PBOTD: 29th April, Richard Carpenter:

-
Following on from the Black Beauty theme is a book which takes up where the book leaves off: though it does turn Beauty into a Victorian version of Champion the Wonder Horse, full of amazing abilities. I didn't care when I watched the series. They could just have replayed the opening scenes with Beauty galloping up the hill a hundred times, and I'd still have watched. 

I can't actually remember much about the series now. What I do remember is that I wanted to be Judi Bowker. I was quite some way off. I've got over wanting to be Judi now, but Beauty - I still want him.



The Adventures of Black Beauty stories were written by several scriptwriters. Richard Carpenter (who also wrote Catweazle, Robin of Sherwood and another favourite of mine, The Ghosts of Motley Hall) contributed 17 out of the 52 episodes. Some of them were turned into book form. and that's how The Best of Black Beauty came about. The stories see Ned learning to ride, Jonah the donkey (I have completely forgotten Jonah the donkey, sadly, which says much about my ability to be swayed by beauty), Kevin rescuing a damsel in distress, and here's what Black Beauty does:  "....and through it all the reassuring figure of Black Beauty looked on - helping out where he could, defending the family who looked after him, and joining in the happy endings." What more could you want?

I can't resist it. Here's the theme music and the opening credits:

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rollkur and the blue tongue

-
I've been meaning to write about this all week, but reading the exclusive in Horse and Hound about the controversy tipped me over the edge. For my non-horsy readers, rollkur is a training/warming up technique used by some dressage riders. It basically involves riding the horse with its jaw pulled in virtually to its chest, in order to increase suppleness. Patrik Kittel , a Swedish competitor in Odense was videoed riding his horse in this way. If you watch the video , you'll see the horse's tongue hanging out - blue. It takes a while before the rider notices this. When he does, he stops, puts the horse's tongue back in, and carries on. There are two things which bother me about this. Firstly, I am fully aware large sections of the dressage world, and some of its brighest stars, consider rollkur perfectly ok, but the FEI guidelines state this practice should only be for short periods, allowing the horse to rest. Patrick Kittel apparently rode the horse for two hou
Read more

Archibald, don't eat the bedclothes

-
Image
My friend Louise sent me this picture today. It's from a children's book with the rather wince-making title For The Wee Ones. I thought, when I read that (because I read the message before I looked at the picture) that the picture was going to be a typical winsome production from the school of artists who think (or who are paid to think) that the child is a thing sent from God and a blissful thing. They had obviously never met a child, and certainly not mine. I should have known Louise better. The artist responsible for Archibald, don't eat the bedclothes slipped this one past the editors. Just look at the poor, broken Mother Rabbit. She knows she has not the faintest chance of being listened to, and poor thing, she is stooped in the way of a mother to whom this is just the lastest in a long line of horror; with nothing good to come. And Archibald is obviously the spawn of the Devil. Just look at those eyes. He'll have the bed after he's finished the bedclothes
Read more

Dick Sparrow - 40 Horse Hitch, and Neil Dimmock's 46 Percherons

-
Image
Here's a clip of Dick Sparrow driving 40 horses. It's an amazing sight, particularly when the shot changes to show the team from the rear and you get the great incongruity of modern American corporate architecture as a background to the wagon and horses. I love the anticipation in the video: the sense of something amazing being just round the corner is palpable. Thanks to Christina Wilsdon for telling me about this world record 46 Percheron hitch (alas just stills) but you get the idea.
Read more