What Cowgirls Do

What the Cowgirls Do!

A horse lover’s series

by Diane Maccani

Book 1 My First Love

Meg Casey grew up on a ranch and loved every minute of it. After showing her way though the youth and amateur ranks of AQHA, she now operates a training business in the horse industry and has several teenage girls showing under her guidance. Her 'first love' has always been horses, and Meg has always been more interested in working at the family ranch than hanging out with friends. Her life is riding and instructing, but she is about to add a new interest when a former friend moves back to the area.

Troy Martin cowboyed on his grandparent’s ranch and grew up with Meg before moving with his family. Now he's back to operate his grandmother’s cow-calf operation. His 'first love' is ranching. He now has the chance to get back into it.

Meg and Troy renew their relationship as their businesses and families intertwine. They find out ‘first love’ has a new meaning for each of them.

Book 2 The Ride of My Life

Andi Casey was introduced in the first book of What the Cowgirls Do! Now she's back: a couple years older, but still bubbly, vivacious Andi. She's got a mission now, and under the sometimes scatterbrained, blond image is a maturing, organized young lady ready to challenge the world. Andi has the ‘ride of her life’ as she tries to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming AQHA’s All-Around Youth Champion. This book chronicles her year-long effort to win the title and what she learns along the way.

Trace Garrett has cowboyed all his life. He started as a child and loves the only job he’s ever done. When circumstances force him to look for a new job, he finds the perfect position with Martin Quarter Horses and Cattle Ranch.

Peri Steele has been wounded by her husband and by a horse. She decides to start a new life back in her childhood home of Cedar, Colorado. Peri is determined to overcome her fear of horses and feel comfortable riding again. Her cousin, Meg Martin, has promised to help her.

Both Trace and Peri must learn to trust again. They find that trust with each other in this story of What the Cowgirls Do!.

Book 4 My Second Chance

Lexi Poole grew up in a broken home with alcoholic parents who didn't have time for her. As a teenager, she turned to the streets looking for the love and attention she craved. She wanted to be like the ‘normal’ kids she knew from school, but her life took another direction.

When Lexi's mother dies unexpectedly, she is sent to live with Trace Garrett, a half-brother she just found out she has. As a city girl, Lexi knows she'll hate the isolation of living in the middle of nowhere on the ranch where he works. She is sure her life is ruined. Instead, she learns about family and friends and finds out she has a ‘second chance’ in life if she wants to take it.

Book 5 The Horse Set

In the 1950's the horse show industry was in its infancy. Today it is a matured, multimillion-dollar business. This book in What the Cowgirls Do! is about Sue, a teenage girl, who matured with the industry. It's a flashback book showing what growing up with horses was like in an earlier era and how that era influenced the horse industry today. Whatever the time, horses have always held a fascination for certain people. In this book the tie to the rest of the series comes out in the end of the story.

Book 6 Shattered Dreams

Sara Murray, one of the original 'Casey Crowd' from the first book in What the Cowgirls Do!, is back with her own story. Sara is now a working girl, a physical therapist, who shows at AQHA shows as an amateur.

Wade Hollis is a patient of Sara's. He's had misfortune in his life, including a serious accident, and he is a disillusioned and bitter man. His daughter, Alison, is the only one who can humor him anymore, but Alison has her own 'shattered dreams' to deal with. Losing her mother and then having her father seriously injured has changed the plans she and her mother had made when she was a young girl.

While Sara is helping Wade with his physical recovery so he can have his life back, she also helps Ali live her shattered dream.

Book 7 The Winning Edge

What cowgirls do!

Molly Sanders wants nothing more than to be a professional horse trainer. As a self-taught horseman with little money and no connections, she knows it will be difficult to break into the Quarter Horse training industry. She needs to hone her skills and get exposure with someone already established in the business. The Martin Ranch team provides that opportunity.

Molly grows up as she hones her ‘winning edge’. While she’s developing her training skills, Molly learns there is more to training and showing horses than just riding. She learns about the people behind the horses.

Book 8 And the Cowboys, Too

What cowgirls do!

Reed Reynolds has dreamed of working in the ranching industry all his life, but he doesn’t live in ranch country. Although he rides and ropes, that isn’t enough for him. He wants to live the life of a cowboy out west. His aunt and uncle provide him with an opportunity to do that. While living in Colorado with them, Reed is exposed to many facets of the ranching industry by his relatives and their friends, many who are characters from the previous books in the series. Reed has the chance to experience the ranching lifestyle and to find out if ranching is the career for him.

Book 9 A Healing Touch

What cowgirls do!

Pam Wessling and her daughter, Riley, have wanted a horse for a long time. When an unexpected event gives them a chance to move to Cedar, Colorado, they find they now have the opportunity to own one.

Dr. Steve Fisher becomes their veterinarian. His son, Dale, is Riley’s age, and after a rocky start, they become friends. Both Dale and Riley have divorced parents, which gives them a common bond.

Horses have had a healing power for many people throughout the ages. Now they help ‘heal’ a confused girl as she sorts through her parent’s divorce.

