Jules Thornton steps up to help her partner in the third of the YA Eventing series, COURAGE. For sure, any cross-country rider needs courage, skill and faith in their horse. But taking on a disinterested legal system and much wealthier horsemen, that’s a whole different world.

Pete Morrison has sadly lost his grandmother, and her ownership of the splendid Briar Hill Farm was supposed to pass to Pete, but that’s not in her will. Jules and Pete are contesting the terms, but meanwhile, they are only aged mid-twenties, Florida is stickily hot for the late summer, and they need money to pay the bills. They drive out to search for work riding young racehorses each morning.

The farm and main house are being leased, while in probate, to cover taxes, insurance and so on, so Jules and Pete move their horses into an older barn and sleep in the lodge – then they get kicked out of the lodge too. This is one of those stories that is incredibly brave for the writer because readers naturally want to see life improving for the heroes, but here we can see life sliding downhill. Income sources are drying up and even Amanda ‘the Hunter Princess’, a rich dealer, starts to stay away instead of showing their sale horses to clients. Younger readers may become really anxious and unhappy with what must be said, which is a parade of all-too-likely events. The books shift towards women’s fiction.

The bright star on the horizon is the Rockwell Brothers sponsorship. Both Jules and Pete fulfilled the terms during the previous book, Pride, and now start reaping the benefits. A new saddle, new horse rugs. They look great. But along with this comes the constant requirement to take and post photos on Instagram. If you’ve seen a road safety message that texting while driving causes crashes, you will have an idea that insta-posting selfies while riding three-day event horses is not a good idea. Not at all.

The dressage of the summer may have been a trial, but it was nothing compared to Ocala’s racehorses. I found one persistent new character, Alex, a former eventer now training in the Thoroughbred industry, unusual. She could not really be so nice and give so much time. The explanation is that Alex is a character from a different series by Natalie Keller Reinert, called Alex and Alexander. We are getting a good tour through equestrian sports. The eventing comes at the end of COURAGE as the season re-opens in the fall. For Jules and Pete, this will be a make-or-break. Lots of great reading for horse lovers, but please, put the phone away while riding.