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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2010 7:55:52 GMT 1
Hi Jinglerebel welcome to the forum I hope you win the lottery! ;D
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Post by Claire on Dec 20, 2010 12:27:36 GMT 1
Welcome jinglerebel. Hope you enjoy your summer of reading!
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Post by rallycairn on Jan 7, 2011 14:54:04 GMT 1
I am so glad I found this forum last month. Everyone here is so welcoming! I enjoy the book chat and the forum contests/quizzes though I'm finding out just how few British authors I actually know! And American ones, too, for that matter, even though I'm in (and from) the U.S.!
I live in Virginia in the United States though not in the famed (at least to horsepeople in the States) "horse country" part but rather in central Virginia. But I love our rather dilapidated farm where our house is still a shack but the small stable and our kennel runs for the dogs were built new immediately upon our buying the place in 1999! The animals still eat and live better than we do, but I'm not complaining. We have 4 horses (quarter horse, grade mare, full Connemara, half-bred Connemara), 11 dogs of our own plus we always have at least one foster dog [largely Cairn terriers but we have 3 mutts as well], barn cats, and a cockatiel. We used to keep chickens but haven't had a flock in a year or two.
I'm someone who never got rid of much from my youth and my horse and dog books were never slated for what we would call a yard sale, thank goodness. Plus, I've generally found the few things I've gotten rid of in my time I invariably regret the loss of sooner or later! But I still do a lot of used-book buying since a lot of what I read and loved in childhood were books from libraries, so to re-read them I've had to purchase them -- not that I mind.
So, a belated introduction and chance to say I'm glad I found this great forum!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2011 15:32:50 GMT 1
Hi Rallycairn ;D I enjoy the quizzes too. I've learnt heaps about pony books since I've been a member here. Your farm and animals sound lovely.
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Post by sarah on Jan 7, 2011 20:05:21 GMT 1
Welcome!
Four horses - lovely. Are connemara's popular in the US?
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Post by kunuma on Jan 7, 2011 21:05:16 GMT 1
I'm beginning to think I should start collecting picture postcards of where the pumbles all live, or perhaps we should have a competition of pictures of everyones beautiful countryside.
Rallycairn apart from pony books like Phantom Horse I only know about Virginnia from the Waltons! Are you anywhere near the Blue Ridge Mountains, are they still 'wild'?
Do Connies have the same breed standard over there?
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Post by rallycairn on Jan 8, 2011 3:19:13 GMT 1
Re: Virginia, I'm in the piedmont of central Virginia, not in any of the lovely mountainous areas of northern Virginia or western Virginia or the gentler but breathtaking hills of the Charlottesville area. But I was born and raised in the mountains of east Tennessee and I do miss living with a view! But I love my farm, again our house is a shack but that's okay by us. Oh, and there are not too many undeveloped areas anywhere, but in the extreme western part of the state it isn't like the Waltons but there would still be more low- and modest-income areas rather than being all high-end like Northern Virginia. My dh and I were driving through NoVA yesterday because I was looking at a warmblood for sale in Leesburg and I joked that EVERYONE there must be a CEO. Virtually every house is a mansion! I wouldn't really like to live in NoVA except right in Middleburg which is truly breathtakingly lovely and still maintains a small village atmosphere right amidst all the development. And darned if we didn't see 3 dead foxes as roadkill (sad to see, they are so beautiful, all russet-red and black, and not really viewed as vermin here), so despite all the houses springing up everywhere clearly it's still hunt country!
Re: Connemaras, they did get a little taller and more thoroughbred-y in some of the earlier American-bred generations but there's been a "corrective" trend on that for a decade or more now. Also big controversies over making the American Connemara Pony Society registrations completely accepted by the International Connemara Pony Breeders Society registry -- the big stumbling block was inspections. A few American breeders are or were opposed to inspections but mainly it is/was a logistical issue with the size of our country and a feasibility issue of getting all breeding stock inspected. If I recall correctly, though, our standard as written was approved so couldn't differ significantly from the International/Irish standard??? I let my membership with the ACPS lapse but last I followed it the International Society was still working with the American Society toward full acceptance. My pb is an Aladdin descendant (from Tooreen Laddie via Erin Laddie plus Carna Bobby) on his sire's side and Marconi and Camus John and again Carna Bobby on his dam's side. But he's the frowned-upon blue-eyed cream, not that that matters to me! My hb is a dun who comes from similar lines but also has Carna Dun in her.
Connemaras aren't rare like, say, Highlands or Fells or such, and I'm pretty sure there's more of them than Dartmoors and certainly Exmoors, but they don't have near the popularity of the Welsh, especially the section A's and B's (don't see too many C's and D's though you can find them). Or of course Shetlands and American Shetlands. So no a Connemara isn't common compared to many breeds but on the other hand you don't have to go 5 states away to find one, either. Also, it's pretty common to see Connemara/TB crosses bred as eventing prospects.
These are just my personal observations in response to everyone's nice questions, please don't think I'm an expert on Connies or Virginia or what-have-you! But thanks for your interest!
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Post by Claire on Jan 8, 2011 11:43:37 GMT 1
Hi Rallycairn. Glad you like it here! Thanks for all the information about Virginia and also the British breeds over there. I love hearing about other countries and their horses! I think your farm sounds lovely, it would be my dream place to live. Always wanted to live on a small holding with lots of animals roaming around but sadly it is very hard over here as we have little land left and its very expensive to buy a house with land. I am down to 1 cat at the moment which is the least number of animals I have had for many many years!
