Generations of pony-mad children grew up at the paintings of sisters Diana, Josephine and Christine Pullein-Thompson, who wrote dozens of pony books between them. Their exciting stories of pony trekking adventures, stolen ponies, using golf equipment and circus stunts captivated generations of pony-mad youngsters. They’re nonetheless nice tales, and lots of the books are nonetheless in print, however sadly they’re much less plausible than they as soon as have been — trendy equestrian lifestyles has since turn out to be somewhat extra difficult…
1. Considering of putting in place your individual using membership? Then, all you wanted was once a number of youngsters on ponies. Now, you’ll want 3 forms of insurance coverage, a committee and pages on Fb, Instagram and TikTok.
2. Then, when you have been underneath 16 and instrumental in thwarting a perilous gang of smugglers, it was once plaudits from the police and sticky buns all spherical. This present day, your folks can most likely be expecting a choice from social services and products…
3. Youngsters within the books incessantly get misplaced wandering 1000’s of acres of open moorland. This present day, you’d simplest have to move a ways sufficient to get a cell phone sign and switch your GPS on, or, at a pinch, bounce at the what3words app and phone emergency services and products.
4. Sadly, nowadays when you’re underneath 16 you’re beautiful not going as a way to pick out up a “no-hoper” horse from a gross sales for £12, teach him your self at house and win the native one-day tournament. We’re no longer pronouncing it’s unimaginable, although…
5. We’d like to suppose that we’d get noticed by way of a movie workforce and requested to superstar in a movie as a stunt doubles, as took place in considered one of Christine’s Black Pony Inn books — we worry there could also be somewhat little bit of forms concerned first nowadays, although.
6. In Christine’s Phantom Horse collection, the eponymous Phantom is going from being a wild mustang in america to being tamed (by way of youngsters), shipped again to the United Kingdom, stolen, discovered and a lot more sooner than occurring to win competitions. Whilst it would all nonetheless be accomplished, nowadays many of the first ebook would had been taken up with admin, microchipping, quarantine laws, passporting and extra — all at a value of a number of thousand kilos.
7. In Josephine’s The Trick Jumpers, a gaggle of youngsters educate their ponies to do “trick leaping” to place on a show at a neighborhood display, together with leaping via hearth. We will listen the trendy native display committee fainting from right here…
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