Three Day Adventure
Country Life, 1948
Kit Brownriggs bets his brother and sister, Kit and Rosemary, that he can hide themselves
from him for
three days. They accept the bet. Kit’s original plan to come back to
the village in disguise and stay
with their nurse soon falls apart, and he becomes
involved in trying to stop a burglary. Not a huge amount
of pony content: it’s more
a holiday adventure in which ponies happen to be present.
Wigwam Island
Country Life, 1951, illus Phyllis Ladyman
Many thanks to Jacquie Thomas for the picture.
Dream Pony
Lutterworth, London, 1962, 128 pp.
Lutterworth, pb, 1976
Carol longs to have a pony, and buys Blue Smoke when she goes to an auction with
her friend Kim. Blue Smoke is not, however a bargain; old and tired and tending
to
lameness.
Elinore Havers wrote 13 pony books. She started off being published by Country Life,
and her first book, Three Day Adventure, is a typical
pony book of that era: well
illustrated, and the sort of book that is attractive in its own right. She wrote
another book for Country Life, Wigwam Island, and after that had rather a long gap
before she started writing for Lutterworth. Lutterworth published the Crown Pony
Library series, and Elinore wrote more titles for it than any other author: nine
out of the twenty two.
The Crown Pony series didn’t feature top rank authors, but its stories are solid and readable, and Elinore’s stories are typical of it.
As far as I know, she wrote no series.
Finding the books: Pony Hunt is the hardest title to find: pricing can be fairly
lunatic for this title on
Amazon, but reasonably priced copies do occasionally turn
up. All the other titles are reasonably
easy to find, and usually cheap. Again,
beware of stupidly priced titles on Amazon, to which this
author, at the time of
writing, seems prone. The monstrous prices charged don’t reflect rarity or
fabulous
condition. Very good copies indeed are available at decent prices, so beware!
Tessa in South Africa
Nelson, 1955, illus Leslie Atkinson
reprinted 1960, pb
Tessa to the Rescue
Nelson, 1957, illus Sheila Rose
Right -
Pony Hunt
Max Parrish, Illus Sheila Rose, 1963
“The lonely parts of the Devon countryside provide an ideal setting for mystery and
adventure, and there is indeed
a mystery when Nicola Blake's pony, Toffee, disappears
one night without a trace. Nicola suspects Jenny, a new
girl in the village, but
it soon turns out that they are up against a much more powerful and determined opponent
than
a lonely girl. Unexpected adventures follow when Nicola and her brother, Simon, begin
the long hunt for Toffee.
In their efforts they are aided by Liz and Andrew Gilmore, their Pony Club friends,
by a half-
of course by the dogs, Rattle and Rumpus. Their search
takes them further afield until it finally culminates in an
exciting chase across
the moor.”
A Pony to Catch
Lutterworth, 1964
Lutterworth, pb, 1975 (uncredited cover photo taken
at Spire House, Headley)
Stormalong has been running wild in the woods for two years. If Tessa and Martin
can
catch him, they are told by his owner, they can keep him.
Gay and the Ponies
Lutterworth, London, hb, 1964, 128 pp.
Lutterworth, pb, 1976, cover
photo Cecric E Bush
Gay is actually a poodle, who gets lost on the Downs. Joanna and Penny find Gay
when
they are out for a ride,
Only One Pony
Lutterworth, London, hb, 1965, 126 pp.
Lutterworth, pb, 1975
Carol and Jane are allowed to look for a pony, but they both do and they both buy
one
and bring it home. Their mother says they can keep only one, and gives them a
week
to make their minds up between Turpin and Toby.
Pony Sleuths
Lutterworth, London, hb, 1966, 128 pp.
Lutterworth, pb, 1975
Janet promises to look after the greengrocer’s pony, Laddie, while he is in hospital.
The
pony then disappears, and Janet and her friends (the Pony Sleuths) set out to
try and
find him.
Tessa in South Africa
Nelson, 1955, illus Leslie Atkinson
reprinted 1960, pb
Tessa to the Rescue
Nelson, 1957, illus Sheila Rose
Right -
Pony Watch
Lutterworth, London, hb, 1968, 128 pp.
Lutterworth, pb 1975
“Mandy and Michael Foster live on Exmoor. Their father has a farm. So many of his
sheep have
been stolen that Mr Foster is seriously thinking of leaving Exmoor and
going to a city to live. So
Mandy and Michael, on Inkspot and Chipmunk, their friend
Sally on her Exmoor Whitestock, and
Neil on Sinbad, his father’s hunter, form a band
of mounted vigilantes to patrol the moor at dawn,
and catch the sheep stealing gang
red handed.”
The Surprise Riding Club
Collins, 1968, cover Geoffrey Whittam -
Collins 1973 (Collins Pony Library)
Sarah and her friends start a riding club during the summer holidays so they can
improve their riding. The “Surprise” element comes in as each President is supposed
to
provide a surprise for the members when they finish their time as President.
The Great Pony Mystery
Lutterworth, 1969
Lutterworth, 1975
“Debbie rode Puck, Jonathan rode Kit-
by Ajax, who was a slow but steady walker. they were on holiday, exploring
day by day, and at night
making camp in a field or an orchard. Then on Saturday afternoon
Ajax cast a shoe. The Blacksmith
would not be back until Monday; so the caravan and
pony party settled down to wait. That Saturday
night Jonathan and Mark, who were
in a tent, heard the noise of hooves in the street; had one of the
ponies got out?
They were both in the field. The next night Debbie and Lucy watched too.
The street
was full of moonlight, the hoof beats sounded and there was no pony to be seen.”
Ponies Across the River
Lutterworth, 1970
Cathy and Vicky often see the field over the river full of ponies, which then disappear.
Sometimes there
are three children in with the ponies, byt they always run away when
anyone comes near, and they never
ride the ponies. Vicky and Cathy are determined
to find out what is going on.
The Merrymarch Ponies
Lutterworth, 1974
Simon and Phillipa discovered the Merry March
stud farm on the very first day of the holidays. There, grazing in sunlit
paddocks, were the most beautiful palominos with their streaming silvery manes and
tails. The loveliest of all was the
three year old Golden Ripple; and when Simon and
Phillipa made friends with Lynne, whose sister worked at Merry
March, she told them
what high hopes Mrs Russell, the owner set on him. He was the only pony left of an
original
strain with which her father had started Merry March, and though he was very
valuable, she would never, or could never,
sell him. Lynne's friendship made a great
difference to the holiday. She took them riding in the hills, showed them how
to jump,
helped them to have a wonderful time. And eventually their liking for her, and their
admiration for Merry March
led them, and Jake, the gypsy boy, into adventure high
in the hills. For Golden ripple disappeared.
Bibliography
