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Post by Claire on Apr 22, 2008 21:51:14 GMT 1
hehe I do like being a troublemaker ;D ;D ;D
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Post by kunuma on Apr 23, 2008 19:58:35 GMT 1
However I still manage to have one or two small criticisms ( Nooooooooooooooooo
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Post by Claire on Apr 23, 2008 20:18:21 GMT 1
Crikey this is up to page 3 and havent even started discussing the book yet!
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Post by Claire on Apr 23, 2008 20:20:34 GMT 1
forgot to add...dont get your bloomers in a twist you two ;D there only small criticisms
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Post by exmoorfan on Apr 23, 2008 20:59:26 GMT 1
LOL Claire....You are in the doghouse.!!!!!!!!!
I love the book so am waiting with bated breath as they say to hear the critics.??
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Post by Claire on Apr 23, 2008 21:22:02 GMT 1
Claire....You are in the doghouse.!!!!!!!!! What do you expect you are talking to the person who criticised Silver Snaffles ;D
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Post by Claire on Apr 27, 2008 20:52:01 GMT 1
Hi everyone (creeps out of the doghouse ;D) just wondering how we are all getting on with the book. Has everyone read it yet?
Have just added a poll for it if you guys want to vote.
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pelly
Stablehand
Posts: 22
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Post by pelly on Apr 28, 2008 18:55:25 GMT 1
Ive got a armada copy and echo the comments about Jane and the way she treats Starry
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Post by Claire on Apr 28, 2008 19:33:12 GMT 1
Jane is a right pain in the butt, but she does improve later on in the book.
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Post by kunuma on Apr 28, 2008 20:13:23 GMT 1
Don't you find yourself wishing that there had been a sequel!
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Post by Claire on Apr 28, 2008 20:48:11 GMT 1
kunuma that's exactly what I was thinking when I read it. It would be nice to see what happened when Adonis was installed in 'Captain Stinky's' (as Jane called him) stables. Maybe they would show him at one of the top shows. The reason she probably didn't was that the message of the book (ie good riding wins over uneducated experience) was fulfilled by the end of the story and it would be quite hard to continue that now that the children had proved the point.
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Post by fizz on Apr 28, 2008 22:30:04 GMT 1
I find the book somewhat unsatisfying; I never liked it as a child, I have just re-read it. I never liked the way that Sara & Patrick were so scathing about the Merrimans when they had accepted their hospitality and rode their ponies. I think that Jane is a very one dimensional character who JPT uses to show the "bad aspects" of non trained riding. I found them very preachy and they distinctly annoyed me when I first read it all those years ago. On reading again as an adult one of it's strengths is the depiction of adults. Mrs Merriman's "All dressed for the fray I see" when Sara & Patrick come down to breakfast in riding clothes, puts my teeth on edge, as it's the type of comment I can remember hearing from "grown ups" myself when I was Patrick & Sara's age. It isn't a very believable book; how could two children re-school a pony that hadn't been ridden for months on the strength of 24 lessons? Albeit by a skilled instructor; I certainly couldn't have at their age. I do not think it is one of her best.
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Post by Claire on Apr 29, 2008 20:39:52 GMT 1
Thanks fizz you just got me out of the dog house exmoorfan and haffyfan will be stoning you instead of me now ;D
Seriously tho its good we can have different views it would be boring if we all felt the same about a book.
I do agree that it would have been unrealistic for two relatively inexperienced children to re-school a pony but I thought (correct me if Im wrong anyone) that Adonis didnt actually need to be re-schooled. I dont think there was ever anything wrong with him it was Jane's bad riding and clumsy aids that he could not understand, so that when Sarah and Patick rode him in the correct way he understood them. Hadn't he won a lot before he was bought for jane? I know he bucked a lot but that was probably freshness as he hadnt been exercised for ages.
Ok Jane a bit stereotyped but she did evoke the right response in me as reader ie she really annoyed me. JPT does do the scornful brat character quite a lot. Think of Marga in the Noel and Henry series or the awful twins Frankie and Georgie in the Trick Jumpers. Also as I said in an earlier post she does get a bit better as the book progresses. After all it is Jane who gives Adonis to Patrick and Sarah in the end. Its almost as if the pair seem to improve her in a parallel way to their improving Adonis. Was this contrived by Josephine or just a conincidence?
I suppose my main quibble with the book is the attitude of Sarah and Patricks mother to riding. She is so vehemently against it, it seems a bit contrived. (I hardly think knowing one horsy bore relative would put you off it to that extent) And then when the children go to stay with the Merrimans she just seems to give straight in and let them ride, I dont think it is ever properly explained why. Surely she would have said sorry but I dont want them riding. Ok at the end she says she didnt realise horsy people could be alright, but that is after she has aleady let them ride. This part of the story irritates me whenever I read it.
On the whole tho I do love the book. I actually don't find it that preachy. I think Josephine manages to get across riding technique in this (and in the noel and henry series) quite naturally. If for example you compare to the 'In the Family' series by Judith Berrisford which is trying to teach within the framework of a story...now that IS preachy!
