As a young girl living in New Zealand Stacy Gregg wanted to be two things when she grew up – a horse rider and a writer. She now considers herself very, very lucky to be both at once!
Becoming a writer was the easy part – all she needed was an exercise book and a pen. Stacy wrote loads of poetry and short stories at school and then became a journalist, writing features for magazines and newspapers and working as a fashion writer (v. glamorous and lots of fun!) before her first book in the Pony Club Secrets series was published in 2007.
I can't choose which book is my favorite, they're all so...exciting! I really like Destiny, I personally love black horses the most, it's so cool that Issie was able to break him in in one day!
This is a really great book, that I really enjoyed. It is all about issie and her horse, Blaze, going to see her aunt for the summer. In the book they go out on a ride they find some wild horses, but soon find out are going to be killed, because they run loose everywhere, so issie thinks up a plan to save the horses. It is a very exciting book, and I really recommend it to people who like animals.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I got this book at a charity shop (I work there and anything horsey related I buy!!) and the instant I started reading it I wish I had discovered the series 5/6/7 years ago when I was a truly pony-mad pre-teen!
I only realised at the end that I was reading the third book in the series and that the pong mag freebies pony club secrets book that I got unknowingly that same day was the second book, so I instantly went online to buy the first and I can't wait!
This book really is such an amazing read and I fell in love with all the characters!
I really like this series. It's very goofy, and the actual equine stuff is often ... less than entirely accurate or realistic, but no moreso than in other books and Stacy Gregg has a smooth, easy to read style without being patronising to her 9+ target age group. Issie is likable and her friendships, rivalries and ~romances~ always seem meaningful while remaining appropriate. The ghost horse conceit gives the series something a little bit different, too.
This book introduces a new setting and a group of new and likeable characters. It is nice to see how Issie bounces off them and if you can ignore the questionable age gap between Issie and her love interest, it makes for a cute read. I just found that the threat running through the story was a lot for a girl of Issie’s age to be responsible for and it could be a bit heart wrenching in parts for a younger reader.
I've read this book at least 7 times and I've enjoyed it every time. I've read the whole series and I'm glad I did. I found the bits with the big black panther really creepy and I always had to hide under my covers at that bit. I loved the bit when diablo got back up after pretending to be dead. that made me laugh. I recommend this book to any horsey lovers because I loved the whole series!!!!!!!
Issie and Blaze are favourites to win the Ghevalier Point Pony Club dressage competition, but when Issie was sent by her Mum to go and help out on her aunt's farm, it could seem that she was in for a summer less exciting than she had already planned When Issie finds out that Blaze can go with her, and she'll be helping to train horses for the movies, her summer starts to look a lot more interesting. When her aunt’s stable hand Aiden comes to pick Issie and Blaze up, Issie starts to believe the summer might not be as bad as it seemed at first. The drive is long and exhausting until they reach the farm where her aunt trains animals for films. Blackthorn Farm is full of wonderful and wild things. When Issie takes Blaze on a ride to see her surroundings, she wanders upon a herd of around 30 beautiful ponies that run wild. When she gets back to the farm, she is told about the famous blackthorn ponies that have been around for years. When Issie is out riding, not only does she see the ponies she also comes close to an encounter with the Grimalkin. The Grimalkin is an infamous monster that lurks at night, killing and spooking their animals. When the news that the ranger has organised a cull for the wild horses, because they’re using too many resources, Issie is devastated but with the dreaded day coming she’s running out of options. She can’t even bear to think about what will happen to the wild horses if she can’t think of something, especially since the head of the herd has a possible link to the farm that no one would’ve expected. Issie comes up with the idea to call her pony club instructor and ask him to bring the crew so they can have one last attempt on saving the horses, but the Grimalkin is still out there waiting for its next prey. Events such as the threat of the Grimalkin, the danger that the wild horses would be culled, the surprise over the discovery of Destiny and the link to the farm, and the twist in the end with Blaze, made the book a thrilling read and one I would highly recommend. Plus, Issie gets reunited again with Mystic. However, I felt like Mystic was only there when it suited the story. For example, whenever the book got slower paced Mystic was there, but Mystic was in this story way less than the first book. I would give it 4 stars because at some points it was a bit slow but apart from that It was a good read even though it is more character driven rather than plot driven. I would recommend this to anyone aged 8 or over and its great to read alone or as a family.
There is much to love about this book. When Issie was sent by her Mum to go and help out on her aunt's farm, it could seem that she was in for a summer less exciting than she had already planned (or at least so she thought)! With her arrival comes the threat of the Grimalkin (poor Meadow!), the danger that the wild horses would be culled, the surprise over the discovery of Destiny and the link to the farm, and the twist in the end with Blaze. All of this made the book a thrilling read and one I would thoroughly recommend. Plus, it is always good to see Issie reunited again with Mystic (although I did feel that this was fleeting and Mystic here was simply a convenient plot device; it seems as after he conveniently appears to save Issie from harm, he always seems to be forgotten about again).
However, I find some plots raised in this book questionable, for starters, with the culling of the wild horses. I think that Issie should not have been almost in charge of this. Particularly when Cameron and his men were shortly going to be going out themselves to cull the horses, children, in particular, should not be put at risk of being caught in gunfire no matter how honourable their intentions or that the gunmen would not have shot them or not? Secondly, the final kiss with Aidan. It is somewhat realistic that Issie might have a crush on Aidan. However, considering how much older he is than Issie, I think their relationship in this circumstance was somewhat inappropriate.
Despite this, the book was still an enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading books about horses, adventure, and animals or wants something enjoyable to read.
Fitting for the style of the series, but introduces a very questionable relationship between a 13 year old and a 17 year old. This book strays into the more fantastical side of "grounded" in the non-fantasy sections with a child taming and riding a wild stallion. It is also worth mentioning that this book includes the following: the overt and prolonged threat of .
Si te encantan los caballos, como a mí, y buscas una lectura amena, divertida y rápida, estos trece libros son una opción estupenda para esos días en los que nos apetece leer algo facilito.
Están recomendados para una edad de nueve años o más, pero no por eso se trata de una saga infantil. De hecho, yo el último libro lo he leído hace tres o cuatro semanas y me ha encantado. Ha sido una lectura muy fresca.
Cada uno de los libros cuenta una aventura distinta de Isa, la protagonista, siempre con relación al mundo de la equitación.
Por lo tanto, podrían leerse como volúmenes independientes, pero tened en cuenta que pueden aparecer datos de libros anteriores. Por eso, yo recomiendo leerlos por orden. De esa manera, entenderéis mejor la historia, la evolución de la protagonista a medida que crece y su relación con los distintos caballos, yeguas y ponis que aparecen en cada uno de los libros.
¿Alguien en la sala que conozca estos libros? ¿Qué os parecen?
Just going through all the books on my bookshelf and entering them on here and I remembered that this book gave me nightmares for years when I was little.