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The Pony Rider Boys #1
The Pony Rider Boys in the Rockies
A group of boys decide to form a pony riding club of their own when one of their number - Walter - needs fresh air to improve his health. They plan a trip to the Rockies and encounter many adventures along the way.
252 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1909
About the author
Frank Gee Patchin
54 books2 followersFrank Gee Patchin (1861-1925), was an American author who wrote many series of juvenile fiction books, including The Pony Rider Boys, and The Battleship Boys.
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October 22, 2023alright. So. here's the deal.
These were my absolute love as a horse-obsessed 9-12 year old. I mean - ponies and utter insanity - what could beat that? Love love LOVED these books (and any other books involving horses).
Upon which, being the little fool I was, I reread all the books on my kindle and left notes every few pages with the wildest comments possible in retrospect. So I'm SO excited to keep rereading these because those notes give me LIFE they're so STUPID. WHAT exactly was I DOING seven years ago.
(I wonder what younger me would think of the fact that I'm riding competitive intercollegiate now? that's a crazy thought actually lolll)
It's just. This is SO dime novel. Band of city boys, with ponies, adventure into the wild, get into utterly impossible and insane mishaps, solve mysteries, run into desperate characters, and generally come out victorious despite the daunting circumstances. And of course, we have the quintessential character tropes. Tad Butler's the hero; that's made clear from the beginning. He's 17, and he's hardworking (to support his mother), steadfast, smart, brave, reliable, quick-thinking, honest to a fault, and a superb rider. I mean - holy heck the stunts this boy pulls off in book one alone is HELLO! Where and how! You are a freakin drill team trick rider man. It's so ridiculous, but it slots into his role as the de facto head of the merry little band - not in name, but in actions, in virtue. Texas, his little "Indian pony," like his master, is smart and brave, hardy and strong. I would love to know what breed this lil dude is. I bet he's just a Quarter. Anyway shoutout to Texas I wanted him SOOOOO badly as a kid!! Walter Perkins is the sort of vaguely relegated to the role of recovering invalid, the forefront of this enterprise - his father's got bank (literally), and he's certainly rich enough for it (dropping $500 on a pony in 1910 America is CRAZY!! Why are you SPENDING THAT MUCH ON A PONY? that's like what 4500 now? yeow!! Cactus sold for less than that). Yet he's not stuck up, and he's fun, too. I never got a good read on him through the books solely bc he and Ned occupy almost the same tropes aside from the fact that he's, y'know, the one who needs to get well, get into nature and recover, and he certainly does do that! He, iirc, is determined and his grit sees him through a lot of situations. Ned Rector, I think, is both hilarious and Tad's sidekick in a way. He likes ribbing the others, he's fun, always up for things, and is happy to step in to help with Tad. Good-natured, he takes things as they are and pretty much just coasts through the series. He has no lack of bravery, either, and he sits like, right below Tad in the hierarchy in my opinion. Chunky - Stacy Brown - is the class clown, the comic relief, the one who certainly acts a lot stupider than he actually is. He's the butt of all the jokes, and he takes it in stride, usually calmly playing into them. Of course, there's the fact that because he's fat, he gets ribbed - insert comment about the early 1900s and their concerning views on what constitutes comic relief (!!). The running jokes involving him continue relentlessly through the series, and some of them really ARE funny - Chunky IS funny himself because he knows when he's being mocked and simply does not care and usually deliberately keeps them up. He still plays a huge role in getting out of Situations half the time, usually by sheer accident, keeping up the whole absolutely clueless doggedness that he has. Why would you beat up a bobcat with a bat? Who knows! Only Chunky Brown knows, apparently. He's just lucky. Is his character problematic? Yea lmao it is!!!!! Very much so!!!! but also disregarding the, well, fat jokes, he really is funny himself in his complacent incompetency.
