The Ginger Horse by Maureen Daly

The Ginger Horse Reviews

• 
  Sarah B

  So I found this vintage hardcover horse book while I was unboxing my books today (after my move to a new apartment). And since I try to read a paper book and a kindle book each day (or parts of one anyway) this short book seemed perfect. I have never read this before so the story was totally new to me.
  
  First of all I am surprised at the amount of tension that is packed into this children's book. I definitely felt not only concern for the poor pony, named Ginger, but also for the two children. The plot is full of danger, lots of uncertainty and some truly dangerous situations. I mean there is way more tension in here than in a few of the recent "thrillers" I have read (yes, I mean you Antarctica Station!). But then maybe I am just connecting to both Rob and to the pony. Connecting to characters in a book makes the book way better - but this author is gifted with the words and descriptions. The environment comes to life: a Scotland of the past, set in a very isolated coal mining village.
  
  Rob sure loved that pony. And I felt sorry for Rob's life. His father seems so gruff. Serious and dour. A very unhappy man. That attitude of his sets the tone of the book. And its why Rob connects with the pony later. Because the pony is the only "warm" thing in his life. He does everything for that pony, setting the pony's needs before his own.
  
  And Ginger (the book does not say but I wonder if he is maybe a stallion?) has ideas of his own. He doesn't want to be a pony slaving away in the mines. And then things go horribly wrong! For a brief moment there was some humor in the story - as Ginger does some very naughty stuff - but then it goes bad. And Rob has to save that pony! Or else the worse will happen. As the pony is owned by the most evil man possible: Mr McFarlane.
  
  Ginger acts like a proper horse. I think whoever wrote this must know something about horse behavior. Ginger is a Shetland pony. There is rolling and bucking and leaping and kicking and white of the eyes. The only thing missing was the chewing and loose lips.
  
  I admit I have mixed feelings about the end. Its both good and bad? I hope things work out for Ginger but I am uncertain. I would say more about this but I do not want to ruin the story so I will leave it at that.
  
  The book is illustrated with black and white line drawings. There is a full color two page spread painting on the title page. The painting shows Rob, Katie and Ginger up in the hills above the small town.
• 
  Esther

  Great book for a child who loves horse stories.
• 
  Rena Sherwood

  This is a review of the Weekly Reader hardback edition.
  
  The story gets two stars, but Wesley Dennis' wonderful illustrations gives this book an extra star. He was an illustrator that actually read the text, bringing in little details mentioned in the story. His depiction of Ginger's path of destruction is alone worth the price of admission. Only problem is that the bad guy in this book, the coal mine owner, looks a lot like the bad-temoered Scottish groundskeeper on The Simpsons, which caused some unintentional laughs.
  
  Here we have yet another story that inflamed one of my pet peeves -- calling horses ponies and ponies horses. Yes, they are the same species, but there are a lot of differences between horses and ponies. Ginger is a Shetland pony and not a horse.
  
  In this book, Ginger is far more than a horse or pony. He's a metaphor for the human spirit.
  
  The book is told from mostly the boy Rob's point of view, but does occasionally go into other's point if view. The view of Katie was sad, since she seemed to buy into the false premise that boys are better than girls. I know this was published in 1964, but JAYSUS!
  
  This is a story set in Scotland written for an American audience. There's a short description of what haggis is. This would not be necessary for a book aimed for UK readers.
  
  The climax of the book is implausible, and the ending is unsatisfying. Still, the pictures are great.
• 
  Katt Hansen

  I have had this book almost my whole life but only read it once before today. I'm glad I held onto it.
  
  I think it was the cover which drew me to this book in the first place, back eons ago when the library was discarding it. The story of two children who wanted more from life, who could not settle for the mines the way their fathers had, could not help but feel the same toward the pit ponies who likewise worked those mines. When one ginger pony refused to go back into the caves, they sought to make it free. As though somehow freeing the pony would free them.
  
  Maureen Daly is one of the greatest writers I'd read. I wish she'd written more fiction in her lifetime, especially stories like these which take you back to her native Ireland. This particular book is especially meaningful to me as I raise Dales Ponies, a breed nearly extinct now because they used to be pit ponies in Scotland and Wales so many years ago.
  
  Overall, I cannot say enough about this book. I think I will get in the habit of reading it over again more often. Twice in fifty years is clearly not often enough. And I certainly appreciate it more now than I ever did then.
• 
  Shawnee

  Happy ending.