Horses and Other Heroes

As a western fan, I am often amazed at the diversity of the 'western' experience that each person claims to have inspired them to love either the western lifestyle or the genre. As a young 40-ish author, I have been inspired by my early upbringing in a farming community, and my exposure to B western greats. Others are entranced by the clothing, the music, the hardware, or the appeal that a sunset holds for them.

Don Burt can claim more than that. As an experienced horse trainer, horse trader, and rodeoer, he has lived the 'western' life in the Hollywood heartland, he has travelled the world judging, competing, and writing about the life he loves. Presently he serves as the vice-president of the Reigning Discipline for the United States Equestrian Team, and writes a montly column for the Quarter Horse Journal.

His book, 'Horses and Other Heroes' compiles his best columns and for the first time reader of Don Burt, you will not be disappointed. As the son of a pioneer horse trader/trainer from the Los Angeles area when the highways and freeways were green and used for equestrian traffic, he tells stories of his early life with Clyde Kennedy, Yak Cannutt, Jock Mahoney, Wild Bill Elliot, Robert Taylor, M R Valdez, Ben Johnson, and many other early movie/rodeo veterans.

Never failing to entertain, this book will give you a glimpse into the world of training in 'Training, Judging, and Competition', rare personal glimpses of Hollywood greats in 'Real Hollywood Tales', great yarns in 'Horses and Horseman', and a peak into his own life in 'Personal Memories'. As a fan of the early westerns, his short recollections of Jocko (Jock Mahoney), Yakima Cannutt, Wild Bill Elliot, Robert Taylor, and Dale Robertson cannot be found anywhere else. Away from the lights, and cameras, his take on the legends of our early westerns is genuine and fond.

His love affair with the horse is strongest when Quarter Horses are involved, so as a result, many of the columns deal only with the Quarter Horses. When dealing with his early life, it is almost coincidental that Hollywood used Quarter Horses in their early films. The Hudkins, his father, and the Kennedy's selected them for breeding and stunt stock. Without that fact, we would never have the graceful animals we see in the films of our youth, nor these tales that come straight from his heart to our hands.

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