First in the 'Sweetbriars' series for pony loving girls is the story of how Cate Sullivan, her parents and older brother Alex, move out of Hampstead on the wealthy side of London to a farm in Devon. LEAVING THE CITY is not entirely happy for twelve year old Cate, because her best friends are now several hours away and she'll have to join a new school. But the move will give the family the freedom to open an equestrian centre at Sweetbriars Farm.

Cate has a palomino mare called Odette, well placed in showing. Cate imagines she can continue showing but when she joins the local Pony Club it turns out they don't do that, and she has to learn dressage instead. This is a good reminder that young people actually do not have much, if any, control over their own lives. I was surprised that Cate didn't ask her parents to take her around local shows; doubly so, that she never seemed keen on jumping or eventing when the land was ideal for cross- country.

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Tabby and Violet are two new friends in the locality, helping to make school less lonely, but Cate wishes to still be in touch with her pals in London. A trip to the Olympia Horse Show held in London rounds off the book well by showing what an ambitious pony rider might aim to achieve.

Mainly what young riders will get from this book is a great deal of information; care of horses, how horses behave naturally, what can happen when things go wrong, riding tips, good and bad stable management contrasted; even some of the swankiest horsey gifts. I had fun reading the book and re-living my own muddy riding days. We also realise that horses are great, stalwart, friends.

Personal dilemmas are addressed, from school days to swapping only the happiest images by phone, and how to act respectful towards adults even if they don't know anything about horses. Readers will pick up good examples and can wonder what they would have done in such a situation. Girls under fourteen will love this traditional-style pony tale.

Australian author Hollie Anne Marsh supports Riding for The Disabled and a percentage of each book sale will be donated to this charity. The author spent a decade in England learning dressage, after growing up riding through the Australian bush. LEAVING THE CITY, her first full-length novel, establishes both strong characters and several ongoing situations to be concluded later in the Sweetbriars series.

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