At her last school, riding was on the curriculum, and Bobby used to ride Shelta, the chestnut Anglo-Arab mare for the school's owners. All that has changed. The school's owner was killed, the school has closed, and Shelta has been sold. Bobby is now living with her aunt and uncle, and has to go to a new school.
No showjumping here. The only riding is a weekly potter on Captain Roberts's tired and unenthusiastic horses. But there is another stable nearby: Bracken, owned by Guy Mathews. He is roundly despised by the headmistress and the girls of Bobby's smart school. Just a dealer. Selling useless horses.
Bobby is determined to do more than just potter, and she starts riding at Bracken. It's nothing like it's been painted – Guy wants to develop into a serious competition stable, and he buys Shelta when her new owner sends her to a sale. It's a fight for Bobby to be allowed to ride her more than the once-a-a-week school thinks is acceptable, and even more to compete.
But when a series of disasters hits the stables, only the sale of Shelta stands between them and ruin. Bobby's aunt buys the mare, but Helen is a cruel and bullying rider and soon ruins Shelta. With the mare set to be sent to yet another sale, can Bobby manage to save her?
With a new introduction by the author, Gillian Baxter, this is the first of the much-loved Bracken Stables series, out of print for 40 years.
