Journey to the land of feral horses
by Sven Spies, barhufpfleger.com
Whose heart might not beat faster at the thought of tracing the tracks of feral horses in the wild west of America. Inspired by the films of the renowned documentary filmmaker and winner of the Emmy prize Ginger Kathrens, we had definitely planned to spend some time with the Mustangs during our vacation in the USA. In the Pryor Mountains, Montana, we wanted to "hunt Mustangs". That's exactly where Ginger Kathrens had observed and filmed the Mustang "Cloud" for seven years.
When we arrived at the nearby little place called "Lovell", we didn't expect that it would be that easy. At the first evening we directly drove to the Bighorn-Canyon wildlife sanctuary, because the road there borders on the Pryor Mountains and we planned to make into the mountains on foot from there. What we didn't know was, that the Mustangs come to this road and even cross it during their food search. So we were much surprised when we saw three horses on the right side of the road after just a few kilometers.
There were 3 young stallions. They really were top models. They hardly were bothered by our presence. We could approach them to nearly five meters and when they decided that the distance was too short, they just calmly moved on for a couple of steps to continue grazing. If you want to name it "grazing" on that perfect horse pasture.
Of course, taking pictures was gorgeous on that short distance. Even when you - like me - don't understand much of it and doesn't own the best camera. One can imagine that I devotedly tried to take pictures not only of the horses but of their hooves as well. That is in fact difficult when horses move around freely. You wait until one of them finally lifts a hoof to take a picture of the sole and already the hoof disappears behind a tuft of grass.
After observing this little group for some time, another herd appeared in some hundred meters distance on a hill. A stallion chasing his mares in front of him. And between them a little bright foal jumps around lively. After the stallion saw us and the other horses, the whole group came up to in gallop. A really beautiful sight ...
In the coming dawn we watch them as long as the light is sufficient. After that, we drive back to our Motel - it's time not only to watch others feeding themselves ...
In the next couple of days we get to watch three more herds and we meet again also the 3 young stallions and the little family with the foal. Of course I can't write down the whole experience here and especially I can't present all the photos here. There are way too many of them.
Regarding the hooves of these horses, I discovered exactly what I hoped to find. Typical short Mustang hooves with pronounced frogs and in parts a good identifiable Mustang roll. That doesn't mean that all the hooves looked the same. We saw more steep, well rounded hooves as well as more flat hooves with sharp edges. Nevertheless the typical Mustang hooves were clearly the majority.
These two young stallions we discovered on the second day when we left the Bighorn-Canyon area heading for our Motel. I think the pictures talk for themselves. Besides the hooves, please notice the Mustangs' nutritional condition. The ground consists of reddish, sandy earth with small and bigger stones as well as rocks in some places. Regarding the plants I already showed some pictures above.
All in all, our side trip to the Pryor Mountains was an absolute success and an experience we will never forget. If you have the chance to visit this region, you shouldn't miss this opportunity. It can't be simpler to watch Mustangs. At the end of my report, here are some photos of this grand landscape.