Pony Dreams: Galoop-a-Doodle by Audra Coldiron

IRIE WAS HAPPIEST PLAYING WITH HER HORSES.

SHE HAD PLASTIC HORSES, WOODEN HORSES, GLASS HORSES, STUFFED HORSES, ROCKING HORSES, PILLOW HORSES, AND EVEN BOUNCY HORSES.

THE ONLY KIND SHE DIDN'T HAVE WAS A REAL HORSE.

And, of course, a real horse is what Irie really wants, a horse she can brush and feed and ride, holding to its mane.

When Dad points out that they have no place for a horse to sleep, Irie offers her own bed. Mom counters with a ride on the carousel horse at the boardwalk, and points out that she will get to ride one of Grandma's horses when she goes to visit. But Irie wants to ride now. She tries riding their big dog, White Dog. She tries riding their goat. Dad offers piggyback rides. It's not the same.

During an afternoon nap, she dreams she is riding as fast as the wind on a beautiful white horse named Galoop-a-Doodle. Irie remembers how things that Harold drew with his purple crayon became real, and she picks up her own purple crayon and fills her bedroom walls with pictures of horses. But they are not REAL.

Then Irie's curious ears hears her Dad saying something really interesting on the phone to Grandma:

"WELL... I GUESS WE COULD USE THAT SHED I JUST CLEANED OUT."

And then, when she comes home from an outing with Mom, she sees something inside their fence. It is bigger than a big dog and it has a long tail.

But when she dashes over the fence for a closer look, she sees that this horse is not exactly like the Galoop-a-Doodle of her dreams. He doesn't have a blue stripe in his glorious tail or a full and flowing mane. He is small and he doesn't look as if he has ever galloped as fast as the wind.

But he is really really really a horse, and Irie can climb right onto his back and hug him. He's her Galoop-a-Doodle and he will do!

Audra Coldiron's Galoop-a-Doodle: A story about a little girl who really really REALLY wanted a real horse. (Karma Gardens Books, 2013) tells the true story of Irie, who imagines a gallant white steed and finds that a small mini pony is really the horse of her dreams. There is humor and hope in Irie's magical thinking about her dream horse, as well as the joy of the three rescue mini-horses that she can really really really ride, shown in Coldiron's color photo of Irie mounted upon one of her minis. Galoop-a-Doodle's story is actual one, the story of one of the fortunate rescue horses who really really really find a home, and there are a lot of Galoop-a-Doodles everywhere, just waiting to find their Irie.