|
Post by trixiepony on Dec 29, 2010 1:22:57 GMT 1
I doubt I liked it much as a kid as it's not so much a "pony book" as a story about farm kids who happen to have horses but I enjoyed it on re-read over Christmas. It seemed to be all set up for a sequel with Shamrock and Nick coming to live there and getting a horse etc. Had a giggle at the "gay young bulls" at the auction, egg-cosies and Carmen's angry moos. Yes I feel the same, I didn't like it first read years ago but liked it this read, Its a fun farm story with sum horses in it.
|
|
|
Post by tintin on Feb 7, 2011 14:10:57 GMT 1
My first time in the reading circle and the first book.
I can't say I really enjoyed, perhaps the guy with a new boss and his job in jeopardy was a bit close to home in these recessionary days. More a country story (perhaps in the mould of James Herriot or the Constable books by Nicholas Rhea than a horse story)
The book was well written with good plot and characters (as one would expect from this author) so am I being Churlish - perhaps. I felt a little bit short changed (judged the book by its cover? - mine was the paperback with the rather flashy chestnut) and I like a horsy book to have more of a feel good factor and be, well, more horsy.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2011 14:43:50 GMT 1
Welcome tintin, you've just reminded me I can vote in a few more polls in this board now
|
|
|
Post by Claire on Feb 7, 2011 20:20:07 GMT 1
Hi and welcome Tintin, nice to 'see' a new face. Like the name! You make a good point about it being ironically appropriate for the financial climate today. I have a feeling the book was never actually written as a horse story hence the unhorsy title and it was just a publisher's decision to re-market it as a horse story when her pony books got so popular.
Hmm think it must be about time to do a new book, didnt realise it was so long since we did this one.
|
|
|
Post by tintin on Feb 8, 2011 14:57:47 GMT 1
Hello Claire,
Thanks for your warm (and speedy) welcome!
Might I suggest "A Day to Go Hunting" or "The Horse Sale" both by Christine Pullein-Thompson for two reasons:-
1) a bit selfishly, they are favourites of mine
2) More commendably, comparatively cheap copies are quite easy to get
Anyway, am looking forward to the next book a lot
|
|
|
Post by tintin on Feb 14, 2011 17:34:01 GMT 1
My Dad has just finished it and liked it more than I did, although he confessed that if I had not briefed him he would have been disappointed at its lack of horsiness.
His part time first job was on a dairy farm helping to bring in the cows in the morning. He enjoyed the escaping bull in the book and laughed at the cow kicking over the bucket - on the farm they tied their legs together if they did that.
He was sorry there was n't a sequel as he thought it would probably have been more exciting. He found the characters well developed - especially Rory who amused him as a first class pain in the ****
|
|
|
Post by Claire on Feb 14, 2011 20:32:22 GMT 1
Ooh The Horse Sale is one of my favs too. We must do that one sometime, although I think we need to have a little rest from the PTS for a while. Tintin, the current reading circle book is King of the Wind if you want to join in with that one. Its interesting that your dad has also read the book, I dont think we have had any parents joining in before! Mind you most of our parents seem to be non-horsy. But maybe I'll try them or even a non-horsy friend on one of the books we do soon, might be quite fun to see their reactions....
|
|
|
Post by tintin on Feb 15, 2011 18:29:20 GMT 1
My Dad lives not very far away from me and is retired so I see him at least once a week and we often swap books so it was my copy he read.
My Dad has always been into horses (and football, rugby, cricket and westerns) and I have always been into horses (and bands, railways, the army and rock and roll) so horses are something we have in common. My Grandad liked horses too and worked with mules in the army.
When I wanted to learn about horses as a boy my Dad said "read the Pullein Thompson sisters"! He had read them as a boy and now we are reading them again. My father does not have much access to a P/C so you will usually be getting two sets of comments..
Thank you for the site - fun and informative.
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Feb 15, 2011 22:17:51 GMT 1
Two new male reviewers at once!! Can we pick your dual brains on how true to life you feel the male characters are in the books, which ones are your favourites. Interesting that your dad said to read the PT ones, which suggests he feels their male characters are good?
