THE HERD IS AT ONCE A COLLECTION OF UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS and a single wild entity. It depends as much on the interaction among the horses as on the heartless landscape they inhabit. Their relationships and social order are vital to their survival.
The herd is made up of small, intimate family units called bands. These may be just a stallion/mare couple or a larger extended family with many mares (the harem) and foals, yearlings, two-year-olds, and even older offspring. Bands are not always stable, as stallions are always eager to claim mares from their brothers. Fillies leave their home band with a marauding stallion in about their third year, and colts are driven off by the band sire, usually between the ages of two and four. When young stallions are allowed to stay with their home band they serve as a second in command and may even be allowed breeding privileges.
Stallions that roam the same territories here have known one another all of their lives. Relationships formed as foals may buy some tolerance in adulthood. Bands often graze near one another, and the stallions seem to be unconcerned but always keep an ear or eye aimed in the other’s direction. Even so, in the late spring and summer much of a stallion’s energy is exhausted in protecting his mares, or in the unceasing effort to claim one (or more).
Battles can be violent, but it is the constant state of guardedness, and the lack of food and sleep, that wear down the most anxious. Band sires may work together to chase bold, hormone-crazed young stallions from their midst. Those like the wise and wary Lakota live a life of ease compared to the lean, electrified Sandman. When a stallion does steal a mare, whether she goes willingly or not, the stampeding rush of capture can be traumatic. Foals may be crushed underfoot as they huddle near their mothers.
FLINT, NOW A FOUR-YEAR-OLD stepson to Cloud, is still a member of his band. Although Cloud allowed it, young mare, Bailey, vetoes the younger stallion’s attempt at breeding privileges.
Each band has a lead mare, although she may not be the most dominant. The lead mare is trusted and followed; often she will lead the band from one site to the next, with the stallion trailing along behind. In contrast, a dominant mare will assert first dibs at the watering hole, a mud wallow, or a patch of grass, but she may not be the one her band mates follow. Unlike in other wild herds, the Pryor Mountain stallions are just as apt to gather their harems and head them in a direction of their own choosing as they are to follow their lead mare. Just as there is a hierarchy within the bands, there is an order among them, with more dominant stallions commanding the more dominant bands. Dominant bands graze first, drink first, and proceed unobstructed.
Communication among these horses is constant and clear, but rarely verbal. Mares nicker to their foals, and stallions shriek in rage; but more often the message is as subtle as the flick of an ear or the tilt of a head.
WATCHFUL BAND SIRE Trigger stands sentry while his harem rests, knowing he will alert them if need be.
TWO STALLIONS TUSSLE, with the vast Wyoming desert unfolding in the distance. Natural and man-made boundaries have created an island-like habitat, which both confines and isolates the horses.
LAKOTA, USUALLY SERENE and seemingly gentle, doesn’t hesitate to bar another stallion from getting too close to his family. Blanca seems unconcerned, but her foal nervously clings to her side.
STALLION CONFRONTATIONS are a part of life, but so too is harmony. Here, Cloud’s and Lakota’s bands partake together.
AT 19 YEARS OF AGE, Shaman demonstrates the prowess that keeps him the oldest band stallion on the Range. He wards off any stallion that approaches his band, first Trigger (left), then the ever-challenging Red Cloud (right).
A STALLION’S LIFE knows many phases, from foal to young stallion within a band, to lonely outcast, to band sire, and back to bachelorhood. At left, Bolder warmly acknowledges a youngster from his band.
OFTEN SEEN GAZING over the same ridge, Tecumseh, now seven years old, is just starting to challenge other stallions for a mare of his own. Will this be his year?
A COMMON SCENE at the peak of breeding season, as stallions try to gain more mares. Here Sandman goes after one of Trigger’s mares and meets strong opposition. The little roan mare, BJ Star, quickly gets out of the way.
IN A MOMENT OF QUIET DEVOTION, Brumby and Jackson display one of the many emotions of wild horses.
TRUE FREEDOM for wild horses is following their own social instincts. Dominant bands drink first and then sun themselves while others take their turn.
SENSING DANGER or an approaching intruder, Morning Star’s band erupts in a sudden flurry, abruptly departing the water hole.
TWO YOUNG BACHELORS “horse around” as Flash, 26, the oldest horse on the Range, meanders off. His fighting days long behind him, he visits other bachelors occasionally for companionship but spends much of his time alone.
FATHER KNOWS BEST. Band sire Santa Fe bears down aggressively on Doc, a two-year-old stallion from his band. It may take days for Santa Fe to drive the reluctant youngster away, but the time has come for Doc to live on his own.
EARS FLATTENED, HEAD LOWERED, band sire Trigger gestures a warning to the ambitious Sandman to “back off.” Sandman, who has left his own mares in search of more, has one eye (and ear!) on Trigger, the other on the mares.
SOMETIMES LOVE IS IN THE AIR, sometimes it isn’t. Mescelero fondly caresses a contented Dove (left), while a young roan stallion has his hopes dashed (right).
“Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene. It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.”
— Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Congressional Decree Pub. L. No. 92-195, 1, 85 Stat. 649 (December 15, 1971)
CLOUD’S HEALTHY 2005 FILLY has grown strong by mid-August. Mares ovulate in spring and summer, which prevents foals from being born in winter.
