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Your style is very bright and easy to read. The straightforwardness with which you weave
these tales is an insight into the main character’s inquisitive mind and maturing heart.
The pacing and tone are great especially regarding the technical horse elements to the
novel since your protagonist is immersed in a world most of us aren’t familiar with.
The overall tone would be enhanced, as stated above, if you were able to craft a more
cohesive story about Cheyann and Big Horn’s growing relationship. If you can spend a
little less time, pacing-wise, on the mechanics of the horse competition and more on the
dynamics between Cheyann and her family, as well as Cheyann and her horses, the story
would be well served.
Tonally, you do a great job getting inside the character’s head and making her think and
sound like a young girl. There are many cinematic moments in the story that would nicely
translate to the big screen, especially the scene when Cheyann and the horses save the bull.

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This seems like praise, yet I still have an enormous amount of work to do with my novel.  I am usually the one to hand out words of encouragement.  But, I’m finding that the:

OVERALL QUALITY OF THE WORK:
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

(very good) (very poor)

Score was a bit harsh.  Has anyone ever received an overall score?  Does this score carry a lot of clout?