Horse Stories: Riding with the Wind

Patrick Colgan is the former executive director of the Canadian Museum
of Nature.

Bunney is an Albertan trainer so devoted to horses that she was married
on horseback. The tales in this volume cover all aspects of the lives of
horses and the humans connected with them. Care, training, riding, and
trading all receive much attention, and the book includes material on
abuse that is sobering but essential.

The experiences Bunney recounts run the gamut from delightful to
disastrous. (The last chapter contains an emotionally intense account of
the death of her favorite horse.) Her expertise as a trainer is clearly
reflected in her discussion of such topics as the body language of
horses. Her text is perceptive and direct (greenhorns will welcome the
lack of jargon) and spiced with doses of humor—Sherlock Holmes would
delight in what can be inferred from “road apples.” From the events
Bunney describes, a clear picture of western range life near the Rockies
emerges. It is unfortunate that the illustrations are limited to two
small, grainy photographs. Nevertheless, this realistic and earthy book
will please animal lovers.