La Duquesa is the second book in the wonder horse series. It looks at the story of an incredibly beautiful grey Arabian mare, known as La Duquesa (The Duchess). It also explores the life of a young girl. She is growing up having what she needs, but not necessarily what she wants.
Maryann has had a passion for horses all her life, and she wrote an English piece that explored her desire of riding a horse. It explained how she and the horse were one – the beautiful grey mare that comes to her in her dreams.
This piece opens the door for Maryann to have riding lessons in exchange for work at a nearby riding facility and boarding barn.
La Duquesa by Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez
Maryann is absolutely rapt at the idea of being able to horse ride. She doesn’t have the appropriate clothing. She’s never been on a horse in her life, but she knows she loves them and she’s keen to learn. To the surprise of the boarding property owner, Ginny, she naturally knows how to ride as soon as she’s on a horse.
She has the correct seat, the correct hands, the correct positioning of her legs and her head, and she just seems to flow with the movement of the horse. Straight away Ginny knows that she’s found the next horse riding superstar; one that’s just an absolute natural with horses.
At a similar time, Ginny acquires a horse that has been badly neglected almost at the point of death and is looking to nurse her back to health. As she does so it becomes apparent that this grey skinny, ribby horse is actually a beautiful Arabian mare.
I love how the authors of this story, weave in a little bit of mystery about the identification of this horse and how she came to be in such a malnourished state. And then how she is paired up with this young girl who’s desperate to have a horse of her own.
I also love the focus on the name which you’ll find as you read the novel. La Duquesa is a really enjoyable read. It teaches some stuff about horses for a young girl coming into the horse side of things, teaches a lot about the Arabian showing side of the world and ultimately explores the bond between a girl and a horse that she so desperately loves and wants to look after. Well worth the read.
Author: Nancy Perez and Victoria Hardesty
Fiction – teen/young adult
In My Library? As an eBook, it is.
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