Joan Phipson (1912-2003)

Popular and award winning Australian author. She was born in Sydney, NSW in 1912. Her parents were English, and as a child she lived in both Australia and England, and also India. She worked at a number of different jobs including journalist, printer and librarian. Later she began writing books and gained immediate critical success with her first novel, Good Luck to the Rider, which won the Australian Children's Book of the Year award. More acclaimed and popular books followed, most of them with an Australian countryside/farming backdrop and some of them focusing more specifically on the horsy aspect of such a lifestyle, although they perhaps cannot be classed as true traditional pony stories. In a similar fashion to Monica Edward's Punchbowl Farm series, the ponies are woven into the general lifestyle of the protagonists.

Ms. Phipson was considered one of the most important contributors to Australian children's literature of the time and her works have been widely published all over the world.

Horse & Pony Books:

GOOD LUCK TO THE RIDER
(ANGUS & ROBERTSON [AUSTRALIA] 1953)
ILLUSTRATED BY MARGARET HORDER
Reprinted in hardback and paperback.
American edition published by Harcourt, Brace and World in 1968.
EDIITIONS PICTURED: Angus & Robertson reprint, USA hardback edition.
SUMMARY: Barbara, the youngest of a family of children who live on an Australian ranch, adopts an orphaned colt.
PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES

IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER
(ANGUS & ROBERTSON [AUSTRALIA] 1957)
(1st UK edition HAMISH HAMILTON 1964)
ILLUSTRATED BY MARGARET HORDER
Reprinted in hardback.
EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st UK edition, paperback edition.
SUMMARY: Jennifer arrives in Australia from England to stay on an Australian sheep farm. Although everything is new and strange to her, she soon learns to ride and help out on the farm.

THE BOUNDARY RIDERS
(ANGUS & ROBERTSON [AUSTRALIA] 1962)
(1st UK edition CONSTABLE 1962)
ILLUSTRATED BY MARGARET HORDER
Reprinted in hardback.
Published in the UK in hardbacks by Constable/Kestrel.
Reprinted in the UK in paperback by Puffin a few times.
American edition published by Harcourt, Brace and World in 1962.
This was also published as part of a 2 in 1 edition along with the author's other novel, The Family Conspiracy (see below).
EDITIONS PICTURED: 1st UK edition, unknown edition, UK Puffin paperback.
SUMMARY: Adventure story. A group of children set off to inspect the boundary fences on the family ranch. But when they set off to look for a waterfall they get lost.

Other Editions:

THE BOUNDARY RIDERS & THE FAMILY CONSPIRACY
(JOHN FERGUSON [AUSTRALIA] 1981)
SUMMARY: 2 in 1 compilation edition.

Collector's Info:
All of these are quite easy to find in their native Australia, and also pretty easy in the USA and UK too. Boundary Riders tends to be the easiest one of the three, as it had many different printings.