Fizz i agree that JPT is really good at depicting adults. I just love the characters of Major and Mrs Holbrooke in her pony club books.
What I like the most about the book is not the actual message of the correct riding technique wins thru everytime but the relationship of the kids to Adonis and the character of the pony. I dont think JPT dwells on this relationship of child and pony as much as say her sister Diana but in this book it is really to the forefront. I love the bit at the end where they are so sad cos they think they are going to have to leave Adonis behind, and then they find out he is theres after all. OK bit corny but nice! Another thing I like is the fact that altho the children want to do well in the show it comes second place to their love for the pony as Sarah says the show had receded into insignificance beside the thought of losing Adonis. I am not so keen on the pot-hunting angle of many pony books and this seems to avoid it.
In summary I would not put it up there with the Noel and Henry books which were just superb and in a league of their own but definitely one of her best. Would give it 4 to 5 horseshoes as a rating if reviewing it.
What does everyone else think?
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Post by fizz on Apr 29, 2008 21:37:59 GMT 1
Yes Patrick & Sara's parents attitude is rather strange. I also thought it odd that if she had been keeping in touch with Mrs Merriman all those years she would have known that they were a horsey family. Surely Mrs Merriman most have been horsey as a young girl when they were friends, as Rupert was her horse in the book, and I presume she hunted. As for the big U turn in the Mother's attitude, we must presume that Mrs Merriman did some persuasion behind the scenes that is untold.
I agree Claire that Adonis had been well schooled and won a lot before Jane acquired him. I suppose he reminds me of the Bowie/Sarah relationship in Pony Club Cup. David says that Sarah needs to ride better as "he is a sensitive, thin skinned pony, that won't respond to kicking and pulling.....you will have a battle on your hands and he will win". Mr Merriman says "He's their sort of pony" doesn't he.
Like you Claire I love the Noel & Henry stories and I hope we all get chance to vote and review those soon.
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Post by Claire on Apr 29, 2008 22:41:15 GMT 1
Fizz good point about Mrs M probably being a horsy child and the fact that S and P's mother should have known the family was horsy. I never thought of that but its quite true. Thinking about it JPT had to come up with some reason that the kids didnt have their own pony for the plot to develop. Its usually cos the characters are too poor but in this book if they were poor how would they have had the lessons from the top equitation expert and learnt all the latest techniques? So J had to come up with another reason and it was the mothers aversion to horses. Cant help thinking she could have thought of a better reason maybe the mother could have ridden as a child and had a nasty accident which put her off horses this would have been much more believable also it would have tied in with her having a horsy pal like mrs. m. Still its the only thing that lets the book down in my opinion.
Yes looking forward to discussing the noel and henry series sometime in the future does anyone not like that I wonder? Now that would be heresy! ;D However thought we could maybe do a diana book next and then have a little discussion about the differences between the 3 sisters.
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Post by kunuma on Apr 30, 2008 16:58:45 GMT 1
Very thought provoking reviews, made me realise perhaps one of the reasons I loved it so much was because when I first read it I could identity so with Sara. My mother was then, (and still is) a carbon copy of Sara and Patrick's mum!! I still don't know why! She never got involved in anything remotely horsy in the smallest degree - even when I managed to lay my hands on one in some way!! I even had the obligatory course of riding lessons, (to shut me up) and my continuing interest in horses was then even more frowned on! Wonder if the P-T's ever met my parents!!!! As Haffy fan noticed, I am also passionate about Arabs. All my horses have been Arabs pb Arabs or natives. One thing about Arabs, if you understand them and are an empathetic rider, they will go to the ends of the earth for you. If you are clumsy and forceful and unfairly demanding , you will think they are crazy! Somehow I think the real Adonis on whom the book was based was without doubt a pb Arab!
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Post by haffyfan on Apr 30, 2008 18:23:24 GMT 1
For Claire and Fizz I just love this one, Adonis is the sort of pony you dream of owning as a child and after all this was what this one was about - pony mad but pony less Sara and Patrick's dream coming true. Adonis is exquisite on the first ed cover and the illustrated Pb but I must admit he is not so dream like on the collins seagull and photo pb's so I am glad I only saw those editions much later! I think JPT was trying to get across the 'finer points of equitation' in this one and that riding is not just about sticking on and kicking (aka Jane's style). Adonis was not your average riding school/pony club pony, rather a highly schooled sensitive creature who needed riding likewise and responded to be ridden correctly (and in the manor he was accustomed). Just because someone has ridden 'forever' does not automatically make them a good horseman and JPT illustrated this point well by the 'novice' (but correctly taught) Huntingdons suceeding where Jane had not. I like to think they went on to much bigger and better things in the future......Hoys even maybe?
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Post by haffyfan on Apr 30, 2008 18:24:53 GMT 1
SP is not mine either I nabbed it off PB!!!
