Jill Has Two Ponies

Jill's Ponies #3

by Ruby Ferguson

Jill has been dreaming of getting another pony, and here she is, with her prospective new pony in front of her. There's just one problem. Jill doesn't take to Rapide, and Rapide doesn't take to her. But Jill buys him, and then immediately regrets it. How Jill gets over her dislike of Rapide, while managing with her friends to save Mrs Darcy's riding school, makes this a classic of pony literature.

Genres: Horses, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Young Adult, Juvenile

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Ruby Constance Annie Ashby Ferguson
aka
Ruby Ferguson and R.C. Ashby

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am gradually collecting early editions of the 'Jill' books, trying to do so without bankrupting myself; this is an extremely scruffy 1963 Armada reprint, but at least free from cigarette excision, decimal currency, or PC renaming. This is the one where Jill acquires her second pony, Rapide, although that really isn't the main storyline at all it's mostly about Jill and her friends trying to keep their favourite riding stables in business. I scoffed it all up in about an hour flat, and loved every word.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had two of these books - can't remember the other one - maybe it was a pony for Jill? But I loved them. I was about 9 I think when I read them the first time. They were terribly English, terribly horsey, and just wonderful. I think only a truly horse mad girl would like them these days. Maybe?

[Mary Pagones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Jill, Jill. After trying out an obviously unsuitable pony, our heroine Jill, out of cussed stubbornness, chooses to buy and keep him, to prove she’s not a wimp. I love how the Jill books are so unsentimental about children and their ponies. Instead of some magical bond between horse and rider, it’s very clear that sometimes we don’t always set riding goals with noble motives, and coping with a new horse’s issues is often an exercise in trial and error, versus love.

[Catherine Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rediscovered this childhood book in a cupboard at my mum’s house. A very entertaining read, you can’t help but love Jill’s style.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these books :) So much fun! Had I read them as a kid I would have died from jealousy over Jill's life- well, honestly, I still might!

[Arska-täti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Laura tarvitsee isomman ponin nykyisen kisaponinsa rinnalle, ja hän päätyy ostamaan jo alusta asti inhoamansa Nopsan. Alkuun mikään ei suju Nopsan kanssa, mutta vähitellen hän ja poni onnistuvat rakentamaan luottamussiteen välillensä.

Entisajan hevosmaailma välittyy kivasti tekstistä, vaikka asiat ovatkin jo kovin vanhentuneita tänä päivänä.

[Emma Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was awesome. Jill buys a second pony - Rapide - and hates him, which is so unexpected it’s actually hilarious. She also ends up running Mrs Darcy’s riding school with interesting results because of course. I really enjoyed Jill’s relationship with her mum here. This is filled with such vivid characters and great humour, I felt quite at home.

[Polly Perks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another return to my childhood nostalgia. These are marketed as “the best pony books” and I think they’re probably right.

[Joanna Castle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this in the loft the other day, had to re-read it for a trip down memory lane, love this book

[Lainey Grieve Ramsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jill has two ponies was first published in 1952 by Hodder and Stoughton illustrated by Caney. Loved it then and love it now.

Jill has wanted a second pony for a long time and finally buys Rapide but they don’t like each other to begin with.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another visit to Jill's world and this time she isn't all that nice. Her mother offers to buy her a second pony and along comes Rapide, but Jill doesn't like him and tries to palm him off on the local riding school, which is already under threat and likely to close. In an effort to save it, Jill and her friends take over some of the teaching and Jill starts to appreciate that Rapide wasn't always so well looked after. Eventually, she is persuaded to enter him in a hunter trial, but can she learn to sit his unusual jump.

I am still loving the naivity of these books, but in this one I was slightly annoyed by Jill's attitude...she was really annoying. Can't see riding schools these days allowing kids to teach - health and safety! - but it's nice to think that once upon a time it was fine.

[B.B. Shepherd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. I'm so surprised to see this book listed here. Of course, my copy is "Jill Has Two Ponies" and the cover is different, but this book series was very inspirational for my first attempts at writing a horse story (aged fifteen). The first couple were sent to me from a relative in England. After we moved there I bought many of the other books myself. I loved them as a horse mad tween, but tried to read the first recently, Jill's Gymkhana, and kept having to put it down and didn't finish it. The writing style is too old-fashioned I guess; simple in an almost condescending way. Still, I loved it when I was younger and could recommend it for girls aged 7-10, perhaps older. It's a sweet, simple series.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

As hinted at by the title, book 3 sees Jill buying her second pony, Rapide and dealing with the fact that actually, she doesn't like him very much at all and why did she buy him?

But luckily things do work out, Jill isn't very nice about Rapide for most of the book, but her friends and Mrs Darcy from the riding school are quick to call her out about it and she's soon on the path of working on her relationship with her new pony.

Also going on is the threat of Mrs Darcy's riding school having to close down due to a lack of students, as they've all been going off to the hot new riding school, Lime Farm.
Jill and friends do a stint of running the riding school on her behalf while she's away and manage to boost the riding schools reputation.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am gradually collecting early editions of the 'Jill' books, trying to do so without bankrupting myself; this is an extremely scruffy 1963 Armada reprint, but at least free from cigarette excision, decimal currency, or PC renaming. This is the one where Jill acquires her second pony, Rapide, although that really isn't the main storyline at all – it's mostly about Jill and her friends trying to keep their favourite riding stables in business. I scoffed it all up in about an hour flat, and loved every word.

[Cheyenne Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of an Ebay win of a box of old pony paperbacks. Heaven! Comfort heaven. I must have read the Jill books dozens and dozens of times, and they never get old or less enjoyable, despite me being well and truly adult now and the books having been written in the 1950s. Ageless classics for pony-mad kids, and such fun to read. Jill is a very original narrator, with a lovely dry wit and able to laugh at herself.

I'm going to read it a second time before I pass this tattered paperback on to its forever home. I really hope these come out as ebooks soon.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jill is a frightful prig and needs to meet a Pullein-Thompson heroine or two.