Jade and the Stray

Amy Brown got her first pony unexpectedly. Her father was bitten by the horse bug and bought himself a horse, Poncho. When he started to compete, he needed a horse box. When he found one, the seller offered him a pony to go with it, so Amy, at the age of five, got Twinks. She carried on riding, and competed in regional and national showj umping events. She was a keen devotee of the English pony story, particularly Ruby Ferguson’s Jill, and when she gave up riding and took up writing, pony books were what she decided to write. She described Jill’s Gymkhana as 'the book that changed her life,' as she read it so often, and based her own books on it. She loved 'its sense of humour, weird 1950s references to Bing Crosby, and brilliant line drawings.'

Her Pony Tales series is about a girl who starts off her life as a rider in difficult circumstances, but manages to overcome them and become a successful horsewoman.

Finding the books
In print, but not easily available in the UK. Expensive large print editions are available on Amazon, but other than that, the only option is importing them, and that is not cheap.

Sources and links
Amy Brown on the Christchurch Kids blog
More on Amy Brown on the Christchurch Kids blog