Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
PONY-TREKKING, vbl.n. comb. The sport of riding ponies, gen. over rough country, along bridle paths, etc. The word was devised by Mr J. A. Kerr Hunter (see quots.).Sc. 1952 J. A. K. Hunter Pony-trekking (1962) 5:
There has been much conjecture about how the term pony-trekking came into being. I coined the phrase myself. Sc. 1975 Scotsman (8 March) Suppl. 6:
The phrase pony-trekking grew from a contact Kerr Hunter made shortly before the Second World War with a South African student, Ronnie Wylde, who also happened to be Empire Games champion over 440 yards in 1938. Apart from running he taught Kerr Hunter a series of Afrikaans trekking songs, which he happened to be humming years later as he searched for a more punchy phrase than riding expeditions to catch the public's attention.
