Pony Jobs for Jill</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Ruby Ferguson: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jill
and the Perfect Pony</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mary Gervaise: <i>The Vanishing Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mary Gervaise: <i>The Pony Clue</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Myrtle Ellen Green: <i>The Part-Exchange Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Myrtle Ellen Green: <i>A Pony – Doctor’s Orders!</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Elinore Havers: <i>Dream Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Elinore Havers: <i>Pony Sleuths</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Elinore Havers: <i>Pony Hunt</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Sarah Hawkins: <i>The Lonely Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Sara Herbert: <i>Pony Plot</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Betty Horsfield: <i>The Pony Fund.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Geraldine Kaye: <i>The Pony Raffle</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Cecilia Knowles: <i>Hua Ma the Flower Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Sheila Lavelle: <i>The Strawberry Jam Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Patricia Leitch: <i>Rebel Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Patricia Leitch: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Magic Pony<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Joyce Mary Lennon: <i>Misty the Grey Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Rita Lyttle: <i>Pony Madness</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Kathleen Mackenzie: <i>The Prize Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Linda Newbery: <i>The Marmalade Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Olive Norton: <i>The Bob-a-Job Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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E H Parsons:<i> Quest for a Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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K M Peyton: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Paradise
Pony<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Christine Pullein-Thompson: <i>The Lost Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Christine Pullein-Thompson: <i>The Pony Picnic</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Christine Pullein-Thompson: <i>Black Pony Inn</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Christine Pullein-Thompson: <i>I Want that Pony!</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Diana Pullein-Thompson: <i>A Pony for Sale</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Diana Pullein-Thompson: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I
Wanted a </i><i>Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Josephine Pullein-Thompson: <i>I Had Two Ponies</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Josephine Pullein-Thompson: <i>The No-Good Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Lucy Rees: <i>The Wild Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Lady Kitty Ritson: <i>Molly the New Forest Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mary Sharp: <i>Second Best Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Catherine Spencer: <i>Pennies for a Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Elizabeth Sprigge: <i>Pony Tracks</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mary Treadgold: <i>No Ponies</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mary Treadgold: <i>The Rum Day of the Vanishing Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Cecil G Trew: <i>Asido the Mexican Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Veronica Westlake: <i>The Ten Pound Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Constance White: <i>Dream Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Barbara Willard: <i>The Penny Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Dorian Williams: <i>Wendy Wins a Pony</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Margaret Stanley Wrench: <i>How Much for a Pony?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-58737451523613856862018-03-19T15:14:00.000+00:002018-03-20T09:12:18.791+00:00A supermarket for horses: the Horse Bazaar of Baker Street<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The vast shopping centre is something we’re all used to, but it’s not where you’d go if you wanted to buy a horse. In the early years of the 19th century, it is exactly where you would have gone, particularly if you’d wanted to mix with the fashionable. I must admit that before this week, I’d not given a great deal of thought to how horses were bought and sold in the nineteenth century, but I was asked if I knew about a riding school that had once existed in King Street, off Baker Street in London. I didn’t, but I investigated. I found that there had been a riding school which occupied the former King Street Barracks, established in 1822. And it was far, far more than a riding school. Whatever your equine need, the Horse Bazaar could meet it: horses, carriages, equipment – it was all there.</div>
<br />
