The Doggone Roan

By: Patsey Gray

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: Babe's father, "Speedy" Shannon, is the best Quarter horse jockey in the state of California. Having no other family, Babe spends much of every year with him on tour while Speedy races their prize roan mare, Strawberry, for a living. Competition is never more fierce than the rivalry found in the Quarter horse business, especially when you are at the top. Following the California circuit, racing men bring their horses, specially trained and bred to race the Quarter mile, to vie with one another for the high stakes. Many, like the Shannons, own only one horse, depending solely on its winnings for their livelihood. When you have a prize horse, you need no more, and, with Speedy on her back, Strawberry comes in first every time. Babe's job includes exercising Strawberry, "hot walking" other horses around the racing stables and keeping her ears open to learn more about the greatest thing in the world—horses. When Babe meets Molly, the pretty daughter of their friendly rival, Tom Ellsworth, she finds there is much to learn from a girl her own age. Molly teaches Babe to swim in return for riding lessons and gives Babe her first glimpses of home life in a happy family on her father's breeding farm, Green Acres. A series of calamities overtakes the Shannons, and Babe has to race Strawberry in her father's place. When the roan is almost fatally injured the Ellsworths come to the rescue and provide a solution that leaves everyone happy.