Ben K. Green was equally adept at roping a steer, riding a bronc and spinning a yarn. You will feel that you are sitting around his campfire eatin' a mess of good chuck and slapping your sides laughing at one of his longest adventures ever; rounding up a renegade herd of mustangs in Old Mexico, doing the least necessary to make them seem rideable and trail driving them a thousand miles almost single-handedly, hoping to be able to sell them at a time when money was very tight. Along the way, you will meet some assorted colorful characters and witness Ben at his horse-trading best. This is a gem of a story told with lots of humor and a west Texas drawl.

Ben K. Green was a cowboy who could spin a yarn as well as ride a horse or rope a steer. In this Wild West Adventure, young Ben sets off at the end of the Great Depression to Mexico to try to find an elusive band of mustangs. Along the way he meets some colorful characters, gathers quite a herd of horses and mules, and has to figure out how to get them back home and sell them to make the one-year journey worthwhile. A wonderful adventure, chock-full of humor, told with a west Texas drawl. You will feel that you are sitting around the campfire late at night after another day on the trail listening to Ben tell his tales. Get ready to be entertained! This book is Ben K. Green at his best.

i,m into the cowboy scene.i,ve worked on a ranch in west texas one year,that was the best time of my life.for the review,i read wild cow tales quite a few years ago.i was able to get caught up in the stories,if anybody is into livestock working or otherwise,they can relate to Mr.Ben Green and his stories.hope to get all of his books.thanks for making the available.veral overstreet. p.s. i purchased this book for my great nephew who is seven years old.every since he has been able to talk all that he has wanted to do is be a bullrider.i hope he gets as much enjoyment from the book as i did,again, thanks

Ben Green probably writes one of the best cowboy stories I've ever read. A book full of short stories that are enjoyable for the adult as well as the kid.

I thought this was the most comprehensive book on the colors of horses I have ever read. The art work by Darol Dickinson was great and reading the comments By Ben K. Green was most enjoyable. Great book and an excellent reference for anyone wanting to see the true color of horses.

More easy reading autobiographical stories by Ben K. Green. This second edition combines in one volume three sets of tales previously published separately as "When I Was Just A Colt", "Up Fool's Hill Ahorseback", and "Beauty." Like most of Ben K. Green's books, these are groups of short stories that can be enjoyed a little at a time and don't need to be read in any particular order. The original volumes have been out of print for many years and are virtually impossible to find. They all have the flavor of real old-time cowboy wit and humor. Horse Tales is a must-have book for anyone who has enjoyed Ben K. Green's other stories.

"When I Was Just a Colt" relates revealing episodes from when the author was a small boy. The first is how he helped in the round up of his family's cattle. Among the others is how he bought his first horse from an itinerant preacher.

Up Fool's Hill Ahorseback" relates several tales from his teenage years. Among them are a mule drive with his friend Trouble, and the sale of two palomino horses to a blonde and her husband.

:Beauty" is a collection of stories about Ben K. Green's favorite horse. It relates how they grew up together and reads as a tribute to a dearly beloved friend.

Scattered throughout are true to life illustrations drawn by fine western artists. These will be familiar to readers of Ben K Green's other books.

Color of Horses is a fantastic picture book of various horse colors. It is not a book on color genetics. Instead, Color of Horses is concerned with the physical makeup of each hair, how that reflects light and thus produces color. Another color concern is how the various colors withstand the effects of hard work and sun. A great picture book with a unique slant on horse color.

I really enjoyed the lovely paintings in the book. They portray the horse colors in an accurate way. I just would not be too quick to believe the author's explanation of these colors. There really is not much valuable information on genetics which other books explain much more thoroughly. But, even so, I would recommend the book to anyone looking for pictures of solid colored horses.

Veterinarian Ben Green devoted a great many years to his in-depth study of equine coat colors. He explains each color in a simple, direct way, avoiding the confusion that other authors tend to employ in their explainations. Dr. Green explains density of the pigmentation of the hide and hair for each color, including an illustration of what each color looks like under a microscope. The density of the pigment, combined with light refraction, creates the color seen by the eye. Dr. Green further explains the hardiness of each color, how well it stands up to heat and saddle/harness pressure, and why. No "silly" names for various coat colors--not in this book. Dr. Green's approach is very professional and very direct.

