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Post by Claire on Apr 11, 2013 19:17:14 GMT 1
I used to pretend the family car was a racehorse. I would put a scarf round the seat in front for reins and keep asking my dad to go faster so we could overtake the other 'horses' - my dad usually played along tho I dont think my mum was best pleased!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2013 20:26:12 GMT 1
Beauty A bit predictable! I can just imagine my mum being like that Claire ;D
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Post by Claire on Apr 12, 2013 13:14:46 GMT 1
BIG JUMP FOR ROBIN BY SUZANNE WILDING
This is the first of the author's books I have read. Its the second in a 3 part series but you don't really need to read the first one before this as its quite self-contained. The story centres on a young girl - Robin - who sells her beloved pony Snooks to a rich neighbour to help out with financial difficulties on her parents farm (she's a better girl than I!!!). She manages to keep in touch with her old pony as she helps train his new rider Janie. Then she is given the chance to train the gorgeous but green pony who belongs to Janies elder brother. She tries not to get attached to the new pony but of course she does and then there is the inevitable drama & heartache when the pony must go back to its original owners.
This was an enjoyable, comfort type read, nothing too exacting. The story is pretty well worn, nothing very original. Although I wouldn't say it had me excited, I'll definitely read the next one (Harlequin Horse) in series to see what happens to Robin and her family next. It is very suited to those who like British type stories as really it could just about have been set in the UK. There's nothing remotely 'Western' about it. There some horse show and a lot of Pony Club stuff. I didn't really realise there was a similar Pony Club in the USA, I thought it was more separate clubs than a big organization. The classes at the show are a bit different to ours but anyone who has read the PT's Riders From Afar will know a little about them!
I'd rate it at 3-4 horseshoes.
One last note before I read the book I assumed the 'big jump' in the title meant show jumping, now I have read the book and there is not really any show jumping in it, I think what it means is that Robin has made a 'big jump' from a little pony to a big one! Clever pun but perhaps a little misleading to anyone who picks up the book expecting a jumping-orientated story.
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Post by kunuma on Apr 12, 2013 13:54:19 GMT 1
Dark Horse of Woodfield - interestingly having read this quickly as one of five, and then gone back and read each again, two of them came across as having 'more' in them, one was the World's End book (which I thought was going to be Scifi as that was what came up when I googled the title when Rosie first mentioned it!!! : the other was Dark Horse. There Must be one about a riding school with the same title as I can't get that idea out of my head? This one amazed me most of all in how well it has aged, and yet is still very much a book of it's period, a contradiction in terms I know, but I enjoyed it on both levels. Plus, (roll of drums) I actually liked the heroine! Will have to quickly read it again tonight to answer all Claires exam questions on it! ;D
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Post by haffyfan on Apr 12, 2013 21:28:46 GMT 1
Susan you were correct about the dorothy lyons book - looks like thats what i'll be reading as Big Jump for robin, which i thought i had a really tatty copy of, was actually Jumping Jack by patsey gray...or is this worth a read?
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Post by Claire on Apr 12, 2013 22:04:55 GMT 1
Will have to quickly read it again tonight to answer all Claires exam questions on it! ;D Cheeky! Hardly exam questions, just some suggestions for those who can't think of what to write. I didn't even answer all the questions myself! Haffy - would defo recommend Jumping Jack. I really enjoyed that one, I know we don't always have the same taste in books but I can't see you not liking it.
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Post by haffyfan on Apr 13, 2013 18:44:54 GMT 1
Might give that one a go then as Pedigree Unknown doesn't sound overly appealing by the blurb...
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Post by garej on Apr 13, 2013 20:24:03 GMT 1
I have read only one american pony book: The Little Ballerina and her Dancing horse by Gelsey Kirkland and Greg Lawrence. I enjoyed it because she actually doesnt read Western and apart from the odd term (and american spellings) it could have been located here in the UK. If you enjoy ballerina stories as well as pony stories you are bound to enjoy this as it contains a detail about ballerina classes that the main character attends. If you arent interested in ballet (I am not!) there isnt so much that it becomes boring. It's beautifully illustrated though.
