The Phantom Stallion

The Phantom Stallion books, first published in 2002 by Avon Books, are a series written for young adult readers by American Terri Farley.

The main character is a girl named Samantha "Sam" Forster who shares a unique bond with a wild horse called the Phantom. Having spent two years away from her family's Nevada ranch to recover from a riding accident, Sam returns home to find that things are never easy where horses are concerned.

There are 24 books in the series [http://www.iblist.com/series2024.htm] with one million copies sold worldwideFact|date=October 2008. Almost every book has a new equine character as its focus and Sam and her friends battle horse thieves, cougars, earthquakes and more to keep their horses safe.

The Main Characters

*Samantha Anne "Sam" Forster - Usually called Sam. Sam is the main character of the series. Ever since she was little, Sam has had a special bond with a horse that has grown up from a black colt named Blackie to a wild gray stallion called the Phantom. Sam is known for being stubborn, loving animals, and doing anything for the horses she loves. Sam has auburn hair, brown eyes and is around five feet tall. She is thirteen and later fourteen years old in the series.

* Jacob "Jake" Ely - Usually called Jake. One of Sam's two best friends. Jake is known for being shy and trying to explain his thoughts in as few words as possible. He knows a lot about horses and Sam often turns to him for advice about a horse she is dealing with at the time. Jake is sixteen years old, supposedly turning seventeen later in the series, and often plays the role of Sam's chauffeur/guardian as he feels very protective of Sam. He lives on Three Ponies Ranch with his parents and five brothers. Jake is half Shoshone, has black hair, brown eyes (sometimes called "Mustang Eyes" by Sam due to the liveliness and mischief seen in them), and is at least six feet tall.

*Jennifer "Jen" Kenworthy - Usually called Jen. Sam's best friend. Jen is intelligent, sarcastic, and possibly a slightly better rider than Sam. She dreams of someday becoming a vet. She strives to keep A's on her report card to earn a scholarship for college because she knows her family won't be able to afford college otherwise. She lives on Gold Dust Ranch, her family's small house in the shadow of Linc Slocum's huge mansion. Jen was home schooled until middle school. She has white-blonde hair often worn in braids, blue eyes, and wears black-rimmed glasses.

*Pamela "Pam" O'Malley - Usually called Pam. Sam's other best friend from San Francisco, introduced in "The Phantom Stallion: Dawn Runner". She has light brown, very curly hair and green eyes. She is very tall and loves to play basketball.

*Wyatt Forster - Sam and Cody's protective father. Louise and Brynna's husband. He is known for being strict and just as stubborn as Sam. Wyatt, much like other cowboys in the series, speaks in as few words as possible. He also speaks with a cowboy drawl. He's tall and has dark hair and brown eyes. It took him a long time to get over the death of his wife Louise, but now he's finally learned to be happy again since he met Brynna Olson. Being a cattle rancher, he's always had a reputation of hating anyone who works for the BLM, which lets mustangs run free and compete for cattle's graze, but she literally had him from hello.

*Brynna Olson Forster - Sam's step-mom. Wyatt's second wife. Gram's new daughter-in-law. She works at the BLM, Bureau of Land Management, and loves wild horses. She's an excellent rider. She has long red hair and beautiful blue eyes. She marries Wyatt in the seventh book, and announces her pregnancy in the sixteenth book. In the twenty-fourth book she gives birth to her son Cody.

*Cody Forster - Sam's little brother. He was born in December at River Bend Ranch during a snow storm in "Run Away Home". Cody was an early Christmas present for Sam and her family. Cody looks like Brynna.

*Grace Forster - Sam and Cody's grandmother, called Gram throughout the series. Wyatt's mom. Brynna, Louise, and Aunt Sue's mother-in-law. Gram is the book keeper of River Bend Ranch, cooks, keeps the house clean, and tends to her garden. Her favorite horse is a paint mare named Sweetheart, although she hardly ever rides. Nobody knows what happened to Gram's husband.

*Linc Slocum - The villain in the series, Linc has a reputation of playing cowboy. He is convinced he can buy his way into anything, and sometimes, it works. The one thing he can't get with money is the Phantom. To him, the beautiful stallion is a trophy he could show off everywhere he went, and he would finally be a true cowboy. Linc thinks of many schemes to make money and capture the Phantom, trying to prove he's a cowboy and not just a Western-wannabe throughout the entire series. He often uses Champ, a palomino gelding previously owned by the Kenworthys, as a riding horse. He is outsmarted by Brynna and Sam many times.

