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Human–Wildlife Interactions
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Review of Wild Horse Country: The History, Myth, and Future of the Mustang
Date of this Version
Spring 2018
Document Type
Article
Citation
Human–Wildlife Interactions (Spring 2018) 12(1): article 19
doi: 10.26077/8bp6-a465
Special topic: Wild horse and burro management
Abstract
As a teenager growing up in the West, my literary diet often included the works of the popular American storyteller, Louis L’Amour. Contained in many of these popular Western novels was the myth and legend of the cowboy and his ever faithful companion and American icon, the horse (Equus spp.). There is perhaps no animal that better symbolizes the wildness, freedom, and independence of the West than does the wild horse (Equus ferus caballus). However, despite its legendary fame, it remains without a doubt one of the most controversial animals to occupy these arid lands. In his latest book, Wild Horse Country, Pulitz er Prize-winning reporter David Philipps guides us through the intricate controversy and history of wild horses in the West.
. . .
Despite the author’s controversial solution to wild horse management, what I found of greatest value in Wild Horse Country was Philipps’s ability to dissect a complex issue while allowing the reader to evaluate the issue from other perspectives. All too often, we allow ourselves to be blinded by our own beliefs and perceptions while losing sight of the complex reality surrounding the management of species. Philipps helps us to remove these blinders, if only for a page or two, and asks us to see the issues of wild horse management from an objective, historical, and ecological standpoint, while considering the values and opinions of others.