Interestingly, the most stalwart Monica Edwards fan I know is a male too - I was really suprised to find out that she was popular with male readers too - they all seem to hate Meryon though!! ;D ;D
|
|
|
Post by Claire on Feb 15, 2011 23:35:05 GMT 1
And the person who set up the Jill facebook site is male too (one of our forum members), so there are a few men out there who read pony books, tho we females outnumber them just a bit! I think the male characters are done quite well in the PT books. Apparently they got a lot of grist for the mill from all the kids who rode at their stables so they were probably quite accurate at portraying kids of the time. Tho I do think most of the boys were TOO nice. (As were Meryon and Roger for that matter)
|
|
|
Post by tintin on Feb 18, 2011 14:36:49 GMT 1
Sorry to disappoint you, but we never really considered the books in a gendered way (good grief I hope that does n't sound too much like an Eng Lit course). I saw my Dad last night and we had a bit of a chat about it and my re-collection was correct it was mainly because he considered the horse side was the most sound. Secondly I think that they were pretty much reality based (certainly the ones we read) not catching murderers or winning at Olympia show jumping on the horse you borrowed off the milk man. Thirdly when my Dad was young I think they largely dominated the field (we got most of our books from the public library and they practically had their own shelf). Fourthly, and this is probably more sub-concious, the books appear horsy rather than girlie which is a big plus as a young lad.
I think the characters are pretty good generally in the books I have read, both male and female. As to the boys being too nice, well you could say the girls are too - but one of the boys (I think the young MFH) in the Chill Valley books is pretty annoying in the last book, but a recognisable real life figure as a certain type of de-motivating boss.
I think its something in fiction anyway that the heroes are a bit better than real life (sometimes the people you would like to be or perhaps the people the author would more like to be) and the villains a bit worse
|
|
|
Post by Claire on Feb 18, 2011 15:01:40 GMT 1
Thanks for that info tintin. Interesting. I've always wondered why more girls than boys rode, considering its exciting and can be dangerous - strange that it was considered girlie by many boys! Maybe more boys were into horses in the 40s and 50s than when I grew up in the 70s and early 80s.
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Feb 18, 2011 16:14:49 GMT 1
I've always been intrigued by this 'why are girls the ones who are more into horses' scenario - possibly more so since I failed so badly to get my nephews into horses at all! Used to be boys at least liked the excitement of competing, now it almost seems like children get their excitement from the virtual world at a much higher level, after all, why would you want to gallop across a field on a horse when you could be out stealing cars, fighting battles etc, all without leaving your bedroom. So now riding is more girly than ever, because all that is left that cannot be replaced by a computer is the emotional side, (well, Iknow they are trying, and I have to admit I feel a few emotions about my computer at times!!!) so I suppose that was the basis for the incredible 'wardrobe' type accoutrements that are marketed for horses now, leaving me completely stunned, as all you needed in my youth was a pair of wellies and a baler twine halter!
|
|
|
Post by tintin on Feb 18, 2011 18:49:26 GMT 1
It is a bit sad is n't it? In my Grandad's era lots of working class men worked with horses and, although they would not quite put it this way, many genuinely loved them. My Grandad had a couple of china horses and one of his friends who decorated the heavy draught horses for the Co-Op decorated one for him. You only have to look at pictures of the old May Day harness parades and the pride on the mens faces, never mind listen to some of the old mens stories to know they looked on them almost as their kids. They could be tough with their horses, but that generation were often pretty tough with their kids too.
I think one of the things that has changed is the progressive loss of male "role models" in the horse world. First the mechanisation of the army before the last war (and a mounted trooper or gunner was something to be), then the disappearance of horses from the regular street scene and world of work ("the horse is a noble animal and a friend of man" as one of the army manuals began - but who is to know this if they never see one?). My father's generation loved the western films and novels and a cowboy without a horse is really just a boy... but westerns have faded from the public eye it is all "fantasy" and sci-fi now. The poor horse also seems even to have lost a lot of his glamour as a status symbol. I remember my father saying a lot of boys of his generation fantasised about being rich and having a farm and a horse. Being a farm manager was also not an uncommon ambition (but hard to acheive). How many kids have those kind of dreams today?
In most of my horsy endeavours I have been the only male pupil (but about 50% instructors men). Out of just under 400 boys at my school there was one other horse enthusiast (and he wanted to be a jockey and was only interested in thoroughbreds and racing)
One of the most enjoyable days in my life was when a friend invited me to his passing out parade for the Mounted Police. They have only allowed women in the Mounted Branch since the seventies, but now they are about 40% and take most of the cups available to recruits for equitation. One of the Instructors said to us he was worried that if it continued eventually there would be no men left and said "what is wrong with boys these days - they don't want to do something this good, and get paid for it?"
Kunuma - I am fascinated by "wardrobe type accoutrements" - do you mean some of the very alarming coloured tack and rugs etc in some of the horse catalogues?
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Feb 18, 2011 19:39:40 GMT 1
|
|
|
Post by haffyfan on Feb 18, 2011 20:04:28 GMT 1
OMG that pink bridle who on earth would spend 100 quid on that bar Katie Price and when could you use a pink double anyhow The Swarovski browbands however i quite like
|
|
|
Post by Claire on Feb 18, 2011 20:30:47 GMT 1
Haha still laughing at the flowery pink rug as its like something someones granny would wear in the 1970s! ;D Sigh... I am with kunuma on the twine and wellie level of equipment. I remember how excited I was if I had managed to save up enough for a real coloured lead-rope! Yes the crystal browband is pretty but when would you use it would look a bits stupid out hacking with it and surely they wouldnt allow something like that in the show ring....or has that gone all bling too....? ;D
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2011 21:32:05 GMT 1
Equestrian Bling? I've heard it all now Words fail me with that flowery rug....
|
|
|
Post by tintin on Feb 21, 2011 14:41:04 GMT 1
I think (hope?) the sparkly brow bands would be mainly for those unfortunate horses that get to pull some of the more OTT wedding carriages. To think we used to look on a coloure brow band as a bit flashy..
The flowery rug I think is probably a desparate attempt by some manufacturer to dispose of a huge surplus of seventies oven mitt material
|
|
|
Post by Claire on Feb 21, 2011 20:26:42 GMT 1
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Feb 21, 2011 23:07:58 GMT 1
Not sure where you would dare to ride your horse once you had cut all it's mane and tail off to make the tack!! ;D Though I have seen some beautiful jewellry made from horse hair, you send off your own horse's hair and they personalise it with the name and everything - if anyone wants to buy me a pressie???...................
|
|
|
Post by tintin on Feb 22, 2011 13:34:10 GMT 1
I am really not keen on the horse bling, but perhaps I should n't really criticise when you see the sort of thing my Grandad's friends and colleagues got up to.. (and which I quite like - I suppose we can say it is cultural and as they had to mostly make the stuff themselves also more creative) www.scottiepress.org/sr2003/carters.htmYou will need to scroll down to see the really good stuff.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2011 13:58:37 GMT 1
What a lovely website, thanks for the link Um, I do agree with you about the decorations, I like them apart from the one with the rather over-the-top pink flowers ;D
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Feb 22, 2011 21:33:26 GMT 1
I collected horse brasses for years, had a lovely collection and used to research the ones I found. Then it got more popular to collect them, and ebay kicked in , so the prices rocketed. I sold them all, bar the ones still on breastplates, one winter to buy hay! I was even a member of the horse brass society! ;D
|
|
vera
Pony Clubber
Posts: 247
|
Post by vera on Feb 23, 2011 3:48:49 GMT 1
I am interested in the question of why boys don't ride; my boys did because they met girls. Funnily enough Edward (my eldest) married a girl who kept a horse at the same place we ket ous but they never met there. My grandson Zane loves horses, he even asked God to get him a little pony to ride when his Mum and I refused. I actually got him a Giddy Up Pony for his birthday last year, it was heavily reduced and he said well it is a little pony I can ride, but I would have liked a real one...both Edward and Stephen read various pony books; they laughed at The Saddle Club, enjoyed a series called "The Short Stirrup Club", loved The Man from Snowy River - they kind of grew up with the poem, because whenever we had an exciting day outing planned my husband would start quoting the first line, were intrigued by the Billabong books. Although my boys are grown up thye still grab every opportunity to get a ride. Both are computer geeks but will happily leave the computers for a ride. I have a little granddaughter now too. My daughter has already bought her a horse teddy. The grandchildren have no choice about loving horses, regardless of gender. It's in the genes!
|
|
|
Post by kunuma on Feb 23, 2011 19:54:29 GMT 1
It does seem that both in Australia and USA riding has a more macho profile - the whole cowboy image I suppose!
It has a lot to answer for even over here - to this day a guy in blue jeans with a stetson and a Quarter horse would be my ideal bloke - a smart suit and a sports car wouldn't even get a second glance!
|
|