In the "horse latitudes" of the Gulf of Mexico, that zone where 
periods of high pressure keep winds away, becalmed sailors 
sometimes tossed the horses overboard to conserve water. In these 
unapologetically traditional and realistic stories, characters find 
themselves in circumstances which demand similar difficult and 
undesirable acts.

    Because the stories are set in the Southwest and Mexico from 
about 1920 through 1990, they often hinge on the suspicions, 
antagonism, and ignorance that the region's different cultures, races, 
and classes bear against each other. This collection was first 
published in 1994.

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C. W. SMITH is an accomplished factionalist whose vision rings true 
and whose characters are familiar in the best sense of the word. He is 
the author of several novels, including Purple Hearts; this is his 
first collection of short stories. He lives in Dallas.