Hoofbeats: Katie and the Mustang #1

Hoofbeats: Katie and the Mustang #1 by Duey, Kathleen. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780142400906.

Orphaned at age six and taken in by a heartless couple, nine-year-old Katie Rose spends her days doing chores and dreaming of going west to find her Uncle Jack. Then Mr. Stevens brings home an unbroken Mustang, and Katies world changes. Katie is drawn to the horses wildness, and he seems to sense her need for companionship. So when Katie learns that the Stevenses plan to join the expansion West&150without her or the Mustang&150she makes a desperate decision to go on her own. And she will not leave the Mustang behind.