The Perfect Distance

Francie Martinez is a groom at West Hills, one of the best places to train in the country. She's also a rider, but the distinction is her father is the West Hills barn manager, with absolutely no money to pay for the kind of training one needs to make it to the Maclay Finals and onward to Grand Prix. Francie is good, but she's not as good as Tara, the great West Hills hope for their trainer, Rob. Rob is the equestrian version of God, and Francie spends most of her lessons scrambling for his attention the way he lavishes it on Tara. It's pretty apparent straight off that Francie isn't exactly comfortable in her skin. Literally and figuratively. She's half Mexican, and she bluntly points out that there are no Hispanic riders in America. To make matters worse, there's the obvious distinction between groom and rider. Francie isn't a working student, and whenever she tries to break out of her confines to interact with Colby (who is gorgeous and funny and rich and a good rider in his own right) her father slaps her down because he's been there and done that with her nonexistent mother, and look where that wound up. She's having a hard time balancing being both groom and rider, and people like Tara make the distinction obvious whenever they can. Then there's school. Francie is a public school kid, whereas the other kids at West Hills are either privately tutored (her best friend, Katie, and Colby) or they dropped out to focus on riding (Tara). But even at school, Francie has a hard time fitting in. She's always focused on riding and school work, therefore she's not around, leaving her very existence mostly a mystery to the rest of the local kids. This leaves Francie as eager to please, and a basket case when she's put on the spot. It's shocking she can handle the ordeals of a normal day, much less the pressures of a show. Despite these things, it's obvious that Francie is a good rider, and she's justified in dreaming of beating Tara in the Maclay Finals. But the book is more than this. Unlike just about every other book involving girls, horses, show jumping, and the mention of Olympic dreams, it doesn't end like you expect, and it manages to hit a completely different note than the scores of other books that have meagerly tried and miserably failed at the same point. It makes the kind of note that doesn't blatantly say: it doesn't matter what personal growth this character makes because she's going to win anyway because she's irritatingly perfect and you can be too! All I can say at this point is to go find it and read it. You'll be happy you did.

If you're a fan of Jean Slaughter Doty's "The Monday Horses" or Barbara Morgenroth's "Last Junior Year," buy this book now while it is still in print. It's an excellent portrayal of the "A" horse show circuit.

This book was wholly satisfying in a way that many "horse books" can't seem to reach. Essentially, it all comes down to Francie - a horse loving 17 year old whose father is the groom at the elite West Hills Stable - her friend Katie - who is rich and can't get over the fact that Francie is poorer and a better rider - and the new boy, Colby - who is "amazing" and likes Francie, not Katie. I was pleased that this book avoided some cliches like Francie actually winning, or Colby staying back at the farms for her, or Katie magically getting over herself, or Rob getting due punishment for his outrageous behavoir. Thankfully, none of these things happened. However, I was slightly disappointed that the author had to drag in the most cliched horse-book cliche in the history of equine fiction: insurance fraud. Many, many horse books seem to dance around this subject. I highly recommend this book to anyone - the author did a fantastic job at realism! If you aren't too nerdy with all the technical show jumping terms, don't be afraid - it won't prevent you from enjoying this outstanding novel.

This is one of the best horses books I've ever read - very well written and interesting. I ride on the show circuit and found many of the things mentioned in this book to be true. A definite buy!

You need to buy this book. its the kinda book that you just cant put down. (I was done mine in two days!!!!)