BLACK HILLS WILD HORSE SANCTUARY

Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary - (Photo Melody Perez)

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT - NOT HORSE MANAGEMENT....

When we look at the current dilemma of the plight of the American Mustang we shall take a close look at the agency that was appointed for it's protection and management on the range. Consider that this is the only congressional act issued for the protection of an animal, reason being that it is the mustang neither considered wildlife nor domestic and therefore does not fall under wild life management.
Look at the events of the TAYLOR GRAZING ACT, the advent of the invention of Barbed Wire and the institution of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM - part of the dept of Interior) to prevent overgrazing and regulate range utilization.
1971 WILD HORSE AND BURRO PROTECTION ACT:....
Since 40 years have passed and at present the BLM is widely considered dysfunctional. Dysfunctional for itself internally and dysfunctional for its stakeholders outside the agency as a tool for the dept of Int...
WHY?
1.There is a brazen conflict of interest: the BLM manages the range for multiple use: Ranching cattle and sheep, oil, nat.gas drilling and exploration, hunting and recreation at last but not least wild horses. Readily apparent is the conflict of interest.
2. Lack of transparency (Internal and external) )The public wants to know and have access yet is denied such on a regular basis when it comes to decision making and distribution if rights and entitlements.
3. Lack of adabtability and flexibility: Even though the agency was created to halt land abuse and regulate indiscriminate claiming the very same standards and entitlements are still enforced today...(Ranchers insist on old established rights of use without restraint)
4. Corruption (Science is for sale) Studies and resulting issuance of permits for drilling and stock use are in direct conflict with balanced multi-use since profitability dictates distribution. Culture of corruption dates back to the large landowner-disputes.)
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN:(WHAT WENT WRONG)
There are a variety of responses:
1. Abandon of true faith (without third party independent monitoring the principles will not be upheld)
2. The demand to maintain the old status quo vs. the demand to upgrade and modernize
IT BROUGHT ABOUT THE DECLINE OF THE RANGE - FIND CULPRIT AND REMOVE
Our responsibility and a great opportunity as citizens is now to design and acquire new guidelines and strategies to revamp the management of our public lands to multiple but sensible and aware utilization. That requires time and research. The elimination of the wild horses is only a symptom of the ailment...  Part of the broader transformation is to identify and define the statistics and means and balances and then approach a new reorganization that would possibly not imply the traditional agency.
Until then our wild horses represent the second hand on the clock that is ticking...their numbers reflect our conscience.

TEXAS PONY SYNDICATE - out of TEXAS PONY LYNN: ARAGONS SIRE...

To explain my move to the Black Hills Wild Horse sanctuary could take many pages, but a couple of thoughts...I love the mission statement and will work to fullfill it to the best of my capacity. Aragon's sire Texas Pony syndicate lived for the last years of his life on the sanctuary and died there last year. Mustang Eco Tours could not find a better location for our adventure rides....and the horses derserve to be showcased as one of the most desirable, versatile and valuable resources of our wonderful wild lands... sustainable equitable and fair...
To be part of something bigger...to integrate into an already existing concept is a new exercise for me, one I have longed for since most of my life was determined by solely my decisions. I am independent and free and able to adapt to changing challenges and scenarios, which is probably one of my most well developed skills and talent. Through the career as airline pilot my forte is problem solving that includes spur of the moment decision making and instinctual reaction and reflex...

The LAND is of beauty without words and the CHEYENNE RIVER flows in all 4 DIRECTIONS, there are 500  HORSES on 14 000 acres...what more could my heart desire...

WORKING WITH MUSTANGS - HERE TIM SINGEWALD's Willy and Walen...

After the Extreme Mustang Makeover I have focused again on my horses hoping to get my One-Trick Pony show on the road...I have tried to have all 6 in a roundpen circus style, and circus-style it was...so I have to come up with some 5 helpers, who all hold one horse on the longeline and then we work in unison to get them to parley and prance...Meanwhile I have stepped back into Tim Singewald's roundpen and took on Willy and Walen...the sadness is that these two 5 year olds were born in captivity and still are more goosy and wild than the ones caught on the range...Such little effort would be required to do some foal training and they all would have such a better start. Which reminds me of the conversation at Canyon City, where we wondered why only male prisoners worked with mustangs...??? Ever thought about that???
Well the female inmates had started a program with the foals but never got it off the ground - I think they have to try again....
Well here are a couple of pictures.

DON'T LET IT BRING YOU DOWN - IT'S ONLY CASTLES BURNING...

 my favorite quote from "ALL THE PRETTY HORSES": In his sleep he could hear the horses stepping among the rocks and he could hear them drink from the shallow pools in the dark where the rocks lay smooth and rectilinear as the stones af ancient ruins and the water from their muzzles dripped and ring like water dripping in a well and in his sleep he dreamt of horses and the horses in his dream moved gravely among the tilted stones like horses come upon an antique site where some ordering of the world had failed and if anything had been written on the stones the weather had taken it away again and the horses were wary and moved with great circumspection carrying in their blood as they did the recollection of this and other places  where horses once had been and would be again...Finally what he saw in his dream was that the order in the horses heart was more durable for it was written in a place where no rain could erase it...

SCIENCE FOR SALE>>>>each argument for science....

