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Post by Claire on Dec 22, 2010 12:00:45 GMT 1
Ok this one is a little light-hearted. What are your favourite romances or romantic moments in pony books? Noel and Henry - who can forget the 'kiss' in Pony Club Camp and Henry's immortal line of patter? ;D I liked Ruth when she had a crush on Peter too. Wished she had stayed keen on him instead of going off with Patrick Pennington. Just think of all the horses she would have to ride!
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Post by haffyfan on Dec 22, 2010 12:55:56 GMT 1
hmm unless you delve into more adult orientated books they tend to avoid romantic themes on the whole don't they bar modern books like Sam Alexander etc of course.
Jenny (think that was her name) and Godd from Darkling is the other one that springs to mind for me.
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Post by foxglove on Dec 22, 2010 13:31:43 GMT 1
The only bit of The Team I liked was when Ruth and Peter rode Sirius together. Touching and sensuous without being sordid. KM Peyton seems to be the only writer that regularly touches on it- I like the relationships in Flambards (haven't read the 4th!)
I hated the bits in Green Grass of Wyoming with Ken and that drippy bint Carey.
What about equine romances?! Thowra and his many wives- think it was quite touching when Boon Boon died. And there was Kunama with Tambo the flashy racehorse.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2010 13:56:39 GMT 1
Fiona And Gavin in Clear Round by Pamela Macgregor Morris
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Post by Claire on Dec 22, 2010 18:28:38 GMT 1
I hated the bits in Green Grass of Wyoming with Ken and that drippy bint Carey. Haha my sentiments entirely. Yes I liked Christina and Dick in Flambards too. You are right to keep off the 4th Flambards book! I quite liked the Edwin/Olga romance in The Horse Sale where he buys her beloved horse to please her...who couldn't like a boy like that? (Mind you I think he is a bit too nicey nice to be a real boy.)
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Post by Claire on Dec 23, 2010 11:47:08 GMT 1
Probably the best pony book romance which is actually explored in some depth, rather than just a small detail in the book/s, is that of Tamzin and Meryon in the Romney Marsh books. There are really some quite complex issues dealt with in the books, especially in No Going Back and A Wind is Blowing. Tho to be fair the whole series is not pony-orientated. I also like the relationship between Lindsey and Roger too. The books treat the relationships as important but they dont become sordid, sickly or mawkish as in some books where relationships are prevalent.
Prize for the most icky relationship has to go to that between a 14 year old Alex and the 19 year old Ash in the Riders series.
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Post by Buster on Dec 23, 2010 12:27:22 GMT 1
I didn't think either Noel and Henry or Peter and Ruth really had any 'romance' it was just sort of hinted at. But I hope they got together lol. Th eonly book I can think off is Jenny and.... I forget the blokes name (Guy?) in Darkling :-)
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Post by rallycairn on Dec 23, 2010 13:46:52 GMT 1
Definitely all types of human relationships are a huge part of the Flambards books. Christina and William, Christina and Dick, Christina and Mark. All of the books are full of life relationships though not generally romantic as in flirtation-type games -- more like the nitty-gritty of struggling through life's challenges, which include whether or not to have a life partner and who. Christina competing with Will's flying and just his general intellectualism and social awareness. And being the only non-servant female in a male-dominated household still bound up in a caste system at Flambards -- whew, the toughness of that was portrayed well. Then her feelings for Dick had the obstacle of the class difference. Of course there were romantic bits, the hunt ball and the ending of the first book, for certain.
So, yes, umm, in short the Flambards series gets one of my votes! For more teen-romance-type books, pretty much anything Jenny Hughes writes has the heroine pretty easily attracting the attention of whomever she's interested in, although there can be some small doubts along the way about how they will get together. And The Green Horse Hotel books also have romance, and of the older-guy-younger-girl variety. And as long as that type of relationship is portrayed as more longing on the younger one's part and just acknowledgment by the older one that the younger one may be something special some day, that kind of budding romance doesn't ick me out really. (But if they are actually in a relationship when one is younger than legal and the other is a legal adult, then there's more ick factor.)
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Post by Claire on Dec 23, 2010 22:23:57 GMT 1
I didn't think either Noel and Henry or Peter and Ruth really had any 'romance' it was just sort of hinted at. But I hope they got together lol. Sadly Ruth didnt end up with Peter Mysteryarab as she appeared in another non-pony series in which she went off with a different bloke and gave up horses! (The Beethoven Medal and Pennington's Heir) and poor Peter didnt have any love interest in his next book (The Last Ditch aka Free Rein) tho Jonathan had more than his fair share of women! ;D
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Post by kunuma on Dec 23, 2010 22:36:41 GMT 1
Mellie and Ritchie in Horse in the House - he saves her horse, now that IS a hero. The one in Cammie's challenge, Jinny with her crush on the film maker, Royston? There was one in the Impossible Horse too, wasn't there??
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Post by trixiepony on Dec 24, 2010 3:07:04 GMT 1
Romance in pony books is only hinted at in most of the older books Its kind of cute really, most people seemed to think that when you got in to boys you automatically dropped pony's, like Ruth did.
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Post by Claire on Dec 28, 2010 16:00:48 GMT 1
Alec and whats her name in the Black Stallion and the Girl (aka Stranger)
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Post by susanb on Dec 28, 2010 17:20:28 GMT 1
There are a lot of American books with romance in them, essentially because, on the whole, the American market produced horse books for a wider age range than the British market..the expectation was that you weren't going to give up Horse when you discovered Boy! There were some British authors who wrote for teens (Caroline Akrill, Gillian Baxter, K.M. Peyton), but in the US the number of authors for teens almost matched those who wrote for the juvenile audience.
