In the fourth book in the Happy Hollow Stables series, Cart Before the Horse, Holly is eager to add to her schooling horses.  She has found a beautiful mare for a good price and is keen to check her out.  With her assistant Mackenzie’s encouragement, the two young women decide to make the trip with the float attached – just in case.

A rundown truck quickly impedes their plans and Holly is frustrated.  Further still, the advice she is given about her old vehicle doesn’t help.  Suddenly Holly is without a vehicle and therefore no way to check out this potential new horse.

As she goes through the process of finding a new truck, Holly finds herself unsure of the two men who maintain and sell second hand vehicles.  Mack seems to be consistently busy and she’s not sure if he’s given the best advice about her broken down truck.  Jeff on the other hand seems to want to push her towards a purchase.  Holly isn’t sure she trusts either man.  And yet, when she finds a vehicle that fits her needs and budget – she is keen to buy.

Jeff’s lack of follow up about the vehicle leaves her surprised – and annoyed.  As Holly tries to resolve the problem of getting a new vehicle, she is dismayed to find Jeff’s body.  Who killed him?

With her new boyfriend – the trusty veterinarian Dustin – Holly tries to problem solve the situation.  Who had the most means and motive to kill Jeff?

In the end Holly finds the answer in the most unsuspected of places.  The end result is that the young woman is able to solve the murder mystery.  She also gets a new vehicle and can go pick up the mare that she is keen to buy.  Thankful that Dustin was able to look the mare over and determine that she wasn’t drugged, Holly is ready to commit to buying.  A fault as they prepare to load her allows Holly the chance to determine if she really wants to invest in another problem animal.  Sometimes it’s better to wait for the real deal than to go for second best.

Author – Eve Craig
Fiction – adult
In my library – as an eBook it is.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.

Wendy is a 12 year old who thinks the world of her sorrel gelding.  In fact, she feels he’s the best in Colorado and will win at the local rodeo in the barrel racing.  There’s one small obstacle in the way of Wendy’s desire – her mother’s insistence that she can’t enter.  In the Best Horse, Wendy battles to train her gelding, raise the funds to enter the event and most importantly, to convince her mother.

When the young girl finds out an interesting secret about her mother’s past, she questions how she can possibly say no to Wendy competing.  Wendy finds her mother’s resolve weakening and is ecstatic.  But another problem looms – her gelding’s lack of desire to barrel race.

Wendy just knows that she can win if she can convince her horse that she’s in control.  It’s only as the local hand and long time friend to the family point’s out that Wendy’s lack of desire to change to suit what her mother wants is the same as her desire to force her horse to do something that he has no desire to do.

The Best Horse

The Best Horse is a great look at a 12 year old’s desperate desire to do something incredible with her horse.  The relationship of Wendy and her mother is explored, as well as the issue of obedience and consequences for disobedience.  For readers who don’t know about barrel racing, they learn what is involved in the event and the end of the story is a great outcome.

Author – Elizabeth Van Steenwyk
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/65918.Elizabeth_Van_Steenwyk
Fiction – children
In my library? – indeed it is, as a paperback.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.

“It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.” ― Adlai E. Stevenson II