When Mel, visiting her grandmother in the country, sees a pinto horse in a field while bicycling by, her curiosity is aroused, and she returns for a visit the next day, carrot in hand. It is then that she realizes that something is drastically wrong, as the pinto's bony back and exposed ribs, and his pain, when shuffling toward Mel and her carrot, make plain. Alerting her grandmother, who telephones the Humane Society, Mel witnesses the horse being removed from the field, and taken to a local rescue ranch, run by a woman named Lisa. Here, Lucky - so named to attract luck - is nursed back to health, and prepared for his new home.

Published by The Gryphon Press, whose aim is to produce high quality picture-books that "foster empathy as well as animal well-being," Call the Horse Lucky is a poignant story of a horse who gets a second chance, because someone saw something wrong, and did something about it (a common theme in books from this publisher). The artwork is very expressive - you really feel Lucky's dejected apathy, at the beginning - and a brief afterword gives young readers additional information and resources, when it comes to helping horses in need. Recommended to young horse lovers (with the caveat that there are some disturbing scenes here), and to anyone looking for quality animal stories to be used in humane education. ( )