That said, the American teen books were the ones that never made it to the British market, (presumably the British publishers who were leary of printing British teen pony books weren't looking to import any either!), so few here will have read them!.
I'll toss a few names into the mix anyway, just for kicks:
Grand Rogue by Francis Priddy
Saddles for Breakfast by Janet Randall
Spring Comes Riding by Betty Cavanna
The Connie Maguire series by Dorothy Lyons (Silver Birch, Midnight Moon, Golden Sovereign, Copper Kahn)
The Golden Stallion series by Rutherford Montgomery
The Don Revere and Raffy series by John Richard Young (Arizona Cow Horse, Champion of the Cross 5, Arizona Cutting Horse, Olympic Horseman)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2010 19:10:34 GMT 1
There's a little bit of romance with David and Bee Bye in Don Stanford's The Horsmasters.
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Post by foxglove on Jan 4, 2011 14:35:10 GMT 1
Alec and whats her name in the Black Stallion and the Girl (aka Stranger) She was called Pam and was a bit of a hippy I think. There was a chapter called "I Give You Arcturus" where she gifts him a star from the night sky. Vomitous! The book did touch a bit on the challenges females faced in a male-dominated industry, but was definitely the weakest in the series.
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Post by Claire on Jan 11, 2011 11:58:10 GMT 1
Susan who are the people involved in the romances from the books you suggest as I havent read most of them as yet?
Samantha Alexander had a few romances going, the rather pukey one between Alex and Ash, Mel and Blake in the Holywell stables series and Justina and Rory in the Winners racing series. Also there is a romance in Against the Odds but have forgotten the names of the parties involved - anyone help me out? Also haha the romance between Amy and Ty in the Heartland Books ;D
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Post by rallycairn on Jan 11, 2011 16:16:20 GMT 1
Did we mention Ann and Jim in the HM Peel books?
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Post by susanb on Jan 11, 2011 18:18:37 GMT 1
Apologies, Claire...I just saw your request!
Grand Rogue by Francis Priddy - Mike and Megan
Saddles for Breakfast by Janet Randall - Robin and Guy
Spring Comes Riding by Betty Cavanna - Meg and Randy
The Connie Maguire series by Dorothy Lyons (Silver Birch, Midnight Moon, Golden Sovereign, Copper Kahn) - Connie and Pete
The Golden Stallion series by Rutherford Montgomery - Charlie and Ellen
The Don Revere and Raffy series by John Richard Young (Arizona Cow Horse, Champion of the Cross 5, Arizona Cutting Horse, Olympic Horseman) - Don and Clare
Dria Meredith trilogy (Star Dream, Summer for Seven, High Hurdles) by Janet Lambert - Dria and Rob
Again, these are just a few....most American horse books aimed at the teen, as opposed to the middle school, reader had romance to one degree or another. It was just generally expected that when the hormones kicked in, teen boys and girls would be interested in each other, but WOULDN'T lose interest in their beloved horses and ponies!
BTW, on a slightly different tack, there are in fact US horse books where the protagonist is homosexual....not a lot, but they exist. I haven't read any, but titles that I know of are:
Come Out Smiling by Elizabeth Levy (1981) - girl at riding camp
Flick by Wendy Kesselman (1983) - girls at ranch for summer
Another Kind of Cowboy by Susan Juby (2007) - boy who wants to ride dressage, not rodeo
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Post by Claire on Jan 12, 2011 22:54:29 GMT 1
Thanks for that susan, the only ones I know are Charlie and Ellen. Interesting about the homosexual stories, I have heard of the Susan Juby one before but havent read it. I don't think we have anything similar in our pony books, certainly can't recall any.
On a similar note, that has reminded me of the author of pony books Isabelle Holland (also US) who wrote a book about a homosexual encounter between a tutor and his pupil. (not a pony book it was called The Man Without a Face and was made into a toned down version film with Mel Gibson) Plus she also wrote a pony story - Perdita - which had some elements of child abuse in it. Makes me wonder what pony books have attempted to deal with hard-hitting subjects. May start a thread about this but not sure what to entitle it!
Sorry getting off the point here!
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Post by Claire on Jan 18, 2011 17:44:01 GMT 1
Some more I have thought of:
David and Pat in the Second Mount and Three to Ride when they are reuinted after the silly girl goes off to become a debutante! Bobbie and Guy in the Shelta books. Melrose and Simon in Show Jumping Summer. Sian & Madoc in Agains the Odds and Clara and Prosper in K M P's Gains series. Plus there was a romance in the Roman Pony series (Minna's Quest etc) also by KMP involving Minna and Theo.
Oh yes and of course Aunt Di and the jockey Steve Rowlands in the Jackie series.
Kunuma, yes there was a romance in The Impossible horse between Jan and Guy and the boy in the Cammie books was Win.
Will add a poll as soon as I've checked Ive got all the names right!
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Post by Claire on Jan 18, 2011 18:10:00 GMT 1
Added poll. Decided to add some of the horsy 'romances' from the Silver B books as someone suggested. I thought of another one too, Das**tall Darcy and Penny in 3 Jays Lend a Hand (possibly the best of the 3 Jays bunch) and this has led to an inadvertant giggle as the swear filter on here has vetoed the S H I T letters from his name ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2011 18:39:40 GMT 1
;D
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Post by darkhorse on Jan 18, 2011 21:39:43 GMT 1
Lol but perhaps S H I T is quite appropriate for those books ;D
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Post by Claire on Jan 18, 2011 22:16:16 GMT 1
I know they are crap but for some reason I still have a soft spot for them - perhaps because they are so awful! ;D Mind you compared to her adventure series (Swiss Adventure, etc) they are pure poetry! ;D
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Post by trixiepony on Jan 19, 2011 1:25:14 GMT 1
Thanks Claire that was fun.
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