In 1996 I wrote the original edition of Little Australian Pony Girl. Written in an era where ebooks had not been even thought of, Little Australian Pony Girl was designed with many photographs and illustrations. In fact, almost 120 pictures grace the pages of the original, full colour book.
This edition is especially designed, updated and edited for ebook format. Too many illustrations do not complement an ebook so I have selected six photographs from the original book. They were selected with great care: for ease of viewing and to support the text. The ebook edition is also several thousand words greater in content and several chapters longer.
Emily is the third generation of a family whose lives have been bound up in animals, especially horses, in different parts of Australia. With one grandfather a professional horse breaker and race horse trainer, her father a professional jockey at sixteen years old and a mother whose teenage years were spent on horseback, it is not suprising that Emily can never recall a time when she could not ride.
This fascinating tale is told by young Emily and moves through the amazing range of happenings that make up both her life, and the life of her family. Horses and ponies may play the major role in Emily’s life but it is by no means a one sided childhood. Emily is a musical child who plays the flute, taking weekly lessons. Like her mother and grandmother, she sews, knits, and enjoys craft work.
Unfortunately, the light hearted days of pony competitions are now a thing of the past. The changes in insurance have forced the price of competing into a seriously high bracket and have made people very wary of casual generosity. The days when we borrowed a friend’s horse float with a cheerful word of thanks; when I rode in the float to calm troubled ponies while we climbed through the Blue Mountains; when we slept on piles of hay in the stables next to our ponies at a sleeping showground: they are long gone. Today, the word pony, is almost synonymous with the word insurance.
When I completed the first edition in 1996, Emily was a lively nine year old thoroughly enjoying life with her ponies. I had no idea that these ponies were to play a much more vital role in Emily’s life and become her main source of mobility: Emily was fifteen when she developed Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Emily’s illness plays no part in either edition of Little Australian Pony Girl. However, whilst editing and preparing this new edition for ebook publication, I was able to relive and enjoy again those happy, healthy years before illness dominated our lives. It was a wonderful time and I am even more appreciative of it in retrospect.