Mud Pony

When she's given an orphaned colt, the narrator of Mud Pony is ecstatic--she's always wanted to raise the perfect equine partner. But this horse is flighty, traumatized, and sometimes dangerous. An adventurous city girl and high school teacher, the narrator seeks help from a neighborly team of Guadalajaran vaqueros, a rodeo clown turned horse whisperer, a young, female horse trainer, and a rehabilitated thoroughbred. Driven by a fascination for what a cowboy from the Salinas Valley (the late Tom Dorrance) called "feel," or an ability to communicate with the horse as a willing partner, the narrator chronicles her seemingly unsuccessful attempt to tame a horse that is more wild animal than domesticated pet. In the process, Mud Pony reveals how humans can shift their perspective on human-animal relationships when they recognize and accept what remains incontrovertibly wild. A personal and literary memoir, Mud Pony weaves descriptions of Bay Area coastal ranch life with scenes from San Francisco's Mission District.