http://equus-blog.com/rodeo-rocky/ ( )

Reviewed by Allison Fraclose for TeensReadToo.com

Thirteen-year-old Kirstie Scott and her mother, the owner of Half Moon Ranch, have taken their guests to see the local rodeo.

Kirstie, however, is not enjoying the events as much as the guests are. She feels sickened watching the poor treatment of the animals, especially when they bring out the recently captured wild horses for the wild horse race.

Kirstie is taken by the beauty of a spirited bay stallion who gives his handlers a lot of trouble before winning the race. When she sees that they plan to use him for another event, Kirstie pleads with the organizer to let "Rodeo Rocky" rest. He refuses, saying that they plan on making him a champion so that they can sell him at auction for a high price.

Kirstie's mother, seeing her daughter in distress, offers to buy Rocky from the organizer on the condition that he not participate in another event. After some haggling, he finally agrees, and Kirstie is absolutely elated.

The other ranch workers protest that buying an untrained horse is a humongous waste of money, but Kirstie is determined to turn Rocky into a good working horse without the usual, harsh methods. She finds that breaking in a wild horse may be tougher than she'd thought.

Having recently attended the Tucson Rodeo, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the portrayal of the rodeo personnel, since most rodeos do not go to such violent extremes with their animals, and have strict regulations to keep the animals safe and healthy. Putting that aside, I think most animal lovers would empathize with Kirstie's struggle to find a kinder way to break in a horse. ( )

Kirstie Scott has accompanied her family on a trip to the rodeo with the current guest at their dude ranch. While the rest of the attendees are cheering and clapping, Kirstie is stunned and appalled at the brutal treatment the horses receive - especially the wild horses trucked in for the wild horse race and bucking bronco events. One mustang in particular, a beautiful bay stallion, garners her sympathy, and when circumstances leave Rodeo Rocky to her care, she vows to make a ranch horse of him rather than see him bound for the sale barn and a short future as dog food.

Admirable. And completely understandable from the perspective of a thirteen-year-old horse lover who's completely unfamiliar with rodeo. But Kirstie has lived on a ranch in a ranching community for how long, and she's never attended a one? She's never seen steer wrestling or bronc riding? The rodeos are described as being regular events....

What is crystal clear is that the author a) knows very little about rodeo, and b) believes, or wants to give the impression, that anyone who participates in one is brutal, rough, and completely uncaring as far as the rodeo livestock goes. Okay, everyone's entitled to their opinion, and she's not alone in finding the sport violent.

But animal rights issues aside, there are major problems with the horse-related details in this book. Who turns a strange, wild, un-vaccinated stallion in loose with their riding horses, some of them mares, immediately on bringing him home! (And why not GELD him?) They've spent $2000 on him, but they're not going to pay the vet, (who's johnny-on-the-spot almost immediately, after the stallion kicks on of the other horses) to give him his shots until they've decided to keep at the end of the book? Not to mention the "training" sequence that has Rocky proceeding merrily down the trail saddled and bridled in approximately a week.

Yes, it's certainly an emotionally intense story. It's just too bad that the author didn't pay as much attention to the non-emotional detail. Apart from the rest of the problems, the plot is tired, and overdone. The characters are flat - none of them every really get beyond a canned stereotype, which is too bad. Since this is a series, it would be nice to look forward to meeting the characters again.

Final verdict? Not recommended. ( )