Coyote Summer is a 1996 American family film about a troubled teenager spending the summer on a horse ranch. It was shot in St. George

St. George, Utah

St. George is a city located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Utah, and the county seat of Washington County, Utah. It is the principal city of and is included in the St. George, Utah, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is 119 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and 303 miles ...

 and Virgin, Utah

Virgin, Utah

Virgin is a town in Washington County, Utah, United States. The population was 394 at the 2000 census. It is located along the Virgin River , not far from Zion National Park. The elevation is...

.

Plot

Callie Carpenter (Vinessa Shaw

Vinessa Shaw

Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw is an American actress and model. Shaw has starred in numerous motion pictures since the early 1990s, and is probably most well known for her performances in Disney's 1993 Halloween film Hocus Pocus, Ladybugs, the 2006 remake of Wes Craven's horror picture The Hills Have...

) is a misguided teenager sent to stay for the summer with her aunt and uncle, Maggie and Mitchell Foster (Cindy Pickett

Cindy Pickett

Cindy Lou Pickett is an American actress best known for her 1970s role as Jackie Marler-Spaulding on the CBS soap Guiding Light; her role as Dr. Carol Novino on the hugely popular television drama St...

 and Ed Lauter

Ed Lauter

Edward Lauter is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous movies and was a stand up comic before getting into acting.Lauter was born in Long Beach, Long Island, New York...

), on their horse ranch. Callie becomes friends with horse trainer Rafe Acuna (Adam Beach

Adam Beach

Adam Ruebin Beach is a Canadian Saulteaux actor.He is best known for his roles as Tommy on Walker, Texas Ranger, Kickin' Wing in Joe Dirt, Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes in Flags of Our Fathers, Private Ben Yazzie in Windtalkers, Dr...

), who teaches her to ride. She helps him discover that something is seriously amiss with Kia, a "wild" thoroughbred horse. When Snapper (Bruce Weitz

Bruce Weitz

Bruce Peter Weitz is an American actor. He is perhaps best-known for his role as Sgt. Michael "Mick" Belker in the 1980s TV series Hill Street Blues for which he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1984.-Early life:Weitz was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son...

), a horse trainer gone bad, tries to sell Kia illegally, Callie relies on her street smarts to outwit Snapper. Rafe and Callie figure out that to save Kia, they must prove he really is a champion.

Production

Paul "Sled" Reynolds

Sled Reynolds

Paul "Sled" Reynolds, sometimes credited as Paul C. Reynolds, Paul Reynolds, Slad Reynolds, or Sled Reynolds, is an animal trainer, best known for his work in film.-Career:...

served as the head horse trainer for the film.