Wendy Douthwaite / Elizabeth Wynne

Wendy Douthwaite also wrote under the name Elizabeth Wynne.  She has written at least one Animal Ark title under the name Lucy Daniels - Donkey Derby.  Her Polly series is about an Arabian mare, the Polly of the title.  The books are good reads, and it’s a pity they’re no longer in print.

When I read Wendy Douthwaite’s autobiographical snippet on the back flap of A Very Special Pony, I was in awe.  It says:  “As well as managing a business, and writing, Wendy Douthwaite paints and draws, plays the flute, rides, runs for the local Athletic Club, sails and plays badminton, practises photography and, of course, reads.”  This run through of her life failed to mention that she was also bringing up a family of a son and two daughters, and that both daughters had ponies.  I admit it: I am an inferior being.  I don’t do half that, and quite a proportion of that isn’t done well.  

Wendy Douthwaite had always enjoyed writing, and when she decided to write a book, chose to make it about ponies.  She wrote everywhere she could, including on trains and in bed!  She still runs the book-selling business with her husband, but I’m not sure how many of the other things she still does.  Maybe she has added more.

The books aren’t impossible to find, but they don’t crop up that often.  They are generally, apart from A Very Special Pony, quite reasonably priced.  If you want A Very Special Pony, keep looking.  It does turn up at a reasonable price every now and then.

Source:

Dustjacket of A Very Special Pony

A Very Special Pony

Hutchinson 1979, illus the author

Fernwoods Riding Stables is going to close, and all the ponies, including Sue’s beloved Candy, are going to be
sold.  Sue’s mother suggests she starts a Pony Saving Fund, and she does.  It looks as though Sue will be able
to buy Candy after all, but then everything starts to go wrong.

The Polly Series

Other People’s Ponies
All Because of Polly

Polly on Location

Running Free

The Christmas Pony
Blackie, 1985, illustrated by the author
Macmillan 1990, pb.  Not illustrated

Many thanks to Hannah Fleetwood for the picture.

A gentle story about 11 year old Lindy, who is finding it very difficult to adapt to having a new stepmother, now
her father has remarried after the death of her mother.  She and her mother had a plan for Lindy to save for a
pony and buy a foal.  Eventually, Lindy has saved enough to go to the local Sale and buy a foal, but she gets
rather more than she bargained for!

A Pony at Moor End

Blackie, 1984, illus Gavin Rowe

Republished under the title The Lost Pony

Macmillan 1997

When Sarah’s Dad is made redundant, the family has to move, and Sarah’s pony Franny has to be sold.  When
they move, Sarah makes friends with another pony mad girl, Sally, and they look after the neglected pony Danny.
Then Sarah hears Franny was very badly injured in a hunting accident, and then when Sarah is out riding Danny
she finds Sally’s favourite pony struggling for his life in a water filled ditch.
 

Polly on Location

Piper 1995

Jess suggests to her friends in the Edgecome Valley Riding Club that they audition for a film.  It needs
riders and poies for a nighttime scene of smugglers coming back from the coast.  However, it all goes
quite differently from how Jess dreams, and she and Polly play the starring roles.

Many thanks to Hannah Fleetwood for the picture.

Running Free

Macmillan 1997

Many thanks to Hannah Fleetwood for the picture.

The Edgecombe Valley Riding Club, including Jess and Polly, are going down to Devon for a riding holiday.
There they encounter badger baiters, and it is up to Polly and Jess to save the day.

All Because of Polly

(appears as Dream Pony in the Polly Anthology, 2001)

Macmillan 1990, reprinted Piper 1993

Many thanks to Hannah Fleetwood for the picture.

Jess now has her own pony, Polly, a grey Arab mare.  However, it is not all plain sailing,
as Polly goes down with tetanus and hovers between life and death while Jess nurses her.
Even when she’s recovered, Jess is out riding Polly and tangles with a runaway trailer.
She is rescued by her friend, Beckie, who is confined to a wheelchair.

Other People’s Ponies

(appears as Summer Ponies in the Polly anthology, 2001)

Macmillan 1989

Jess thought she’d never have a pony of her own - all she did was look after other peoples ponies. Then
she looks after Polly, the beautiful grey mare...

Many thanks to Hannah Fleetwood for the picture.

The Orange Pony
Macmillan 1998

Kate is worried that she will not be able to ride the orange pony, who is very difficult, particularly with other ponies,
but she soon works out what she needs to do.

The Polly Anthology

Macmillan 2001

Contains:  Summer Ponies (Other People’s Ponies); Dream Pony (All Because of Polly); On Location