Does your child love horses? Mine does! This is one of the reasons we enjoyed the Ready to Ride Series. Within these books, you'll meet three horse-loving friends, Kendra, Ruth-Ann, and Megan, and their ponies Star, Zipper, and Blondie. The girls start their own "Ready to Ride Club" (R2R) and saddle up for adventures and learning experiences. Series Book One, A Perfect Star, begins with an exciting birthday gift for Kendra--an English saddle just right for Star. This inspires dreams of show jumping with her pony. But when Star is unable to actually jump, Kendra and her friends learn about strengths and weaknesses (in horses and people) and the gifts that the Lord has given each of us.

In Series Book Two, Zippity Do Dah, the girls get the horses ready for a church fundraiser where they will be offering dollar pony rides. They pray together, asking God for a safe day at the Fun Fair, but when something unexpected happens with Zipper, Ruth-Ann is left with questions. The girls all learn a valuable lesson about having faith and trusting Jesus when things don't work out as we plan.

In Series Book Three, Good as Gold, Megan and her pony prepare to ride in a real horse show! Though Blondie was a stubborn Palomino with a mind of her own, she has really improved and is ready to compete. So are Megan's friends Kendra and Ruth-Ann, and that means they will be competing against each other! Megan has her eye on a first-place ribbon, but she asks the Lord to help her keep the right attitude. In the end, Megan learns about sacrifice and finds that her selfless act is worth far more to the Lord than winning a first place prize.

The girls have the blessing of a Christian mentor and horse trainer named Trish Klein, who uses gentle reminders and prayer to help guide them in each situation. Each book ends with some sound advice from the author regarding buying your first pony, ownership, and safety. There are references throughout concerning the importance of adult supervision, safety, and using helmets, which I was happy to see. Though in my opinion these books would most likely appeal to girls, I believe that any child would enjoy this moral series.

Product review by Amy Christy, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August 2008