According to Jane Badger's website it is easy to find although of speaking there is only one copy on ebay.
I will do a full review at a later date when I have re-read it, but I found it good because I am usually put off American books due to a variety of reasons: 1) different terminology 2) Western riding and/or based on a ranch c) if they dont contain Western riding then they are about wild horses (which bores me!). But I enjoyed this one.
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Post by garej on Apr 13, 2013 20:38:29 GMT 1
I used to pretend that my bicycle was a pony too.
I did a similar thing with the car to Claire: I used to pretend that the car was a racehorse. When it was going really fast (say 60 mph) it was galloping, and depending on the speed it was either cantering or trotting. If the car came across a hedge on the verge I would pretend that the horse cleared it!
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Post by susanb on Apr 23, 2013 17:00:39 GMT 1
Apologies for being so long absent....I actually read two books the first weekend, but thought it would be too early to comment....then I went on vacation, and came back the day before the Marathon bombings.
Anyway, will get to doing a post on my books soon (this weekend!), but first to Big Jump for Robin (which I also dipped into that weekend)
The "big jump", I think, only incidentally refers to shift to a larger pony.....I think the book is really about Robin's growing up. First she realizes that she must help her family by selling her pony Snooks, and by helping out around the house and stables when the maid and handyman are let go. Like Melanie in Horse in the House, she puts the needs of her family ahead of her own wants.
She also learns to take the lemons life hands her and make lemonade....with a nudge from her big sister, she stops moping about her pony-less state and applies herself to the stable management and book learning bits of horsemanship and earns a place on her Pony Club team for the next rally. Many ADULTS never learn to simply have a "different good time" than the one they were planning to have!
She gets over the pain of seeing another girl riding Snooks, and helps her learn to ride and care for the pony, and in doing so, learns the pleasure of passing on what she has learned to another. She also learns to accept people for who they are: Snooks' new owner is NEVER going to be the rider Robin is, she is a different person and has different likes and dislikes, but she loves Snooks too!
She learns that adults can, and do, make mistakes and behave badly, and discovers that she is strong enough to stand up to them for what she believes in....she refuses to push George past what he is ready to do.
All in all, she does a lot of growing up in a fairly short period of time!
BTW, Claire, if you're looking to find out more about Robin in Harlequin Horse, forget it.....Robin is as minor a character in HH as her sister Wendy is in BJFR. HH is Wendy's book.....it's darker and geared towards an older audience.
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Post by Claire on Apr 23, 2013 19:20:31 GMT 1
First of all no need to apologise Susan! I actually haven't been around here that much myself as have had so much to do these last few days.
I think Robin is already a very mature kid for her age If the 'big jump' does refer to her growing up as well as her moving to a bigger horse (and yes I guess I was a bit slow not to get that!) I think she has already made it. I doubt I'd have been so eager to give up my pony to help cash strapped parents when I was a kid and I certainly wouldn't be so cool about some rich kid riding my beloved ex-pony. In a way she takes things too well. I think a bit more teen angst might have been more realistic and provided a bit more tension in the book. Yep, I think the thing the book lacked for me was tension. Even what should have been the momentous moment in the book which it was obviously building up to - the loss of George - seemed a bit of a damp squib. Despite this I did enjoy the book, but I think (from Susan's description) that Harlequin might be more suited to my tastes.
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Post by susanb on Apr 23, 2013 20:55:19 GMT 1
I think Harlequin might be more up your alley...and you should definitely read it soon, in order to really get the contrast - I think the most unusual thing about the trilogy is that each book is targeted towards a totally different age group (Dream Pony for Robin is really an early reader...as much pictures as text).
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Post by Claire on Apr 23, 2013 21:21:58 GMT 1
I think Harlequin might be more up your alley...and you should definitely read it soon, in order to really get the contrast - I think the most unusual thing about the trilogy is that each book is targeted towards a totally different age group (Dream Pony for Robin is really an early reader...as much pictures as text). Yes thats quite unusual and I like the idea - in a way its actually quite logical for a series. After all the reader of the first book will be ageing as the characters do and will need a more complex book. Its a bit like what JK did with the Harry Potter books (tho I think she went a bit too far into adult territory with the last couple).
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Post by Claire on May 1, 2013 12:25:53 GMT 1
Anyone else read an American horse story and would like to add their views. Will be starting the next reading circle shortly. Although of course you can add your thoughts to this thread whenever you want.
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Post by susanb on May 1, 2013 15:14:03 GMT 1
Working Trot by Jessie Haas
OK, this is a brilliant book that is incredibly hard to describe! It’s very much a slice of life, of the protatonist’s maturing over the course of a year. Huge events don’t happen, there are no baddies, no snotty rich kids, no big horse event where somone wins a ribbon or comes a cropper.
James has just graduated high school , and his parents wanted him to go to university and then into business, like his father. He has decided against that life, and is going to Vermont to live and train for a career in dressage. The book begins with James being dropped off at the farm, thus the focus of the book is not on his breaking with his parent’s desires for his future, but on him working towards that future. There is quite a lot of detail on training; I think the book would be over the head of, and unappealing, to anyone without some knowledge of horses/riding.
James discovers as he begins training that a lot of what he thought he had down pat was incorrect, and has to go back to the beginning and start again. But as his training progresses, and he begins to develop a relationship with the horse he is working with, he comes to the discovery that no trainer, even a successful, talent one like the one he is working with, has all the answers, because for each horse the answers are different. He has to learn to trust his own instincts…re realizes that in the partnership of horse and rider, a trainer can only be a guide.
Over the course of the year, he has his doubts about the course he has chosen….he loves horses, and riding, but should he make it his life’s work, or his hobby? He meets up with former classmates who are going on to college, to professional careers, and momentarily has that left-behind feeling. He visits with his wealthy parents, and realizes that, while he has a bit of money of his own behind him, he will no longer be living like this. That, if he’s lucky, he’ll make a living, but that’s all. Both his love for horses and his doubts are portrayed realistically and sensitively, and by the end, the reader is comfortable that he’s on the right path.
Of all Haas work, this is the only book that targets a late teen audience, it wasn’t published abroad, but is available quite cheaply from the US. Highly recommended.
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Post by rallycairn on May 1, 2013 17:08:05 GMT 1
Working Trot sounds like a great read, Susan; I'm glad you brought it to the table.
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Post by kunuma on May 1, 2013 18:54:56 GMT 1
Is that by the Barney author? Really liked the two of hers I have read so far.
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Post by Claire on May 1, 2013 19:55:19 GMT 1
That sounds good Susan. I only have one book of hers and it looks very simplistic but I didn't realize this particular one was aimed at a much older readership.
Once again we have a male protagonist, unlike most of our current British pony stories.
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Post by susanb on May 1, 2013 20:12:05 GMT 1
Yes, kunuma, it is by the Barney author. She has written for almost all age groups
Runaway Radish and Scamper are early readers Keeping Barney and A Horse Like Barney are solidly middle school Working Trot is really her only teen oriented book to date
Which book do you have by her, Claire? Is it the Jigsaw Pony? That's basically an early reader too....for a younger reader than Keeping Barney/Horse Like Barney and far younger than Working Trot
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Post by susanb on May 1, 2013 20:52:56 GMT 1
Horsepower by Patsey Gray
There aren’t many juvenile books about teens riding professionally, and fewer still about girls riding the show circuit. Patsey Gray wrote not one, but two of those that exist: Horsepower and Challenger.
