I wasn't prepared to love this book. OK, horses are beautiful, even the nags that run at Rillito Park here in Tucson. And, I was raised with a horse (that delighted in biting me) at my grandparents' home in the Ozarks. But, anyone who loves animals will fall in love with Alan Day and his horses.
After a few chapters, I thought the book was incorrectly titled. It should have been "The Mustang Lover", but no, this book is about every horse that Alan Day loved, most of whom he lost. Day was a big time, successful rancher in Arizona, Nebraska and South Dakota. Think Sandra Day O'Connor, but she figures not at all in this tale.
Woven into the horse tales are words of wisdom, strength, endurance and optimism and a more than a few curse words for the Bureau of Land Management. The ranch hands say, "Cowboy up!" when they face hardship in life and on the trail. Alan epitomizes that. His attitudes and actions will be uniquely meaningful to each reader. Treat yourself to a good read. Oh, and the book is just the right length, 243 pages. I could not put it down, so finished it in three sessions.