Customer Reviews

A Horse Called Wonder (Thoroughbred)

5 star:		(143)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I first read this book when I was only a twelve year horse-crazy girl. I am now in eleventh grade and still readin every Thoroughbred book that comes out. A Horse called Wonder deals with the pain of an eleven year old girl's loss of her beloved breeding farm her parents' lost due to a virus that wiped them out. Upon her parent's losing the farm, they get new jobs as breeding managers at one of the most prestigous farms in Kentucky, Townsend Acres. Now, all of a sudden Ashleigh is back around horses, but, they're not horses she owns and she vows never to get close to a horse again. But then, she meets Wonder's mother, an older horse who is on her last pregnancy. Wonder's mother reminds Ashleigh of her horse at her old farm that was also sold with the farm, and, much to her disliking she forms a bond with this new horse. When it is time for the horse to deliver, the foal, a girl is born tiny and has many difficulties. The vet recommands putting the filly down, but Ashleigh won't allow it. She names the horse, wWonder and decides to take almost constant care of her.The horse surives and the vet doesn't put Wonder down. Due to Ashleigh's perserverence and strength, Wonder now has a chance at life too

A Horse Called Wonder is the first book in the Thoroughbred series, created by Joanna Campbell wrote herself. As of spring 2003, the series has grown to 57 titles, 4 super editions, three reissues, and a spin-off Ashleigh series, which makes the original 14 books and 2 super editions even more precious. Most loyal readers agree that Joanna Campbell, as the original author and creater, was the best. She created real situations with flawed but likable characters.

From the very beginning Ashleigh is both stubborn and determined, but also painfully loving. It isn't much of a surprise that she's afraid to love any horse ever again - she's 12 when this series begins, which means that she's had to face a lot of death very early in life. Later books tend to forget what a strong bond Ashleigh and Wonder had - simply because of Ashleigh's initial resistance to getting close to a horse.

Ashleigh also makes us laugh - her complete disinterest in her appearance, which becomes a stronger theme as she gets older, and her absolute hatred of math, which many people will sympathize with. No one ever blames her for wanting to spend all her time with Wonder, instead of doing boring math problems at her desk.

Ashleigh fights hard to save Wonder - first from influenza, then from being sold because she's too small and weak. The love between them is so strong and so well-written. And yet we are also reminded, many times, that this is NOT Ashleigh's farm and NOT Ashleigh's horse, which makes it very scary when it looks like Wonder might be sold.

As with all good books, the story doesn't end here - there are still fears. What if Wonder doesn't train well? What if she doesn't race well? Okay, so Townsend decided to keep her at the farm for another year - but what if ...? These are all elements of a good series.

A Horse Called Wonder also introduces, right away, the arrogant, obnoxious Brad Townsend, son of the farm owner. Brad is a consistently well-drawn character - not really mean enough to be a villain, but a definite Obstacle in Ashleigh's path. Brad is one of the best elements of Campbell's writing. She doesn't wimp out of his dark sides like later authors do.

Joanna Campbell wrote Thoroughbred books #1-14, the super editiongs Ashleigh's Christmas Miracle and Ashleigh's Diary, and the first three books of the Ashleigh series: Lightning's Last Hope, A Horse for Christmas, and Waiting for Stardust. She also wrote Battlecry Forever! and Star of Shadowbrook Farm, which were released as part of the "Ashleigh's Book Collection" series. If you plan to read Thoroughbred I recommend you start with #1 and go up, because the original 14 books really were the best.

This is the greatist book ever! Its about Ashliegh Griffen and how she and her family lost their farm and had to move to Townsed Acres. At first Ashliegh hates it and misses Edgardale her old farm, but thats before Wonder is born. The young filly is very small and gets sick but Ashliegh fights for her will she lose her like Black Night the colt at Edgardale? thats what i was afraid of. Read this WONDER-ful bok and find out!

This book, A Horse Called Wonder, is undoubtedly the best book in the series and it deserves 1,000,000 stars!!!

When Ashleigh loses her favorite mare, Stardust, and moves to Townsend Acres her world is practically falling apart and she vows never to give her heart to another horse. But when a sickly foal is born Ashleigh can't help loving Wonder (and I don't think anyone reading the book can either.) Ashleigh raises wonder into a beautiful filly, but can she and Wonder prove that Wonder is good enough to run? Or will Ashleigh's beloved horse be sold in the coming auction?