Horace Wellbeloved MA wrote an 1826 guidebook for visitors to London so that they missed none of the delights it had to offer. <i>London Lions for Country Cousins and Beyond</i> included the Horse Bazaar as something one must not miss, along with London Bridges new and old, Mr Busby’s self-moving Orrery and the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly. <br />
<br />
The entire operation covered two acres of ground. It had space for around 400 horses and 500 carriages, all sold on the commission model. You could buy hunters and carriage horses, hackneys, ponies and ladies’ horses; phaetons, stanhopes, dennets, dog carts and pony gigs. There was a ‘capacious riding-house’, room to exercise horses, saloons for harness and saddlery, and plenty for people to do should they tire of inspecting the Bazaar’s equine glories. <i>The London Courier and Evening Gazette</i> advertised ‘a Diorama of the Picturesque View of the PASS of SALZBOURG, with WATER-FALL’ in August 1828 – just one of many on show.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKKCIqUzgpVWNXGBXUAjLDYX7OzFfFp4FeKEQLbZiVo_yToms4SW6f4iOAEGxf68WWbxwwcASiwjb00da9Ga82onEGZxzVveSkST-hqXcOImxUi2zvtGBIe9nMvfRqz-Xlznx9nrkqV4/s1600/horse+bazaar+portman+square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="834" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKKCIqUzgpVWNXGBXUAjLDYX7OzFfFp4FeKEQLbZiVo_yToms4SW6f4iOAEGxf68WWbxwwcASiwjb00da9Ga82onEGZxzVveSkST-hqXcOImxUi2zvtGBIe9nMvfRqz-Xlznx9nrkqV4/s320/horse+bazaar+portman+square.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>From London Lions for Country Cousins</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There were three coffee rooms that could supply you with tea, coffee, sandwiches, ices, confectionery and fruit. There was a waiting room, as well as private subscription rooms (the largest was 133 feet long and 47 feet wide). In one year, the operation was said to have turned over more than half a million pounds (around a staggering £35 million today).<br />
<br />
The Horse Bazaar was staffed by an identically dressed army of grooms, who wore ‘white trousers, blue spencer jackets and blue foraging caps with white bands and top-knots – all silent as the members of a Carthusian convent’. The only sound to be heard was the tramp of horses’ hooves. This unexpected silence, wrote Terence Templeton, was due to the fact ‘no liquor is allowed to enter the bazaar’. ‘You may seek’, he said, ‘no other explanation of the mystery. A set of English ostlers and grooms would as soon think of talking without a tongue as without liquor to set it in motion.’ That the ostlers and grooms may have preferred silent communion with their horses to the chatter of tourists appears not to have occurred to him. <br />
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Horses and carriages were sold via weekly auctions: whether they were also sold outside these times, I am not clear, but I find it difficult to believe that a ready purchaser for a fine carriage horse would have been turned away. The auctions themselves were prey to at least some of the shenanigans that plagued horse selling then and now: a ‘Looker-on’ noted in the <i>Sporting Magazine</i> of November 1822 that two six-year-old horses were sold in quick succession as the sons of Sir Peter – a rare achievement, he remarked, as it was then 1822 and Sir Peter had died in 1811. <br />
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The Bazaar was a huge social success. Young bloods of family and fashion visited, together with those ‘whose passion for horse absorbs and supersedes all others’, and those who made their living from horses. Many ‘ladies in the first rank and fashion’ visited daily, although only after noon, so that the stables were perfectly in order. Royalty appeared. In 1830, the London Evening Standard mentioned that Prince Frederick of Prussia had gone to inspect the Bazaar.<br />
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All this glory was the responsibility of Mr George Young, the proprietor. Mr Young was not the owner of the whole: Templeton, in his long, long letter to his cousin Frank in the <i>New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal</i>, 1825, hints that there was ‘another manager still more supreme.’ This was John Maberly, MP, who went spectacularly bankrupt in 1832, but the Horse Bazaar appeared to have found another owner, for it continued, with varied success. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyg3qqsVeG1eDz5QzzOWwsD7ud67fN8zODyRfmbNPOOokbGuMlEM-OxIMXjz7jFXxbIpH-QgQDSNmyYKDhF2cz80OnmI8otDSeccPTJUJjEqXeCljVLucyQfg2YT1qVMJZJ8c32HAm7I/s1600/carriage+auction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="760" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyg3qqsVeG1eDz5QzzOWwsD7ud67fN8zODyRfmbNPOOokbGuMlEM-OxIMXjz7jFXxbIpH-QgQDSNmyYKDhF2cz80OnmI8otDSeccPTJUJjEqXeCljVLucyQfg2YT1qVMJZJ8c32HAm7I/s320/carriage+auction.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Copyright Grace's Guide</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The Horse Bazaar’s success with fashionable visitors does not appear to have lasted: perhaps public taste simply moved on. But the Bazaar carried on being part of public life, in ways that you wouldn’t necessarily predict. It was the first home of Madame Tussaud’s waxworks, the site of the Smithfield agricultural show, and housed one of London’s first indoor ice rinks. <br />
