Horse-crazy seventeen-year-old Alexandra Goodwin's secret ambition is to become an international show jumper.
In order to pursue her dream career with horses, she makes a deal with her parents. If they allow her to delay college for one year and to sign on as a working pupil at Heels Down Hall, a renowned English riding school, Alexa promises to obtain the British Horse Society Assistant Instructor's certificate, a globally recognized teaching credential.
During the turbulent summer of 1967, Alexandra leaves the genteel Old South and is transplanted deep into the heart of England. She suddenly finds herself living in Dickensian conditions, in a strange and unfamiliar, sometimes humorous, and definitely non-Disney world.
While Alexandra learns how to train horses and teach riding, she experiences the thrill of cross-country jumping, and competes in horse trials; but can she pass the exam and keep her promise to her parents?