Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary

Almost Spring

2010-03-17T09:51:00.002-06:00

Winter has eased it's grip a bit. We are having warmer days and the snow is beginning to melt, which gives us mud! Lots of it. We have to careful traveling about the Sanctuary now because we don't want to get any of the vehicles stuck.

The horses are beginning to shed off their winter hair. We see them rolling and rubbing quite a bit now. They seem to have more energy as the younger ones are running just for the fun of it.

We are beginning to prepare for our tourist season so I may not get to the blog for a while. If you wish to stay in touch with us I am continuing to send out our E-newsletter on a regular basis. You may subscribe to it by send an email to: bhmustangs@gwtc.net and I will add you to the list.

Winter Work Day

2010-02-14T14:59:00.016-07:00

Grab your Carharts, boot and hat and prepare for a ride with our ranch crew during a routine winter day at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. Most of these chores occur every day during the winter regardless of the weather conditions, the horses must be cared for.

The crew meets at the visitors Center kitchen and over a quick cup of coffee discuss the plan for the day.

A load of hay arrives from our local supplier. Each round bale weights approximately 1800 pounds.

This is our Alis Chalmers tractor with the bale buster. The bale buster picks up the hay with forks, then drops it into the hopper. Once in the hopper it has a scale in the bottom that weighs the bale.

There are blades in the bottom of the hopper that shred the bale and dump the cut hay out the side chute. By using the scale we are able to tell just how much hay is being fed to a group of horses. It makes a lot of noise and dust! But the horses have learned it's the "grocery wagon".

This little lady has learned the sound of the feed truck and tractor. She trots off to let the other horses know groceries are on their way.

Opening a frozen pond: Ice an horses are not good company. Our stock ponds are now frozen over and must be opened for the horses to drink. The crew uses an ax, shovel and tamping bar to break the 12 to 18 inch thick ice to reach the water below. We keep the drinking holes close to the edge of the pond so the horses do not have to walk out onto the ice to drink.

By the end of the day the fog has cleared but left behind a beautiful frost on everything. The temperature is still cold, but we know each and everyday that the horses that live on the Sanctuary have been well cared for. That gives us a warm feeling inside.

All photos taken by Tee.

This is a short version of "Winter Work Day" that was published by us via our Electronic Newsletter. If you would like to recieve our E-Newsletters send an email to:
bhmustangs@gwtc.net and we will sign you up.

Winter Range

2010-02-02T09:51:00.004-07:00

Winter Range
On wind swept cliffs they calmly graze
Searching through the rocky maze
To find summers grasses now bent and dried
Among the rocks it tries to hide
Ridge snow rimmed and clear blue sky
Creaking pines and a frozen river sighs
Winter eagles search for food
And coyotes yip at an early moon
You will not see them in the summertime
They seek the coolness of the canyons sides
Like ghosts they move in the fog and haze
So is the wild horse’s winter range
Poem and photo by: Tee

E-Newsletters

2009-11-10T10:15:00.003-07:00

Sorry I've not posted in several months. Tourist season took all our time. We are getting ready for the winter months ahead. The babies that were born this summer are in the corral now, and the mother's are back to their areas resting and putting on a little weight before the cold comes.

We have also implemented a E-newsletter. If you wish to be on that list please contact us at:

bhmustangs@gwtc.net

Talking with the ancients

2009-07-11T14:36:00.003-06:00

One of our tour guides was on a photo tour with a guest and some of our horses were visiting the petroglyph site. This sorrel appears to be talking with the "ancients" that created our rock art.

Hot day in July

2009-07-11T14:29:00.002-06:00

On a recent tour some of our guests were given a special treat by our Spanish/Sorria band. The horses were coming in for afternoon water as the tour bus was coming through Coffee Flat where the horses live. The horses enjoyed a drink, a splash, and a mud roll to keep the flies away.

Recent questions

2009-06-21T08:29:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone, Sorry we have not posted lately but we are in the middle of our tourist season and we have been kept quite busy. So far this season we are doing well.

To answer a recent question about a copper colored horse, most likely that is our Sulphur stallion Don Juan. He is a copper or blood bay with black mane and zebra stripes on his legs. He's real "eye candy" for horse lovers.

Dayton continues to do the writing for our yearly newsletter. You are correct when you mentioned his colorful descriptions. Dayton has several books listed on our website and he has a website of his own. He does not correspond via email.

Volunteers are allowed to bring their children, but they must be 16 and accompanied by their parent at all times. There are just too many things on the Sanctuary that a child could become injured on or by, snakes, equipment, large animals just to name a few.

Thanks to everyone for the support given to our Sanctuary.

Texas Pony Sydicate

2009-05-29T12:30:00.002-06:00

To answer a recent question about Texas Pony Sydicate...
He has passed away this winter at the age of 25+ years. He died a natural death and appeared to be in no pain at the time of his passing. We were saddened by his passing but this Spring he has left his legacy with the mares he had bred.