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The Bazaar played its own small part in the political history of the nation due to the space it provided for mass meetings. In October 1831 the Reform Bill was rejected by the House of Lords. The bill was intended to make elections fairer and remove some of the abuses of the electoral system that then existed. Rather than constituencies, the country was then divided into counties and boroughs, which returned MPs. Some boroughs had very few electors: in one notorious case, Sarum Hill in Wiltshire, none, meaning that its owners, the Pitt family, could return whoever they liked as MP, with no opposition whatsoever. Other boroughs had as many as 12,000 electors. <br />
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Neither was there any consistency in who could vote. Some boroughs required you to own land, with others merely requiring of their voters that they lived in a house with a hearth sufficient to boil a pot. <br />
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There was huge general enthusiasm for the Bill, except amongst those who had most to lose. After the Lords threw out the Reform Bill, a meeting was called for the parishioners of Marylebone to assemble at the Horse Bazaar to ‘address the King, support his minsters and consult on the present state of affairs ... the inhabitants are desired to devote Monday next solemnly to these objects, to suspend all business and shut up their shops.’ So many people turned up (around 30,000, it was said, could not get in) that the meeting adjourned to Hyde Park, and then on to Regents Park in case the meeting was declared as illegal as being outside the parish boundaries. Partly as a result of the considerable public support for the Bill, the Reform Act of 1832 was passed, removing rotten boroughs, and (slightly) extending the vote. <br />
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The Horse Bazaar’s extensive grounds allowed it to become home to the Smithfield Show (the country’s major agricultural show) in 1839, until the show moved to Islington in 1862. The show lasted four days, and attracted thousands of visitors, particularly after the Royal Family began to attend. Prince Albert both visited and exhibited. In 1844, a polled ox he had bred was bought for 60 guineas by Her Majesty’s butcher, and in 1848, he won first prize for the best Hereford ox. <br />
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By 1842, when Charles Knight wrote <i>Knight’s London</i>, horses were no longer sold, but carriages and harness were, as well as furniture and stoves. The premises were described as ‘too extensive’, which is presumably why the waxworks exhibition, and artificial ice Knight described were now features. The Bazaar site provided a home for Madame Tussaud’s waxworks from 1836, and by 1867, Tussauds occupied much of the site. The equine element continued to decline as furniture sellers Druce, and Madame Tussauds expanded. By 1908, most of the site was occupied by Druce and Madame Tussauds, though there was still room for the storage of ‘empty coffins, false bears, volatile dukes, lead and bricks in bulk …’ as reported by Donald Shaw in <i>London in the Sixties</i>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKG42wMLWXiJf_0xRxdAmEVdSdBLSfOeVSj9qkWqi8m566JtHTySwIEXuepq5ijDqFYyx2QZn4IgY_qKhmyW5plAepqCK-BuW84IyCnfRd8LWnTBF92d8h6DhDKxcDR_xFycBZmZwITo/s1600/bomb+damage+westminster+city+archive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="425" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKG42wMLWXiJf_0xRxdAmEVdSdBLSfOeVSj9qkWqi8m566JtHTySwIEXuepq5ijDqFYyx2QZn4IgY_qKhmyW5plAepqCK-BuW84IyCnfRd8LWnTBF92d8h6DhDKxcDR_xFycBZmZwITo/s320/bomb+damage+westminster+city+archive.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Copyright Westminster City Archive</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Horse Bazaar no longer exists. The Druce site was bombed in 1940, and took several more direct hits as the war progressed. The site was cleared, and the Horse Bazaar was replaced in 1957 by Marks and Spencer’s then headquarters, and is now the site of a complex of offices and shops. Google Earth reveals now not the faintest flicker of a horse.<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Some Horse Bazaar
snippets<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<ul>
<li>There is a piece of film footage of the fire after Druce’s
was bombed. There’s no direct link, but you can see the piece <a href="http://www.westendatwar.org.uk/page_id__136.aspx?path=0p27p">here</a>.</li>
<li>The Druce family were part of a famous Victorian court case:
the <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/exhibitions/online/fromparchmenttopixels/thedrucecase.aspx">Druce-Portland
case</a>, in which the wife of Thomas Druce claimed her husband had not died in
1864, but instead had resumed his life as the Duke of Portland. She therefore
claimed her children were heirs to the dukedom. The case was dismissed.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.stjohnswoodmemories.org.uk/content/samuel-godley/about-the-project/about-samuel-godley">Samuel
Godley</a>, a hero of Waterloo, worked at the Horse Bazaar after leaving the army
due to ill health.</li>
<li>Copyright-free images of the Smithfield Show are
surprisingly difficult to find, but <a href="http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/smithfield-show.html">follow this link
