Wild Horses

The Horses of Half Moon Ranch #1

by Jenny Oldfield

When a landslide traps Kirstie inside Dead Man's Canyon with a herd of wild horses, she must find a way to help their injured leader, a stallion hurt by the falling rocks, and find her own way out.

Genres: Horses, Childrens, Middle Grade, Animals, Realistic Fiction

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Jenny Oldfield was born in 1949 and brought up in Harrogate, Yorkshire, and studied English at Birmingham University.

She has written a large number of books for both children and adults, including the Home Farm Twins, Animal Alert, and Half Moon Ranch series. A horse enthusiast, many of her novels feature horses and are popular among young horse fans.

Jenny has also written under several pseudonyms: Jasmine Oliver, Donna King, Kate Pennington, Lucy Daniels, Sable Hamilton and Kate Fielding.

Reviews

[Timberley Mouat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is abou a girl and she whent to this mountain and rocks fell. And now she is trap,with a buch of wild hores witch is her favoret thing in the world. The only way is to get out is to leave the horses behind.

And there is a black stallion that is traped in a pile of rocks.She is forced to leave. But before she leaves she helps the stallion out of the pile of rocks.But now his leg is broken so she rips off a pieace of her jaket,and waps it around his leg so that he can stand up.

But he is still baddly hurt. And she has no time left to help him,she must go home. So she goes home and leaves him,but she is thinking about runing away and going back to the stallion.Will she go back or stay read the rest of the book to find out.


By;Timberley

[By Book and Bone (Sally) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even just seeing the cover is nostalgic, I loved this series when I was younger. I'd love to read it again.

[Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a wonderful horse story. I have been looking for this book for a while and was so happy when it turned up on libby. It's an excellent heartwarming story for any horse fan. Remember, you're never too old to enjoy a great horse story

[Ananiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s OK but I really like the rodeo rocky I liked it way more than this one no offense to the author who is Jenny Oldfield

[Sue Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these books
great stories
great characters

[AmbWitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this series when I was little and the horse crazed younger me loved them. I even read a couple of them to my mum. As I am currently decreasing the amount of books I have I am getting rid of the books I’ve outgrown, but are rereading them first. And even though I have outgrown these books, I still got a little enjoyment from them.


These books never took that long to read. I spent a summer reading one a day and now they take about an hour to read, two hours tops. They are fairly simple to follow, with pleasant characters and a constantly moving plot.


One of my few problems with this series was about how much happened at this ranch. It seemed that all the time some wild adventure was going on. Though then again, if there wasn’t something going on then there wouldn’t be much to read.


Wild Horses was a great way to start the series, although you can dip and dive into any story without having to read the others. It did seem a little unrealistic in places with the wild stallion accepting Kirsty so quickly. There was also a few times where he was referred to as a ‘mare’. Other than that it was an enjoyable read with a little bit of mystery thrown in to keep you interested.


These books are great for young children that love horses and make an enjoyable read where you don’t have to think much. Even though I have outgrown these books and find them nowhere near as interesting as when I was a child, I still got a little bit enjoyment out of these and it won’t be too much of a struggle to reread them, although I couldn’t read the series one book after the other, I’ll need to read other books to get me through.


P.S I read this one to my mum as well when I was little

The Horses of Half-Moon Ranch Reviews

1. Wild Horses
2. Rodeo Rocky
3. Crazy Horse
4. Johnny Mohawk
5. Midnight Lady
6. Third-Time Lucky
7. Navaho Joe
8. Hollywood Princess
9. Danny Boy
10. Little Vixen
11. Gunsmoke
12. Golden Dawn (RTC)
13. Silver Spur (RTC)
14. Moondance (RTC)
15. Lady Roseanne (RTC)
16. Steamboat Charlie (RTC)
17. Skylark (RTC)
18. Eagle Wing (RTC)
Summer Special 1. Diamond Charm (RTC)
Summer Special 2. Jethro Junior (RTC)
Christmas Special 1. Starlight (RTC)

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Allison Fraclose for TeensReadToo.com

Thirteen-year-old Kirstie Scott lives with her mother and brother at Half Moon Ranch, which her mother built up into a guest ranch after the death of Kirstie's grandfather.

While on a Saturday trailride with a group of guests, Charlie, one of their cowhands, asks Kirstie to lead the group into Dead Man's Canyon while he helps the guests cross a tricky stream swollen with melting snow. Following the senses of Lucky, her trusted palomino, Kirstie enters the canyon to find a herd of wild horses trapped in the back. Their leader, a beautiful black stallion, reacts aggressively, and rain begins to pour as Kirstie freezes in an effort to not upset the herd any further.

Kirstie is about to turn around and leave the canyon when one of the ranch horses, spooked by her inexperienced rider, races into the canyon and up the trail, causing an avalanche on the weakened ridge. When the dust settles, Kirstie is unharmed thanks to Lucky, but the black stallion is trapped under rocks, badly hurt.

Now, trapped with the herd while Charlie goes back to the ranch for help, Kirstie does what she can for the stallion, and she wonders if it will be enough...

I loved reading about this resourceful heroine! Her courage and confidence in her own abilities is what really drives the plot. This story should resonate with any girl who loves horses and loves to trust her own instincts.

[Uldene · Rating 2 out of 5]

For years one of my friends has been buying me every little kid horse book she comes across just because she found out that I liked to read them when I was little. and since she gives them to me I feel sort of obligated to read them even though I outgrew the phase more than twenty years ago. this one wasn't totally horrible. definitly not the worst I've ever read... I've read a lot of them over the years, but through the entire thing I kept thinking the main character - a 13 year old girl - is even dumber than most 13 year old girls I know. and the author writes down to her audience. it says on the back ages 9 and up but I know 5 year olds who would have an easy time with this book.

[Terry]

This is the first book in this series of six titles. It is an excellent story and readers will enjoy this horse mystery. Kirstie Scott is the young woman every girl sees in the mirror.

To read our full review, go to the Reading Tub.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Mostly because I like horse books. I thouhgt this book had a good story plot. It is realistice fiction and that is my favorite genre. I would recomend this to anyone that likes animals.

[Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was good, okay, but it was defietly not bad. That is no way to describe it because it was very thoughtful and out there.

[Marnina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is awesome...it tells you to trust your horse. Except for like 1 bad word, i think it's awesome

[Christine Meunier · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written and evocative book that helps you to imagine the surrounds. More at http://equus-blog.com/wild-horses/