As the seasons pass, subsequent visits would find the family caring for new foals and engaging in intimate behavior adeptly captured by Walker’s stirring photos, which capture the family’s comfortable closeness; the individual horses’ distinctive beauty, grace, and strength; and the rugged, ragged majesty of their home. facing the likelihood of getting caught in a Bureau of Land Management roundup, an eventuality that prompts Walker to take steps to ensure that, even if captured, the family would stay together.
The tension, as the helicopters circle, is heartrending, but thanks to the intervention of Walker and the hard work of an animal sanctuary the ending proves warm and satisfying. The bulk of the book, though, is Walker’s up-close-and-personal photos of these horses in the wild, living the way few horses are free to, their activities, interactions, and relationships, all captured by an expert eye. Readers primarily interested in photography may find the images repetitive, but horse lovers will be in heaven as Walker documents, with rare patience and with insightful writing about her observations, the group dynamics of Blue Zeus and company, capturing their nickering demonstrations of submission and occasional flattened-ear scuffles. Readers on Walker’s wavelength will find this as enticing as a carrot offered in an outstretched hand.
Takeaway: A photographer’s intimate portrait of four years in the life of a family of wild horses
Great for fans of: Roberto Dutesco, Lynne Pomeranz.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
