Eunice Young Smith

American author born in 1902. As far as I know only wrote two pony books. One is the last in a longer series about a girl called Jennifer, which aims to capture a girl's childhood from a little girl to a teenager falling in love for the first time. The other stories in the series are general girl's stories, this last one is partly a pony story, partly a coming of age tale. The series was very popular on both sides of the Atlantic. Jennifer loves art and it is interesting that Eunice Young Smith's daughter Sharon Kane was a published artist from an early age, making it possible that the character was at least partly based on her daughter. (Although as Ms. Smith was also a capable artist and illustrated her own books it could have been based on herself!) Taking it full circle, Her daughter had a little girl whom she named….Jennifer!

Her other pony story is set in the UK and is about an Exmoor pony.

Horse & Pony Books:

HIGH HEELS FOR JENNIFER
(BOBBS MERRILL [USA] 1964)
(1st UK edition EDMUND WARD 1966)
ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR
EDITION PICTURED: 1st edition
SUMMARY: Last in the author's Jennifer series which is set in early 20th century America. Jennifer is now thirteen. She is helping her older friend Camilla train her mare High Heels and having fun riding and sketching the ponies. But then she starts having strange feelings for her older brother's good-looking friend Evan: could she be falling in love? This new feeling is exciting, but Jennifer soon learns that love can be painful too when Camilla's failed romance leaves her friend heartbroken.
PONYMAD VIEW: This is a good well-written coming of age story and I remember it well as (along with Noel and Henry's kiss) my first introduction to fictional romance!
PONYMAD RATING: 4 HORSESHOES

In case you are interested the full Jennifer series is:
1. THE JENNIFER WISH
2. THE JENNIFER GIFT
3. THE JENNIFER PRIZE
4. JENNIFER IS ELEVEN
5. JENNIFER DANCES
6. HIGH HEELS FOR JENNIFER
The others are not pony stories however.

SHOON WILD PONY OF THE MOORS
(BOBBS MERRILL [USA] 1965)
ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR
SUMMARY: A young boy falls in love with a wild Exmoor pony who has unusual markings. He is worried that due to his odd markings the pony will be disposed of by the Exmoor Pony Society, so he plans to tame the pony and save up to buy him for himself.

Collector's Info:
Both books are quite hard to find in the UK, even the British edition of High Heels. They are easier to find in America, although High Heels tends to be a lot more expensive.