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Fifteen-year-old Airyn Murdock wants a horse more than anything in the world. She lives on a ranch in Southern California, and her father even owns a feed store, but after he mother is killed exercising a racehorse, the subject of horses is forbidden on the Murdock ranch. When her Mend, Jennifer, dares her to ride a racehorse at a nearby stock farm, Airyn takes that dare -- and gets caught. But all is not lost. The farm's owner is an old friend of the family, and he talks Andy Murdock into letting Airyn work off her punishment at the farm. Punishment? No way! Airyn is delighted to be working around the animals she loves, and when a newborn foal is left motherless, she volunteers to help. Airyn and the colt spend a magical summer together as she tries to find out more about his unusual way of going and the old Spanish-speaking gentleman who left the mare at the farm and never returned. When her uncle sends her a carved wooden horse from Peru, Airyn sees a resemblance to her colt. She writes to her uncle asking for more information and is introduced to the world of the Peruvian Paso, horse of the conquistadors. Happy to learn what kind of a horse she has, she is suddenly faced with the sad reality that the real owners may some day show up to claim him