Diablo is the story of one young girl’s search and endeavour to own a pony – the perfect pony. Twelve year old Kim just loves horses. She is lucky enough to be leasing a pony named Blackie but in time his love of grass results in ill health and Blackie is returned to his owner.

Kim’s parents are no longer together. She lives with her mother and older – incredibly annoying – brother and her mother’s boyfriend, Alan. Kim is rapt when Alan concludes that they should buy her a pony. Although her mother protests the cost of purchasing one, Alan insists on doing it for Kim. What twelve year old girl would discourage that idea? And so Diablo is purchased.

Now perhaps the name in itself should have been a warning. But when Kim tries out this Shetland pony, he can do no wrong. It’s once they’ve brought him to the local stable to live that the problems start. Kim finds she has no control with Diablo on a lead and the idea of riding? Well you can forget that.

As Kim endeavours to train – or retrain – her pony through various means, the reader is taken on an amusing tale of discovery. Diablo is set on world domination and the dialogue between this determined pony and his new owner is rather amusing. Add in a trainer who insists on muscling horses around and then a Natural Horsemanship trainer who comes across as a hippy initially, and you’ve got an amusing story.

The usual dynamics of a painful teenage brother and dealing with a stepfather are thrown into the mix, too. Diablo takes the reader on a journey as Kim learns at a young age how to be the lead mare and to stick up for herself with her pony, around the stables and even at home. Diablo is bound to amuse children and adults alike.

Author: Fallacious Rose
Fiction – middle grade readers
In My Library? As an eBook it is.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.

In the fifth book in the Sandy Lane Stables titled Dream Pony, Jess is thoroughly enjoying her time riding at Sandy Lane Stables. Not able to afford a horse, she gets riding lessons in exchange for working at Sandy Lane. Things are as close to perfect as they can be, seeing as she can’t acquire or afford a horse.

Jess is surprised to find out that another equestrian property has opened up nearby. In time, a lot of the riders that were at Sandy Lane move along to Rychester. Jess knows the owner of Sandy Lane is worried about the competition. She remains loyal to the place where she rides with her friends and works hard to learn all she can about riding and horse care.

A local competition that allows Jess to acquire a horse threatens to change all that. She is surprised to learn about some conditions linked to the horse that she so desperately wants. This allows her a much closer look at Rychester than she had planned.

As Jess finds herself swept away with the impressiveness of Rychester, she takes her time to realise what is really important. She grows distant from her old friends at Sandy Lane whilst developing new ones at Rychester. But in time she learns the hard lesson about superficial relationships and real friends. Dream Pony identifies the real meaning of friendship and encourages right action even after making mistakes.

Author: Susannah Leigh
Fiction – middle grade readers
In My Library? Yes, with one other from the series.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.