YA book published before 1990 . About a poor boy with an alcoholic father who owns a horse. A girl finds his horse and they dispute over ownership

[Tracie]

It might have been set in Scotland or Australia. The boys name might be Scotty . I think it has a horse on the cover .

[Rainbowheart]

Wanted! A Horse?

The Ginger Horse?

Moon in the Water?

[Valerie]

I'm having flashbacks to a similar book, I'll have to work on the title. The one I'm thinking of was definitely set in Australia, the boy rode the horse around bareback all the time, it ran off during a storm or something. The girl or her family found it, she bonded with it, she's possibly sick or in a wheelchair or something? They have a competition to prove ownership where they're both calling the horse to see who it will go to.

Does any of this sound like your book?

[Valerie]

I dug a little deeper, remembering that a movie or miniseries was made about the book I was thinking of.

Originally published as A Sporting Proposition, the movie was called Ride a Wild Pony. I think the version I read may have been titled the same as the movie. And the boy's name is Scott.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_a_...

[Rainbowheart]

Also later released as Ride a Wild Pony, retitled for the movie tie-in.