Brian Hayles

British author and scriptwriter. Born in Portsmouth in 1930. He wrote many TV scripts in the 1960s and 70s including episodes of the  British cult classics Doctor Who and Z Cars, and he also wrote for the radio series The Archers. The most interesting of his TV dramas from our point of view is The Moon Stallion, a family mystery/fantasy series in which a young blind girl forms a connection with a mysteriious supernatural stallion. It was adapted into a novel by Brian Hayles, but, unusually, the book was not actually as gripping as the TV drama.

Horse & Pony Books:

THE MOON STALLION
(MIRROR BOOKS PB 1978)
Paperback original.
SUMMARY: When the Purwell family visit the Berkshire Hills near the mysterious white chalk horse there, it is to be a routine archeological job for Professor Purwell, looking into Arthurian legends for wealthy Mr. Mortenhurze. But his blind daughter Diana gets caught up in a search for the beautiful and magical horse, the Moon Stallion. Diana feels a deep affinity with the mystical stallion but both Mortenhurze and his groom Todman have more sinister plans for the horse…
PONYMAD VIEW: Novelisation of the excellent 6 part BBC TV series of the same name, although the book in my opinion is not as good as the TV show. This is a tale of magic and legends with a central horse character, rather than a traditional pony story.
PONYMAD RATING: 2 HORSESHOES

Collectors info:
Only ever published in the Mirror Books paperback edition. Rare and can be quite expensive for a paperback.