....should conclude with the phrase "Science for sale" - the corruption of short term profit oriented exploration pays no respect to the concerns of the citizens. It is still puzzling how the need to control and explore is not harnessed by insight and awareness of consequences...And as much as Wild Horse Advocates call and demand transparency to understand the motives behind Wild Horse Eradication in this country we can find our answers piece by piece in the industrial advances onto Public Lands...This video is one example of the encroachment of uranium mining into the pristine Landscape of South Dakota, and the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. Similar fates can be witnessed in the Little Bookcliffs Colorado, Piceance etc. riddled with attempts and advances of Natural Gas Exploration....OUR BODY IS 90 percent WATER
youtu.be:S_d3B-jeNYc

youtu.be:M_v2dy2hrHw
Picture this....Aragon, Escalante, Galicio, Silhouette, Veedawoo and Ruigoord...ON THIS LAND....Aragon grazing on the same grounds that his father TEXAS PONY SYNDICATE (Texas Pony Lyn) was spending the last years of his life and then died last year...Picture Escalante, GREY EAGLE's son galloping through the brush of the wild turkey alley...his silver coat glistening in the sun...picture this...

MORE MISSION STATEMENT>>>.

Photo by Melody Perez

Gabriele Moritz/Dayton O. Hyde (photo Melody Perez)

Melody Perez, Susan Watt, Gabriele Moritz 

BLACK HILLS WILD HORSE SANCTUARY - IRAM - SOUTH DAKOTA...O

ARROW from the Spanish herd in the BLACK HILLS WILD HORSE SANCTUARY. There is currently only one known intact stallion with mares and several years of PZP have resulted in only one known foal this year. From a very high vista point overlooking a breathtaking valley we could glass and see what easily was a group of more than 15 horses, which are not identified since they live in a very remote and unaccessible part of the 14 000 acres of the institute. BEAUTIFUL as the Cheyenne river winds through the canyons and meadows...

On my bucket list, or 100-item (things I want to experience or do) LIST has been the BLACK HILLS WILD HORSE SANCTUARY. In august 2011 in conjunction with the MUSTANG DAYS in DOUGLAS,WY. Melody Perez and I traveled to an art exhibit of hers in the Pioneer museum and then continued on to Hot Springs South Dakota...after driving through celebrated country witnessing a wildfire burning south of the Custer Natl forest and painting the evening sky in a crimson veil we were greeted by a band of horses in the setting sun...we put up for the night and had a tour the next morning following the cake truck onto the 14 000 acres of former Honeywell Sanctuary property owned by the IRAM (Institute for Range and american Mustang) founded by Dayton O. Hyde (in 1988). Susan Watt followed her calling to the sacred lands of the Black Hills 17 years ago ... Since then she has worked tirelessly to promote and enforce the FOUNDATION's mission statement.

 Institute of Range and American Mustang 

Mission Statement

The Institute of Range and American Mustang (IRAM) founded by Dayton O. Hyde in 1988 is a 501 © 3 non-profit corporation registered in the state of South Dakota. The Institute’s federal tax number is 46-0401462.

IRAM owns 11,000 acres of private land dedicated to range preservation and a balanced ecosystem. IRAM’s finest gift is The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, whose purpose is to provide not only freedom for unadoptable and unwanted wild horses, but also a research area dedicated to solving wild horse herd management that will contribute to the well-being of wild horses everywhere.

The Sanctuary and its staff and volunteers are devoted to the spirit of the wild mustangs by giving America’s unwanted wild horses a quality life. The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary is a showcase where the public can see large herds of wild horses running free and come to understand our efforts toward land conservation and the preservation of our western heritage-America’s Wild Mustang! 

Construction of the BERLIN WALL August 13, my birthday...

CELEBRATING MY BIRTHDAY WITH GALICIO, who was born august 15, 3 years ago and Ruigoord, Escalante, Aragon, Veedawoo and Silhouette...

The Quiet War Against Wyoming's Wild Horses - The Atlantic

The Quiet War Against Wyoming's Wild Horses - The Atlantic

Working hard on Escalante to get him ready for the Mustang Riders...

The goal is to have all my 6 horses under saddle and going steady developing their utmost potential and allowing them to perform to their best abilities...Ruigoord 26 does not have much more to prove he is a standing member of the gentlemen's club and always willing to be a schoolmaster for a newby or a great first experience for a child...Aragon V, now 16 is entering that 3rd phase where horses settle into their own and will continuously grow and become who they are meant to be. He performs perfect with the drill team, is an outstanding herd member, perfect gentleman and reliable Poudre Wilderness Volunteer. He taught Coppersmith the ropes of relating to me. LOVE is walk/canter departures and his jump, will not ask him again for FLYING lead changes, but will insist on more lightness in the hand....Escalante 8 is WORK IN PROGRESS and he is working with the LG bridle. His arena is the dressage competition and I hope to have him in a couple of training shows next year. Veedawoo is 6years old and the proof is in the pudding. He is the mountain horse per se, water rocks up and down, standing tied and patient and also jumping and accelerating if necessary, Cows no problem, water swimming and even though he is not the love of life fellow I knew when he was just a yearling, he is still the most fun horse...(besides his eating mania)Just what is going on with the cross firing in the canter, unbelievable how he switches in the back...
Silhouette still a little unwritten and mysterious. I will have to see her through the fall and winter to say more. She is the only mare I ever owned and there is a special relationship to be discovered, since she also gave me Galicio. This summer I switched from trying to elevate her action in the trot to realizing that she is a gifted western style motion, she can travel smooth and enduring in a shuffle like pace that gets places without noticing. She also has the most ground covering walk and the mother attitude is very valuable when it comes to estimating questionable situations. I love her.
Leaves Galicio, who is turning three in a couple of weeks. He has started ground school, second chapter.   A lot of spanish in there and elegance, know him from birth on (none of the others) and hope that his mind keeps up with the growth of his beautiful frame.