*Rachel Slocum - The villain's daughter, set on ruining Sam's school life as a freshman. Ryan's twin sister. Rich and popular, Rachel wears fashionable clothes and looks wonderful in everything she wears. Rachel has a slight British accent.

*Ryan Slocum - The villain's son. Rachel's twin brother. Ryan likes horses a lot more than his sister. He has a slight British accent, and has come to Nevada from living with his mother in England. His favorite horse is Sky Ranger, he rides English, and he and Jake tend to be competitive. Jen has a crush on Ryan since he makes his first appearance in "The Challenger". In "The Phantom Stallion: Run Away Home" Ryan took over the ranch after Rachel moved back to England. Ryan is the oldest twin.

*Lila Kenworthy - Jen's mother. Her favorite horses are Golden Rose and Mantilla, she has blonde hair like her daughter, and was once Rodeo Queen. occasionally has a testy relationship with her husband, Jed, and was good friends with Sam's mother, Louise.

*Jed Kenworthy - Jen's father. His favorite horse is named Sundance. He is Linc Slocum's foreman, and used to own the Diamond K with his family. Occasionally has a shaky relationship with his wife, Lila, and is friends with Sam's father, Wyatt.

*Maxine Ely - Jake's mother, and Sam's history teacher at Darton High. She is blond, petite and rules her household of men. Maxine enjoys photography and has won awards for her photographs. In "Run Away Home" when Brynna went into labor Maxine and Sam helped deliver Cody during a snow storm.

*Luke Ely - Jake's father. A full-blooded Shoshone. He owns Three Ponies Ranch and works in a mine. Known to be a stern man.

*Adam Ely - One of Jake's brothers, who works in Reno at a kayaking outfitter store.

*Kit Ely - Eldest of the Ely brothers. He rodeoed professionally, before being forced to retire because of an arm injury - a bronc crushed his wrist "into dust".

*Quinn Ely - Quinn is the only Ely brother besides Jake and Kit that plays a fairly large part in the series. He has spiky hair and is on the student council at Darton High. He has a chocolate brown Quarter Horse named Chocolate Chip, who is identical in conformation to his full sister Witch.

*Nate Ely - Nate is another Ely brother. All we know about him is that he rides a horse named Digger.

*Bryan Ely - Yet another Ely brother.

*MacArthur "Mac" Ely - Jake's grandfather, a Shoshone tribal elder. It is Mac who asks his grandsons to remember their Shoshone heritage by doing various Indian initiation tasks. Jake has his eyes. He appears in "Phantom Stallion: Red Feather Filly."

*Darrell - Jake's best friend at school. Wears baggy clothes and has a bad-boy reputation, but proves that he cares about animals throughout the series. Tends to call Sam and Jen his "darlin's".

*Aunt Sue - Sam's aunt. Louise's sister. Wyatt's sister-in-law. Cody's step-aunt. Gram's daughter-in-law. Lives in San Francisco. Sam lived with her for two years after her accident resulting in a brief coma. The series begins as Sam is coming back from living with Aunt Sue. Aunt Sue is the closest Sam will get to remembering her mother. Even thought Aunt Sue doesn't ride like Sam, she loves movies. Aunt Sue is a teacher.

*Louise Forster - Sam's mom. Wyatt's late wife. Cody's step-mom. Gram's late daughter-in-law. Aunt Sue's late sister. Louise died in a car accident when Sam was five years old.

*Mrs. Allen - Gram's bossy friend. She is the same age as Gram and has black hair and blue eyes. After her husband's death, she lived like a hermit for a long time, unti Sam opened her eyes to see that she still loved mustangs. She saved 14 mustangs from euthanasia due to old age or poor conformation at the BLM while Norman White, Brynna's stand-in replacement, was in charge of the corrals. She now runs the Blind Faith Mustang Sanctuary, along with owning her three saddle hoses Judge, Ginger, and Calico. In the 23rd book, she meets Phineas Preston, a retired policeman with salt-and-pepper hair that is mostly still black and light blue eyes. At the end of the book they are engaged.

