Ratcliff, Delphine

About the author

Delphine Ratcliff is another Crown Pony Library author. Delphine Ratcliff came from a creative horsy family: she was the daughter of John (Jack) Ivester Lloyd, and the grand-daughter of Tom Ivester Lloyd. Stanley Lloyd was her great uncle. Delphine herself didn’t start writing until her twins, the youngest of her four children, had left home. She wrote just the two books (The Golden Pony and Clear Round for Katy) , as well as a short story I found in Pony Magazine Annual.

Delphine Ratcliff died at the age of 75 in 2005.

Finding the books
Both the books are easy to find.

Sources
Many thanks to Carol Hewson, Delphine’s daughter, for all the biographical information.


Bibliography


The Golden Pony

Lutterworth, Guildford, 1966, 126 pp.  Crown Ponies no. 8

The blurb:
“Sherry, a golden filly, is born and spends her peaceful early days on a farm. Her adventures begin when she is sold as a promising show pony. She passes through the hands of several owners, good riders such as Miss Linton and the Wests; weak, difficult riders such as Ann Hughes and Fenella Fox and one kind but inexperienced rider, Mary Bell. An accident ends Sherry’s career as a show pony; but it does not matter as she has already found a happy, lasting home with Robin West and his sister Jane – where a little later, another, even more perfect golden pony is
born.”

Clear Round for Katy

Lutterworth, Guildford, 1967, 128 pp. Crown Ponies no. 9 (Crown Pony Series)
Lutterworth, pb, 1976, cover photo Cedric E Bush

Katy wants to become an assistant instructress, and, lucky thing, her parents and the riding stable owner are sympathetic. As the school becomes busier, the owner, Anne, buys new horses. One of them, Bracken, teaches Katy not to judge a horse on its first awful appearance.