and you’ll get some idea of what it looked like</a>.</li>
<li>Another image of the Horse Bazaar <a href="http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-paddington-church-st-johns-exchange-baker-street-horse-bazaar-1832-106874618.html">here</a>.</li>
</ul>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sources<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The information on the Horse Bazaar’s involvement in the
Reform Act is from:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;">'Papers: 1831', in <em><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">London Radicalism 1830-1843: A
Selection of the Papers of Francis Place</span></em>, ed. D J Rowe (London,
1970), pp. 34-48. <em><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">British
History Online</span></em> http://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-record-soc/vol5/pp34-48
[accessed 15 March 2018].</span><o:p></o:p></div>
All other sources are referenced in the text.</div>
Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-4450389273725705772018-02-03T12:32:00.002+00:002018-02-03T12:33:10.476+00:00Review: Jessica Naomi Rise - After the Pony Club<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve had this lurking on the Kindle for a while, but had
forgotten about it until I was sitting at the vet’s with the cat. It’s a continuation
of Josephine Pullein-Thompson’s Noel and Henry series, and as you’d expect from
the title, looks at what happens now they’re at that interesting period between
a secure school-based existence, and making their own lives. And thereby, I
think, hangs whether you’re going to like this book or not. If you wonder what
characters would be like outside the confines of a children’s book, then give
this a go. I enjoyed it. If you’re not a fan of the Chalet Girls Grow Up kind
of fanfic, which takes a set of beloved characters and gives them anything but
the cosy existence they have in the books, then you’ll hate it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The action centres around the Holbrookes’ house again, over
the Christmas holidays. Dick is back from Oxford, and finds his father has sold
his pony, Crispin, brutally, and without letting him know, for meat. Noel is
doing some rather desultory riding reaching, and Henry is on leave from the
Army. John is farming, and Susan is living at home, not doing a great deal
apart from being irritated by her family. It soon becomes clear that there’s
quite a lot more going on than that. Susan is unsure how much she likes John;
Henry knows just how much he likes Noel, but something seems to have gone wrong
somewhere. And Dick, poor Dick, is devastated by the loss of Crispin, and it is
the straw that breaks the camel’s back.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Without giving too much away, it’s Dick’s situation that you’ll
need to swallow wholeheartedly if you’re going to have any sympathy with what
the author has done, for Dick is struggling, and he is the pivot around which
everything else turns. <o:p></o:p></div>
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While I’m on the subject of Dick I was surprised that his riding
ability seems to have taken a dive, which is odd when he’s considered one of the
more capable riders in the series. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But other than that, the author does a good job of making
the characters sound authentically themselves, but just a little older. I particularly
enjoyed Rose’s portrayal of their shifting perceptions of how they should live
their lives, and that I think is the book’s greatest strength, because I didn’t
doubt for one second that the characters would behave in the way she has them
do. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you do decide to take the plunge, let me know what you
think: I’d love to know. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Pony-Club-Naomi-Jessica/dp/1521740453">You can buy the book from Amazon</a>.</div>
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<b>Other stuff</b></div>
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<a href="http://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/pt/jpthome.html">Everything Josephine Pullein-Thompson wrote</a></div>
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<a href="http://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/pt/jptint1.html">My interview with Josephine Pullein-Thompson</a></div>
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<a href="http://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/pt/jptart1.html">A piece I wrote for Fidra Books' re-publication of the Noel and Henry series</a></div>
Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-20777728205547089282018-01-19T08:50:00.000+00:002018-01-19T11:30:40.944+00:00If you were a pony-mad child in the sixties and seventies<div class="MsoNormal">
(With more than a nod to <i>Horse and Hound, </i>who have done similar things for the 80s and 90s.)</div>
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Elephant-ear jodphurs were still a thing</div>
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The Jacatex page in PONY Magazine was something you poured over
for hours at a time, trying to work out if there was some way you could magic
together the enormous amount of shillings necessary to get the ‘Pat’ riding mac.
