Ponies, ponies, ponies
Don Stanford
Bibliography -
The Horsemasters
Funk & Wagnalls Co, New York, 1957 (left),
Cover C H Schule, internal illus David Rook
Harrap & Co, London, 1958, illus Michael Lyne (middle)
Brockhampton Press, Super Hampton Library, Leicester, 1967,
cover Laszlo Acs, 184 pp. (top right)
White Lion, London, 1973
Scholastic, New York, pb (bottom middle)
Puffin, London, pb, 1976 (bottom right)
Unknown USA edition, bottom left, possibly early Scholastic pb.
American Dinah Wilcox come to England to join the
Horsemasters’ course. Not only are her fellow course
members a varied lot, the horses are too. Opinions change
on quite a lot of things, with even the merciless Head Girl
Mercy proving there is rather more to her than they all think.
Must be Good Riders: Orphans Preferred
Funk & Wagnalls Co, New York, 1962, illus Stan Campbell
A story about the Pony Express
David hears about the Pony Express from the station agent Doherty, and wants to be one of
their riders.
Don Stanford, like William Corbin, was a prolific author who wrote very few pony books. His Horsemasters, though, has remained popular for 50 years, and is much sought after. Aimed at older readers, it is the story of two girls who are taking their British Horse Society Horsemasters certificate. The BHS does not still do this examination; it was the equivalent of today’s BHSAI, and was still available up until 1986, though possibly in an altered form from what Don Stanford describes. Porlock Vale Riding School used to teach the Horsemasters’ course, and you can read about it here. The book is dedicated to the Horsemasters of Porlock Vale. Having come across the Porlock Vale site before I started researching this author, I thought “Goodness, that sounds like The Horsemasters!” and now I know why. Porlock Vale alas has fallen victim to the increasing costs besetting riding schools, but you can get a good idea of just what an amazing place it was by reading more of its history here.
The Horsemasters is a riveting read, with interesting character development, and well-
There was a Disney film based on the book. Released in 1961, and starring Annette Funnicello as Dinah, it seems to have songs (The Strummin’ Song is one) which suggests it perhaps doesn’t follow the book that closely.
Finding the books: no edition of The Horsemasters is cheap, but both American and English first editions are very expensive. Must be Good Riders can be expensive as a very good first edition, but ex library copies can be had reasonably (at least, at the time of writing!)
Links and sources
Many thanks to Susan Bourgeau for the picture of the US edition.
Links and sources:
A full character list of The Horsemasters
The Horsemasters movie on IMDB, accessed 26th February 2014
The Porlock Vale Riding School, history, accessed 26th February 2014
A good blog on The Horsemasters,, accessed 26th February 2014
