For a minute that seemed endless Jill lay trapped while ponies that had become monstrous giants plunged above her.

Jill has always longed to ride as well as her cousins, but an encounter with one of the worst of riding schools ends in disaster, and Jill cannot bear the thought of ever riding again. And then she finds she has to go on holiday with her cousins, and not just to any holiday. It is to a riding school. Her cousins, fearless themselves, can't really understand why Jill won't ride. But Jill does find her own way out of her fears, helped by another outcast, Digory, the Fell pony.