Magic is a real pony. She is not a perfect pony, but she is honest and useful. She has been with us for many years and is a confident little performance horse. I chose her as the starring equine in my book, ‘Mobile Magic’, because I thought that she had the looks, the character and the name for the role. She is the sort of pony that a kid like Saffron would really fall in love with. Not an easy, flash or push-button pony, but a pony that she could safely take on long rides and handle by herself. Neither of Saffron’s parents know much about horses, so she has had to become very self-sufficient at a young age.

    Magic is Saffron’s perfect pony. She can be a devil to catch, but that just requires a lot of patience and sneaky techniques. She is a steady horse to ride, but can sometimes be impatient and demonstrative. Magic lets her riders and the world in general, know just what she thinks of them, but give her a job to do and she will really put her heart into it.

    The real Magic pony has been ridden mainly by Sigi, Hayden and Alex. She has been to Pony Club a lot, including Pony Club Camp, and is a good Riding School Pony. She is not a very good Dressage Pony because she never keeps her head still enough, but she gets very enthusiastic about sporting and jumping. Saffron, the lead human in the ‘Mobile Magic’ story, needs the sort of horse that she can escape from her family and school-life with. Saffron is not happy with the move that her family has made from the city to a country town, and at the start of the book, Magic the pony

is the happiest part of her life. She is motivated to fight hard when she is in danger of losing her pony. Green Mountain is the only place she can keep Magic, but it is about to be turned into a suburb.

    Here are Magic and Alex playing Horse-Ball. It is the first time Magic has ever met a giant rubber ball, but you will see what a clever little pony she is. She very quickly gets used to the ball and decides to take control. Magic looks brown here because she was just about to lose her faded summer coat,

but now she has on her new, black winter woolies.

Click on the bars to show the QuickTime movies.

Magic & Hayden at a Pony Club Gymkhana about six years ago

Alex and Magic meet a Horse Ball, Alex pushes with a hand to start the ball rolling.

Alex and Magic get more confident playing ball, but get stuck in the arena’s corner.

In half an hour Alex and Magic pony chase it confidently, really playing soccer now.

Alex and Magic the pony, star of ‘Mobile Magic’ in Burra, relaxed after a long ride.

An illustration of Magic and her rider Saffron galloping bareback at Green Mountain.