Patrick the Naughty Pony
A.C. Christensen
language
(, Nov. 20, 2010)
You’ll laugh and cry along with precocious Annie and ex-circus pony Patrick. Patrick goes about doing what ponies do while Annie learns to manage, care for, ride and ultimately enter and win at a Horse Show. Annie a shy young girl transforms the naughty pony, Patrick, into a show pony with her love, hard work and persistence. Annie learns the basics of pony management and to outthink a smart pony. Just having her dad build a fence to keep Patrick in, becomes a challenge when Patrick keeps breaking out. She learns to feed, water and clean up after Patrick. When Annie goes to sit on Patrick he bucks her off. She sticks with it, learning about bridles and saddles, and eventually learns to ride him. Annie makes friends with other children at the local saddle club. She enters her first horse show where everything goes wrong. She finds out she has a lot to learn and meets a riding instructor, Mrs. J. who gives lessons at the saddle club. Annie helps set up jumps for Mrs. J. and takes riding lessons. It is not all serious work for Annie and Patrick. She plays tag on horseback with the other girls in the saddle club, goes swimming with Patrick in a lake, and together horse and rider survives stepping into a hornets’ nest. The pair practices all winter to learning to jump . Annie’s dream is to win a blue ribbon in jumping or the Pony Hunter Division Championship. Young readers will be inspired to pursue their dreams and to realize them through passion, hard work and persistence.