On the planet Equus, the dominant species has evolved from horse people; the inhabitants have the head, hands, and feet similar to horses, but only the adult males have a tail, which, like human facial hair, grows in at the onset of puberty. Most tails are white, but those who are attracted to horse people of their own gender grow brown tails instead. Those horse people run into problems with the planet’s theocracy—in particular, the Morality Police.
Tyler Palomino is just an average teenage horse, though he’s a late bloomer—still tailless at fifteen. And when his tail finally starts coming in, his world is turned upside down. Just as Tyler becomes smitten with a classmate, Joey Quarterhorse, religion clashes with science, and the whole of society is rocked to the core by unspeakable violence. Will civilization survive?
In this novel, set on a world populated by horse people, a teenager just starting to understand his sexuality must deal with society’s intolerance and hatred. Through the trials that will be familiar to many gay teens on Earth, Tyler experiences just what damage religious prejudice can do due to the mistaken notion that being same-sex oriented is a choice.