Book 10 The Legacy

What cowgirls do!

Rae Marie Williams wants nothing more in her life than what she has now. Training horses and raising cattle on a mountain ranch is what she wants to do. As far as she’s concerned, it’s the perfect life. If only she could convince everyone else she’s happy!

Her mother thinks Rae should leave the ranch and ‘get a life’. Rae sees nothing wrong with staying where she is. She’s developing a reputation as a competent horse trainer and loves her life. She wants to stay on the ranch that is her legacy from her father and her grandfather.

Book 11 Horses–Above & Beyond

What cowgirls do!

Molly Hawke knows a college diploma is important in today’s work world, but the horse related degrees many colleges offer don’t fit her idea of college level training for today’s horse industry. With the help of her husband, Dusty, and friend, Lynne, Molly sets up a bachelor’s degree equine program. The first class goes through this program in Horses–Above & Beyond.

In Book ll of What the Cowgirls Do! you’ll meet the eight horsemen who are sure they can survive the stringent expectations of the college program and emerge ready to step into the horse industry.

Book 12 All’s Well That End’s Well

What cowgirls do!

In today’s commercial, money driven world it’s very hard to keep old values alive. Roy Kincaid lives by these values and want his ranch to stay the way it is. Other people have different ideas what the ranch should be.

Trace Garrett worked for Roy before he joined the Martin Ranch team. He knows what Roy wants for his ranch, but he doesn’t see how the rancher is going to deal with the onslaught of his stepdaughter and her modern ideas. Trace and his wife, Peri, are thrown into Roy’s problems quite unexpectedly in this book of the What the Cowgirls Do! series.

Book 13 Time Will Tell

What Cowgirls do!

Piper Donovan has been a horseman all her life. She’s a trainer and instructor who is working with both beginners and more advanced riders. Piper is a regional trainer who has the pleasure of introducing horse lovers to the world of horses from the bottom up. These trainers often have different circumstances to handle than the national level trainer who works with advanced show riders who can afford expensive training. The regional level trainer not only has to teach riding, they often have to help horse lovin’ people fit their passion into a tight family budget.

This story follows many characters. At times it gets a bit confusing. That’s what it’s like for a trainer at this level. Many students of different levels provide plenty of action and chaos. In the end, they learn about horses and love it, or they give it up and move on to something different.

I hope you enjoy Piper’s story.‘Time will tell’ how her life as a professional trainer and a new ranch owner works out as she starts on a new chapter in her life.

Reviews:

From Feathered Quill Book Reviews: There are inumerable horse books dedicated to the preteen reader but the number written for older girls, 15, and up drops off precipitously. Author Diane Maccani has addressed this often forgotten audience in her ' What the Cowgirls Do!' series.

Shattered Dreams is a well written, fast reading story sure to be enjoyed by horse loving older teens and young twenty somethings. It will also please readers who may not necessarily be interested in horses, but rather looking for a good love story. The characters are multi-dimensional and Maccani takes time to develop each into a believable person with problems and dreams that readers can easily relate to.

Quill says: Shattered Dreams is a heartwarming story about a young woman who brightens the lives of others with a little help from her horses.

From a North Carolina mother who ordered the first three books for her teenage daughter for Christmas:

"I'd like to order the next two books in your series. Our daughter never reads. We couldn't get her to read a book. She loves horses, and when she got your books for Christmas, she sat down and started reading them. Now, three weeks later, she's read all three. She loves them. Praise God. We finally found good books to keep her reading. Thank you for writing them."

From a horse loving lady in Missouri:

"My mother bought me the whole series for Christmas. I'm on Book 5 already. My husband says I better slow down and not read them so fast. I told him you're writing more so it's okay. The books are so realistic. As I read I can say 'I've been there, done that.' Keep writing."

From a mother/daughter pair who has read the series:

"I've never seen a fiction writer who can slip in educational information like Diane can and, yet, make it fun reading. The dialog in her stories is great! "

About the author:

Diane Maccani is an author and an instructor/speaker in the horse field. As a life long horseman, her credentials come from her studies and her experience. She is a breeder, trainer, instructor, judge, and showman of Quarter Horses, and she also is a horse show mom.

Maccani’s two great passions as a child were riding and reading. As a teenager, she read several good books in the horse genre. As an adult, Maccani turned her love of horses into a business. She soon had a following of students who trained and showed under her guidance.

When Maccani’s teenage daughters complained about a lack of good horse books to read, she realized their adventures in the horse world would provide many good stories. Fifteen years ago she was inspired to write a book in the horse genre. The characters and stories are fictitious, but they are based on real-life situations.

By the time Maccani had finished her first book, she had an idea for a second one. That was the start of her series What the Cowgirls Do! The series continues to grow. The characters in the series live in the ‘modern’ west, and they deal with the problems facing those in the ranching/horse industry . The series has thirteen books.

Besides her series, Maccani has written and presented a study on horse nutrition, been a guest speaker at banquets, and has had human interest and horse articles published in a regional horse magazine.