Ponies at the Point by Ben M. Baglio

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Description:

Mandy Hope loves animals more than anything else. She knows quite a lot about them too; both her parents are vets, and Mandy helps out in their surgery, Animal Ark.

The Hopes and James are on holiday in Ireland. Mandy and James are thrilled to discover wild ponies on the beach. But one little foal needs help. She has a cruel head-collar cutting into her face. Who put it on her - and why?

Age Recommendation: 8-12, or 2nd-5th grade

General Content:

Language: 0/10- Little to no derogatory language/ references.

Alcohol & Drugs: 1/10- Brief mentions of bottles of whisky and beer in a pub.

Violence & Gore: 2/10- Someone tries to illegally steal the ponies. Use of a whip and choke halter to illegally detain an animal.

Sexual Content: 0/10- No sexual content.

Parent Guide:

Tropes: Animal rescue, child detective, protecting animals.

Ch. 2

-Mandy, her friend James, and her parents visit “Molloys”, a combination pub and grocery store. Mandy recalls the layout, saying there were bottles of whiskey and beer.

-Others at Molloys talk about a young boy named Sean, who often watches over the wild ponies. They mention that his parents are divorced, so he doesn’t get along with his dad, and that he’s a bit of a “loner”.

Ch. 3

-People place bets at a horse race.

-Mr. Molloy mentions that sometimes foreigners come and steal their wild horses to illegally sell.

-Mr. Molloy cheers for his favorite horse, named Playboy.

Ch. 4

-Mandy’s parents talk about how they would help a hesitant animal back home. To catch and save the foal, they may have to use a tranquilizer dart filled with a drug called Immobilon.

-Thinking Mandy and her family were going to kill the ponies, Sean Malone scares the ponies away so they can’t shoot the dart at the foal. Angrily, Mandy calls Sean “stupid” and explains what they were truly doing, saving the foal, not killing her.

Ch. 6

-Sean Malone’s grumpy dad arrives at Mandy’s family’s cottage. He raises his voice, letting them know that Sean is grounded for the day and that he believes it’s Sean’s abnormal training ideas that are making a laughing stock of his father, amongst others in town.

Ch. 7

-Mandy and Sean are able to save the foal, but they realize that her wounds are deep and beginning to “weep pus”.

Ch. 8

-Mandy overhears a conversation between Sean’s father and his friend, Tom. They plan to steal the wild horses, including the foal and her mother, to sell them for a large profit. They’ve already stolen a few in the past and lied about it, blaming foreigners. The ponies are wild and native to the land, so this act is illegal.

Ch. 9

-Tom attempts to get the foal’s mother in the trailer. He uses a whip and a choke halter.

-Sean shows up to help them save the ponies, but Tom is upset that they stopped his plans. He brings the whip down close to Sean, then picks him up and drags him into the car, locks him in, and then drives away.

Ch. 10

-Molloy and others catch Sean’s father and Tom and threaten to fine them and take them to court if they notice horses going missing again. The ponies are saved, and the foal and her mother are released.