Sunshine of the Wilderness

Sunshine, a Quarter Horse, chose Jon, a young cowboy just out of the eighth grade, to be her special person. This story is written from Sunshine's point of view. She has plenty to say about "getting started" as a riding horse and looking for adventure. Jon is sixteen and Sunshine is three as start their first job as Wrangler and Pack Trip horse on the beautiful Triple H Ranch near Augusta, Montana. Sunshine meets the mules, the guest horses, and the Pack Trip Guests. She learns the "ropes" from her new friend, Hambone, a big blond mule. Buckwheat, a white mule with menace on her mind, keeps Sunshine on her toes, (one toe per foot!)Sunshine and Jon meet wildlife, wild water, and landslides during their first pack trip in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 states. Join Sunshine, Jon, the kids on the pack trip, horses, mules and the crew of the Triple H Ranch on an adventure in Montana. This book will appeal to readers from third grade through middle school. "Sunshine of the Wilderness" includes a "picture glossary". Readers will be able to visualize the adventures when looking at the photographs of landscapes, wildlife, flowers, pack saddles, camp boxes and hobbles as well as many other pieces of equipment, situations, and structures found along the trail. The first focus of this book is to bring the reader into an adventure in Montana. The second focus of this book is to help readers with learning difficulties work their way through an exciting story by using the picture glossary to learn unfamiliar words.