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Other Horse & Pony Books
DONEY: A BORDERLAND TALE OF PONIES AND YOUNG PEOPLE (COUNTRY LIFE 1934) ILLUSTRATED BY ALLEN W. SEABY EDITIONS PICTURED: First edition. SUMMARY: The author's first book written when she was just a teenager. Not set in the borders of England or Scotland as may be expected, but in the area around Kent and Sussex. A gentle charming story of a girl and her pony Doney. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES Read/join in with a discussion of the book on our forum reading circle SILVER SNAFFLES (BLACKIE 1937) ILLUSTRATED BY STANLEY LLOYD Reprinted in hardback a number of times by Blackie. Reprinted (and revised) in paperback by Knight in 1976 unfortunately with no illustrations. Reprinted in paperback by Fidra Books with original text and illustrations in 2007 EDITIONS PICTURED: First edition, Blackie reprint, Knight paperback, Fidra paperback. SUMMARY: Classic pony book about a girl who enters a fantasy world of talking horses by whispering the password 'Silver Snaffles' and learns to ride and look after ponies there, taught by the horses themselves! PONYMAD RATING: 5 HORSESHOES Read review
THE WEDNESDAY PONY (BLACKIE 1939) ILLUSTRATED BY STANLEY LLOYD Reprinted in hardback by Blackie American edition published by Mill & Co. EDITIONS PICTURED: Early and later Blackie reprints. SUMMARY: A pair of butcher's children have only their father's cart pony Jingo to ride and dream of one day finding the perfect riding pony. But through their various horsy adventures, they learn to appreciate Jingo for what he is. PONYMAD RATING: 4 HORSESHOES
BEN: THE STORY OF A CART-HORSE (DENT 1939) Reprinted in hardback by Dent American edition published by Dutton EDITION PICTURED: First edition. SUMMARY: A picture book format story (though not for very young readers) of a draught horse, illustrated with photographs by Harold Burdekin. Ben has to leave his London home when the hard roads become too much for his legs. He moves to the country and becomes a farm horse. At first life is strange but he soon adapts to his new life. A nostalgic look at a world gone by. PONYMAD RATING: 4 HORSESHOES
THE CHESTNUT FILLY (BLACKIE 1940) ILLUSTRATED BY STANLEY LLOYD Reprinted in hardback by Blackie American edition published by Mill & Co. EDITIONS PICTURED: First edition, Blackie reprint SUMMARY: Randall buys the chestnut filly Amber Light who is reputed to be unmanageable. He eventually manages to break her in, but then his friend persuades him to train her for the movies! PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES
THE GREAT HORSES (DENT 1946) ILLUSTRATED BY LIONEL EDWARDS EDITIONS PICTURED: First edition. SUMMARY: An unusual story which is best for older teenagers and adults. Explores the idea that the great war horses of old who came across with the Normans in 1066 are the ancestors of the modern Shire horse. Tells the story of three horses from different eras, the first two are battle horses, the third is Major, a working cart horse who finds he too inherits the fighting spirit of his forbears. Very informative as well as a great character study of both human and equine. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES
FOUR RODE HOME (DENT 1951) ILLUSTRATED BY MAURICE TULLOCH Reprinted in hardback by Dent. Reprinted in paperback by Knight. EDITIONS PICTURED: First edition, Dent reprint, Knight paperback. SUMMARY: Holly and Roy are bored with riding around their Romney Marsh home and want to roam pastures new. They decide to organise a long distance ride from the New Forest back to their home, and recruit two friends, Rebecca and Clive, to join them in their adventure. PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES
NO PLACE FOR PONIES aka THE MYSTERY PONY (USA edition) (DENT 1954) ILLUSTRATED BY MAURICE TULLOCH Reprinted in hardback by Dent. Published in the USA as The Mystery Pony by Criterion. EDITIONS PICTURED: Dent reprint. SUMMARY: Toni and Jane are sent to a stuffy guest house where their ponies are not very welcome guests. Once there, they try to find out the secret the other children are keeping. PONYMAD RATING: 4 HORSESHOES
THE DEEP-SEA HORSE (DENT 1956) ILLUSTRATED BY MARY SHILLABEER Very rare. EDITIONS PICTURED: First edition. SUMMARY: Unusual fantasy story. A horse called Claud is taunted by his fellow equines because he has no tail, so he runs away to live with the mermaids under the sea!
