This was such a cute story! I could have absolutely related to Presley at that age with the desire to take horse riding lessons, but to have something standing in the way. Though I couldn't relate her reason for not being able to take lessons. I wasn't sure I would love the storyline being Presley's battle for horse riding lessons, but after hearing the mom's real reason for being afraid of letting Presley ride, it was totally worth it. It could be portrayed as a little extreme, but it is real and honest. But so is mom's final decision in the end. I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends in exchange for an honest review.

Awwww that was wonderful! Such a good pony book about Presley who’s learnt all about horses from books but whose mother doesn’t want to become an equestrian because she’s too afraid. Presley befriends Harper who rides at Windy Creek Stables and ends up helping there, watching the horses from afar.

I loved this, especially all the horse talk, Harper and Presley’s friendship and seeing some of my favourite horse and pony novels mentioned was a nice surprise! I hope I can read more of the books.

My endless thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for this ARC!

Being a horse-lover, I wanted to love this book, but I just didn’t. I felt like this one was just average. I think horse-crazy girls might pick this one up, but it has very little appeal to any other groups of readers. I also just didn’t love the way the way past racial inequalities were handled. I feel like bringing up this very real topic certainly has a place in middle grade literature, but the way it was presented in this book was being randomly dropped in a scene where the main character is looking through a very select display of old pictures. I felt that this was a very dramatic conclusion to draw after peeking at a few pictures. I understand that the intent was probably to handle the topic gently, but it was brought up only one time without any explanation and seemed completely random and out of place. I also felt like there wasn’t much depth to the plot.

I did appreciate the diversity of the characters and how the trainer was so kind and considerate of the main character’s hairstyles when wearing a riding helmet. I also liked how the main character’s unique family situation was depicted. Another positive thing to note would be how much horse-terminology is infused throughout the book. Althought this is fiction, I think horse-lovers will learn a lot of basics about horses after reading this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.