Honey has been living with her older sister, a professional rider, since her widower professor father’s remarriage to a wealthy woman. Her new stepmother and sister are very nice, but neither Honey nor her sister feel like they “fit” into their father’s new world. They live in an apartment during the school year, and travel the West Coast circuit the rest of the time.
Honey’s favorite jumper in their boss’s stables is Olympic, also known as Blanco, a young horse with tremendous scope and a pleasant laid back personality. He’s been winning class after class all year, but all of a sudden, he’s just not trying any longer. Honey is convinced that he needs a break….the term “ring sour” isn’t used, but that’s basically it. Her father and stepmother have been begging her to come for a visit, especially for her stepsister’s “debut”, and Honey has a brainstorm….she asks her father to rent Blanco for a month, during which she’ll teach stepsister to ride and Blanco will get his rest cure.
So Honey packs up Blanco and they head off east. It’s really the first time she and her stepsister have spent any time together, and they get on well, but aren’t really “kindred spirits”….stepsis and her friends are all agreeable people, but the idea of party after party after party wears on Honey in an entirely different way than the work on the show circuit did. She enjoys far more the mornings that she spends at the country club, working with Blanco and with the clubs horses, mostly older and not much used, who are appreciative of the new found attention…as indeed is the elderly groom who cares for them!
Olympic enjoys his vacation and slowly gets back to his old cheerful personality and enjoys his jumping again. When the month rental on him is up, Honey tries to extend it, but the owner has him booked into a show, so he heads back without her, but not for long: her sister, suffering from overworking and undereating and has been ordered by the doctor to rest, so Honey heads back early to take care of her and to take up the slack.
Back on the circuit, and taking up some of her sister’s riding duties, is exhausting, back-breaking, pre-dawn to dusk work, and Honey does think occasionally of that lovely room and lazy days, but ultimately realizes that this really is her world.
Yes, there is a big show at the end, Honey does get to ride Olympic in it to success, and all is well, so to a degree this is a more conventional title that Haas Working Trot, but I think it is set apart from the pack: in it’s portrayal of the dual nature of the show circuit: the pure relenteless drugery in counterpoint to the glamorous nights in the ring, in it’s depiction of a slighly disfunctional/functional mixed family; in it’s “tale of two worlds” from a working stable to a country club.
(Gray does a great job depicting contrasting worlds: from living on the road in a tiny motel room, cooking on a hot plate in the bathroom (located right under the sign that says “no cooking in the rooms”) to a lovely room in a mansion overlooking the country club. From the mornings hiking a mile in bad weather just to get from the motel to the show grounds to begin work to the country club pool parties and fancy dress dinners. )
Again , sadly, this book didn’t have a UK printing, but can be found not terribly expensively in hardcover (ususally ex-library) and in paperback.
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Post by Claire on May 1, 2013 21:39:26 GMT 1
Another excellent review/discussion of a book by Susan. After all these positive vibes for US books there is no excuse for anybody not to try reading one if they haven't before! Going back to Horsepower I don't know why but I never really quite warmed to the book, even tho as you say susan it is an excellent portrayal of the horse show circuit. My favourite Patsey Grays are Jumping Jack and Heads Up, altho I have still quite a few of hers to read. Horsepower does tend to be one of the easier ones to find here/cheaper ones to buy from the USA so if you fancy it from susan's description it won't be too hard to find. I think my Jessie Haas is Jigsaw Pony. I may scrounge the Barney books off kunuma!
