Abby’s Pony Love by Susan Count (Review & Excerpt)

Thank you for joining me as Book Zone Reviews welcomes the blog tour for Abby’s Pony Love by Susan Count. Abby’s Pony Love is a wholesome and fun Middle-Grade book about horses.

This blog tour is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours and runs from October 10-23. You can see the tour schedule here.

Abby’s Pony Love by Susan Count
Series: Dream Pony Riders #1
Published by Hastings Creations Group on September 19, 2022
ISBN: ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1952371035
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Children's Friendship Books
Pages: 137
Format: Paperback
Source: Lola's Blog Tours
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When a girl falls in pony-love, she wants it to be forever.

Desperate to be near horses, a hopeful girl with no horse experience begs for a job at a stable. Then she falls in love with a beautiful but mischievous pony, only to have it bought by another family. Abby’s heart aches when her barn job becomes helping the new owner learn to ride the best pony ever. Can her faithful heart let go of what never belonged to her?

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

Excerpt

A few days later, Abby pushed the muck cart out the back of the barn and dumped the manure into the pile. In the pasture, Jessica tugged the halter over Glory’s nose and buckled the strap. Abby wrestled the cart through a rut. Watching another girl with Glory hurt too much. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the pony she used in lessons because she did. But Freckles was not her heart horse. Only Glory held that place of honor.

Flipping on the light, she surveyed the messy tack room. Her assignment today was to clean it. She dug in, folding and stacking a pile of stable blankets.

In a dark corner, she tackled a cabinet of remedies for every type of horse ailment. A green-streaked bottle told the story of a battle with thrush. Another smeared with dried yellow goop indicated a skirmish among the ponies resulting in bald spots on their hides.

Hooves clip-clopped past the door. She peeked through the crack at the doorframe. Jessica led Glory to the crossties. She handled the pony with ease after coming to ride every day since Thanksgiving break started.

Refocusing on her task, Abby washed the grime from the shelf and repositioned the supplies. A murmur infiltrated her attempts to deny Jessica’s existence. Tiptoeing closer to the crack, she held her breath.

“I have to admit, Starlet, you are a movie star horse. I’m still afraid of you, but you seem nice.” Jessica rubbed the pony’s neck. “Mom keeps saying goofy stuff like ‘Nothing better for the inside of a girl than the outside of a horse.’ I’m more of a pet bunny kind of girl.”

Jessica ran her fingers through the mare’s white mane. “My life stinks. My dad got remarried last month.” She laid her face on Glory’s neck. “He wants me to come for weekends and get to know my new stepsisters. I don’t want stepsisters. I want my dad.” A sob cracked her voice before she recovered her composure and hugged Glory around the neck. “Thank you for listening.”

From behind the door, Abby grimaced. Ouch. No wonder she acts like she does. Abby searched the file cabinet in her mind for the right quote. “Always be kind because everybody is going through something.” She’d look up the author when she got home.

“I brought you a treat.” Jessica dug into a pouch hanging nearby. “Apple-flavored cookies.” Glory sucked up the cookie, then cleaned Jessica’s hand. As she giggled, the pony licked up her wrist, up her forearm, past her elbow, and set to work on the girl’s cheek like it was a salt lick.

Abby smiled at Glory’s antics until the pony stopped and breathed into Jessica’s face. Then the mare rested her muzzle on the girl’s shoulder. You like her. You never did that to me.

My Thoughts

Abby is a delightfully determined thirteen-year-old with a deep-seated love of horses. She read about them and became intrigued by them. She was so determined to get a job working with horses that she acted out of character and almost lost the opportunity. Thankfully her parents accepted her apology and permitted her to apply for the position.

Once again she was met with the opposition of having no experience, this time she did not react negatively, she pleaded her case with sound logic and got the job!

Whether or not you’re a horse lover or animal lover, you will fall just a little in love with Freckles and Glory, the two main horses in the story.

Abby’s love for Glory, the horse of her heart, takes her through a gamut of emotions: joy, envy, jealousy, exhilaration, selfish love, and finally selfless love.

This book leaves you with a positive impression and a few lessons.

– Be responsible and willing to work towards what you desire

– Being jealous and judgmental is not okay. You never know what someone is going through.

– Dreams do come through, but not always the way we expect.

It was great to watch her grow from selfish to selfless love and begin appreciating her parents and what they could provide.

I loved her kindness. Despite being eaten up by jealousy, she proved to be very thoughtful.

For those of us who don’t speak horse, there is a glossary in the back of the book, as well as an image depicting a horse’s anatomy and a treat recipe for horses.

I rated this book 4.5 of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of the book. My review was written voluntarily.

About the Author:
Susan Count writes for the joy and entertainment of young readers. She is a best-selling, award-winning author of the Dream Horse Adventures Series, Dream Pony Riders Series, and Texas Boys Adventures.

She prefers to create stories in a quiet zone. Out her window, her mind wanders through the forest and keeps her in a grateful, contented state of being. She writes at a fabulous antique desk that has secret compartments filled with memories, mysteries, and story ideas. As a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and American Christian Fiction Writers, Susan takes studying the craft of writing seriously.

Susan confesses to being overly fond of brownies and horseback riding on forest trails. She is a lifelong equestrian and is owned by a Rocky Mountain Horse.

You are invited to saddle up and ride along. www.susancount.com

Author links:
– Website
– Facebook
– Twitter
– Pinterest
– Instagram
– Goodreads
– Amazon