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Post by sarah on Apr 30, 2008 19:07:48 GMT 1
I really enjoyed the book. I think because it was one of the first pony books I remember reading and of course it was my dream to be able to ride and be given a pony - particularly one as handsome as Adonis (I had the Armada paperback). I think my bike was even called Adonis for a while!!! The character of Jane was annoying and in particular the way that her mother never really stopped her or told her off properly for being rude. Wasn't there a similar brattish character in Riding with the Lyntons? I too liked the way the training aspect was put across quite naturally in the book. There was lots of other stuff I was going to write but can't remember it all at the moment.
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pelly
Stablehand
Posts: 22
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Post by pelly on Apr 30, 2008 19:30:31 GMT 1
Annette is the Lynton i think your on about.
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Post by Claire on Apr 30, 2008 21:29:52 GMT 1
haffyfan you are the cheeky monkey! ;D I actually agree with you for the most part (wasnt me who voted average honest!)
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Post by exmoorfan on May 1, 2008 10:41:10 GMT 1
Well was just lining up the stones to throw but haffy had a better idea...lol I agree with haffy and still love the book...Agree with kumuma about Arabs being sensitive and needing a quiet understanding rider..I used to ride one that bucked all the kids off and they strapped it down with martingales etc but although i'm not especially good rider she always went beautifully with me....You cannot be heavy handed with them as Jane was in the book.. Kunuma your parents sound like mine too..Although they liked animals..(i was allowed a dog and cat) They never understood my passion forhorse..lol
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Post by darkhorse on May 3, 2008 15:23:01 GMT 1
I loved the book. For some strange reason I never did read this one as a child so it does not have quite the same feeling for me as the ones I did read then like the Pony Club series, Plenty of Ponies etc etc. All the same it is excellent. The character or Adonis is much better than that of the ponies in the Black Pony Inn books everyone was discussing in the last reading circle thread. I also like the characters of Sara and Patrick who were very sympathetic and much more optimitstic than those in Christine's books.
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Post by Claire on May 4, 2008 11:15:06 GMT 1
Anyone else read it/got comments?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2009 12:39:19 GMT 1
I love this book, it was one of my childhood favourites and I've enjoyed reading it again after a thirty year gap.
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Post by Buster on Jul 18, 2009 19:50:11 GMT 1
Never read it but it sounds good x
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Post by foxglove on Feb 7, 2012 17:07:18 GMT 1
I just read this for the first time. I found the story rather predictable, but the character of Adonis was beautifully done. I particularly enjoyed the opening pages, where JPT was at her wittiest in her description of ponymad kids and uninterested parents. I thought Sara and Patrick's relationship was rather unbelievable, as they liked the same things and never argued, but maybe that's because I can't imagine ever getting on with my brother like that! As a child I'd have rather gone without than shared with him.
I did wonder if their home town of Marston Common was based on Wimbledon (where I currently live); described as a London suburb with a common, an old fashioned village and a modern high street and two posh riding stables. It sounded very familiar.
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Post by Claire on Feb 8, 2012 3:05:34 GMT 1
I can understand the brother and sister relationship as when we were younger my brother and I were very close and liked a lot of the same things and did lots of things together (tho sadly he didnt like horses as much as me even tho he did come riding a bit) However when we got to our mid teens we hated each other. Then late teens we got on great again. So I do like books where a brother and sister character work together, like this one or DPTs Ponies in Peril or Patricia Leitch's A Pony of Our Own, JMB's Pippa series etc. Glad you mentioned this point foxglove as I never really picked up on it before, or that it's why I like the above books!
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Post by trixiepony on Feb 8, 2012 8:18:07 GMT 1
I was close to my brother as well but he thourt I was a bit mad being pony mad. He's older by 3 years, and I gess it gave him a nice feeling having his little sister following him around, he was the first of the boy cousins at that age to get a little sister.
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Post by tintin on Jan 14, 2013 14:03:11 GMT 1
I read this book over the weekend. After having read Col. Hance's autobiography "Riding Master" and it is fascinating to see some of the same issues instructing young officers in riding being played out 20/25 years later among children. Captain Stefinski intrigues me - is he Polish? His strongly expressed opinions would be consistent with a background in the Polish Cavalry - formed when Poland emeged as a nation in 1920 from units from Germany, Austria and Russia who had very different ideas about riding, horses and saddlery which they pursued vehemently. Later a French training mission arrived which further stirred the pot...
Adonis is a very lively horse, probably due to prolonged inactivity. Jane is splendidly awful, not least in how she is not so awful among adults. Jane is also oddly like the Captain with her "see it - say it" attitude. I liked Sara and Patrick, they try so hard to be tactful... I also liked the brother who keeps their secret. I think one of the reasons mother mellows is because father is away and they are not re-inforcing each others prejudices. The book is very good on how quickly chaos can assert itself when dealing with horses.
There is some lovely descriptive writing in this book. I thought it was very good, though not in the absolute top flight of the sisters books.
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