Or the ‘Pat’ hacking jacket. Or the ‘Pat’ jodphurs. Anything, really, that wasn’t
the elephant ear jodphurs that were about third-hand when you got them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Reading PONY Magazine cover-to-cover, even Pat and Pickles,
which somehow you never really took to.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Knowing <i>Jill’s Gymkhana </i>off by heart. And <i>Jackie Won a Pony</i>.
And <i>I Had Two Ponies</i>. And <i>No Mistaking Corker</i>. And any other pony book you
could get your hands on.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Riding ponies up from the field in just a headcollar. You had
a hat as a small nod to health and safety.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Your riding teacher thinking that standing on the pony’s
quarters as it was going round the field was a totally acceptable thing to do
(after all, he’d done it in the Army).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Seeing said instructor demonstrating full scissors after you’d
at last managed to master half-scissors, and knowing that you’d never, ever,
get there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Becoming aware that there was a bit of a disconnect between
some riding instructors who were all about collection and dressage, and others
who, well, weren’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You spent hours and hours trying to come up with a suitably
witty slogan to win the tie-breaker on the WH Smith Win-a-Pony competition.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You looked forward to the school holidays when<i> White Horses</i>
and <i>Champion the Wonder Horse</i> would suddenly appear on television.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iR6z8GUywyc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iR6z8GUywyc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Becoming conveniently deaf when it was suggested by your
nearest and dearest that there were other things in life besides horses and ponies.
But that’s universal, whenever you grew up.<o:p></o:p></div>
Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-74461303722027470902017-05-05T09:36:00.002+01:002017-05-05T09:42:04.809+01:00An interview with Frances Bell, artist<div class="MsoNormal">
I'm delighted to have been able to interview Frances Bell, equestrian artist. I have seen a lot of sporting art over the years, and what I love about Frances' paintings are her fresh take on horses at work. We're all familiar with the traditional portrayal of horses galloping over fields, but Frances' works take another view.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I used to cover my jotter with
drawings of horses when I was at school, and still draw rather inaccurate
horses now if bored in meetings. Have horses and art always been something that
for you, have gone together? </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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I
also drew a lot as a child, and horses were among the subjects. This was mainly
because I was interested in horses, so along with my other hobbies I attempted
to draw them. I loved the idea of capturing the individual horses, but
didn't often succeed! As I got to being a teenager I became more aware of the
huge history of horses in art. I remember seeing Stubbs' <i>Whistlejacket </i>on a postcard
and thinking that this was a masterpiece (I still do) and the sporting art of
Snaffles, Lionel Edwards and Munnings was rolling around in my head too. So as
a broader interest in art flourished, I kept a view of the equine subject and
its most dedicated painters.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Are there any
artists (equine or otherwise!) whose works you have been inspired by?</i><br />
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On
top of the others I mention above, I think that now I look at lot to Munnings.
