BORN WILD is told in disconnected fashion skipping between
years of Joe Camp's family life, with imagined accounts of
how his horses might have lived in the wild. There are
also many references to his previous book The Soul Of A
Horse and to other horse persons including Monty Roberts.
This presentation could be confusing for a reader who just
wants a nice pony story.
Joe Camp wrote, produced and directed the five family films
about a dog called Benji. He has written several books and
speaks on behalf of children, pets, and domestic and wild
horses.
I was astonished that Joe originally thought that mustangs
and domestic horses were different breeds, genetically
distinct though time and habitat; that horses were not
native to America; and that domestic horses had naturally
brittle hooves. All the books I have read about horses
since the age of four impressed the opposite view on me,
and I recommend The Mustangs by J Frank Dobie and The
Horse of the Americas by Robert Denhardt. My Friend
Flicka shows Thoroughbred racehorses and polo horses
running on the Wyoming mountains. Having had to shake off
his misapprehensions, Joe and his wife Kathleen progressed
from owning three horses to eight during this short book.
The moments spent with the couple's own mustang mares and
foals are gorgeous to read and to see documented in the
colourful photos. Contrasting harshly is the explanation of
why and how these horses were taken off their grazing land.
Joe claims that the Bureau of Land Management wilfully and
repeatedly breaks the law as enacted in 1971, The Wild
Free Roaming Horse And Burro Act passed by both houses
which states that "wild horses and burros shall be
protected from capture, harassment or death and the land
they roam shall be devoted principally but not exclusively
to their welfare in a thriving natural ecological
balance". The BLM instead leases land to ranches so that
mustangs are outnumbered on these lands by 150 head of
cattle and sheep to one horse. The ranchers complain that
predators kill their stock, so bears, cougars and wolves
are shot, which would have kept a horse population in check
and healthy. Then ranchers complain that the land is
overgrazed and water overused, so the horses must go. The
BLM does not cavil at selling horses for meat if they are
not adopted. Joe names one cattle haulier in Colorado who
has purchased 1700 horses for ten dollars a head from the
BLM, in less than three years. They are not on his land and
he refuses to say where they are. Rounding up horses and
keeping them in pens costs the taxpayer many millions of
dollars each year. Citing campaigners like Laura Leigh and
investigative journalism site Pro Publica, Joe aims to get
an investigation and protest under way as to the
destruction of the nation's heritage. I can only wish him
well. BORN WILD includes many links to impartial reference
sites and to short films about Joe's own mustangs.
The anxiously anticipated sequel to the National Best Seller
The Soul of a Horse - Life Lessons from the Herd. Another
voyage into uncharted territory from the couple who had no
horses and no clue just a few short years ago. A journey of
discovery with wild horses going domestic and domestic
horses going wild. And a federal agency going mad. Told as
only Joe Camp can tell it. For everyone who has ever loved a
horse or loved the idea of loving a horse. The author of the
highly acclaimed National Best Seller The Soul of a Horse -
Life Lessons from the Herd strikes again with an uplifting,
inspirational love story of trust, tears and joy that will
once again be changing lives for the better all across the
planet.
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