Category: Pony books
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Finding Jinny
by Siân Shipley I remember it like it was yesterday. 1993. Down past the shopping precinct, the cricket pitch, the playing fields and back again. My schoolfriend Becky, sat on her chestnut pony Pepe outside the bakery, holding the reins of big bay Jolly whilst her Mam queued for sausage rolls. The surgery, the play-ground,…
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Step Back into Childhood: pony book heaven
Step Back Into Childhood April 7–21 2025 It’s been a whirlwind few months, working on this exhibition. The Museum of the Horse in Tuxford is the most amazing place to visit. I love visiting the museum, and seeing all those things that connect us to a world that’s now gone. The Museum’s new exhibition, Step…
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Did men write pony books?
This post originally appeared on my old blog. I had completely forgotten I had written it until I was searching for information on Antonio Fachiri. I read it, and thought, oh, that’s not too bad, is it? So here it is again. Recently I’ve been thinking about male authors who write horse and pony books…
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K M Peyton: the girls, the horses, the passion
K M Peyton, MBE, died this week at the age of 94. She won the Carnegie medal for The Edge of the Cloud, and in over forty horse books, captured completely that passionate obsession girls have for the horse. Her characters were Romans, Victorians, Edwardians and thoroughly modern day. What they shared was a clear-sighted…
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Short story collections (UK)
The books There are a lot of collections of short stories out there. They were convenient presents for those who had a pony-mad person to buy for, but who didn’t know what they liked. The books could be put together easily if you simply went for extracts, dressing the book up further by getting a…
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What to call your pony book
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…
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The big Jill quiz
Bored? Think you know Ruby Ferguson’s Jill books? Try this quiz.
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Thelwell and the ponies who plot
Norman Thelwell was probably best known for his ponies. He was the illustrator of many pony-mad children’s childhoods: not the lovely dream of a matchless grey swishing round the show ring, festooned with rosettes, but the foul tempered pony determined not to be caught and entirely deaf to any suggestion that it be schooled. Much…
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Caroline Akrill on Courses for Horses – the Return of the Fanes
It’s been thirty years, but the fourth and final part of the Eventers’ series – Courses for Horses – is now out. Here Caroline talks about what it was like to take Elaine and the Fanes on their latest journey. *** How did you get into writing the original Eventing series? I had written the…
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Writing a Pony Book: the Rules
Ever felt you would like to write a pony book? After a lifetime reading pony books, I have spotted the odd thing or two along the way I think prospective authors really should know before they start. And finally….. always remember the morally uplifting effect of a pony: someone in your book should be improved by contact…