Introducing Ossie

Ossie has one characteristic in common with Smirf, he is greedy. In fact he will go to such lengths to grab a bite to eat that he has become quite an acrobat. 

There is no obstacle that Ossie won’t tackle if he thinks that food lurks beyond it.

Ossie is another one with a special link to the unicorn but because the real secret of the unicorn has yet to be revealed, there will be no spoilers in the blog.

Introducing Smirf

A big secret* was mentioned in the blog about Snowy, and this is one of the characters who knows everything about that secret. That means that his blog is one of the ones with a huge secret to keep.

All I will tell you about Smirf is that he’s likes to play games with Starlight Piglet and is an accomplished thief who is known for pinching other people’s food.

If you want to distract Smirf, tell him the kitchen door’s open and no one is guarding the pantry.

*The new book reveals the real secret of the unicorn. Because it’s a big secret, there are no spoilers on this blog.

Introducing Starlight Piglet

Starlight Piglet could have been a horse but he wanted to see further, run faster and climb more gracefully than any horse, so he chose a different career path.

There are several unusual sides to Starlight Piglet. For instance he has an unusual nickname (you can put a guess in the comments below but it will only be revealed in the book).

He is a very keen jumper, but because his favourite sort of jumping is bungee jumping, you can see where he wouldn’t have been happy as an ordinary horse. Bungee jumping is one of those things that horses have no natural talent for. Most of them couldn't even climb to the top of the crane, and even if they could, can you imagine how graceful they would be? Not very! 

Did you know that out of all the horses who enjoy bungee jumping (that’s very few, by the way) hardly any of them are any good at it.

Introducing the new pony, Snowy

Snowy is a wise old pony. She keeps the herd in check, and that includes the unicorn. It’s no joke trying to control a unicorn, but nuff said about that*.

When she’s off duty, Snowy likes to cover herself in mud, but even when she’s sparkly clean she isn’t snowy white so her name is a bit of a mystery.

That bit of a mystery got Snowy interested in horses’ names, especially collective nouns. Although everyone calls them the herd, she sometimes uses a different name in her head, and calls them the haras, which is an old-fashioned name for a group of horses. When they pretend not to have “herd” what she says it “haras”es her quite a lot.

*The new book reveals the real secret of the unicorn. Because it’s a big secret, there are no spoilers on this blog.

Introducing the new pony, Ellie

It’s incredible to think there are people out there who don’t like ponies, but there are, and Megan’s Aunt Ellie is one of them.

So, when one of the new ponies in the district turns out to be called Ellie, Megan is aghast. Aunt Ellie will think it’s a deliberate insult.

The only good thing about Aunt Ellie’s visits is the envelope with Megan’s name on and pocket money inside that she places on the sideboard before she leaves to go home (Megan’s dad says the only good thing about Aunt Ellie’s visits is that she leaves at all, but he says it quietly because Megan’s mum hits him with a rolled-up newspaper if she hears him).

The least little thing makes Aunt Ellie forget that all-important envelope; things like Megan taking a horse upstairs to her bedroom that time, which was really unfair because she hadn’t meant to.

So when she comes to stay, Ellie and Aunt Ellie simply must be kept apart.

That shouldn’t be difficult, with Aunt Ellie not being a horsey person, but we all know that things are never that simple.

Meet the cast of Horse of the Same Colour

Without further ado, let me welcome the Prof to tell you who you'll meet in the new book.

And a few more characters are likely to sneak in as well, for instance best friends, Megan and Amy, worst enemy Naylor O'Neill and her gang and there'll be some newcomers. 

Also, look out for Ossie and Rainbow.

Not forgetting Aunt Ellie - no one can forget Aunt Ellie.

Then there's Mr Connor who loves science and Mrs Linstead who loves creative arts, and Mrs Clover from the shop.

All in all it's quite a crowd and one of them will be the star of Jack's next blog.

Jack-the-horse gets things underway

My name is Jack and I’m the horse in Horse of a Different Colour, but who knows if I will be the horse in Horse of the Same Colour?

I have no idea. And even though the new book is underway, don’t hold your breath. Melodie wrote 500 words today, then crossed them all out again. ‘At least it’s underway,’ she told me. Between you and me, I’m not so sure.

Meanwhile, I'm going to have a word with my friend Professor Hans Von Puppet who you might have met in a previous blog, and get him to introduce the cast of the new book. I can't possibly introduce them all myself. Have you ever tried typing with hooves?

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