The Professor intrigues me? There's a reference to WWI later on in the series which makes me think this is set 1915ish but like, no one cares that he's German during the series. He talks about it and references it proudly -- until the war in Europe suddenly appears and suddenly he is all American and patriotic and denounces his country if i remember correctly. Because dime novels were always propaganda. I've always wanted to write an essay about dime novels as propaganda esp during WWI. The Professor is a really funny character in the series tho his whole deal is supposed to be like that but it is. Yea. Words?
Also, there's just a carelessness to Walter, Ned, and Chunky that Tad doesn't have which immediately sets him apart from the beginning to emphasize the whole class difference. They have money and he does not. But they're all friends unequivocally, even though they make fun of him for old Jinny. It is interesting that it pretty much just stops mattering after the first book bc they're too busy getting caught up in bizarre dime novel plots that have no business existing. The book's like hey ok here are four boys just livin having fun with each other and their ponies in the wild OH ALSO WAIT WE NEED TO INSERT A CRAZY RANDOM DANGER PLOT BC DIME NOVELS INVOLVE IMPOSSIBLE HEROICS AND ALWAYS THE GOOD TRIUMPHS. it's so funny to me. it's like here's a dash of cold reality - class differences - except it's treated jokingly by half of them and the whole point is that with enough grit and honesty you can Get Good. i love dime novels!!!!!!! <-- sarcasm
there's just something about old dime novels that is genuinely hysterical. I mean - they're funny, and not in just a "this is so stupid" funny way. They're actually funny. I'm not sure if it's a stylistic thing in dialogue and writing or what, but I still do find them hilarious even if I'm 19 and in college now. I don't exactly know, but after rereading The Outdoor Girls last year and now this, I think it's probably something to do with the completely deadpan delivery of those lines intext and just the action verbs used that aren't really used in those contexts anymore. Also my sense of humor has been broken for years and there is also a nostalgia factor.
anyway uhhhhh yeah i read most of this today at the Muddy Brook UMass show and my face when I was looking at my old kindle notes was probably concerning to everyone around me. also I got 2nd in my hunt seat debut W that beats my horrendous 5th in western last week
why exactly did i just sit here and type this out for 25 minutes right after coming back. the answer is procrastination. procrastinating what? i don't actually know but def something there's always something to procrastinate. skull. hmm time to reread the rest of the books
These were my absolute love as a horse-obsessed 9-12 year old. I mean - ponies and utter insanity - what could beat that? Love love LOVED these books (and any other books involving horses).
Upon which, being the little fool I was, I reread all the books on my kindle and left notes every few pages with the wildest comments possible in retrospect. So I'm SO excited to keep rereading these because those notes give me LIFE they're so STUPID. WHAT exactly was I DOING seven years ago.
(I wonder what younger me would think of the fact that I'm riding competitive intercollegiate now? that's a crazy thought actually lolll)
It's just. This is SO dime novel. Band of city boys, with ponies, adventure into the wild, get into utterly impossible and insane mishaps, solve mysteries, run into desperate characters, and generally come out victorious despite the daunting circumstances. And of course, we have the quintessential character tropes. Tad Butler's the hero; that's made clear from the beginning. He's 17, and he's hardworking (to support his mother), steadfast, smart, brave, reliable, quick-thinking, honest to a fault, and a superb rider. I mean - holy heck the stunts this boy pulls off in book one alone is HELLO! Where and how! You are a freakin drill team trick rider man. It's so ridiculous, but it slots into his role as the de facto head of the merry little band - not in name, but in actions, in virtue. Texas, his little "Indian pony," like his master, is smart and brave, hardy and strong. I would love to know what breed this lil dude is. I bet he's just a Quarter. Anyway shoutout to Texas I wanted him SOOOOO badly as a kid!! Walter Perkins is the sort of vaguely relegated to the role of recovering invalid, the forefront of this enterprise - his father's got bank (literally), and he's certainly rich enough for it (dropping $500 on a pony in 1910 America is CRAZY!! Why are you SPENDING THAT MUCH ON A PONY? that's like what 4500 now? yeow!! Cactus sold for less than that). Yet he's not stuck up, and he's fun, too. I never got a