Rimfire: The Barrel Racing Morgan Horse

Morgan Horse Series #6

by Ellen F. Feld, Jeanne Mellin;Jeanne Mellin (Illustrator), Wordhelper (Editor)

Rimfire, the sixth book in the Morgan Horse series, takes readers to a whole new realm within the world of horses. When Heather travels to Oklahoma to visit family friends, she is introduced to barrel racing. Falling in love with this quick-paced sport, Heather is thrilled when she returns home and discovers Rimfire, a fabulous Morgan barrel racer that just happens to be for sale. When her parents refuse to buy yet another horse, Heather convinces her friend Nicholas to purchase Rimfire. Everything is going well until Heather decides to take Rimfire to a competition without Nicholas's permission. What will happen to the horse as he makes that final turn around the last barrel, and more importantly, has Heather jeopardized her friendship with Nicholas, all for the sake of a ribbon?

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Ellen Feld is an IRA/Children's Choices winner (twice) who began writing about horses more than 20 years ago. At first she wrote for small, regional magazines, but within a few short years, her work began to appear regularly in large, national publications. In 2001, while waiting for her next assignment, Ms. Feld wrote a short story about a Morgan Horse. That tale became the first chapter of Blackjack: Dreaming of a Morgan Horse. The book went on to win a coveted Children s Choices award, an honor bestowed jointly by the International Reading Association and the Children s Book Council. To date, Ms. Feld has authored fifteen books, including seven in the Morgan Horse series and three in the best-selling "Donkey-Donk" series. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two children, twelve horses, one miniature donkey, and assorted other pets.

Reviews

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should first say that I'm extremely impressed with Rimfire: The Barrel Racing Morgan Horse! Rimfire is geared toward the pre-teen crowd yet I enjoyed reading it as much as I know they will. Ellen F. Feld added a touch of everything to her latest book- love, friendship, teen problems, the whole nine.
This is the kind of book that can make young person a life-time lover of reading- and horses! The characters are all very easy for anyone to relate to, everything written about the horses is easy to understand yet detailed enough to still learn so much. And that's exactly what I did with this book- I knew little about horses going in and now know a good bit more.
The ending to Rimfire might just be the best part and the part that keeps readers coming back for more. I had a hard time putting it down towards the end- I wanted to know what happened next- right away!
The relationships between the main character, Heather, and the other kids in the book are absolutely wonderful. The interactions between Heather and Katie, Heather and her other friends, Heather and Nicholas, are all relationships that anyone, child or adult, can easily relate to and bond with.
I'm looking forward to getting the entire series for my young daughter!

[Aspen B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heather is a girl who owns horses. She likes to go to a barn where she boards her horses on. She went Oklahoma. She made a new friend. Her new friend tells her about barrel racing. Heather went to a trail ride for a birthday party. She found this horse named Rimfire. His owner had him on sell. She tries him on barrel racing and found out this horse was a champion! But she didn't have enough money. She told one of her friend who also owns a lot of horses. He ends up buying Rimfire! They went barrel riding lessons. They got really good at. Then they planed on going to a show. Heather's friend had to go to a dinner and he can not make to the show. Then Heather does something that risks thier friendship.

[Carly Kade · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read! The author sure knows her horses and her breed! Heather and the Gallant Morgan crew reminded me of my youth. I couldn't help but smile at their horse crazy antics. I would have LOVED these books when I was a young woman. I have two very special nieces in mind that I will be gifting Ellen Feld's horse books to in the near future. This is the perfect adventure (with important messages on friendship, responsibility and integrity too) for a horse crazy cowgirl! Rimfire even made me want to try barrel racing to boot!

[Cassie Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most recent book in the Morgan Horse series. It deals with barrel racing, something my kids (and I) knew nothing about. We learned a lot about the sport. There's also a nail biter at the end with a runaway horse (not at a barrel racing competition/not with a rider). Can't say more without giving away too much. Read it and find out!

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

My great-niece (age 11) selected this book for our first book club reading (it's just us two) and I wanted her to read over the summer and a book club seemed like a good idea. She loves her horses and this book, being about horses, was on her list. I enjoyed it ...easy ready for me and the characters and story were compelling.

[Frances P. Haws · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anther book to enjoy!

If you like horses you will love this book as all the other Morgan series! I hope this series that Ellen has written will keep on going!

[Shawnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heather's actions here were shocking and her motives were totally in the wrong place. I expected more as she is supposed to be older now. :/

[Lily Scarlet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have not read any other books in the series. However, this was a fun book that contained accurate and interesting information about Morgan’s, Barrel Racing, and more.
Favorite Characters:
Rimfire
Spot

[Jennifer Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rimfire, like the other books in Feld’s Morgan Horse series (published by Willow Bend Publishing), is well written, entertaining, and a fun read. Each book is well researched, giving the reader a chance to learn about a new riding style—and get to know a new horse—with each story. Although they are written for middle schoolers, Rimfire and the other Morgan Horse books by Ellen Feld are great for horse lovers of all ages!

[Cassie Melchior · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rimefire is a book that really inspires you to get outside and ride a horse. I really wanted to ride a horse after read this. I loved this book I really wanted a horse after I read this book. But it wasn't as exciting as the other books in the series. (Reviewer aged 10)