His technique is very much of interest, as is the style of another very great
portrait painter John Singer Sargent (who himself painted the odd horse) as
they share an affinity of style. I love the long broad stroke that Munnings
uses. It's extremely hard to do!<o:p></o:p></div>
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But
the joy is that you discover painters all the time who employ the equine
subject, as horses, like dogs, have accompanied us through so much of human
history and they therefore pop up on all the art and sculpture too. This rich
history feeds a modern painter’s ideas.</div>
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<i>You’re
a portrait and landscape painter as well as an equine artist. Are there any
particular themes you like to explore through horses?</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I
think equine art has been fairly broad in its subject matter. You have
everything from pastoral scenes to portraits of kings, and sporting art, farm
and city life and cartoons, so you can go a lot of ways with it, but I think
like with all my work, I must feel happy that I'm getting my artistic idea
across. This is usually less thought than an atmosphere, using light, setting
and composition, and into that frame I collect features to do the talking for
me. I think horses, farm animals, humans and landscape do this so well, as
people relate so vibrantly to all these things.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Does painting
horses bring out a different response in you than painting people or
landscapes? Are there things you feel you can say more easily through using the
horse? </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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I
think horses add to a painting in their own right, I'm not sure that there are
messages that can be best conveyed through horses, but as I said before we
share such history with them, they increase our artistic story too.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>You’ve worked as a
sporting artist, an area of the art world that was very much an all-male
preserve. What is it like, as a woman, working in this area?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Historically,
as with so many professions, a glass ceiling has existed for women, though I
would maintain that the a few artistic endeavours like literature and in some
cases painting are small rays of light where females did acquire some training
and then great merit. But I'm struggling to think of a painter of wildlife and
animals (though I'm useless on most art history) before Sue Crawford, who
dominated, and was female. But one of the attractions to art for me was the
very competent water colours of a great grandmother who did the typical
Victorian pastime of painting. So, some interesting things came out of enforced
artistic hobbies!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>The
world of sporting art can be very traditional, but your paintings are not the
conventional horse, rider, jump picture that pops into the mind when you think
of sporting art. How do you feel about working within a genre that has very
definite expectations of what it expects to see in the finished article? </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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My
recent horse paintings have been a slight departure from the stereotypical
composition for an equine scene. I got the idea that I would try to paint
horses, most likely hunters, who've just reached the end of a long gallop and
therefore are tired and steaming. Basically, they would look nothing like the
neat, pampered, well turned out animal that arrives at the meet, and more the
well exercised and happy horse. Munnings did this for race horses, and they are
some of my favourites of his, but it's much harder to get to the right place
with an easel in the Northumbrian hills! I had to improvise! <o:p></o:p><span style="background-color: transparent;">I had to paint very quickly from memory, and from a couple of photos hastily
taken on my phone the second I got off my own horse. If you get going the
moment you get to the studio you retain a lot more. </span></div>
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<i>You have an
exhibition on just now. What are your plans for the future?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
I have two paintings at the <a href="http://therp.co.uk/">Royal Society of Portrait Painters</a>' annual exhibition in May. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
I also have works for sale on the
<a href="http://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/artist/frances-bell">Mall Galleries Buy Art, Buy Now platform</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<a href="https://www.francesbellpaintings.co.uk/">Frances Bell's website</a></div>
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Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-81681646937112496592017-01-03T15:16:00.001+00:002017-01-03T15:17:41.434+00:00Pony Tails and Puffin Books III: Kaye Webb<div class="MsoNormal">
Eleanor Graham retired as editor of Puffin Books in 1961.
Her place was taken, briefly, by Margaret Clark (who was responsible for
publishing Tolkein’s <i>The Hobbit</i>, a
book of which Eleanor Graham had had a dim opinion). Although Margaret Clark
had been promised the Puffin editorship, she was shunted sideways, as Allen
Lane, Penguin founder, met Kaye Webb and saw in her an inspirational editor of
children’s books.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Webb was appointed in 1961. She had previously edited <i>Elizabethan </i>(a magazine I never saw–the
nearest I got was Nigel’s mention of it in Willan and Searle’s Down with Skool
series). Her career history had covered many aspects of the creative world,
from working as a 15-year-old for <i>Mickey
Mouse Weekly</i>, replying to children’s letters, to broadcasting for <i>Woman’s Hour</i>, and working with her then
husband, Ronald Searle, on several of his books.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Webb was not just an editor and brilliant spotter of the
unusual and the best: she was an inspired promoter. There is little point in
choosing inspirational literature if no one actually reads it. Frank Cottrell
Boyce, in his review of Valerie Grove’s biography of Webb, said: ‘Puffin wasn’t
a brand, it was a community.’<o:p></o:p></div>
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There was the Puffin Club. The Puffin magazine. Puffin
events, with Webb cajoling authors into attending tea parties to meet their
readers, or spiriting children off to the island of Lundy to meet real live
Puffins.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But all this fantastic energy did not embrace the
conventional pony book. Cottrell Boyce said:<o:p></o:p></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
‘Webb had a sense of mission. She went looking for stories
“with pace and a strong moral sense, without being prim”. She didn’t do pony
books or franchises. She didn’t care about commercial pressure.’</blockquote>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whatever Webb thought of the traditional pony book, she
recognised that the genre did contain plums, and she picked them. It was Kaye
Webb who brought out K M Peyton’s brilliant Flambards series as a TV tie-in.
The series<i> </i>had the twin pull of being
both critically acclaimed<i> </i>(<i>The Edge of the Cloud</i> won the Carnegie
in 1969), and pulling in a vast number of new readers through its serialisation
on television. (<i>Flambards</i>, 1976, <i>Flambards in Summer</i>, <i>The Edge of the Cloud</i>, 1977)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Webb’s first pony book publication in 1964 was another
Carnegie winner: Mary Treadgold’s wartime adventure, <i>We Couldn’t Leave Dinah</i>, won in 1941. It set the scene for a collection
of horse stories that did not follow the conventional pony book trope of girl
gets pony and wins every gymkhana event within spitting distance. Caroline
dreams of a golden summer of ponies and the Pony Club, but that’s not what she
gets. What she gets is war, and invasion, and a rapid reassessment of the world
she thinks she knows, and the people in it. And Dinah, the pony, is indeed left.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Webb found stories of Australian children where horses are
set against an everyday life that is harsh and sometimes brutal (Mary Elwyn
Patchett’s <i>The Brumby</i> (1964), its
1972 sequel, <i>Come Home, Brumby</i>, and
Joan Phipson’s <i>The Boundary Riders</i> (1964)).
<o:p></o:p></div>
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She went to America for William Corbin’s excellent <i>The Horse in the House</i> (1969), a
combination of coming of age story, lightly drawn romance (anathema for the
conventional pony story) and a brilliant picture of grief and plain, goofy,
teenagerdom. It was one of my absolute favourites as a child, and I can still remember
where the book lived in our local library. It was the Puffin edition, which the
library had converted into a hardback, leaving it a lumpier version of its
original self, but one that stood up to the many, many times I took the book
out. </div>
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Swedish author, Gunnel Linde, wrote <i>A
Pony in the Luggage</i> (1972), where two children who smuggle a pony up into
their hotel room manage to keep this large and inconvenient visitor a secret
from their disapproving aunt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The comfortable, middle-class girls who inhabit most pony
fiction were given short shrift by Kaye Webb. Her horse story heroes, were, in
the main, at the opposite end of the social spectrum. They struggled against
far more than the fact they did not have a pony. She published the story of Kizzy,
