Courts and ash expose all things pony. ``The Colt'' is reminiscent of the Steinbeck tale but stands on its own. Among stories by such contemporary writers as Gretl Ehrlich, James Salter and Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, there are two standouts: Pam Houston's ``What Shock Heard,'' a story of courtship conducted almost entirely by horseback, and ``Wild Horses,'' Rick Bass's tale of horsebreaking and broken hearts.