The Phantom Stallion Series, by Terri Farley, is probably my favorite equine-based book series. While too many horse novels include boy-girl drama (some to the extent of pushing aside the horses all together), Terri Farley gets back to what every horse-crazy kid wants to read about—horses! The twenty-four book series spans the adventures of a girl named Sam Forster, a horse called “The Phantom”, and all set on a working cattle ranch in Nevada. What more could a horse crazy kid want?
The first book, The Wild One, starts Sam’s adventure. The dust jacket description is enticing enough:
“It’s been two years since Sam’s horse, Blackie, threw her in a near-fatal accident. She’s been separated from her family, her ranch, and the wild mustangs she loves. Now she’s home again, but her beloved horse has been missing since that fateful day.
Then one night, a mustang comes to Sam. Is it Blackie, grown up and gone wild? Is it the legendary stallion known as the Phantom? Or could it be both?”
Since the publication of this first paperback book in 2002, there have been audio books and now even a hardback version of the beloved series. Terri Farley’s advocation for mustangs and their freedom has become part of the loud cry for the freedom for all mustangs.
But perhaps my favorite part about the Phantom Stallion Series isn’t the message for mustangs. It’s the balance of perspectives, something that you really don’t see much in our modern culture.
In the series, Sam basically represents the horse lovers who want the mustangs to stay free. Throughout the series, Sam fights for the Phantom’s freedom and tries to do everything she can to help him and his herd stay free. However, she isn’t an extremist. Nowhere in the series do we see Sam opening up the pens to the BLM corrals and trying to free all of the already captured horses. She doesn’t try to turn her captive mustang, Ace, loose either. Instead, Sam sees the foolishness in doing such, understanding the consequences of what would happen.
The second perspective is one of the cattle ranchers on the range, shown through Sam’s father, Wyatt, and her friend Jen Kenworthy. This is one that is often speared and skewed in the argument over the land for mustangs. You see the side of the cattle rancher struggling to make a living, and the argument over why they choose that life is brought up over and over again.
The third one is from those “bad guys”, the Bureau of Land Management. Brynna Olson, manager of the Willow Creek Wild Horse Center, is a BLM worker who helps with the round-up of mustangs. However, Brynna is not the antagonist! In one of my favorite scenes, Brynna strategically explains why they round up mustangs, giving facts and solid reasoning to Sam. Brynna loves mustangs just as much as Sam does. I appreciated so much that Terri Farley showed her perspective of the mustang argument, because recently, media focused on the mustang crisis is out to make the Bureau of Land Management look like the “bad guy”.
There is also another BLM worker, Norman, who later manages the Willow Creek center. He represents those in the BLM who are just out for efficiency and money. However, like Brynna points out, not everyone is like Norman.
Another thing I really appreciate about this series has already been mentioned—the lack of boyfriend/girlfriend drama. Unlike most equine fiction series for middle graders, besides the occasional mention of a crush, the character’s lives don’t circulate around someone else’s attention. Perhaps my favorite interaction is between Sam and a half-Shoshone boy a few years older than her named Jake Ely. Jake isn’t a boyfriend though—more like a protective older brother, who teaches Sam about horses and gives her tips on training them. The dynamic between these two is one of my favorites, especially since they are similar in some ways and completely different in others, providing a wonderful contrast. And even though they get on each other’s nerves, you can tell that Jake and Sam are as close as sister and brother.
And of course, who can forget the nerdy Jen Kenworthy, Sam’s best friend? I always related a lot to Jen in the fact that she is a book worm. Jen is the daughter of Linc Slocum’s foreman, Jed Kenworthy, and throughout the book you find that Jen and Sam are quite the set of friends, and good role models for what a good friendship should look like. It’s rare that you find a healthy friendship in novels, and I applaud Terri Farley for writing such in her series.
I also give a standing ovation to the author for including a good family relationship! Sam’s father, Wyatt, is a true cowboy, but he loves his daughter more than anything. Although they don’t always see eye to eye, Sam and her father have a close bond, and even when she gets a stepmother, you still see that she has an amount of trust between herself and her father. You really don’t see that enough in novels. And Gram, Wyatt’s mother and Sam’s grandmother… we all wish we could have a grandmother like her!
The antagonist throughout the series is the rich “weekend cowboy” known as Linc Slocum, whom we are introduced to within the first few chapters of The Wild One. Linc thinks he can buy whatever he wants and get away with it. Rare stock and ridiculously expensive items are mentioned throughout the books as Linc attempts to become a “real cowboy” through shopping. An excellent “villain”, in the fact that with each book you begin to detest Linc a little more. However, Miss Farley keeps him human—in rare moments you can see exactly how hard he’s trying to fit in with what he believes is the “cowboy club”, and ultimately fails. However, we never really find out why exactly he wants to be part of that club, or what he did before he came to Nevada.
The final thing that I would like to point out is the horses themselves. Terri Farley does an excellent job bringing her equine characters to life, so vivid you could almost smell them. Ace and the Phantom are the horses closest to Sam, but Sam’s a sucker for horses in general—throughout the series you find her trying to help a mustang in need or a horse that no one else wants to take on.
In a world where secular fiction is accepted based on how much it fits with worldly agendas, it’s pleasing to see a wholesome, secular fiction series on the market that isn’t seeped with ideals. While Miss Farley’s series is not strictly Christian, it does hold to some core Christian values, and it reminds us that God told us to take care of all creatures great and small. I only hope that as the newer, edited versions of this series come out that Miss Farley remembers exactly what her readers loved in the original books, and holds close to them.
To find out more about The Phantom Stallion series and it’s successor, The Phantom Stallion: Wild Horse Island, go to Terrifarley.com