Since 2004, Carol Walker has been visiting wild horses in Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana and grown increasingly enamored with the colorful herds that inhabit the region, grazing and reproducing in close-knit family groups. This story begins on a crisp fall day in 2018 as she roamed rural roads in the Red Desert Complex of Wyoming. In the hours before dawn she’d glimpsed a few family bands at a distance through her binoculars. Ahead she spotted a stallion standing tall and proud, a blue roan with four white matching stockings that went up all four legs. His mane was twisted with wind knots and a long forelock covered his eyes. He was the most beautiful stallion she had ever seen! She pulled to the side of the road and got out with her camera. He would become known as Blue Zeus and it was the beginning of a love affair that lasts to this day. Join Carol as she relates Blue Zeus’s capture and separation from his family in a BLM roundup and the coordinated efforts, led by her, to find them a safe haven. Carol shares with readers the heartbreaking details of that roundup. At present over 60,000 wild horses are captive in holding corrals that range from feedlots to pastures; too many end up being sent to slaughter or die from inadequate care. As one of the leading advocates for America’s wild horses, Carol Walker is dedicated to educating people with her stunning photographs and stories and to stopping wild horse roundups and removals from America’s public lands, keeping them wild and free. This is a story that will win the hearts of whole families and grace bookshelves across the land. It’s a gift to be appreciated by horse and wildlife lovers everywhere! Blue Zeus: Legend of the Red Desert Carol J. Walker Living Images by Carol Walker,143 pages, (hardcover), 978-0-578-35094-3 (Reviewed: March 2022) Blue Zeus is the story of the wild horses of the Red Desert of Wyoming, illustrated with photographs of the horses in their native environment. The author, a professional photographer, begins visiting the 700,000-acre herd management area known as the Red Desert Complex in 2016. There, she discovers "the most beautiful stallion I have ever seen!"— a proud blue roan with "four white matching stockings." She learns that others have been captivated by the horse that has been named Blue Zeus. As Walker regularly visits the area, she learns more about Blue Zeus and the other wild horse families, their personalities and habits. But Walker is haunted by the knowledge that the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) goal is to remove 2,670 horses from the area; so far, it has removed only 1,442. In previous roundups, ten horses were killed, including four foals. The BLM halted the roundup after running out of room in its holding facility, but the roundups are sure to restart soon. Walker tries to find homes for the horses, and when BLM helicopters arrive, she's there with her camera and her compassion. "It's hard to describe what observing at a wild horse roundup is like to someone who has not been to one before. The hardest part is the...harsh reality of seeing wild horses that you know and love running for their lives from helicopters..." This is a compelling and poignant story enhanced by its many moving photographs, both large and small, of horses nuzzling one another, running wild, and, by contrast, caged in chutes. Those of Blue Zeus, with his defiant stare and dark marks on his fur—"scars from battles with other stallions"—are particularly haunting. A mix of memoir and journalism, the story is well written, frank and honest about the author's feelings regarding the government roundups. Blue Zeus will likely captivate animal lovers and others, both as a story and as a coffee table book. Blue Zeus: Legend of the Red Desert has just won the most prestigeous award for Independant publishers - a Gold Award from the Independant Book Publisher's Association Benjamin Franklin Awards for the Animal/Pets category. Carol Walker’s passion for photography started at an early age, with animals as her favorite subjects. She studied literature and photography as an undergraduate at Smith College and continued her education in photography after graduating, studying portraiture and nature photography. She has traveled all over the world photographing wildlife for the past 35 years. In 2000, Carol started her business Living Images by Carol Walker (www.LivingImagesCarolWalker.com), specializing in photographing horses. Carol’s stunning images masterfully showcase horses at liberty. She has taught horse photography workshops for the past 10 years in Dubai, France, Germany, and across the United States. She sells her fine art prints from her website as well as in several galleries in Colorado and has won numerous awards. Carol’s work in photography and with wild horses was featured in Horse Illustrated’s February 2017 issue. She has won multiple awards at Colorado art shows, including Best In Show in four juried shows and Best in Photography in