Unbranded

978-1-62349-280-9 Cloth
9.5 x 10.5 x 0 in
188 pp. 165 color photos.
Pub Date: 01/05/2015
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2nd Place-Photographic Essays, 2015 Will Rogers Medallion Award, sponsored by the Will Rogers Medallion Award Silver Award Winner - Animals & Nature, 2015 Nautilus Awards, sponsored by the Nautilus Book Awards Finalist, 2016 Western Heritage Award, sponsored by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Finalist, 2016 Eric Hoffer Book Award, sponsored by the Eric Hoffer Award Finalist, Western Writers of America 2016 Spur Award
On an epic 3,000-mile journey through the most pristine backcountry of the American West, four friends rode horseback across an almost contiguous stretch of unspoiled public lands, border to border, from Mexico to Canada.

For their trail horses, they adopted wild mustangs from the US Bureau of Land Management that were perfectly adapted to the rocky terrain and harsh conditions of desert and mountain travel.

A meticulously planned but sometimes unpredictable route brought them face to face with snowpack, downpours, and wildfire; unrelenting heat, raging rivers, and sheer cliffs; jumping cactus, rattlesnakes, and charging bull moose; sickness, injury, and death. But they also experienced a special camaraderie with each other and with the mustangs. Through it all, they had a constant traveling companion—a cameraman, shooting for the documentary film Unbranded.

The trip’s inspiration and architect, Ben Masters, is joined here by the three other riders, Ben Thamer, Thomas Glover, and Jonny Fitzsimons; two memorable teachers and horse trainers; and the film’s producers and intrepid cameramen in the telling of this improbable story of adventure and self-discovery.

 

Published by Texas A&M University Press