MUSTANG ROUNDUP

Tracing the development of the western mustang from the animal's Arabian ancestry, Paul, Laune's ""roundup"" conveys a sense of the horse's historical significance as a part of mankind's military, colonizing and ranching machinery. At fourteen the author and illustrator helped his lawyer father wrangle a herd of mustangs from Oklahoma to Kansas via the old Dodge City Trail. Incidents from his personal experience, tales recounted by old cowboys, and allusions to documents as early as the sixteenth century are related with warmth, clarity, and humor. These and other sources are assessed for their implications of the horse's contribution to the advance of civilization, most particularly to the exploration and conquest of the western hemisphere. The subsequent decline of the mustang as a distinct type is also examined. This well-written book gives a much greater sense of history and has a larger scope than the title or jacket design would indicate. It should be acceptable non-fiction for school book review purposes.