Secondhand

What is worse than your life being uprooted to the middle-of-nowhere in Ohio? Falling in love with a horse that is owned by the barn's resident mean-girl might be. Connie Fields was convinced nothing about her new life wasn't downright miserable, until she takes a riding lesson at Horseshoe Lake Stables. There, she meets Big Red, a towering Thoroughbred who had seen better days. Though he once won many ribbons, Red was now sitting in a paddock day in and day out, having been tossed aside by his snooty owner, Trinity. Faced with Red's health and behavior problems, Trinity just wants to throw him away. Connie sees potential and vows to help him. Will Connie be able to prove that Red can be a great horse once again? When a tragic accident changes everything at Horseshoe Lake, causing Trinity's parents to make a life-changing decision concerning Red's future, Connie's character is tested. How will she deal with the fact that no matter how much she loves him, Red was always only a borrowed, secondhand horse? Though there are many horse novels in existence for Young Adults, the Horseshoe Lake series takes a true-to-life approach to being a young teenager in the horse world. The characters face many real life challenges as they learn and grow, thus there are often elements to the novels that reflect our difficult, ever-changing world. The Horseshoe Lake series is not just another collection of horse stories, and there aren't always happy endings or great feats to conflicts, because after-all, life is not always easy.