Kids
have always loved horses and in the 'olden' days before television, long before
The Saddle Club series, there existed a huge variety of pony books to satisfy
all tastes. If your mum was into horses, give her this article to read for a
trot down memory lane......
You never forget your first pony book. For me, it was when I was home from school,
sick with the flu and feeling sorry for myself. I was a typical horse-mad but
then horse-less 11 year old and my mum gave me a book called Jill's Pony
Trek to read. I wasn't very impressed...it looked a bit twee and I had no
clue what a trek was but with nothing better to do, started reading.
Soon I was immersed in the world of Jill Crewe, her ponies Black Boy and Rapide
and her best friend Ann Derry. Before long I had all nine 'Jill' books, which
were written by Ruby Ferguson during the 1950's and 60's.
To a typical Aussie kid, the books were a glimpse into the British culture...Jill
had 'elevenses' most mornings (I eventually figured out this was morning tea),
the gymkhanas she went to started at lunchtime with red rosettes for first,
blue for second and green for third. There were showing classes where one unsaddled
one's horse, lots of musical chairs and sack races and of course, Jill had more
than her share of adventures.
She used 'grips' in her hair, didn't seem to wear a riding hat much, uttered
"oh, crumbs" a lot and gave riding lessons to April, May and June
Cholly-Sawcutt, ham-fisted daughters of a famous showjumper.
But to the pony-mad they were a joy to read and re-read, although in later re-prints
Black Boy's name was changed to the more politically correct Best Boy! In fact,
the Jill series has never been out of print and still sells around 4,000 copies
a year.
An early edition hard cover 'Jill' book in good condition complete dustjacket
like the ones pictured left is worth around $60+ on Ebay.
I lost track of my pony books over the years, but recently was able to buy the
whole 'Jill' series through an internet forum. It was fun re-discovering them...and
anyone who loves The Saddle Club would thoroughly enjoy them too.
Other pony book writers include the Pullein-Thompson sisters (Josephine, Christine
and Diana), Monica Edwards and British showjumper, Pat Smythe. Their horse-keeping
was vastly different to the Australian way of life. They often stabled their
horses and wages must have been low because they seemed to employ a lot of grooms.
Tack was cleaned after each ride which was puzzling for someone who generally
only cleaned saddlery the day before a Pony Club rally! If a rider fell off
(or 'took a toss'), they were bundled off to bed for a few days to recover which
I always considered wussy. 'Jolly good' and 'how wizard!' were common exclamations,
while the meaning of the word 'gay' was a lot more innocent back then.
Many treasured pony books still exist in private collections. Keep an eye out
for some if ever you're visiting a Trash & Treasure market, as you can often
pick them up for as little as 50 cents. Ebay is another good source of pony
books and you can find whole sets selling quite cheaply. They are make great
collectables with the most popular being pre-1970 hard covers with dustjackets
in reasonable condition. Many of the old hard cover editions have been re-printed
in paperback with photos for covers and while the stories remain unchanged,
it's just not quite the same.
The closest Australian Pony books are the Billabong series, written by
Mary Grant Bruce in the early 1900's. They were more about station life, which
of course included horses, revolving around Nora and Jim Linton who lived with
their father on a property in Victoria. Then there's the famous Silver Brumby
series by Eleyne Mitchell. Many of you are familiar with this series not only
through the books, but the movie staring Russell Crowe and it was also a cartoon
series.
So raid your mum's old books and if you find any good pony stories, please let
me know...that would be jolly wizard of you!
Would you believe a pony book could sell for around $300+? And that's supposing
you can even FIND a copy for sale! Well read about the most famous pony book
of all......
$300...for a PONY BOOK?!
"If I had a pony of my own, I'd saddle him and bridle him myself, and
groom him and comb out his tail with one of those thick grey combs. I'd clean
his hoofs out too, and plait his mane if he had a long one. Then we'd start
off. We'd walk along the main road because of the cars.
"Then we'd trot, trot, trot down the little lane and up the hill and through
the wood, and make the old pheasants scuttle out of the way. And when we came
to the path across the field we'd gallop, and we'd jump the little gate at the
end and go into the wood again where the pine trees are, and the pine needles
would be nice and soft for his feet."
"Of course, I should have to learn to ride first", Jenny said. "I
asked Daddy if I could have lessons at Mr. Kelley's riding school, but he said
it would be too expensive and that anyhow I should want lots and lots of lessons
before I learnt enough. And besides, I don't like Mr Kelly much. He's got a
red face and a loud voice and skinny legs. And his ponies are rather thin and
tired-looking.
" I'd like to learn on a fat, shiny pony with a nice, cheerful face. I
must ride, soon, Tattles, I must!" Jenny's last words rang out in the little
stable. When they had died away the stable seemed very quiet for a while.
"Through the Dark Corner, and the password is Silver Snaffles." The
words had come from Tattles. Jenny stared at him, her surprise making her sit
bolt upright on the uncomfortable edge of the manger. Tattles had opened his
eyes, but there was a far-away look about them as if he were dreaming. Jenny
would have been frightened anywhere else, but you could not feel frightened
in Tattles' stable.
"Did–did you really say that?" Jenny's own voice sounded small
and shaky in the dusk.
"Through the Dark Corner and the password is Silver Snaffles," repeated
Tattles. His voice was not like a human voice. It was the sound of hoofs thudding
on the turf, of bits jingling and saddles creaking and of a horse nickering
to his friend, all mixed into one and making words.
And so Jenny goes through the Dark Corner into a magical world surrounded by
a lilac mist, where the ponies teach children to ride. First she learns to walk
and trot on Cock Robin. On her next visit she moves up a pony to Paul, who teaches
her how to correctly put on a saddle and bridle and sit to the canter. Shannon
teaches Jenny how to jump while Jasper teaches a few things about controlling
a frisky mount!
Jenny meets up with Peter, who is also learning to ride on the Silver Snaffles
ponies, and together they venture through the lilac mist to rescue Pippin, a
Snaffles pony whose curiosity led him to visit the Land of No Horse Sense on
the other side. Pippin had been captured by the Jostlepot family, whose children,
Funkie and Figit, don't know how to look after a pony, let alone how to ride
one. Peter and Jenny eventually rescue Pippin and ride back through the mist
to Silver Snaffles.
Jenny eventually gets a pony of her own and is no longer allowed to visit Silver
Snaffles, which is only for children who don't own a pony.
Silver Snaffles was written by Primrose Cumming in 1937. Would you like
a copy of this book? It's not only very hard to come by, but the average price
is $300+ (Australian) per copy with the highest price we've seen being $480
through Amazon Books. Any available copies are quickly snapped up...some people
have been searching for a copy for years.
It was re-printed in the 1970's in paperback, although without the illustrations
by Stanley Lloyd (pictured left). Primrose Cumming wrote Silver Snaffles when
she was just 23 years old, and went on to write other pony books such as The
Chestnut Filly and The Wednesday Pony although they don't have quite the same
charm as Silver Snaffles.
So if you're ever at a Trash & Treasure market...be sure to keep an eye out
for this rare and valuable 'treasure'!
This article attracted huge interest when it was first published in September
2002. Many readers wrote and phoned asking about their own pony book collection.
One reader had picked up a copy of Silver Snaffles at a garage sal efor
50 cents! Another had two copies but didn't realise how valuable they were.
Due to popular request, Horsewyse also ran an article on the value of pony books
in our December 2003 issue (available as a back
issue).
© 2006 Horsewyse Magazine
