Smoky, the Cowhorse is the story of a horse--from his first hours on the prairie sod to his final years out to pasture. Smoky grows up wild and wise to the ways to the range, fighting wolves and braving stiff winds. Clint, a bronco-busting cowboy on the Rocking R Ranch, spots the spirited four-year-old and thinks it is the finest little horse he ever saw. After many adventurous years on the Rocking R, Smoky mysteriously disappears, only to turn up later as an outlaw bucking horse on the rodeo circuit.
The reader follows the story--from range to ranch to rodeo--through Smoky's eyes. We feel his terror of man, his struggle against the rope, his growing love for turning cows, and his anger when mistreated.
First published in 1926, Smoky, the Cowhorse is for anyone who loves horses the way Will James did. As James writes in the preface, "Smoky is just a horse, but all horse, and that I think is enough said."