I've been invited to tag along with a professional photographer to one of the most remote and breathtaking places in the U.S. to become intimate with a special group of wild horses. In late June, I'll be heading to the Pryor Mountains of Montana and Wyoming for a two week trek to seek out and photograph a few bands of wild horses, featured in a handful of Nature documentaries and the subject of ongoing controversy.The horses reside in a protected area known as the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, which spans the Montana/Wyoming border. The area is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This federal agency is responsible for determining the "appropriate management level" of horses and burros on public land. As you might expect, there is a longstanding debate over what constitutes an "appropriate" population of wild horses. Ranchers, who profit by allowing their livestock to graze on public lands, lobby for fewer wild horses. Animal rights activists and horse enthusiasts lobby to leave the horses alone, allowing nature to keep their population in check. The BLM is caught in the middle, trying to keep everyone happy but never really able to satisfy anyone.
It is believed these horses, known as mustangs, are of Spanish ancestry, introduced to the Pryor Mountains about 200 years ago. They are a smaller horse (about 14 hands), sturdy and well-suited to living in rugged terrain. They form herds, or bands. Each band is comprised of a lead stallion and about 5 or 6 mares and youngsters. Band dynamics change constantly, and younger bachelor stallions regularly vie for control over a group of mares. There are about 130 horses living in the Range, with about 20-30 foals born each year.
We'll be camping out for most of the two-week adventure, up at first light (the best light for taking pictures) and sleeping in a tent or - even better - under the stars. I've heard there's a backpacker's cabin (of sorts) that we might have to hang out in if the weather is bad. I've also heard that it's impossible to get any sleep there with the mice and squirrels (and worse?) running over you throughout the night. Sleeping conditions notwithstanding, I'm really looking forward to getting out into the wilderness, with the horses and the wildflowers and the solitude.
The photograph isn't mine. It is by Deb Little, the talented photographer who I have the privilege of accompanying on this trip.
