The Green Colt

Wilder Good #4

Twelve-year-old Wilder Good likes basketball, 4-H club, hanging out with his friends, and reading. But, more than anything, he loves to be outdoors.

In this fourth book of the series, Wilder is back at his grandfather’s ranch in West Texas. Papa Milam gives him an unexpected gift—his very own “green” colt to break. Wilder is excited to begin, but he quickly realizes that even getting near the colt is much harder than he expected. So Papa hires Tequito, a Mexican vaquero, to help. Tequito doesn’t speak much English, and at first Wilder is intimidated. But the vaquero is both gentle and firm with the colt, and soon they’re making good progress. Wilder sees how skilled Tequito is with horses, and learns that American cowboying has its roots in a much older Mexican tradition.

Breaking his new colt is a challenge, but—as Wilder discovers—it’s only the beginning of the joy and pain of owning a horse.

S. J. Dahlstrom is a writer in West Texas. He has numerous magazine credits for his writing and photography. He has spent his life bouncing around the outdoors from New Mexico and Texas, north to Colorado and Montana and east to Michigan and New York.