Riding the Wind

by Barbara Garland Polikoff

Angie's dreams of owning Lila, a white Arabian, are threatened by others who want to ride the horse, and Angie must persuade her father that she is responsible enough to own a horse.

Genres: Horses, Childrens

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the sequel (of sorts) to Life's a Funny Proposition, Horatio. The theme of this book is forgiveness. If I had known those two things, I wouldn't have read this book.

In this book, a thoughtless girl hurts a horse badly through her ignorance. Then, Our Protagonist finds out about this girl's pitiful background and promptly feels sorry for her.

The change of attitude was way too abrupt to be believable. There also was no real conclusion to her story. The ending came very suddenly, with a lot of blank pages at the end.

Let Aunty Rena tell you how forgiveness works in the real world, kids. Forgiveness is for chumps. One out of every five people is a psychopath -- and that'll be the one that REALLY screws you over. Any time you forgive someone, they get out paying for the consequences of their actions. Then, they just screw you over again. Every time. Even people who aren't psychopaths will screw you sometime after you forgive them. That's human nature.

It would've been a much better book if the girl and her deadbeat guardian were sued for getting a valuable Arabian mare's leg broken. That absolutely nothing happens to her is infuriating.

There is a Husky in here named Silver Chief, who I think was a nod to the popular, incredibly violent kid's series about a dog of a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. This Silver Chief is a female and a bit of a wanker, though.

[Charty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was better than I expected. Angie faithfully visits the local Good Luck Ranch where she’s fallen head over heels for the ghostly gray Arabian, Ardalila III aka Lila. A graceful jumper, Angie is determined to buy the horse of her dreams with her surprise inheritance. Foiling her plans is hard luck new girl at the ranch, Sage Sommers, whose father has been hired as the ranch’s farrier.

Sage and Angie take an instant dislike for each other and express it through petty one-up man ship with regards as to who gets to ride Lila. When something big happens, Angie is forced to reevaluate what she thinks she knows about people and what we owe others.

Along the way she begins a tentative friendship with new boy Horatio, protagonist of Garland’s earlier book.

The story does a nice job of hitting those girl loves horses tropes while also attempting to say something more about friendships and family.

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very charming book in general, but I think I would've appreciated it more if I was about 10 or 11, maybe 12, tops. The story itself about wanting to be the owner of her favorite horse and working as hard as she can to make it happen, especially since there is another girl who wants that horse just as much as she does, which complicates it a bit and having her first crush. Again, a charming story, but definitely written for a younger audience. It is readble though and good for a middle-grade book :)