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Ponies
You all know that there are many different breeds of horse. They are different sizes, colours, shapes, have different temeraments, and because of these differences, we use them for different purposes. In this book, we are going to show you pictures of some of the smaller breeds of horse, which are commonly known as ponies.
64 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 7, 2025
This is more of a 2.5 than a three star book, so I rounded up.
This little non-fiction kid's book was published in 1971 by Hamlyn for a UK audience. I think the target audience were 10 to 12 year olds. The text is generalized into a few categories, but a good amount is devoted to commentary on the photos. As a result, there aren't any captions. There's a surprisingly large amount of text of gypsies (here referred to as Romanies or gipsies) and circus ponies.
There are two photos where a pony is in a bad situation, and shouldn't have been used in a book like this:
* One photo is a circus act where a Knabstrupp jumps over a clearly terrified Shetland. The Shetland is desperately trying to get away, but two very thick wooden poles and a circus worker are keeping the poor little guy in place.
* Another photo (which has appeared in a few UK published books) shows a dapple grey pony and rider striking a too-large jump square on the forelegs. The nose is starting to go down -- and I bet a photo taken a split second afterwards would show pony and rider on the ground.
The photos in books like these are often selected by the publisher and not the author. Annoyingly, there are photos of horses and NOT ponies in this very short book, which is supposedly devoted to ponies. Many of the photos can be found in other non-fiction horse books of the time.
There were dozens, if not hundreds, of books like this cranked out by UK publishers in the 1960s to about 1995.
This little non-fiction kid's book was published in 1971 by Hamlyn for a UK audience. I think the target audience were 10 to 12 year olds. The text is generalized into a few categories, but a good amount is devoted to commentary on the photos. As a result, there aren't any captions. There's a surprisingly large amount of text of gypsies (here referred to as Romanies or gipsies) and circus ponies.
There are two photos where a pony is in a bad situation, and shouldn't have been used in a book like this:
* One photo is a circus act where a Knabstrupp jumps over a clearly terrified Shetland. The Shetland is desperately trying to get away, but two very thick wooden poles and a circus worker are keeping the poor little guy in place.
* Another photo (which has appeared in a few UK published books) shows a dapple grey pony and rider striking a too-large jump square on the forelegs. The nose is starting to go down -- and I bet a photo taken a split second afterwards would show pony and rider on the ground.
The photos in books like these are often selected by the publisher and not the author. Annoyingly, there are photos of horses and NOT ponies in this very short book, which is supposedly devoted to ponies. Many of the photos can be found in other non-fiction horse books of the time.
There were dozens, if not hundreds, of books like this cranked out by UK publishers in the 1960s to about 1995.
January 24, 2013
I like picture books, and this book has many really nice pictures of kids and horses. Most of the pictures are black and white photos. but that doesn't detract from what the fun at all!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews