America's Last Wild Horses - The Classic Story of the Mustang (Paperback, New edition)

No wild animal captures the spirit of North America quite so powerfully as the wild horse - nor has any faced such diverse and potent enemies. In this provocative account, Hope Ryden - who helped to ensure the passage of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, which grants mustangs special protection - combs the history of these proud and noble horses. Descended from the Spanish horses riden by the conquistadors, they evolved into the tough and intelligent ponies that Indians - and later, explorers and cowboys - learned to rely on. From the period when wholesale extermination of the buffalo was underway until recent times, commercial and political interests have sought to eliminate the wild horses as varmints. In the latest update to this classic story, Ryden tells of the successes and failures in the last ten years of regulation, and has added stunning new color photographs. The subject of a front-page article in The New York Times when it was first published, America's Last Wild Horses continues to be a compelling testament to the life of a uniquely American symbol of grace and wildness, and is a must read for horse lovers and Western history enthusiasts everywhere. (6 X 9, 360 pages, color photos, b&w photos)