h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Mum's birthday so, I take the day off, meet up with mum and we decide to go and see some springs and wells out in the cotswolds.

Anyway, while wandering, our footpath crosses a field full of Highland ponies of varying ages and colours. Gorgeous though, a pair of Mouse duns who look like twins (yearlings i think) but there's every solid colour and some beautiful dappled greys, too... From a butterscotch-and-cream coloured foal to a black mare, a blue roan and a true dun with zebra stripes at the top of the darker markings on her legs,

Anyway, I was admiring these ponies, taking some pictures and watching them interacting, trying to figure out who's who etc. when I spot a couple of dogs...

And a small woman with grey hair...

And across she comes and we offer each other a good afternoon and she asks if i'm enjoying the ponies and I say i am and ask if they are, indeed Highlands. Oh yes, apparently they are famous pedigree ponies, serviced by the Queen's Highland stallions. She told me the background of the owners (the lady of the area died after treating her farm manager and his wife like slaves all her life and left a 200acre estate, properties and the highland herd to them in her will...)

Anyway, this was all lovely, we chatted for a bit longer and wished each other a lovely day.

And as she was walking away, all I was thinking over and over and over again was *THAT WAS JILLY COOPER OR I'M AN ILLITERATE TROGLODYTE!*

I still cant quite figure it out in my head. Firstly, why do I care, and secondly. OH MY GOD! Jilly Cooper and I just had an intelligent chat about Highland ponies and I managed to not be a complete idiot! I'm not normally the star-struck type, but I think the sheer randomness of me being in that field when she was walking across it is freaking me out! It's not like I live that close by!

At least you didn't bump into her like my ex did with Rowan Atkinson

I've seen a number of celebs but if I ever saw Hammond I'd probably faint.

And that's about the ponies.

I've never heard of Jilly Cooper

From what I know she is an author and wasn't she on grumpy old women?

She writes fabulously bad novels. 'Riders' 'polo' and 'rivals' are probably her best-known ones. I love Riders. It's AWFUL but like a raggy old blanket, I keep going back

Oh, and pics of the springs, holy wells and highland ponies of Bisley are in my photobucket account at photobucket.com/robynhoode

I believe it was a lot of racey novels about the polo set and loose women, nothing to do with Prince Charles and the fogeys, nor the Old Berks Hunt and stirrup cup.

Tally ho!

I see previously explained in the interim

It's beacause it's got horses in. I read all of the Saddle Club series as a kid for exactly the same reason. They were rubbish as well.

Ooooh, don't say "Saddle Club". I admitted to King Bomba that I used to read those and he's been mocking me ever since

I have a superb illustrated cartoon book by Thewell, which lampoons the home counties pony club to read, well I only look at the pictures really

Thelwell is a gold standard of equine humour.

I still think Jilly Cooper's not so bad, I've figured out that the impact was one of shock... I never in my life thought I'd ever meet her, so to suddenly do so like that caught me off guard.

She might write awful books, but she don't half do it well, and she's always smiling, I've always liked that!

Oh, and my favourite childhood horsey books:

Silver Snaffles (just one book although there were sequels I think)
The Silver Brumby series
The Black Stallion series
The Jinny series (about the ginger girl who lived in scotland with her mental chestnut arab mare 'Shantih')
and of course Black Beauty

Oooooh - I've just looked at those photos

Heh, I was waiting for you to see em I'm going to play with them in gimp tonight, there's one of that lovely foal head-on shying away from the dapple (it's mother I think) and I'm going to make it into a magic horse, probably a unicorn, or I might just highlight it a little stick some lens flare on, make it a bit fantastical... It's so PRETTY!

The dapple kept chasing the two mouse duns off down the hill, suspect probably the last lot of kiddlings (they looked like near on two-year-olds, not grown yet but not foals any more either)

I want to go back to that field every day! If I lived closer, I'd bug them for a job!

Take me with you!

I'd love to. They are all champion show ponies, strong pedigrees. They were the most beautiful creatures...

Who cares about pedigrees? Cute little ears!

I dont know, normally I'm not impressed but they were all such *good* looking ponies. Not an over-long nose or an ugly hock among them!

And an amazing range of colours!