There is no greater trust than the one between a rider and her horse. Kirstie Scott lives for horses. While at a local rodeo contest, she is horrified to see how Rocky, an injured horse, is treated. Kirstie persuades her mother to buy him, but soon learns that training an ex-rodeo horse is not easy. And when Rocky throws Kirstie on a trail far from the ranch, she quickly realizes that the only way to get them both home safely is to trust herself and the unruly horse. What readers are "This is the 2nd book in the Half Moon Ranch series and one of my favourites. The detail and story line is great. I would recommend to any horse lover!"
"This is the best book I have ever read. Jenny Oldfield's whole series is amazing. I like Rodeo Rocky though because Rocky reminds me of my pony. This story is so well described I would recommend it to all horse lovers."
"A wonderful story. This is a good read for any horse lover. I enjoyed it a lot." Don't miss the other books in The Horses of Half Moon Ranch
Jenny 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.
When I read these books as a child I enjoyed them, now as I was rereading this I found that a lot of it was really unrealistic, like how Kirsty tamed a wild horse in no time at all. But then again, isn’t this similar to the last one where she got close to a wild stallion?
The books a quick, simple read and great for young children who like horses, if you ignore the unrealistic parts.
So this wasn’t much of a review but I didn’t have much to say.
Like most other 'horse-girl' books, this one gives a really skewed view of various equine industry practices (Some rodeos are great, some ranches are real bad) but I love how whimsical this book is.
Thirteen-year-old Kirstie Scott and her mother, the owner of Half Moon Ranch, have taken their guests to see the local rodeo.
Kirstie, however, is not enjoying the events as much as the guests are. She feels sickened watching the poor treatment of the animals, especially when they bring out the recently captured wild horses for the wild horse race.
Kirstie is taken by the beauty of a spirited bay stallion who gives his handlers a lot of trouble before winning the race. When she sees that they plan to use him for another event, Kirstie pleads with the organizer to let "Rodeo Rocky" rest. He refuses, saying that they plan on making him a champion so that they can sell him at auction for a high price.
Kirstie's mother, seeing her daughter in distress, offers to buy Rocky from the organizer on the condition that he not participate in another event. After some haggling, he finally agrees, and Kirstie is absolutely elated.
The other ranch workers protest that buying an untrained horse is a humongous waste of money, but Kirstie is determined to turn Rocky into a good working horse without the usual, harsh methods. She finds that breaking in a wild horse may be tougher than she'd thought.
Having recently attended the Tucson Rodeo, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the portrayal of the rodeo personnel, since most rodeos do not go to such violent extremes with their animals, and have strict regulations to keep the animals safe and healthy. Putting that aside, I think most animal lovers would empathize with Kirstie's struggle to find a kinder way to break in a horse.
In Rodeo Rocky, the author engages preteen girls in one of their passions: horses. The story immediately grabs her readers and holds them spellbound. The characters are believable and the plot and subplots maintain the pace and authenticity of the book.
No great surprises here, but a nice children's story to share. Our heroine rescues a wild mustang from the rodeo and proceeds to tame it. A nice feel good story for when you want a break from anything too strenuous!!