Twelve-year-old Janie Neely works at Longvue Stables and adores Pat, the riding instructor. She sometimes clashes with her mother and resents Mike, the man her mother is seeing. (apparently Janie's father died) Andrea Cummings, spoiled daughter of the stable owner, receives a new pony, Danny, that she will show as a hunter/jumper.
Andrea is not a very good rider, however, and doesn''t connect well with Danny. When she falls off him in a show, Pat has Janie help with the pony's training. Later, Danny becomes lame and Mr. Cummings decides to sell him.
An anonymous person buys Danny for Janie. She works with him as he recovers from his injury and gets the pony to the point where she competes against Andrea and her new horse.
I was a young 4-H'er, showing my horse during this same timeframe. It's definitely very 70's. The movie transported me back in time! :) The horse shows and many of the horsey details are authentic. My only problem in that respect was that when the pony was supposedly seriously lame, he didn't limp at all.
Young people may enjoy this movie. I found it a little slow, and I never connected with Janie enough to get really involved in the story. It's family friendly, no bad language or frightening scenes. There is one part where Mike bets Mr. Cunningham $500 on the outcome of a horse show, but it's not a big factor in the story.
My Rating for the Movie: 3
Equine Realism: 4
MPAA Rating: NR
Time (minutes): 90
Year: 1977