This is a book of odd little tales written with a western "flair". The line drawings are nice but the stories were occasionally a bit hokey for my taste. Good for those who like old westerns and beans from a can on the grill.

I read this book many years ago and am glad to see it reissued. Even my non horsey kids enjoyed the stories. It's even worth rereading.

Whoever said that Green's stories were hokey must be young, and not appreciative of bootstrap operations. Ben Green was a self-made man, sizing up opportunities as an enterprising youngster. He shows determination, he demonstrates decision-making skills, and he always plays within the framework, ever flavored with a fine-tuned sense of humor. In short, he's the sort who made this country great, and what we are woefully short of in today's crop of youngsters. I know; I'm a retired middle school teacher. I'd recommend this book to any of my former students, except most of them don't like to read.

This was an excellent book. I greatly enjoyed each and every adventure that Ben K. Green takes you through in the book. In a time where everything is done the easy way it is great to be able to look back and see how things realy used to be done. Through this book you are able to get a very clear picture of the old west. I loved reading about all the different ways the horse traders thought of to skam each other and somehow they both thought they were getting a good deal. I thought this book was great and was not able to put it down once I picked it up. I can't wait to read more by Ben K. Green.

The "scientific" information given in the book is grievously outdated and has long since been proven incorrect. It is also fairly incomplete - no cremello, perlino or silver dapple for example, and no composite dilute colors, such as the horse that may carry both a creme gene and a dun gene. The paintings are beautiful, however. There is great temptation to take the paintings out to have framed. ;)
People wishing to learn more about equine coat colors, especially the genetics aspect of things, would be better served by buying Sponenburg or Bowling's book - or even stopping by the UC Davis website, which has a nice section on coat color genetics. (A search on any of the major search engines will bring up the exact address). Jeanette Gower's 'Horse Color Explained' is also a decent book, altough it can be confusing since it was written from an Austrailian perspective.

for the text, no stars. Under the heading 'Palomino' is written..'Pigmentation continues to diminish when dilutes are continuously bred to each other, and the hide of each generation will be less durable and useful until, in a few generations, it finally becomes albino'.
Well, this is news to me.
Palomino breeders will love it, I'm sure, especially as is also written..'Dilutes are undesirable colors in a horse intended for useful purposes'.

I would take the contents of this books with more than 'a pinch of salt', but it makes fun reading.

I have owned this book for many years and refer to it on occasion for information or just read it for fun. I like it for the entertaining way in which it was written and also for the information on horse color. Locally any brown horse is called sorrel around here so it is interesting to see what color a sorrel horse really is. Yes the horse paintings are really beautiful and well worth the price of the book. I find Dr Greens information valuable and admit I have bought most of my horses through the years remembering his advise about color even though I live in the midwest not in the south.

GREEN HAS A BIG COW COUNTRY FOLLOWING. IN OTHER BOOKS HE TELLS OF VIRTUOSO PERFORMANCES IN AUCTION HOUSES, BRUSHY PASTURES, AND SMALL TOWNS WITH FIRST MONDAY HORSE SALES. NOW WE FIND GREEN ALL GROWN UP AND WORKING IN WEST TEXAS AS A VET. WITH LABORATORY EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE DURING WORLD WAR II, HE ANALYSES NOXIOUS WEEDS, FINDS SPECIFICALLY TOXIC SUBSTANCES, AND COMPOUNDS CURES RIGHT THERE. THIS IS PROBABLY NOT POSSIBLE WITH TODAY'S RESOURCES, SO THE ACCOUNTS IN THIS BOOK DO NOT RING TRUE TO ME. I'VE WORKED CATTLE IN A BRUSHY COUNTRY AND I'VE DONE SOME ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND THE MORE I READ OF GREEN'S DOINGS, THE MORE SKEPTICAL I BECOME. I THINK GREEN MAY HAVE WORKED US TEXAS BOYS THE WAY CARLOS CASTENADA WORKED HIPPIES.