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    Little Australian Pony Girl
    Little Australian Pony Girl
    Little Australian Pony Girl
    Ebook108 pages1 hour

    Little Australian Pony Girl

    By Ingrid M Smith

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    About this ebook

    'The ponies on our farm all get new rugs and shoes long before the people get any new clothes!' so said eight year old Emily to her mother. She was quite right, of course.
    Little Australian Pony Girl is the true story about an Australian childhood, where animals and hard work come first and people take second place.

    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.

    Emily's young life touches on a wide range of people and places. We see her at home on the family farm, learning that animals mean hard work and always come before people; she takes us to the North Queensland property of Rocking Vee which is owned by her grandparents; we hear all about her first meeting with Dodo the donkey; she tells us how the wild brumby horses of North Queensland became part of her father's own childhood; we learn of the family involvement in Riding for the Disabled; we can see Emily's delight in a father who was once a professional jockey shining through two chapters; there is the pleasure of a newly born foal and the joys of training him for his first show; the list goes on and on and it is hard to believe how much has been packed into Emily's short life.

    To many people, this is the sort of life that only happens in story books. I have lost count of the number of times people have approached me whilst I was holding a horse or pony and asked if their children could come closer: these children had never even seen a real live horse or pony.

    From sheep to saddles; rodeos to racing; brumbies to bridles; ponies to places: this is an Australian childhood at its best. Unfortunately, the type of childhood portrayed in Little Australian Pony Girl, is becoming an increasing rarity in our rapidly changing country of today.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIngrid M Smith
    Release dateJan 28, 2014
    ISBN9780992419417
    Little Australian Pony Girl
    Author

    Ingrid M Smith

    Ingrid was born of migrant parents who pioneered their own corner of rural NSW. Her Danish father and English mother encouraged reading at every level. The home was full of books of different languages and of every subject possible.Ingrid began writing very early, winning prizes at school. When she was 14 years, she was runner-up in a national writing contest for school students, sponsored by Peter Leyden Publishing.Ingrid has lived and worked in numerous places including London, Sydney and Canberra. She is married to Peter, a Computer Software Engineer and they have one daughter.Ingrid uses the experiences from her own life in her writing.She is proud to be a member of The Society of Women Writers of Western Australia.

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      Book preview

      Little Australian Pony Girl - Ingrid M Smith

      Introduction by Author

      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.

      Chapter 1: My name is Emily

      My name is Emily Smith and I am eight years old. I really love horses and ponies. Nearly all my family love horses too. Horses have been part of our family for generations. Grandpa John was a professional horse breaker and race horse trainer; my Dad spent his childhood on the cattle stations of North Queensland, where a horse was the most practical form of transport, then became a professional jockey. My English Grandmother rode the moors of her native lands before immigrating to Australia; my Mum learned to ride when she was about ten years old and spent most of her teenage years on horseback in the tiny coastal hamlet of Dalmeny.

      The family photographs show an incredible range of equine activities, each one telling a tale of its own. There is Grandpa John working two young horses, standing up on both their backs and obviously enjoying himself (photo 5). Another album page shows the lively action of a bull ride practice at Grandpa John’s arena at Rocking Vee. Five young boys, felt hatted and with serious expressions on their faces stare from the faded hues of an early colour photograph: my Dad with four friends all mounted on ponies and ready for a day’s mustering at Oakdale station in Queensland. Beautiful black and white photographs show my mother with her thoroughbred gelding, Chester: they are often swimming in the foaming waves of the Dalmeny beaches of their home.

      I live with my Mum and Dad on a small farm at Arcadia, which is North West of Sydney. Sheep, cats and fish share the farm with our ponies and our family.

      Nugget the black sheep is a very special member of our family. Mum bottle fed Nugget from four days old: the tiny lamb lived in the kitchen and slept in a box of straw, next to the warmth of the stove. She is now a full grown sheep and Candy’s dearest friend: they often share a fold of hay together. Because Mum reared Nugget, our sheep still thinks that Mum is her real mother: she follows her around everywhere.

      I cannot recall the first horse shows I went to but I have been told about them. At six months old I attended a State title show to watch Dad compete with our palomino filly. There is a photograph taken two months later at Blacktown annual show: it shows me in my pram, with ribbons fluttering from the handle, my eyes fixed on Dad and our beautiful palomino filly.

      I go to Galston Public School and usually travel by bus. On some special occasions Mum will walk a pony up to the school to meet me in the afternoon. My friends then get to pat my pony and I ride home, bareback, while Mum walks next to me. I love those days.

      One day, my teacher at school asked Mum and Dad if they would bring a pony up to the school. The teacher wanted to give her class the chance to learn more about ponies. Dad arrived at school with Candy and I held her while Dad gave a talk about ponies to my class. After the talk there was an open question time and the other children were allowed to ask Dad questions about ponies. Candy stood very placidly on the green grass quadrangle, surrounded by dozens of admirers. When other classes

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