Meet Our Greeter

2009-04-24T08:52:00.002-06:00

Hello, Meet Prince our offical Greeter at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. Prince was taking advantage of one of our warmer Spring days this week, so I decided to snap this photo of him. He has taken to napping in this flower box, which means we may not plant in any flowers in this one. Prince is approximately 10 years old and has lived here for quite some time. He enjoys meeting our visitors and spending time with the children before they take their tours. He often brings us "trophies" of his recent hunts about the property.

2009 Foal

2009-04-14T09:10:00.003-06:00

Yes, the sire is Boss (Simons Jay) and the mother is one of the California mares. We have figured out that "it" is a colt and he is doing well.

2009 Foal

2009-04-13T09:25:00.002-06:00

Here's the photo of the foal born to one of our rescued mares from California. Born March 12th, doing just fine!

Spring is coming

2009-03-16T10:28:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone. Thanks for the recent kind comments on the blog. We are new to this and don't keep up quite as well as we should. Spring is on it's way to the Sanctuary. We have one new foal born to one of our California wild mares. He's a cutie, a sorrel and white medicine hat with a reverse blaze face. Instead of a white blaze it's colored! Both foal and mamma are doing well. We will try to get a photo of him before too long but for now she is keeping him hidden.

thank you

2009-01-30T08:10:00.002-07:00

Thank you for your recent post Kelly. Our mustangs roam free on 11,000 acres in South Western South Dakota. The Sanctuary was founded 20 years ago. We have decendents of some of the orginal mustangs that were brought from the Bureau of Land Management.

We give tours year round by reservation, so we welcome visitors. When you can, come visit us, the Mustangs will be waiting.

Freedom update

2009-01-18T17:29:00.003-07:00

Although Freedom took well to kids and demos, he did not adjust well to riding. Due his age when the Marine Corp got him saddle training was not his best class. Since the Color Guard horse are often put in "unusual" situations they thought it would be best for Freedom to take on the task of education instead of presentations.

He is adjusting well to the winter in South Dakota. He now has a friend with him and they are getting along well.

Freedom Comes to the Black Hills

2009-01-11T13:43:00.001-07:00

Freedom comes to the Black Hills
Mounted Marine Corp Color Guard Horse retires to The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary

By Terri Engle
Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary Staff
January 2009

After dedicating his life of service to his country the twenty year old palomino mustang gelding "Freedom" has arrived at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. Freedom served with the mounted Marine Corp Color Guard stationed in Barstow, California.

Freedom was captured by the Bureau of Land Management in 1988 in Oregon. For the next 10 years, Freedoms history is unknown, but the Marine Corp adopted him in 1998 to be trained for the Mounted Color Guard. After various training sessions it was decided that Freedom would best be suited for demonstrations and educating the public about the wild mustang. The favorite part of his job was meeting children and helping them learn about horses, along with show and tell and demonstrations.

The Marine Corp Color Guard was founded in 1967 and only uses Palomino mustangs. Originally the Marine Corp wanted to use true black horses, but true blacks are rare, so it was decided to use Palomino’s which are easier to match. The first parade the color guard went to was in Ridgecrest, California in 1967. From there, the original mounted color guard attended parades where they held rodeos. As word of the new color guard spread, they received invitations to ride in professional parades. The Mounted Color Guard appears at the Kentucky Derby and The Rose Bowl Parade as well as others.

Freedom will spend his retirement at the Sanctuary with a small group of other mustangs. Plans are being made to create a "Veterans Sponsorship" for Freedom to honor his military service so check our improved website often for updates, http://www.wildmustangs.com/ . For the rest of his retirement years Freedom will return to the life he was born into, removed from, and now released back, to live out his life with true “Freedom”.

Visit Freedom at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary and see a wonderful representation of the wild mustang breed.

Saturday Morning Chill

2008-12-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

The wild horses at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary greeted the early morning hours with bone chilling temperatures of -30 below. Many sounds of hoof stomping and whinnying met the faithful ranch crew going out to open the water troughs and put out hay and grain for the horses down in the corrals at the main Sanctuary Headquarters. Up top along the rimrocks wild horses run and play over the snow crusted hillsides with snow flying up behind as they race each other.

2008-12-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

Good morning Susan....Did it really get to 50 degrees below zero last night like they predicted....wow! I can't imagine how that would feel. What's it like there this morning on the sanctuary? Mary

Welcome to our Brand New Blog

2008-12-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the brand new Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary Blog. Check here for the latest updates on our day- to-day adventures managing 600 wild mustangs! We have quite the time trying to keep up with all the work it takes to keep them wild and free...you'll be amazed! We'll also be interested in your comments about the Sanctuary and the plight of wild mustangs in general. Feel free to visit then post your photos and comments about your experience. And we thank you for your interest in and support of our work to save wild mustangs.

Dayton Hyde, Founder, and Susan Watt, Program Manager