Ponies are mentioned 73 times in our book. Thorin & Co. lost their original ponies in the goblin cave, had the loan of ponies for some of Chapter 7 from Beorn, they received ponies in Laketown only to have most of them eaten by Smaug. Finally, Bilbo has a pony on which to ride home and which will carry his treasure. Being by definition only of a certain height or less, I shall declare them “low”.
Richard Blackwelder wrote an essay on the horses of The Lord of the Rings, including a mini chapter on the ponies of The Hobbit.
“Pony” has the food tag because both goblins and Smaug like to eat them!
- 02.022 They were on ponies,
- 02.022 and each pony was slung about
- 02.022 There was a very small pony,
- 02.026 on laden ponies;
- 02.029 the pony was tired
- 02.035 Then one of the ponies took fright at nothing
- 02.039 leading their ponies
- 02.047 or even pony,
- 02.117 Then they brought up their ponies,
- 03.001 leading their ponies,
- 03.008 but a pony that walked there
- 03.010 Bilbo’s pony began to stumble over roots
- 03.012 or bumped his nose on the pony’s neck.
- 03.014 Your ponies need shoeing!
- 03.017 Your ponies are straying!
- 03.019 “Just look! Bilbo the hobbit on a pony,
- 03.026 leading their ponies,
- 03.026 as narrow as a pony could well walk on;
- 03.026 each leading his pony by the bridle.
- 03.034 the ponies as well,
- 04.005 and their ponies were standing with their heads down
- 04.009 and ponies
- 04.012 and their ponies along.
- 04.012 There was just room to get the ponies through with a squeeze,
- 04.013 At one end there was room for the ponies;
- 04.013 and that was the last time that they used the ponies,
- 04.015 in time to see the last of the ponies’ tails disappearing into it.
- 04.023 The ponies were already there huddled
- 04.024 of those excellent little ponies,
- 04.024 and ponies
- 04.042 No ponies,
- 06.001 cloak, food, pony, his buttons
- 06.036 and ask the goblins nicely to let you have your pony back
- 07.012 and no ponies to ride;
- 07.067 and our troop of ponies –
- 07.068 Troop of ponies?
- 07.069 there were more than six ponies,
- 07.092 in trotted four beautiful white ponies
- 07.093 The other ponies came
- 07.093 Beside them a pony pushed two low-seated benches
- 07.126 He would provide ponies for each of them,
- 07.127 and my ponies.
- 07.130 if they had still had their ponies,
- 07.131 and Wargs run swifter than ponies.
- 07.135 Now you must send back these excellent ponies
- 07.136 but to keep an eye on the ponies too.
- 07.143 and unpack the ponies.
- 07.145 Then at last they said good-bye to their ponies
- 09.060 a round-bellied pony that was always thinking of rolling on the grass.
- 10.045 and ponies had been sent round by circuitous paths
- 11.001 and the ponies for their own use that had been sent to meet them.
- 11.001 They packed what they could on the ponies
- 11.003 each leading another pony heavily laden beside him;
- 11.013 and there was some grass for their ponies.
- 11.016 to guard the ponies
- 11.028 some were exercising the ponies down below,
- 12.025 and all our ponies too,
- 12.029 The ponies screamed with terror,
- 12.032 He guessed from the ponies,
- 12.032 from the valley where the ponies had been standing;
- 12.033 Their ponies were lost or killed,
- 12.060 Let me tell you I ate six ponies last night
- 12.060 Maybe Barrel was your pony’s name;
- 12.062 that I can eat a dwarf-ridden pony
- 12.078 Ponies take some catching,
- 12.087 and the ponies.
- 15.027 they heard that three of their ponies had escaped
- 15.027 to find the ponies
- 15.028 The ponies they had brought
- 18.037 such as one strong pony could carry.
- 19.001 their ponies were tired,
- 19.024 where the pony had fallen
- 19.027 and slung them on the ponies,
Blackwelder, Richard E. The Horses of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Personal correspondence. July 8, 1980. Photocopy.
[…] O! What are you doing,And where are you going?Your ponies need shoeing!The river is flowing!O! tra-la-la-lallyhere down in the […]
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