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vera
Pony Clubber
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Post by vera on May 2, 2013 4:08:12 GMT 1
Sorry i've been away, visiting my son and granddaughter in Adelaide. For my American author book I chose "The winged Colt of Casa Mia" by Betsy Byars. I will go straight into review because I am behind. The main characters are Charles and Uncle Coot. Charles came to stay with his uncle, who used to be a stunt rider. Charles had only seen him in films and thought his uncle could do everything. Charles has read a lot of books..The Encyclopaedia of Horsemanship, both volumes, several times. He is a talker whereas Uncle Coot is reticent. A finger poking neighbour comes to tell Uncle Coot that the mare he sold her has given birth to a colt with wings. Uncle Coot knows this is impossible, burt Charles gives examples of winged horses from history and says this colt may be a genetic throwback. ALado the colt becomes Charles' property. His wings cause extra problems, apart from just ordinary growing up. Charles expects Uncle Coot to fix everything. when that doesn't happen, he becomes sullen and the uneasy relationship between the two worsens. The theme is how the relationship between a young boy and an uncle he hardly knows develops. It is constructed in a delightful way. The colt with wings is a novelty, but he is still very much a horse and behaves like a horse. This is an ideal book for reluctant readers and for young boys who love horses! Although the Texas scenery was well described, the events could have happened anywhere. The characters were well drawn, with just a few lines depicting them beautifully..
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Post by rallycairn on May 2, 2013 14:02:43 GMT 1
I always have to plug Patsey Gray's Blue Ribbon Summer, one of my all-time favorite pony books! Also about the West Coast show circuit. I liked Horsepower but only read it the once as a kid; however, I may need to re-visit it based on susan's comments! I remember Blanco and the green panel jump (I think it was).
vera, I never would have picked up that book based on the title, but thanks to your review, it sounds like it's worth looking into!
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Post by Claire on May 2, 2013 20:14:53 GMT 1
I liked Winged Colt too Vera, a nice unusual story. Whats interesting about it is, unlike most other books about magical horses. it is somehow also very down to earth. You can really believe the winged horse is real. The book is a bit of a hidden gem, possibly as the author is not really a pony book author at all.
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Post by rallycairn on May 2, 2013 23:32:56 GMT 1
Fun stuff! Neurons firing! Lightning flashing! Swells of triumphant music!
Seeing Betsy Byars's name made me think of the only book of hers with which I am at all familiar, The Summer of the Swans, which involves a mentally retarded sibling of the main character. And darn if lightning didn't strike in my brain and that made me remember a pony book with a retarded sibling that I read once in middle school. It was called _A Different Kind of Sister_, and the protagonist has an older retarded sister who is coming home to live after being in a training/developmental center-type institution until she acquired sufficient self-care skills to live at home. Protagonist is leasing and would like to buy a horse named Whim (always thought that was a great name), and she finds herself having a difficult time with the snooty type stable owner's daughter (or otherwise well-off horse-owning girl), as well as coping with her older-but-younger sister.
So of course I have to check ponymad to try to suss out more info, and the book is there (of course!)! -- Pam Reynolds is the author. Anybody got any thoughts on that one? A Different Kind of Sister by Pam Reynolds? IIRC it wasn't just full of horsey content, but the protagonist did have some issues with Whim's training and jumping (which turns out to have a malicious cause).
AND THEN ... AND THEN ... I KID YOU NOT -- just the other day I was going to post a question if anybody remembered a book in which the main horse character is named Warlord, about a girl who not only learns about horses but also learns how not to be so shy and self-conscious with others (a common theme I know, but done skillfully here) -- and gosh darn it, it's a Pam Reynolds book, too! Horseshoe Hill.
Can we say synchronicities?
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Post by susanb on May 3, 2013 1:39:37 GMT 1
I've got both the Pam Reynolds books, rally, and yes, they're both just lovely. I didn't grow up with either, I came to them when I started collecting, and I'm so glad I did!
Horseshoe Hill turns up in lost book inquiries now and again....the bit most people remember is poor Tibby trying to sell Christmas cards door to door to raise money to keep Warlord!
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Post by rallycairn on May 3, 2013 2:00:27 GMT 1
lol I don't remember the part about the Christmas cards! What I remember is Tibby hooking up with a confident, friendly girl who knows about horses and helps her learn how to care for Warlord, and something about a particular scene in which the friend's OTHER friends come by, and our heroine feels awkward around them and doesn't say much. Then after the other girls leave, friend gives Tibby a hard time about not being friendlier. Am I remembering right? I remember having so much sympathy for Tibby and wishing the friend could understand how self conscious she felt, especially with Tibby being rather tall and feeling gawky but also just not being an easy-going type.
