La Primera

About La Primera

Ian Tyson’s classic song, beautifully illustrated for horse-loving youngsters everywhere

The story of the wild mustang in North America is the subject of “La Primera,” a song written and performed by Canadian folk singer and horse afficionado, Ian Tyson. And it is the subject of this handsome picture book with paintings by equine artist Adeline Halvorson.

In 1493, the first Spanish horses were loaded onto a ship and taken on a long, hard voyage to the Americas. Many died along the way and only a few survived. Among them was La Primera. Little by little, their numbers grew, and in time they were in Mexico with Cortez and his conquistadors, on the grasslands with the Comanche upon their backs, and in frontier towns serving the needs of cowboys.

The rugged wild mustangs still exist, and their bloodlines are traceable all the way back to those first horses and the careful records the Spaniards kept. That the animals have survived for five hundred years, while the world around them changed, is a tribute to their endurance and fiery spirit. Included with the story of the song is a section of historical facts on these amazing and beautiful animals and a CD of Ian Tyson singing “La Primera.”