Everyone will love this book!!! (And all the other books in the series)

I'm nearing 21 in only days, and I still have to say that this is one of the best books I ever read. This story captures your heart, you find yourself willing this sickly foal not to die, not to give up. You feel yourself fighting with Ashleigh trying to give HER enough strength to help this foal. This is a marvelous book. I actually started the series when I was 13, and I read #8 Sierra's Steeplechase first, then started from #1. Since then they can't put them out fast enough! I'm collecting the series for my future kids. I wish Wonder was real, I'd just HAVE to meet her.

I was looking around on here and what do I come across, but this book (and all the others, but that is beside the point). I remember when I was little (I was in maybe second or third grade) and first came across this book. This was back when there were only about seven to ten of the books in the series out...I don't remember for sure, and I would read anything that had to do with horses (and when I say anything I mean it...equine veterinary guides, encyclopedia articles, training books, whatever I could get my hands on). So I nagged my mom into buying the book, and proceeded to let it sit on my desk collecting dust. When I finally got around to reading it, I thought it was a pretty decent book so I started to collect the series.

By the time I got to, say the fifteenth book in the series, I had lost most of my interest. The reality was lacking entirely, and it is just sad when an elementary student is editing grammatical errors. Not to mention that, somewhere along the way, characters started getting lost in the shuffle (main characters, at that) and horses started becoming demi-gods and...well, the books got bad. We'll leave it at that. Being a person that has worked around horses, devoted a lot of time to riding and caring for and educating myself about them (not to mention growing up near the "Horse Capitol of the World" and the place where a lot of the story was supposed to take place), I just could no longer read these books. I felt like they were sucking my intelligence out of my head through my pupils. And a side note, sometimes I felt as though the author had not done her research when she wrote these books, because sometimes things clashed with the way they really are in Kentucky, especially Lexington.

However, this book--the first one--and the few that follow (probably through the Pride story-line) remain close to my heart as sweet stories I read as a child. They aren't on par with my favorite childhood books, but they were fun to read and I remember enjoying them at the time. So, I recommend the first couple books for children to read, but after that it just gets confusing. New characters pop in and out of the books as the narrators, and nobody seems to be able to keep the stories straight, least of all the author. About the time one of the main, founding characters, Samantha, got written out I gave these books up.

Anyway, some books that I adored as a child, and would recommend for other children to read, or parents to read to their kids as part of a family time are: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; A Wrinkle in Time; The Hobbit; Bridge to Terabithia; Island of the Blue Dolphin; Where the Red Fern Grows; The Giver; Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry; They Cage the Animals at Night; Black Beauty; The Little Prince; Little Women; The Twits; The Cricket in Times Square; Peter Pan; Sounder; Walk Two Moons; Misty of Chincoteague...and for the younger crowd: The Stinky Cheese Man, Swimmy, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Where the Wild Things Are, The Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends...These are real quality reads for children...smart, interesting, thoughtful stories that help develop a love for books. And they're fun, too.

So begins the popular YA series that eventually spanned seventy-two books, as well as several spin-offs and special editions, all centered on the bond between a girl and her horse. The "Thoroughbred" series went through several protagonists, all of whom grew to adulthood over the course of their personal story arcs, but it all starts with Ashleigh Griffen, a twelve year old girl who has moved with her family to a horse-breeding farm in Kentucky.

The move has taken place after an epidemic kills several of the horses at the Griffen breeding farm (though contrary to what the blurb says, Ashleigh's favourite mare Stardust did not die, but was sold) forcing Ashleigh's parents to sell the surviving horses and find new jobs as breeding managers at Clay Townsend's stables. Ashleigh is miserable, and determined not to ever care about a horse again - until of course, a mare that remains her of Stardust gives birth to a sickly foal. Ashleigh is instantly enamored, and takes responsibility for slowly nursing it back to health.

