Abandoned Mustangs Find Home in South Dakota Equine Sanctuary

Dayton Hyde
(photo: Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary)

A headline in today's Chicago Tribune noted the good works of two South Dakotans with hearts for homeless horses. They operate the 11,000-acre Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, where they adopt and care for wild, unwanted mustangs. The sanctuary's guiding spirits, Dayton Hyde and Susan Watt, manage these horse herds. Their story is a reminder that there is a beauty and dignity in ranching, and that a visceral, direct connection to the animal world and nature in general is often something to be greatly desired.

Vacation Getaways for Horses

My wife and I occasionally drive past a local estate where the owners keep some horses. There are a pair that are nearly always together, sometimes literally touching one another. We don't know anything else about them. We call them the "love horses," because they really seem to show a tenderness for each other.

We haven't seen the love horses lately. My wife and I speculated about this situation. One thought was that the horses have a second home, and they had the good sense to get away from the recent, stifling heat and humidity. It seemed like a far fetched idea, so we performed some web searching to determine if there are equine getaways.

Well, there are. One is located in Illinois, near the Mississippi River. It appears to be more relaxing for the humans than for the animals, but it's a change of pace for the horses, so we'll count that in the "vacation for horses" column. The photo shows what looks like equine nirvana in Montana's high plains. Maybe that's where our love horses are now.

Feds Cease Roundup of Nevada's Wild Mustangs

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), arguably the Federal government's strongest arm in the Western states, abruptly stopped its roundup of wild mustangs in Nevada. The story, which appeared in today's online editions of the LA Times, noted that the BLM denied the halt involved the impact of funding cuts, congressional agida, or public sentiment toward the animals.

The mustangs, reminders of the West's romance, glorious landscapes, and free spirit, have a most important, politically connected benefactor in Madele

ine Pickens. Better known as Mrs. T. Boone Pickens, she has embraced the mustangs' cause and owns a 1.2 million acre ranch adjacent to the area where the horses live. This is one case where private philanthropy trumps civil servants.

In addition to mustangs, wild burros also call Western states home. They lack a patron or patroness with Pickens' DC clout and media connections. It's a blank space that needs a name.

PS. I can't resist comparing the photo of wild mustangs with the Lascaux cave painting of wild animals next to it. Both images have a primeval sense that move me. How about you?