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Summary
Summary
He already owned and managed two ranches and needed a third about as much as he needed a permanent migraine: that's what Alan Day said every time his friend pestered him about an old ranch in South Dakota. But in short order, he proudly owned 35,000 pristine grassy acres. The opportunity then dropped into his lap to establish a sanctuary for unadoptable wild horses previously warehoused by the Bureau of Land Management. After Day successfully lobbied Congress, those acres became Mustang Meadows Ranch, the first government-sponsored wild horse sanctuary established in the United States.
The Horse Lover is Day's personal history of the sanctuary's vast enterprise, with its surprises and pleasures and its plentiful dangers, frustrations, and heartbreak. Day's deep connection with the animals in his care is clear from the outset, as is his maverick philosophy of horse-whispering, with which he trained fifteen hundred wild horses. The Horse Lover weaves together Day's recollections of his cowboying adventures astride some of his best horses, all of which taught him indispensable lessons about loyalty, perseverance, and hope. This heartfelt memoir reveals the Herculean task of balancing the requirements of the government with the needs of wild horses.
Purchase the audio edition.Author Notes
Alan Day was the owner of Mustang Meadows Ranch near St. Francis, South Dakota; Rex Ranch near Whitman, Nebraska; and Lazy B Ranch in southern Arizona. With his sister, Sandra Day O'Connor, he coauthored Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest . Lynn Wiese Sneyd is a published author and owner of LWS Literary Services. Sandra Day O'Connor served on the U. S. Supreme Court from 1981 to 2005.
Reviews (3)
Kirkus Review
With the assistance of literary publicist and author Sneyd, rancher Day (co-author, with sister Sandra Day O'Connor: Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest, 2002, etc.) delivers a lively report of his four years tending 1,500 unadoptable wild mustangs. When Day embarked on a project to release a large herd of wild mustangs that had been rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management, it was uncharted territory. The author had recently acquired 35,000 acres of undulating grassland prairie in southern South Dakota that he felt was ideal for turning out the horses to roam. In a warm, salt-of-the-earth manner"Good luck had stuffed itself in my pocket long ago, and adventure had been my friend since I was old enough to scramble on the back of Chico...trying my five-year-old darnedest to keep up with the big cowboys"Day recounts how he was able to get the BLM, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Congress to support the program. Soon, he found himself with a rambunctious collection of mustang rejects. Day passionately explains what it is like to learn ranching in the Sand Hills and how to tame the wild horses, which, under their normal conditions, would prefer to have little to do with humanse.g., when Kevin Costner dropped by to see if Mustang Meadow Ranch would be suitable for filming part of Dances with Wolves, upsetting the horses in the process: "A few horses started pawing the ground. They began to vibrate like a hive of irritated bees, their heads now alert, their tails swishing.Within a minute, the herd was stampeding." There was an ugly finale to the project but not before Day brought to life the ranch and its wild array of flora and fauna. A fresh, occasionally biting report from the early days of a mustang sanctuary.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Day already co-owned and managed two ranches, so the last thing he needed was yet another ranch. But when he saw the lush grasses and broad expanses of the 35,000-acre Arnold Ranch in South Dakota, he fell for its charms and purchased it. When he met Dayton Hyde, rancher and mustang preservationist, a wild scheme was hatched maybe they could use the new ranch as a mustang sanctuary. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management had thousands of unadoptable mustangs warehoused in corrals, and if the bureau could be persuaded that caring for these horses on a ranch would not only be cheaper but better for the horses, then it would be a winning situation all the way around. What follows is the wonderful story of a cowboy rancher taking on the care and management of 1,500 wild horses. Along the way, we are treated to Day's reminiscences of his ranching upbringing, stories of some of his favorite cow horses, and tidbits such as the time Kevin Costner came calling while looking to film a little movie called Dances with Wolves. With coauthor Sneyd's expert assistance, Day's authentic western voice, coupled with his deep understanding of the nature of horses, makes for an instant classic.--Bent, Nancy Copyright 2014 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Day grew up on a cattle ranch and already owned two estates when a friend approached him about buying a third property in South Dakota. Here the author tells the story of purchasing the large old spread and establishing the first sanctuary for wild horses that were considered "unadoptable" by the federal government-the untamed mustangs were previously warehoused by the Bureau of Land Management. Day persuaded the bureau to let him develop the refuge and tend to the horses. He even proposed using gentle methods to train the animals to be comfortable around humans. The goal of the author, who is open and honest in his dealings with friends, employees, and civic and government officials, is to make life better for the creatures in his care. The reader is introduced to Day's family, ranch staff, bureaucrats, and a variety of equine friends as they go through the ups and downs of managing a ranch and its 1,500 horses. Along with his sister, former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who contributes a foreword here, Day also coauthored Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest. VERDICT Day's well-written account features a modern cowboy who makes a difference for a herd of iconic primitive mustangs while never deviating from his values of kindness and honesty. This book will be of interest to horse lovers and anyone who has a fascination with the Wild West and ranch life.--Deborah -Emerson, Central New York Lib. Resources -Council, Syracuse (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| List of Illustrations | p. ix |
| Foreword | p. xi |
| Acknowledgments | p. xiii |
| Part 1 | |
| 1 A Sexy Find | p. 3 |
| 2 Opportunity Walks In | p. 15 |
| 3 The Dream Takes Shape | p. 28 |
| 4 Palomino Valley | p. 40 |
| 5 Two Cowboys Corral Congress | p. 57 |
| 6 Hard-Won Approval | p. 66 |
| Part 2 | |
| 7 A Stubborn Start | p. 83 |
| 8 Vying for the Upper Hand | p. 93 |
| 9 In Training | p. 103 |
| 10 Renegades | p. 116 |
| 11 A Wormy Mess | p. 131 |
| 12 Bound for Summer Grazing | p. 142 |
| 13 Saber | p. 155 |
| 14 Fame Finds Us | p. 169 |
| 15 On Thin Ice | p. 187 |
| Part 3 | |
| 16 Horses of Many Colors | p. 203 |
| 17 Sorting the Seven Hundred | p. 213 |
| 18 Order to Kill | p. 221 |
| 19 An Unlucky Penny | p. 229 |
| 20 At the End of the Day | p. 241 |