I haven't read a book about mustangs in a while . . . but given the state of things envirionmentally it should have been no surprise that for the mustang time has almost run out. And that is what I learned from this book. A very good read about a disturbing subject. (Well, disturbing to horse lovers.)

I didn't even make it through the first chapter, the authorial voice was so grating. Purple, even. In the intro, after a flurry of sentence fragments, she shamelessly plugs one of her earlier books. Give it a miss, unless you like that sort of thing. ( )

One of the most informative book on Mustangs that I have ever read. Each chapter is broken down into different events that take place in North American that developed an lead to the modern American Mustang. It's hard to read many chapters in this book because it doesn't sugarcoat many aspects of our history of cruelty to this American legend. As a passionate horse person I loved and hated this book at the same time. I have read many books about wild mustangs and this is the best you can find. ( )

Stillman's passion for the horse in evident in this often poetic account of the role of the mustang in shaping the history of America. The heroes of this story are El Morzillo, the dark horse of Cortez; Comanche, who survived Custer's last stand; and, as Ms. Stillman makes clear, the countless and often nameless rides of the cavalry, Native Americans and cowboys, sometimes beloved and sometimes used up and discarded as disposible as a rag. This is a fine book for a teenager who can accept that many view animals as mere commodities. The most harrowing descriptions are in Chapter 8 which deals with the recent, despicable massacre and mutilation of mustangs in Nevada. The book also details the change in thinking from the idea that public lands are to be held in trust for the future to the current mentality that public lands are for the exploitation of the well-connected few. ( )