"A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

This has been the cry of kings and chieftains ever since the dawn of civilization, for horses have had a greater effect upon the history of mankind than any other animal. In prehistoric times the tribes that captured, tamed, and trained horses easily conquered their horseless enemies, for with a well-trained horse under him, a man's speed, endurance, and strength are more than tripled.

It seems strange that the greatest development and refinement of the horse should have been made in one of the oldest and one of the newest countries inhabited by man — Arabia and America. Horses originated on this continent, then disappeared completely for thousands of years, never to return until brought back by our early settlers. They, like the settlers who brought them, were of various types and strains, but the horsemen of this new land set about to develop horse types which would best serve the needs and enjoyment of the people.

How well they succeeded is told in this story of the unique horse breeds that have been brought into being in America — the fastest, the most comfortable to ride, and the most beautiful horses on earth.

From the dust jacket

Those historians who agree that the conquest of the West may be told in terms of the barbed-wire fence, the windmill, and the Colt revolver seem to have missed the single most important element, the horse!

Ralph Moody has never made that mistake. As a working cowboy from the age of ten, trick rodeo rider and student of good horseflesh, he long ago reached the logical conclusion that without horses our pioneers would have been almost helpless.

These patient, faithful animals helped to clear the land and plow the fields. They cultivated the crops and hauled the harvest to market. Farther west they rounded up the steers. Often on a snowy night they plunged into the blizzard to take the country doctor to some remote farmhouse. Hitched to smart rigs they were status symbols in towns and cities across the land. And at racetracks, from earliest day to the twentieth century, they have lifted onlookers, cheering, from their seats.

Notable in this book is the extensive and careful research Ralph Moody has done on the principal breeds in America, with special emphasis upon that indomitable little stallion, Justin Morgan, perhaps the most important single progenitor, who ever passed along his speed, his courage, and his endurance to worthy sons and daughters.

Like all North Stars, this book is for readers of all ages. But it should particularly appeal to boys and girls in the "centaur" stage of their development when, given the opportunity, they seem to be almost part of the ponies or horses they ride-the wind sweeping back their hair, while the drumming of the horses' hoofs echo the beating of their happy hearts.

Sterling North
General Editor

From the book