Reviews (2)

The Midnight Horse
This book is about a girl who loves the horse named Midnight. He is special because he is very calm and gentle. She was very sad bacause he was being sold to a different family, and she did not want that to happen. He was not her horse and her parents would not let her have him. This is the story of how she got the pony.

Midnight Horse
I thought this was a great book. It is the 4th book of Sandy Lane Stables. I think this is a good book for girls and boys that love horses.The Midnight horse was the best book I thought. I hope that you love reading it I could not stop reading. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Pony Story
This is a great book. I couldn't put it down untill I was done. A boy goes to an aution hoping to get a horse. When all the good horses are placed with bids too high, he bids on a dirty beat up pony named Pzzle. Now he has to get Puzzle into better shape or she may be put down. Any horse-loving kid should read it. Your heart will go out to Puzzle and you'll want to cheer her on throughout the whole book.

A Wonderful and Exciting Book!
Alex Hardy is much more into soccer than horses, so lately he hasn't been spending much time at the stable while his sister, Kate, practically lives there. He's trying to raise money for a soccer tour in South Africa. He wants to go on the tour he's trying to raise money for he finds the perfect plan- he'll buy a pony, fix it up, and sell it! The small New Forest pony he buys is anything but perfect: he may have to be put down. Alex slowly retrains "Puzzle" until he's won the a big show! Puzzle and Alex become very attatched to each other.

Meanwhile, he hasn't exactly told his parents about Puzzle yet. When his parents do find out, that are angry and tell him he has to sell Puzzle. Alex is heartbroken. Puzzle is so special to him now. No one at the stable wants to see the little horse go, but maybe that's not enough. Will Alex have to courage to say good bye to Puzzle- forever?

Chevara's Review
Alex Hardy needs to raise money for a cricket tour that he desperately wants to go on. He has to raise GBP850-00 and all three ponies at the stables are lame. He thinks he has the perfect solution but he soon finds that he has let himself in for a whole lot more than he bargained for. Read the book to find out how Alex manages to resolve the problems. A very exciting book. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great for horse lovers
Mysterious things are happening at the stable when the ownershave to leave for a while. There is even an attempt to put the stableon fire. Who is doing such horrible things to the stables? I couldn't put this one down! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Story!!
Jess is trying to figure out who owns a beutiful palomino mare.
Was she stolen? Are there two ponies? You won't be able to put this book down until you know where the pony is from and who she belongs to.If you like horses,adventure,and a little bit of mystery,then you'll love this book! I liked it beacause I love ponies and I have a pony that likes to run away.

Great book!
This was a great book! As always, I was stumped until the very end. I've read four Sandy Lane Stables books so far and I was clueless on what was going to happen until the last two chapters or so. You should read this book. It's definitly worth it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

racing vacation
This book was okay, but parts of it were kind of corny. Like breaking into Joe Hagan's farm and all that stuff with Paula. I thought it was pretty dumb how they made a big deal about how big of a racing farm Graytops was, I mean it only had 15 horses at it. That's pretty tiny compared to most barns. Oh well, overall it was a pretty good book. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Average Horse Book
Overall I would just consider this book to be average. It's a story about a group of children in Britain (I believe) that all have their horses at the slightly run-down yet cozy Sandy Lane Stables. The story really focuses on one rider in particular (Tom) and his borrowed horse "Chancy." The horse has almost been ruined by a bad rider and is now quite dangerous and unpredictable but Tom makes up his mind to try and re-train the horse. Over the course of the book Tom secretly works with the horse, risks being barred from the stable, and then saves the horse from a watery death in the ocean.

A light and happy ending and a fast read. Not particularly Joanna Campbell quality but not too bad either; just a bit predictable.

Not the best horse story I've ever reviewed
As a horsewoman and published author of horse stories for middle-grade readers, I was dismayed at the number of factual errors in this book and the often inappropriate behavior of both humans and horses.

Some examples:

Tom's been riding for only 2 years, not nearly long enough to qualify for open jumping events. In reality, he'd be in walk, trot, canter over fences, no more than two feet high.

The story takes place in mid-summer. The horse's winter coat would be long gone; therefore, no need to discuss clipping him out.

Tom and Nick buy a gray mare at a sale. Nick estimates she's about 3, then gives Tom a leg up onto the mare's back. What responsible riding instructor would put a student on an unknown horse's back?

They go for a ride; Nick calls for a canter, and Tom 'crouches' over Chancey's back. Good riders don't 'crouch' at a canter. They sit deep in the saddle with a straight back.

At one point, Tom 'sprang' into the saddle. Makes him sound like a kangaroo.

Tom often rides the horse hard, cantering over fences, then puts him away without cooling him off first; or worse, feeding him immediately after riding. Once, he interrupted a horse's feed (grain) to ride it at a gallop. It's a miracle it didn't colic.

And then Tom, mounted on Feather whom he's barely ridden, wins the open jumping class as a prestigous horse show, beating a class of 100+ experienced riders.

I could go on, but suffice it to say, if this so-called educational publisher wants to produce quality horse stories for children that will help teach them about the right way to handle horses and ponies, they should take a good look at this sub-standard series and reconsider continuing its publication.

Interesting
This is a book about a boy named Tom who trains an unruly horse named Horton Chancellor. He works with Chancey every day calming him down in time for the Benbridge show, his snotty cousin returns home early and rides him instead. Tom still wins Benbridge on Feather, the little white mare. In the end Tom rescues Georgina and Chancey, and he gets to keep Chancey. I didn't like how Tom called Napoleon a "stupid animal" in the beginning. That was so mean!

Great!
This was such a great book that once I began reading it, I couldn't put it down! I had no idea what was going to happen to Chancey near the end and I wasn't sure how Tom was going to keep Chancey...This was a great book that's worth reading no matter how old you are! Just make sure you read the series in order because that way it makes more sense.

A Great Book!!!
This is a great book for any age group and it kept me turning pages all day long. Sandy Lane seems like such a great stable and if I could I would ride there. Michelle Bates gives great descriptions and I hope that there are a lot more good Sandy Lane books to come! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

From a mothers point of view Great
My 9 year old daughter has read this book and has trouble putting it down. It has tought her alot about horses and things that can happen around horses. This is a book young girls would love. Great story line. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Dream Pony of a Lifetime
In this book, Jess wins a pretty white pony. She can't believe it! Then she learns she has to go to Rychester stables. That means leaving Sandy Lane! If she doesn't go, she can't keep her pony. Later, she enters a competition with all the other riding girls. She backs out and asks to go back to Sandy Lane. The stables refuse to give her pony back. It's all a race against time. Can Jess get her pony back? I won't tell you. The book made me so mad! I started mumbling out loud about it. A must read for all girls. I would have given this book a 10 but it wasn't on the rate scale.

This is a MUST READ!
This book is fantastic. The way it is described is wonderful. A fabulous series for anyone who loves horses! ... Read more