Jill Has Two Horses (The Jill) by Spark, Jemma

This is one of seven books, which comprise the Jill series by Jemma Spark. They're a follow-on of the original Ruby Ferguson Jill books, which were the most popular pony books of their time and translated into many languages. Ostensibly, they are classified as Young Adult, and contain no explicit adult content. However, they fit more neatly into a developing genre with a devoted following called 'Pony Books for Adults'. They are set in the early 1960s and contain little nuggets of interesting historical context of the post-war years. There is also a strong element of horses and ponies, which appeal to the huge population of pony-lovers and horse-lovers. The series includes 'Jill Rides Cross-Country', 'Jill Has Two Horses', 'Jill Goes Pony Trekking', Jill and the Steeplechaser', 'Jill Dreams of a Dressage Horse', 'Jill and the Horsemasters' and 'All Change at Blainstock Stables'. They have consistently achieved 'best-seller' status in their genre on Amazon. A French translation, 'Les Aventures de Jill: Des Ponies aux Chevaux' will be published shortly. This is the second book in the Jill Series by Jemma Spark. Jill Crewe has left Chatton and is now living in a Scottish Highland castle with her mother and new step-father. She has a beautiful young grey horse, Balius, but she yearns for an older, trained mount so she can compete in open events in the coming year. She accepts a job as a secretary to Bryony Peach in Cornwall in order to earn money towards the purchase of a second horse. She drives from Scotland to Cornwall to begin work, taking Balius with her and stopping along the way with various horsey characters such as Ned Sperrit - a horsedealer, Charles a racehorse trainer and his glamorous wife, Venetia, and the Merrivales - a jolly family of five children living on Dartmoor. In Cornwall she finds herself drawn into the smuggling activities of an unlikely bunch of criminals.