Muriel Wace

Muriel Alice Wace (née Maude; 5 April 1881 – 12 November 1968)

As a young adult Muriel lived in Oxford, at first with her sister Dorothea. On 20 November 1911, she married the Reverend Henry Charles Wace (1867–1938), an academic at Brasenose College, Oxford. The couple did not have children. After the First World War, the Waces settled at Paradise Farm in Crowcombe, Somerset. In later life, Muriel Wace removed to Ireland, living at Sandbank Farm, Snave, near Bantry in County Cork, until her death on 12 November 1968. Her biographical details remained unknown until ten years after her death. Moorland Mousie was told from the viewpoint of the Exmoor pony. It is sometimes regarded as the first pony story, and was groundbreaking in its focus on a native British breed, as well as the shift to recreational uses for horses. Her nonfiction works include The Young Rider: Ponies for Health and Pleasure (1928), which promotes the idea of children, and girls in particular, learning to ride and care for ponies. The book emphasises riding astride (not side-saddle) for female equestrians of all ages. Mary in the Country (1955) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)