Publisher's Synopsis
The thoughtful novel, Collective Marks, chronicles the conflict between a willful, suspicious young man and a gifted but uncompromising horse trainer. Over the years, social worker Annie Trowbridge has worked with foster homes, schools, and other community resources to help Michael Ross, just turned eighteen, become a productive citizen, but with only partial success. Michael has only one consistent attribute-a fascination with horses. Annie sees in this interest a possible solution to his poor work history and repeated brushes with the law, and when she is called by the police to say that he is in trouble again, she makes one last effort to find him work with a horse trainer, Erik Sarmento, on an isolated horse farm. The ensuing struggle between the volatile, defensive Michael and the hard, unsympathetic trainer is the background of the novel. Michael's growing understanding of dressage and the techniques used to communicate with horses are the means by which Michael learns that he is dealing with both a gifted trainer and a potentially dangerous man.