FLYING HORSEMAN (DENT 1959) ILLUSTRATED BY SHEILA ROSE Reprinted by Dent Australian edition also published EDITIONS PICTURED: First edition, Dent reprint. SUMMARY: Morgan, a flying-mad young man, must come to terms with the fact he can no longer achieve his ambition of becoming a pilot after contracting polio. He is sent to convalesce with the Croxley family by working on their fruit farm where he will learn farm management. The younger Croxleys are all show-jumping mad and Morgan is drawn into their horsy world when he agrees to exercise Sarah's horse for her when she has been injured. But will horses ever take the place of his dreams of flying…? PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES
THE MYSTERY TREK (DENT 1964) ILLUSTRATED BY SHEILA ROSE Published by the Children's Book Club in 1965 EDITIONS PICTURED: Book Club edition. SUMMARY: Susan tries unsuccessfully to persuade her grown up sister Leonie to go pony trekking with her in order to help her sister get over the death of her horse. But when the girls arrive at the trekking centre and there is no-one to lead the trek, Leonie overcomes her resolve to never ride again in order to prevent the other children losing their holiday. She rescues a horse from barbed wire, and as all the other ponies are taken she decides to ride him and nicknames him "Nonny." But the mysteries seem to come thick and fast. Why are all the equipment and maps ready for the trek but with no-one to lead it? Who is the mysterious V. Mankelow? And who is trying to hurt Nonny? The answers are surprising...and even more surprising is the way Leonie feels at the end of the trek. PONYMAD RATING: 4-5 HORSESHOES
FOAL OF THE FJORDS (DENT 1966) ILLUSTRATED BY WENDY MARCHANT Reprinted by the Children's Book Club in 1967 EDITIONS PICTURED: First edition, Book Club edition. SUMMARY: Unusual pony story set in Scandinavia. Based on a short story called The Fjording by Marcal. Two children form a deep bond with a horse, watching it grow from a foal to an affectionate and intelligent horse. Will that bond be strong enough to help them when tragedy and disaster strike? PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES
PENNY AND PEGASUS (DENT 1969) EDITIONS PICTURED: First edition SUMMARY: Penny is devastated when she has to leave behind her pony and miss out her chance of being in the Pony Club team in order to go on holiday to Greece. But once there she rescues a mistreated horse she names Pegasus and finds an exciting new friendship with a Greek boy. There is adventure too as the children search for a precious family heirloom. But at the back of Penny's mind is the worry about what will happen to Pegasus when she has to return home… PONYMAD RATING: 4 HORSESHOES
Collectors Info: Primrose Cumming's early books were first published by either Country Life or Blackie. From the 1950s onwards they were then published by Dent. Very few were reprinted as paperbacks - the only ones I have seen are Silver Snaffles and Four Rode Home.
The books range from fairly easy to find to extremely rare. Silver Snaffles is probably the most collectable of all the books and used to be quite rare and expensive, but now ironically is one of the easiest of all to find due to a new paperback copy being recently published by Fidra Books. Other titles which are reasonably easy to find are Four Rode Home (especially the paperback edition), The Chestnut Filly and The Wednesday Pony. Doney and Penny and Pegasus can be quite hard to find. Hardest of all to get hold of is now is The Deep Sea Horse, which can be expensive.
A few of the titles were published in the USA and these are the easiest ones to find there. These included No Place for Ponies which was re-titled as The Mystery Pony. The other books are harder to find in America and can be a fair bit more expensive than their counterparts in the UK.
As far as I know only one book had an Australian printing - Flying Horseman.
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