SUMMARY: Sara takes on the broken-down race mare Crossed Fingers with the help of some of the townspeople. However he comes to terms with his illness whilst looking after a Dartmoor pony. Martin loses his hearing in an accident and retreats from life. USA edition published by Doubleday in 1965 with different illustrator, Ray Houlihan.ĮDITIONS PICTURED: 1st edition, Carousel paperbacks, USA edition.

Reprinted in paperback a couple of times by Carousel. Reprinted in hardback by Kestrel in 1980. SUMMARY: A young boy attempts to train a horse for the Grand National. Published in the USA by Doubleday in 1962 and re-titled.ĮDITIONS PICTURED: USA re-titled edition. Sadly he died young, at the age of only 49, in 1969. He also wrote some other non-pony novels as well as non-fiction books about horses, racing and Dartmoor, 19 books in all. Many of the books have a Dartmoor setting. Most of the books are aimed at an older readership. His books usually have a depth and perception unseen in many children's novels. He became a full time writer in the 1960s.įor some reason he is a rather over-looked author, but he is in fact an extremely accomplished writer. He travelled extensively throughout the UK, Ireland and France, joined a travelling repertory company and worked as a journalist. Born in Totnes, Devon in 1919, he soon become passionately interested in Dartmoor, which was to feature in many of his books, both fictional and non-ficition. Question Mark/Pride of the Moor tends to be difficult to find.British author. Minstrel Boy, Moon in the River, The Horses of Petrock and Green Heart are reasonably easy to find, but more expensive. King Sam is hard to find, but easy in its paperback version, Tall and Proud. He died in 1969.įinding the books: Come Down the Mountain, Parade of Horses, Martin Rides the Moor and The Lord Mayor’s Show are all very easy to find. After the war he worked as a journalist on the South Devon journal, as well as writing. During all this time he wrote, and his first published book in 1946, Song of the Unsung, was based on his war experiences.

After he left school, he worked as an office boy, and an apprentice before becoming a sapper during the war. Dartmoor was a presence in many of his books. Vian Smith was born in Totnes in 1919, and spent much of his holidays with his grandparents at their farm in Holne.

Gillian Taylor described them as “more of a human drama than the pony adventure or wish fulfilment.” His Come Down the Mountain is a taut picture of teenage stubbornness in the face of convention, as Brenda defies the village to rescue a horse. Vian Smith did not write conventional pony stories: his books aren’t cosy, but they are very well worth the effort.

Parade of Horses by Vian Smith