Pony Kids Book

The keeping of horses in unlikely surroundings has long been on the borders of media consciousness as an interesting subject. It was depicted with a disarming humour in The Commitments and there have been reports of the same thing happening in metropolitan council estates over the years. Here, Pony Kids, Perry Ogden's wonderful book lays before us the reality of this phenomenon in a picture documentary recording children living on the urban outskirts of Dublin and the horses and ponies they have come to enjoy as a very special outlet to daily life. The ferociously strong relationships that can develop between children and horses shine through in Ogden's captivating, uncompromising black-and-white photographs. There is humour, affection, even aggression here but nothing sentimental, either in the photographs or the narrative with which they are interspersed. Formulated from the words of these rarely heard young people, the variety of the animals' characters, ailments and their remedies is as compelling as the fun the children clearly have '"jockeying", always bareback, usually in a race. The authorities' inevitable attempt to control ownership of these animals is in danger of eradicating this urban subculture and with it a rare opportunity to "have a little talk, a little yak...get out of your estate". The children's determined defiance is a joy in itself and completely understandable. --Louise EllisonRead More