Buckingham, M E

PHARI, THE ADVENTURES OF A TIBETAN PONY

Country Life, 1933, illus K F Barker
Junior Country Life Library, illus K F Barker, date unknown

Phari is “the highest village in the world”, and it is where Phari the pony lives. He is a Bhutia (Bhutan) pony, and he and his mother are bought by Ta-lung. He turns out to be extremely fast, but he will not be parted from Thunder the mule, and Mr Martin, who buys him, has to buy Thunder too. Mr Martin’s daughter, Mary, falls for Phari, and Phari becomes an excellent polo pony. He is then stolen by Mirzah Khan’s men, and is sold to the British Army to fight on the frontier. He does bravely and well, and eventually finds his way back to Mary.

Many thanks to Amanda Dolby for the picture.

ZONG, A HILL PONY

Country Life, 1934, illus K F Barker

The Boreland family are contacted by the man who sold them Phari, with news of a splendid three-year-old pony, a son of Phari. What the family were not told is that the pony is known as The Imp of Darkness, with good reason.  

Many thanks to Amanda Dolby for the picture.

the great carlos

Country Life, 1945, illus H Radcliffe Wilson, 160 pp.
Reprinted 1947

Carlos is an Indian boy who has run away from whom and who survives on his wits. He discovers that he has a remarkable way with animals, and trains a pony and four dogs to perform all sorts of tricks. This attracts the attention of an English planter, who enables Carlos to come to England and achieve his great ambition of appearing in a circus.