good read on him through the books solely bc he and Ned occupy almost the same tropes aside from the fact that he's, y'know, the one who needs to get well, get into nature and recover, and he certainly does do that! He, iirc, is determined and his grit sees him through a lot of situations. Ned Rector, I think, is both hilarious and Tad's sidekick in a way. He likes ribbing the others, he's fun, always up for things, and is happy to step in to help with Tad. Good-natured, he takes things as they are and pretty much just coasts through the series. He has no lack of bravery, either, and he sits like, right below Tad in the hierarchy in my opinion. Chunky - Stacy Brown - is the class clown, the comic relief, the one who certainly acts a lot stupider than he actually is. He's the butt of all the jokes, and he takes it in stride, usually calmly playing into them. Of course, there's the fact that because he's fat, he gets ribbed - insert comment about the early 1900s and their concerning views on what constitutes comic relief (!!). The running jokes involving him continue relentlessly through the series, and some of them really ARE funny - Chunky IS funny himself because he knows when he's being mocked and simply does not care and usually deliberately keeps them up. He still plays a huge role in getting out of Situations half the time, usually by sheer accident, keeping up the whole absolutely clueless doggedness that he has. Why would you beat up a bobcat with a bat? Who knows! Only Chunky Brown knows, apparently. He's just lucky. Is his character problematic? Yea lmao it is!!!!! Very much so!!!! but also disregarding the, well, fat jokes, he really is funny himself in his complacent incompetency.
The Professor intrigues me? There's a reference to WWI later on in the series which makes me think this is set 1915ish but like, no one cares that he's German during the series. He talks about it and references it proudly -- until the war in Europe suddenly appears and suddenly he is all American and patriotic and denounces his country if i remember correctly. Because dime novels were always propaganda. I've always wanted to write an essay about dime novels as propaganda esp during WWI. The Professor is a really funny character in the series tho his whole deal is supposed to be like that but it is. Yea. Words?
Also, there's just a carelessness to Walter, Ned, and Chunky that Tad doesn't have which immediately sets him apart from the beginning to emphasize the whole class difference. They have money and he does not. But they're all friends unequivocally, even though they make fun of him for old Jinny. It is interesting that it pretty much just stops mattering after the first book bc they're too busy getting caught up in bizarre dime novel plots that have no business existing. The book's like hey ok here are four boys just livin having fun with each other and their ponies in the wild OH ALSO WAIT WE NEED TO INSERT A CRAZY RANDOM DANGER PLOT BC DIME NOVELS INVOLVE IMPOSSIBLE HEROICS AND ALWAYS THE GOOD TRIUMPHS. it's so funny to me. it's like here's a dash of cold reality - class differences - except it's treated jokingly by half of them and the whole point is that with enough grit and honesty you can Get Good. i love dime novels!!!!!!! <-- sarcasm
there's just something about old dime novels that is genuinely hysterical. I mean - they're funny, and not in just a "this is so stupid" funny way. They're actually funny. I'm not sure if it's a stylistic thing in dialogue and writing or what, but I still do find them hilarious even if I'm 19 and in college now. I don't exactly know, but after rereading The Outdoor Girls last year and now this, I think it's probably something to do with the completely deadpan delivery of those lines intext and just the action verbs used that aren't really used in those contexts anymore. Also my sense of humor has been broken for years and there is also a nostalgia factor.
anyway uhhhhh yeah i read most of this today at the Muddy Brook UMass show and my face when I was looking at my old kindle notes was probably concerning to everyone around me. also I got 2nd in my hunt seat debut W that beats my horrendous 5th in western last week
why exactly did i just sit here and type this out for 25 minutes right after coming back. the answer is procrastination. procrastinating what? i don't actually know but def something there's always something to procrastinate. skull. hmm time to reread the rest of the books
November 4, 2012
Pretty good adventure story for boys.
January 22, 2019
A good adventure story for a younger audience. Fun to read.
December 17, 2022
Another series read when very young... inherited from my Uncle Gene.... they helped me become a lifelong reader ast a young age.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews