Review: Wild Horse Scientists

Wild Horse Scientists by Kay Frydenborg

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Because this book features the work of specific scientists (Jay Kirkpatrick, Ron Keiper, and Allison Turner)--even discussing some of their specific experiments and field work--I sort of expected to see a reference to a paper or two by the scientists themselves. No dice! A range of secondary sources rules the day. The book talks about the scarcity of scientific studies on wild horses back in the 1970s, and clearly references a written proposal by Keiper. None of these authentic texts is featured in the book, and we don't find them in the sources.

I enjoyed the in-the-moment experience of the book, and was intrigued by the overarching narrative of how to manage the population with birth control drugs. I remember a similar initiative for mountain streams and beavers in Utah in the 1980s and 1990s that helped return mountain streams to more manageable flow patterns.

My son, Alma (13), stole the book from me when I brought it home and found several favorite pages to sit and look at for a long time. The photography is very good, with great variety across the book. There are probably just as many shots of the scientists both in the lab and at field work as there are great shots of these wild horses! A lot of interesting devices and help for navigating were provided in the graphic design, but no designer was given credit (too bad, because I enjoyed the work).



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