Kunuma your idea for sending in pics of the countryside in areas where we live sounds fun. I may start a thread on the members only section.
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Post by sarah on Jan 8, 2011 21:48:18 GMT 1
Would love to see some photos Rallycairn.
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Jane
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Post by Jane on Oct 23, 2011 1:48:41 GMT 1
Hi! I'm a new member from New Zealand. I came across the website looking for modern pony titles for my teenage granddaughter (problem solved, thank you) and since I'm a pony book collector myself I thought I'd join as well.
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Post by jinglerebel on Oct 23, 2011 3:00:12 GMT 1
Hi and welcome Jane ;D
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2011 6:43:13 GMT 1
Hi Jane Welcome to the forum
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Post by Claire on Oct 23, 2011 10:21:12 GMT 1
Welcome Jane! Nice avatar
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Jane
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Post by Jane on Oct 23, 2011 18:41:28 GMT 1
Welcome Jane! Nice avatar Thanks. Don't have a pony - do have a cat. Thanks everybody for their welcomes.
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Post by darenc1 on Dec 6, 2011 9:28:21 GMT 1
Hi all!
I found this site after Googling one of my favourite book titles (Bow Down Shadrach, by Joyce Cowley). I've got a number of horsey books, both fiction and non-fiction, and I'm currently working my way through "Warrior - The Amazing Story of a Real War Horse" in the run up to the Steven Spielberg film coming out next month.
I'm also working on a couple of horse-related stories - have completed a first draft of a novel which I'm intending for a competition.
I'm a relative newcomer to the horsey world, having only just sat on a horse about five years ago, but in that time I've had countless lessons, gone on loads of hacks, and shared two Clydesdale horses. If anyone's interested, I'll post some pictures up - I have a few!!
I don't have a horse at the moment, but I do have one slightly psychotic black cat!
Anyway, that's me.
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Post by Claire on Dec 6, 2011 12:03:32 GMT 1
Hi darenc1 & welcome to the forum Yes, we would all love to see any horsy pics and, as there are also a lot of cat lovers here, pics of your mad moggie too! Interesting to hear you are writing a novel. Good luck with that and let us know how it goes. You may be interested to know that one of our forum members recently reviewed the book Warrior. I'll put the link below in case you want to check it out when you've finished reading it and make comments/vote. ponybooks.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=reviews&action=display&thread=1208
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Post by darenc1 on Dec 6, 2011 12:40:03 GMT 1
Thanks for the link. I've had a look.
I'm also a huge film buff, so naturally I have a lot of horsey films on DVD. In fact, I watched Hidalgo just last night!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2011 13:43:34 GMT 1
Hi Daren Welcome to the forum. I really enjoyed Warrior And yes please to seeing your photos!
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Post by Claire on Dec 6, 2011 20:16:24 GMT 1
Its interesting that you have not been riding for that long daren, which is unlike most of us here who got into horses - and pony books - in our youth. Did you start reading horsy books when you got into horses or before?
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Post by darenc1 on Dec 6, 2011 23:14:05 GMT 1
I pretty much started reading horsey books when I started riding. I think the first book I read was "Seabiscuit" (I think that was even the first horsey film I ever saw!), followed by Buck Brannaman's autobiography, etc etc...
I had an article published in Heavy Horse World Magazine a few years back, too.
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Post by darkhorse on Dec 7, 2011 22:21:09 GMT 1
Hi and welcome to our friendly forum
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Post by eventingpassion on Dec 20, 2011 23:51:40 GMT 1
Hi! I'm Faith. [glow=red,2,300] [/glow]
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2011 7:34:16 GMT 1
Hi Faith, welcome to the forum.
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Post by Claire on Dec 21, 2011 11:26:46 GMT 1
Hello and a warm welcome to our forum!
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Post by sheenawilkinson on Jan 23, 2012 14:47:06 GMT 1
Hi all. I've been delighted to read some comments on my novel Taking Flight, and thought I'd come in and say hello. I live in Northern Ireland with a rescued Connemara gelding called Songbird. I'm a big K M Peyton fan but love the classic pony books too. Grounded, the sequel to Taking Flight is out in April, with a pony book for 8-11s (but not pink and fluffy!) due next year.
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Post by Claire on Jan 23, 2012 14:56:09 GMT 1
Hi fantastic to 'see' you on here. Loved the book and am excited there is a sequel coming out soon - can't wait to read it! Thanks for letting us know. I love K M Peyton too, she's one of my favourite authors.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2012 15:51:36 GMT 1
Welcome Sheena! I'm a K.M. Peyton fan too. Thanks for the info on your new book and glad to hear the pony book isn't pink and fluffy ;D
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Post by sheenawilkinson on Jan 24, 2012 9:34:34 GMT 1
Thanks for the welcomes! Prob won't be posting much as I am busy doing copy-edits. How can I explain to excellent but non-horsey editor that no, she can't change 'grey' to 'white' throughout..
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Post by Claire on Jan 24, 2012 14:09:44 GMT 1
Thanks for the welcomes! Prob won't be posting much as I am busy doing copy-edits. How can I explain to excellent but non-horsey editor that no, she can't change 'grey' to 'white' throughout.. lol, they prob think white sounds more romantic & exciting! Good luck with the new books
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Post by darkhorse on Jan 24, 2012 21:40:12 GMT 1
Welcome Sheena I really enjoyed your book too.
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