Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

As a world-class equestrian and Olympic contender, Annemarie Zimmer lived for the thrill of flight atop a strong, graceful animal. Then, at eighteen, a tragic accident destroyed her riding career and Harry, the beautiful horse she cherished.

Now, twenty years later, Annemarie is coming home to her dying father's New Hampshire horse farm. Jobless and abandoned, she is bringing her troubled teenage daughter to this place of pain and memory, where ghosts of an unresolved youth still haunt the fields and stables—and where hope lives in the eyes of the handsome, gentle veterinarian Annemarie loved as a girl . . . and in the seductive allure of a trainer with a magic touch.

But everything will change yet again with one glimpse of a white striped gelding startlingly similar to the one Annemarie lost in another lifetime. And an obsession is born that could shatter her fragile world.

Average Customer Rating:

Whine and Cheese

Customer Rating:

Skeleton of the plot: The opening scene is an eloquent and exciting description of AnneMarie Zimmer, a nineteen year old girl, and her magnificent striped horse Harry, about to win a prestigious equestrian event. Disaster results, and the story resumes almost two decades later. AnneMarie returns to her family's equestrian center, where her father is dying. There is no question that Sarah Gruen can write, and write entrancingly well. In the case of Riding Lessons, the question is how much stable muck you are willing to wade hip deep through to get to the unlikely conclusion of the story. Not since the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew novels of my childhood have I seen an author telegraph plot twists so enthusiastically, and so much in advance. And not since.....ever, have I felt so much antipathy for the protagonist of a story. AnneMarie's grinding narcissism, belief-defying and adolescent impetuosity, and high decibel wailing, moaning, and whining simply did me in. There is a romantic angle to the plot, pitting a cartoonish pony-tailed French demi-god riding instructor against Dan, the local steadfast all around do-gooder veterinarian (he runs a rescue ranch for horses). By the end of the book, you pity the winner, and yearn to tell him to get LOTS of therapy before letting AnneMarie slip a marital halter over his head. Brief summary: the best part of the book is the glimpse into the inside world of equestrian competition and horse ownership in general, portrayed with lucid and inventive prose. The worst part? All the rest. Skip this book, and read Water for Elephants instead. If you've read Water for Elephants, quit while you're ahead.

The power of a healing horse	Customer Rating:
For those of us familiar with horses we know they can be both a dangerous and healing animal, all rolled up in one package. This book shows us how the main character's life is wrapped in many horses and how she is both harmed (emotionally and physically) then heals from the horses around her later in her life. In a sense we have probably all been there with a horse.

What a waste of time.	Customer Rating:
Had to believe that the same person wrote Water for Elephants. This book was such a waste of time. Annemarie whined through out and acted like an idiot. None of the characters were likeable, not even Dan who put up with Annemarie's stupid behavior.

Stupidest book I ever read	Customer Rating:
I will give this book one star only because of the effort it takes to write a novel. It was stupid from start to finish, and I did not like one thing about this book. Her characters are one dimensional, immature and vapid. I honestly cannot believe it was published. Save your money.

Riding Lessons Falls Short

Customer Rating:

I loved Water for the Elephants and I am an equestrian so I knew I would love this book. How I wish it were true! It is rare that I give up on a book mid way through; in fact in the last year or ten this is probably the first. This book features a heroine who not only doesn't garner sympathy but her whining is so insufferable you want to just want her to shut up. But it is not just a case of her being merely unlikeable, that could keep you going. She simply is not interesting, a far worse crime for a major character in a book. The situation and characters have promise but they are sadly one dimensional both in their views of themselves and as thinly developed characters. Sara gets the horse scene right. You can smell the hay and feel the warm noses but this wasn't enough to keep me interested.