Horseshoe Hill was never a book I was moved to re-read in school, nor A Different Kind of Sister, but I think I may re-visit them now. I thought in Sister it was so well handled where the sister accidentally breaks one of the main character's horse models, and after an initial flash of being upset, she gives her sister several of her models to have in her own room -- but then feels a little bad because she really only gives away the less-favored, less-realistic ones anyway. I thought that whole thing was handled so well -- the nice gesture but the heroine feeling like she was not quite as nice as she appeared to her sister, and so on.
All fairly nuanced stuff, in other words, not just cookie cutter.
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vera
Pony Clubber
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Post by vera on May 3, 2013 6:39:38 GMT 1
I loved Horseshoe Hill and nearly chose that one. I remember the Christmas card selling scene vividly! Also Kunuma, there is a book about a riding school called Dark Horse. I used to have it, but Bruno (my dog) ate it and I can't remember the author. He has finally grown out of eating books.
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Post by Claire on May 3, 2013 10:21:03 GMT 1
Fascinating discussion folks! I thought in Sister it was so well handled where the sister accidentally breaks one of the main character's horse models, and after an initial flash of being upset, she gives her sister several of her models to have in her own room -- but then feels a little bad because she really only gives away the less-favored, less-realistic ones anyway. I thought that whole thing was handled so well -- the nice gesture but the heroine feeling like she was not quite as nice as she appeared to her sister, and so on. All fairly nuanced stuff, in other words, not just cookie cutter. This sort of writing certainly scotches the snooty attitude of the literati for pony books when they call them simplistic, forumulaic and shallow! Oh yes and Vera you have jogged my memory about Dark Horse, I think the one Kunuma was thinking of was Dark Horse by Christine Dickinson about a riding school in an urban area. Not surprising she got muddled. Dark Horse or derivatives thereof is the most common title for pony books!
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Post by susanb on May 3, 2013 11:15:20 GMT 1
I knew I had done a quick wright up of Different Kind of Sister when I read it, so I had a quick hunt round and found it....read back in 2009....time does fly! Anyway, this was my first impression of it:
A Different Kind of Sister, is a great departure from the ordinary. In it, a girl and her parents have finally, after years of moving around to accomodate the father's job (he's an engineer), settled down and bought a house in Connecticut. As the house is down the street from a stables, it means the girl can fulfill her dream of riding, and as the summer approaches, her parents rent her a horse for the holdiays. Ordinary so far, yes? Here comes the twist....now that they've finally settled, the girl's older (18 year old) sister is coming home from the special school for mentally retarded children that she has been at for the past four years.
This is a subject that could so easily become maudlin, sugary, preachy, and yet it never does any of that....the characters are wonderfully realized and human. Their reactions and emotions as they adjust to what is a difficult situation are well drawn, and never sugar coated...the author never pretends that it isn't hard to blend a disabled family member into a non-disabled family....for any of the members, including the disabled sister, but that ultimately being family, together, is worth it. (Ok, that sounds preachy.....never mind, the author does it much, much better....she shows, rather than tells, if you see what I mean).
Anyway, onto the horse type details....there is a lot of good pony content, much of the book takes place at the stables, (the disabled sister loves horses too!) there's the ubiquitous nasty wealthy girl, the sidekick of said girl, who may turn out to be a friend, the sage, understanding groom, etc. As is often the case, our protagonist progresses in her riding far too quickly to be believable....you have to check your disbelief firmly at the door, perhaps more so than in other, similar books. But for this book, I'd say it was worth the effort.
Published only in the US (1968) but, perhaps because neither the title nor the cover art would suggest that it is a pony book, not hard to find or expensive
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