Buck, Wild

This is the last book that Glenn Balch wrote, and it ranks with the best of his works. Told entirely from the perspective of a wild horse in contemporary Idaho, it is neither romantic or tragic, just realistic.

The story starts with the birth of a little yellow foal, the product of a range stallion and a wild mare in the mountainous areas of Idaho. As we read, we see Buck grow, survive, and overcome obstacles that wild horses face daily in order to live another day. Not Disney, but not depressing, either. Recommended.

This is one of those books I read over and over again from the elementary school library when I was a kid. It's the story of a wild mustang, beginning at his birth and following various adventures as he scrapes out a life with his wild band in the scub county of Idaho. The little horse looses his mother early, but gets partly adopted by another mare with a young foal, and grows up strong and free. He dodges coyotes and cowhands, lives alongside antelope and wild burros. Eventually a rancher notices the wild horse, now a young stallion, and determines to catch him in order to use for stud to improve his own stockhorses. But our equine hero will never submit to man's hand, he has a strong will and burning desire to be free...

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Traces the first four years in the life of a wild mustang stallion with an unconquerable urge to be free.