a Romany, in Rumer Godden’s <i>The Diddakoi </i>(1975),
and visited Catherine Cookson’s North-Eastern landscape of mines and rag and
bone men in <i>The Nipper </i>(1973) and <i>Joe and the Gladiator</i> (1971). The heroine of Rumer Godden’s <i>Mr McFadden’s Hallowe’en</i> will never be
able to afford her own pony, and Florence Hightower’s family, in <i>Dark Horse of Woodfield </i>(1973) might
once have been wealthy, but are now experiencing a dramatically different way
of life in the American Depression. Eilis Dillon’s <i>The Island of Horses</i> (1976) gave the reader warring communities and
a life lived against a background of unforgiving nature. Irene Makin’s <i>Ponies in the Attic</i>, 1973, is about the
tensions between a child who has lost the middle-class dream, and one who still
has it.</div>
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Even where the background is rather more conventional, the
story is not. <i>Ponies Plot</i> (1967), by
C Northcote Parkinson, subverts the pony genre completely. It is the ponies who
are in charge here, and it is the ponies whose dream is to find a child of
their very own. The pony is also allowed a say, if not so directly, in James
Aldridge’s <i>Ride a Wild Pony</i> (1976), a
judgement of Solomon in equine form, in which the disputed pony is allowed to
choose its owner.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjliKTWbLjsQigm5JZMBXnav39pcblQh4Qhf3xuIxik3nkf1x69xgd1S8rFe4sGu4TSsfZlY-dRDj-Oip2w_6qqR9Oj99B-aydqbDIdKGsQmz-eUbYBlvh7EcaRm0bTCrNjEhisY6S4itQ/s1600/ponies+plot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjliKTWbLjsQigm5JZMBXnav39pcblQh4Qhf3xuIxik3nkf1x69xgd1S8rFe4sGu4TSsfZlY-dRDj-Oip2w_6qqR9Oj99B-aydqbDIdKGsQmz-eUbYBlvh7EcaRm0bTCrNjEhisY6S4itQ/s320/ponies+plot.JPG" width="196" /></a></div>
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Lucy Rees’ Pippa, in <i>The
Wild Pony</i> (1978) comes closest of all to the pony book dream when she moves
with her family to Wales. Like many other pony book heroines, the move to the
country means the possibility of a pony, if only she will work for it. Pippa
does, but the pony she buys is wild and difficult, and Pippa’s life spirals into
misunderstanding and tragedy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHZB0pDhf1KcBXxgpvDcYIV9FzO4rfUuZDpC8u70aREzmJYIUdj_n-peVeNopB8CJyiYqXJjGIL1plEabtviC1tBPySH_loN7FEm0iaY76j6yL-P0hAWz5_qZOKqiWF6Eh5J9J49shNY/s1600/wild+pony.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHZB0pDhf1KcBXxgpvDcYIV9FzO4rfUuZDpC8u70aREzmJYIUdj_n-peVeNopB8CJyiYqXJjGIL1plEabtviC1tBPySH_loN7FEm0iaY76j6yL-P0hAWz5_qZOKqiWF6Eh5J9J49shNY/s320/wild+pony.JPG" width="203" /></a></div>
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Puffin Books took off in a major way under Kaye Webb. I can
still recognise from 20 paces the spine of a Webb-era Puffin paperback, and
know that I am guaranteed to get an intelligent and interesting read even
though I am now several decades too old for the Puffin Club. Kaye Webb avoided
the predictability and the shallows of genre fiction, but was astute enough to
recognise that any genre can contain its gems, and that every child, no matter
what their taste for fiction, deserves the very best. And that was what she
gave them.</div>
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~0~</div>
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<i>This is the last of my
pieces on Puffin books and the horse story. You can read the two earlier pieces
here:<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><a href="http://booksandmud.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/pony-tails-and-puffin-books-ii.html">Puffin Picture Books</a><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><a href="http://booksandmud.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/pony-tales-and-puffin-books-i.html">Eleanor Graham and the Puffin Story Books</a><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<b>Sources</b></div>
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Phil Baines: Puffin by Design, 70 Years of Imagination 1940-2010 (2010)</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Frank Cottrell Boyce: review of Valerie Grove’s <i>So Much to Tell</i>, The Times, 8 May, 2010 (paywall)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kaye Webb’s Puffin Adventure: <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/7651245/Kaye-Webbs-Puffin-adventure.html">The Daily Telegraph</a>, 30 April, 2010 <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Kaye Webb: Obituary, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-kaye-webb-1324557.html">The Independent</a>, 18 January 1996</div>
Jane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.com8