What do you think?
Rate this book
The Horses of Half Moon Ranch #9
Danny Boy
Danny Boy is an energetic black colt, new to the ranch. Out on the trail, a guest's poor judgement brings Danny down. Trapped on a ledge, there's no way of reaching him—until Kirstie remembers some unused silver mine workings. Could an old site plan help her carry out a daring rescue?
160 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1998
1 person is currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Jenny Oldfield
278 books36 followersJenny Oldfield was born in 1949 and brought up in Harrogate, Yorkshire, and studied English at Birmingham University.
She has written a large number of books for both children and adults, including the Home Farm Twins, Animal Alert, and Half Moon Ranch series. A horse enthusiast, many of her novels feature horses and are popular among young horse fans.
Jenny has also written under several pseudonyms: Jasmine Oliver, Donna King, Kate Pennington, Lucy Daniels, Sable Hamilton and Kate Fielding.
She has written a large number of books for both children and adults, including the Home Farm Twins, Animal Alert, and Half Moon Ranch series. A horse enthusiast, many of her novels feature horses and are popular among young horse fans.
Jenny has also written under several pseudonyms: Jasmine Oliver, Donna King, Kate Pennington, Lucy Daniels, Sable Hamilton and Kate Fielding.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 23, 2025
A few years ago I decided to reread some of the books I enjoyed as a child. If you’ve seen any of these books popping up on my feed, you might be able to guess that I was a bit of a horse girl. The Horses of Half Moon Ranch was a series I read in primary school and I loved them, once spending the summer holidays reading nearly one book per day. As an adult, I don’t care much for them. I find there are many books you can read as a child, and as an adult and enjoy, but I don’t feel this series is one of them, not unless I was reading them with a child, which I am not.
Danny Boy is the 9th in the series and features a new horse to the ranch who suffers an accident on the trail, ending up stranded on a ledge with no way of reaching him. That is until Kirstie remembers the old mines. Part way through reading this book I realised that I had not actually read the 8th one of the series yet, but I think this is a series you can read out of order without too many issues.
I always liked the characters of these books. Kirstie really drives forward the plot with her willingness to jump into danger to save a horse, and her inability to do as she is told. Her best friend Lisa is a little more well behaved but will always help her friend. Child me did ship Kirstie and Charlie but adult me can see problems with this. Mainly their ages. I’m not sure if Charlie is legally considered an adult but he is definitely on the cusp, and Kirstie is a child.
As an adult there were a few parts of the book that I felt didn’t make sense that I had no problems with as a kid. For instance, I’m not sure they would be freely allowed to go into the mines or that they would be so easy to get into. I’m also not sure that Danny Boy would really be stranded. I’ve seen animals being rescued via helicopter. However, as it has been a while since I read these books (I’m reviewing super late), there is the chance that these issues were addressed in the book. There could be a good explanation as to why a helicopter couldn’t get to him, such as trees, that I have just forgotten.
In the end I only rated this book two out of five stars. I sometimes wonder whether I should rate books aimed at younger audiences as what I would have rated them while I was that age. In which case, I would have given this four or five stars. But at the same time, I’ve rated books aimed at even younger audiences as higher stars because of what I thought of them as an adult, and I am reading and reviewing these books as an adult and not a child. I’ve donated my copy of this book (and the rest of the series) to charity as there are definitely people out there, such as a young horse lover who likes head strong heroines, who would get a lot more out of this book than I can now.
The Horses of Half Moon Ranch Reviews
1. Wild Horses
2. Rodeo Rocky
3. Crazy Horse
4. Johnny Mohawk
5. Midnight Lady
6. Third-Time Lucky
7. Navaho Joe
8. Hollywood Princess
9. Danny Boy
10. Little Vixen
11. Gunsmoke
12. Golden Dawn (RTC)
13. Silver Spur (RTC)
14. Moondance (RTC)
15. Lady Roseanne (RTC)
16. Steamboat Charlie (RTC)
17. Skylark (RTC)
18. Eagle Wing (RTC)
Summer Special 1. Diamond Charm (RTC)
Summer Special 2. Jethro Junior (RTC)
Christmas Special 1. Starlight (RTC)
Danny Boy is the 9th in the series and features a new horse to the ranch who suffers an accident on the trail, ending up stranded on a ledge with no way of reaching him. That is until Kirstie remembers the old mines. Part way through reading this book I realised that I had not actually read the 8th one of the series yet, but I think this is a series you can read out of order without too many issues.
I always liked the characters of these books. Kirstie really drives forward the plot with her willingness to jump into danger to save a horse, and her inability to do as she is told. Her best friend Lisa is a little more well behaved but will always help her friend. Child me did ship Kirstie and Charlie but adult me can see problems with this. Mainly their ages. I’m not sure if Charlie is legally considered an adult but he is definitely on the cusp, and Kirstie is a child.
As an adult there were a few parts of the book that I felt didn’t make sense that I had no problems with as a kid. For instance, I’m not sure they would be freely allowed to go into the mines or that they would be so easy to get into. I’m also not sure that Danny Boy would really be stranded. I’ve seen animals being rescued via helicopter. However, as it has been a while since I read these books (I’m reviewing super late), there is the chance that these issues were addressed in the book. There could be a good explanation as to why a helicopter couldn’t get to him, such as trees, that I have just forgotten.
In the end I only rated this book two out of five stars. I sometimes wonder whether I should rate books aimed at younger audiences as what I would have rated them while I was that age. In which case, I would have given this four or five stars. But at the same time, I’ve rated books aimed at even younger audiences as higher stars because of what I thought of them as an adult, and I am reading and reviewing these books as an adult and not a child. I’ve donated my copy of this book (and the rest of the series) to charity as there are definitely people out there, such as a young horse lover who likes head strong heroines, who would get a lot more out of this book than I can now.
The Horses of Half Moon Ranch Reviews
1. Wild Horses
2. Rodeo Rocky
3. Crazy Horse
4. Johnny Mohawk
5. Midnight Lady
6. Third-Time Lucky
7. Navaho Joe
8. Hollywood Princess
9. Danny Boy
10. Little Vixen
11. Gunsmoke
12. Golden Dawn (RTC)
13. Silver Spur (RTC)
14. Moondance (RTC)
15. Lady Roseanne (RTC)
16. Steamboat Charlie (RTC)
17. Skylark (RTC)
18. Eagle Wing (RTC)
Summer Special 1. Diamond Charm (RTC)
Summer Special 2. Jethro Junior (RTC)
Christmas Special 1. Starlight (RTC)
February 11, 2012
Sorry this book was not my stype it was BORING sorry i needed to even skip pages wowo. I give this 0/10 it's not really goood it was not so awesome illllllllll.Sorry it just like to boring it really hard to read as in what is happeing a girl and some other people and danny boy falls of a clif and it ger totally lost woooow
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews