Ruth Hollis and three friends who love to ride join a Pony Club team in this fast-paced sequel to Fly-by-Night. At fourteen Ruth is the youngest and least experienced member. She must cope not only with her handsome but difficult new pony, Toadhill Flax-bought on an impulse at an auction-but with her parents' disapproval and the discipline of teamwork. Along with the more expert riders on the team-Thea, Peter, and Jonathan, who is the son of the team's indefatigable head- Ruth enters cross-country races and competitive pony shows as she struggles to win her coveted place.
Details of the exciting horsey world, which K. M. Peyton knows well, are skillfully interwoven with perceptive insights into the lives of Ruth and her friends as they grow through shared experience. This story will delight young equestrians and prove absorbing for the uninitiated, too. When she is older, Ruth's involvement with fiery Patrick Pennington is described in The Beethoven Medal and Pennington's Heir. In The Team the reader will enjoy seeing her when her main passion was ponies.
