The plot is pretty standard family-movie fare: Dad had to abandon a promising sports career due to an injury and now competes vicariously through his talented daughter who would prefer to live a "normal" life and continues to compete just to please dad. Daughter finds out that Dad has put the family in financial dire straits and takes it upon herself to save the family. In the end everything works out fine. It's not a bad plot, just not particularly original.
In this case the backdrop is team sorting. Having been a horseman and rodeo fan for many years, I know a little about this sport. It's not really a "big money" proposition; mostly it's an event that Joe Average Wannabe Cowboy can compete in if he doesn't have the time, money, or dedication to compete in roping or cutting. There are a couple of sanctioning bodies out there with circuit championships that pay a little, but if someone was able to win as much as $30,000 in a year doing it they would probably have to spend $35,000 in direct expenses and lost wages to make it happen. It's certainly not something that a rational person would mortgage the house against future winnings on. So that part of the movie doesn't really fly with me. Also, when Brooke rides the replacement horse for the first time, she tells it that she wants to see what it can do and proceeds to run it across the countryside at a full gallop. Which would tell her absolutely nothing about how the horse would perform in a sorting event, but was probably more fun for young girls to watch. And last but not least (in fact, possibly worst), when Brooke's parents get home and realize that she has left for the competition, her mom says that she took "her saddle and all the tackle." If she took tackle you would assume that she's going fishing. the equipment used in riding a horse is called TACK (no -le). The fact that this line made it through tells me that nobody involved with the film had any idea what they were talking about. Oh, the horse being constantly tied up while standing in the stall was annoying, as well.
The acting was decent, and the beautiful scenery made watching the film tolerable. I sort of enjoyed it in spite of myself. If you enjoy this sort of film it's worth watching if you stumble across it on Hallmark and have nothing to do for a couple of hours. Otherwise, don't bother.
In this case the backdrop is team sorting. Having been a horseman and rodeo fan for many years, I know a little about this sport. It's not really a "big money" proposition; mostly it's an event that Joe Average Wannabe Cowboy can compete in if he doesn't have the time, money, or dedication to compete in roping or cutting. There are a couple of sanctioning bodies out there with circuit championships that pay a little, but if someone was able to win as much as $30,000 in a year doing it they would probably have to spend $35,000 in direct expenses and lost wages to make it happen. It's certainly not something that a rational person would mortgage the house against future winnings on. So that part of the movie doesn't really fly with me. Also, when Brooke rides the replacement horse for the first time, she tells it that she wants to see what it can do and proceeds to run it across the countryside at a full gallop. Which would tell her absolutely nothing about how the horse would perform in a sorting event, but was probably more fun for young girls to watch. And last but not least (in fact, possibly worst), when Brooke's parents get home and realize that she has left for the competition, her mom says that she took "her saddle and all the tackle." If she took tackle you would assume that she's going fishing. the equipment used in riding a horse is called TACK (no -le). The fact that this line made it through tells me that nobody involved with the film had any idea what they were talking about. Oh, the horse being constantly tied up while standing in the stall was annoying, as well.
The acting was decent, and the beautiful scenery made watching the film tolerable. I sort of enjoyed it in spite of myself. If you enjoy this sort of film it's worth watching if you stumble across it on Hallmark and have nothing to do for a couple of hours. Otherwise, don't bother.