That's not her only challenge: lurking at the back of her mind is the knowledge that Wonder is not her horse, but Mr Townsend's, a man who needs to be impressed by Wonder's progress or else she'll be sold on. Ashleigh pours all her energy into her personal crusade of improving Wonder, but it's at the cost of her schoolwork and social life. Furthermore, Ashleigh has to cope with the derision that she faces when sharing her dreams of becoming an exercise rider, and the presence of the antagonistic Brad Townsend, son of the farm's owner.

As the first chapter in an ongoing series, there's nothing that is too unpredictable about "A Horse Called Wonder." Worries about whether the sickly foal will pull through or whether Wonder will get sold are pretty much allayed the moment that they crop up. Obviously with several more books to come, neither one of these fears will come to pass. But the journey that gets us there, as foreseeable as it is, is still one worth taking if you are the young, female target audience of this series.

More aligned on the business of horses (breeding, training and racing) than other horse-related series, such as The Saddle Club and Pony Pals, Campbell shows her knowledge of the subject matter throughout the book, whether the characters are dealing with illness, training or the buying or selling of horses. It lends a weight and authenticity to the proceedings that raise the stakes and make Ashleigh's experiences that much more realistic.

Ashleigh is a great young protagonist; not exactly a tomboy, but certainly uninterested in clothing and boys. She hates shopping and math, and like many pony-crazed girls, has no problems with mucking out stables or rubbing down large smelly animals. Even better (and rarer in YA books), Ashleigh is surrounded by a strong support system: loving and sensible parents, loyal friends, friendly siblings and a gruff retired stable-hand who becomes Ashleigh's teacher and advisor in taking care of Wonder. There is of course one "enemy" at work; Brad Townsend, but he's not an enemy to be defeated, just a nuisance to be sensibly ignored. Likewise, none of the characters are static: they grow up and change throughout the series; Ashleigh isn't a twelve-year old forever, and in fact she gets married and has a child in successive books.

At the centre of the story is the bond between Ashleigh and Wonder, and it's heartwarming throughout. Ashleigh's big heart and determination in saving Wonder's life is still the crux of the story, and perhaps its strength lent something to the series' longetivity, even when Ashleigh and Wonder themselves had ceased to be the protagonists.

Only the first fourteen books in this series, as well as a couple of special editions, were written by Joanna Campbell before the series was taken over by ghost-writers. Naturally it is these which are considered the superior stories, and luckily for those who might be daunted at the sheer amount of titles in this series, the first fourteen installments create a complete story that ends definitively. No need to carry on reading a never-ending trail of books with no resolution, and as horse-related stories for young girls go, "Thoroughbred" are certainly some of the best.

I really love this book.You've probally heard enough from the other reveiws that this book is about a girl named Ashleigh Griffen who's family lives ona breeding farm. As she is exploring her new home and in one of the stalls she meets a retired jockey horse who was going to have a foal. Her father then says she going to give birth soon. A few days later Holly has here foal, Ashleigh goes to see the new-born foal. She at once falls in love with the weak,sad looking,little fillie.She then trys to save it and make it walk before Mr. Townsend [The owner] sees the pathetic creature and sells her at auction . I dont want to spoil you so get the book.

The title says it all. This book goes through a young girl's struggles to overcome diaster in order to save a life. Definitaly(I know, spelling's wrong.) a must read for all horse lovers, and then on with the whole series. Please Joanna, start writing yourself again, or alternate. The other's are great, though.

Ashleigh and her family move to Townsend Acres. Ashleigh is scared to get close to another horse after losing her horse Stardust. She eventually gets involved with a mare named Holly. She is the mares groom. Then Holly has a foal. It is born, but it has no strength. That is the beginning of a hard journey. The owner of the farm (which is Mr.Townsend)has a son and his son is a brat, but Ashleigh doesn't give up. They decide to name the filly Ashleigh's Wonder. Then Wonder starts to get better and can stand. Wonder got to go out in the pasture with Holly a few times. Then Wonder gets sick. Charlie Burke helps Ashleigh nurse the filly back to health. Then Mr.Townsend picks the fillys and colts that he is going to keep. He was going to send Wonder to auction, but Ashleigh overheard and begged him to give her time with the filly to make her good enough to be kept. Mr.Townsend gives her a month. Ashleigh and Charlie bring Wonder on long walks to get her conditioned. When Mr.Townsend looks at her in a month he says they will keep her!!!