Kayla’s Comments (group member since Aug 04, 2023)

Kayla’s comments from the What's the Name of That Book??? group.

Hi! Please help me identify this book. I've been searching for it for years, and it's been driving me crazy. Here is what I remember about it:

This was a book read aloud to me by an elementary school teacher in the mid-1990s, so I believe it was probably published in the 1980s or 1990s.
The plot includes a girl and her mom visiting her grandparents' ranch (maybe in the southern US? I'm not entirely sure)
The girl's mom does not get along with the grandparents, but they are forced to come due to financial reasons (or something like that).
The girl has a tiny dog named Toby who gets carsick often, and they travel with him.
The girl learns how to ride horses on the ranch from a young boy ranch hand.
The girl ends up hanging upside down from a stirrup while the ranch hand boy teaches her to ride horses.
The ranch hand boy is a messy eater, and the main girl is disgusted by this; there is one scene where she comments on the mayonnaise smeared on his mouth while they are eating lunch on the ranch.
The grandfather has a black stallion that he is very proud of, I believe.
The book ends with the girl having to leave her grandparent's place. I remember it being pretty dismal for a young reader book ending.
At the end of the book, the girl tries to give a quilt back to her grandma after using it, but the grandma says "I want you to keep it."
The last line of the book has something to do with the girl being ready for whatever is next.
This book has a more modern setting; it does not take place in the 1800s or even the early 1900s.
I think this book was a stand-alone; it was not part of any book series.
This book was not a part of any group of "horse girl" books written for girls in the 1990s (as shocking as that sounds)
This was a dramatic book, not a comedic one.

Any help identifying this book would be appreciated!