For the Love of a Horse
In his eighty-plus years, Max Evans has known, owned, ridden, and been thrown by quite a number of horses. In For the Love of a Horse, Evans shares his favorite horse stories for all to enjoy. As Max explains, "I wanted a wide range of adventures from another time, with different horses, of different breeds, and a sense of history of those special days."
Max begins with his first horse, Cricket, which he received when he was four years old. At the age of ten, he helped with a horse-drive from far southeast New Mexico, through west Texas, and on to the final destination in Guymon, Oklahoma. Later, PDQ was a horse that seemed very gentle and laid-back, until someone rode him. And then there was Molly, who liked to fly through and around obstacles on coyote hunts.
This book is for all those who enjoy reading horse stories as much as Max loves telling them. Saddle up!
"The recognition is long overdue. (Max Evans is) sui generis. He understands the present West better than anyone else, what it’s like to be there now living in two worlds of the pickup truck and the bronco."—Charles Champlin, former Denver bureau chief of Time and retired arts editor of The Los Angeles Times, quoted in The New York Times
Max Evans, novelist, artist, scriptwriter, former cowboy, miner, and dealer in antiquities, resides in Albuquerque. He received the Owen Wister Award for lifelong contributions to the field of western literature from the Western Writers of America.
Introduction. A Very Brief Presentation of True Horse Stories, by the Author
Part I
Chapter One. An Equine Montage
Chapter Two. Cricket: Little Horse of the Prairies
Chapter Three. My Pardner
Chapter Four. A Horse to Brag About
Chapter Five. Flax
Part II
Chapter Six. Horses and Their People
Chapter Seven. Showdown at Hollywood Park, August 6, 1947
Chapter Eight. The Freak
Chapter Nine. Super Bull
Part III
Chapter Ten. Max’s Paintings
Chapter Eleven. The Mare
Chapter Twelve. The Ghost Horses of Tulsa
Chapter Thirteen. The Horse Who Wrote Stories
