The setting, at least for an East Coast habitue, is what saves this book. The author takes us into the world of horse ranches with all of its pressures. There are many kinds of competitions that riders prepare for; many do not simply have horse to ride on occasion.

As a coming of age story, it doesn't break new ground, and, in fact, reifies many gender stereotypes. Girls are fascinated with horses in their pre-teen years; girls have secret crushes on male teachers;girls have petty struggles with each other.

The protagonist of the book, Alice Winston, seems more befuddled than makes sense for an intelligent girl, and she is probably the most gully drawn character in the book. All the others lack clear definition. Alice's mother is clinically depressed and appears almost wraith-like in the book. The father seems to be strong and steadfast, but we learn little about why he is willing to struggle with the horse ranch.

Probably the hardest part of the book for me has to do with the cruelty to horses. That made me cringe.