Animal Characters

*The Phantom Stallion - Originally called Blackie. Sam's first horse. The Phantom Stallion is half mustang and half Quarter Horse. His sire was Smoke, a gray mustang. His dam was Princess Kitty, a sorrel Quarter Horse that belonged at one time to the Forsters. Sam's horse has changed a lot since he was her beloved black colt. Although this stallion has changed from coal black to dappled-silver and gray, there is still one thing that is similar about him, the main thing that ties The Phantom and Sam in a bond. When he was a colt, Sam gave him a secret name, Zanzibar, which was an Indian technique used to bond with horses. The Phantom, having one of the largest herds in Nevada, battles bachelor stallions, watches over lone foals, and will do anything to keep his herd and Sam safe. The Phantom is striking similar to an actual wild horse in Nevada, but Farely states that she was unaware of the resemblance [http://www.horsepoint.com.au/portal/tabID__3435/ArticleID__2346532/DesktopDefault.aspx]

*Ace - Sam's new horse. We meet him in "The Wild One". A bay mustang gelding standing at around fourteen hands hands high. He tends to test Sam when she least expects it, and although he can be sassy and stubborn, Sam still loves him. Except when she's grounded, Sam usually rides Ace everyday. Ace has a star and two hind stockings. Ace ran with the Phantom when he was wild and still seems to have a friendship with the stallion. Ace is a "Welcome Home" present from Wyatt much to the shock of Jake.

*Blaze - The Forster's dog. He's a Border Collie.

*Buddy - Sam saves this calf from drowning in quicksand, and later becomes Sam's orphaned female calf. Later on Sam returns the heifer to one of the River Bend herds.

*Cougar - Sam's brown tabby cat. He was a gift from Jake.

*Dark Sunshine - The mare Sam tries to save in the third book. She was being used as a Judas horse and can only be trained at night. Later becomes in foal to the Phantom and Wyatt allows Sam to keep the foal, Tempest.

*Popcorn - An albino mustang used for The HARP Girls.

*Princess Kitty - The Phantom's dam, a sorrel Quarter Horse once owned by the Forsters. Wyatt sold the mare right after Sam's accident, almost as if he blamed her for Blackie kicking Sam in the head by mistake. Princess Kitty ended up being owned by Linc Slocum.

*Silk Stockings - Jen's palomino Quarter Horse mare, nicknamed 'Silly'.

*Singer - Singer is Blaze's pup. He was later given to Jake by Sam after his coyote mother was killed by Linc.

*Strawberry - A strawberry roan Quarter Horse mare. The leader of the herd at River Bend.

*Sweetheart - Gram's old horse. She is a black pinto with a white heart on her side. Given a new home in town to be used for therapy work. Her temperament matches her name.

*Tempest - Sam's black filly sired by the Phantom. Her dam is Dark Sunshine. She is pure black, but may eventually become silver like her father.

*Witch - Jake's big black Quarter Horse mare. Witch has a bit of an attitude, thinking she is the queen of mares. The words "fast and quick-tempered" were once used to described the black mare. Witch is Chocolate Chip's sister.

*Chocolate Chip - Quinn's chocolate brown Quarter Horse. He is Witch's full brother, with identical conformation.

*Hotspot - Ryan's horse. Ran free with the Phantom's herd after having her colt, Shy Boots, for a few books.

*Shy Boots - Hotspot's foal. He is bay with a white blanket and two hind stockings.

*Judge - Mrs. Allen's saddle horse.

*Ginger - Mrs. Allen's other saddle horse.

*Calico - Mrs. Allen's third and final saddle horse.

List of Novels

# "The Wild One" - (July 2002)
# "Mustang Moon" - (2002)
# "Dark Sunshine" - (October 2002)
# "The Renagade" - (November 2002)
# "Free Again" - (January 2003)
# "The Challenger" - (March 2003)
# "Desert Dancer" - (May 2003)
# "Golden Ghost" - (July 2003)
# "Gift Horse" - (October 2003)
# "Red Feather Filly" - (February 2004)
# "Untamed" - (April 2004)
# "Rain Dance" - (July 2004)
# "Heartbreak Bronco" - (October 2004)
# "Moonrise" - (February 2005)
# "Kidnapped Colt" - (April 2005)
# "The Wildest Heart" - (June 2005)
# "Mountain Mare" - (September 2005)
# "Firefly" - (October 2005)
# "Secret Star" - (January 2006)
# "Blue Wings" - (February 2006)
# "Dawn Runner" - (May 2006)
# "Wild Honey" - (July 2006)
# "Gypsy Gold" - (September 2006)
# "Run Away Home" - (December 2006)

External links

* [http://www.phantomstallion.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.terrifarley.com The Author's Website]

References