H. Alan Day - The Horse Lover: A Cowboys Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs

A great American story, and an inspiring tale of vision, courage, and hard-won wisdom. Its told with humor and grace and without pretension. And every reader is sure to find a horse to fall in love with in these pages.

Larry Watson, author of Montana 1948

A definite read for all those who love horses. Day and Sneyds book is sure to become an instant wild-horse classic in the spirit of J. Frank Dobie.

J. Edward de Steiguer, author of Wild Horses of the West

The Horse Lover is a very good illustration of the real western part of our nation. Day, a successful rancher and businessman, is honest and forthright in dealings with neighbors, employees, business associates, and especially the federal government. I recommend this reading.

Dennis DeConcini, former U.S. senator from Arizona

For every American who is stirred by the sight of wild mustangs running free, heres the inspiring saga of a man who changed his life to make it a reality. A book that will stir the soul of every horse lover and leave every one of them cheering.

Allan J. Hamilton, MD , author of Zen Mind, Zen Horse

The Horse Lover

A Cowboys Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs

H. Alan Day

With Lynn Wiese Sneyd

Foreword by Sandra Day OConnor

University of Nebraska Press | Lincoln and London

2014 by H. Alan Day

Some names in this account have been changed to protect peoples privacy.

Cover photo Joel Sartore/joelsartore.com.

All images courtesy of the author.

All rights reserved

Publication of this volume was assisted by a grant from the Friends of the University of Nebraska Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Day, H. Alan.

The horse lover: a cowboys quest to save the wild mustangs / H. Alan Day with Lynn Wiese Sneyd; foreword by Sandra Day OConnor.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-8032-5335-3 (cloth: alkaline paper)

ISBN 978-0-8032-5500-5 (epub)

ISBN 978-0-8032-5501-2 (mobi)

ISBN 978-0-8032-5499-2 (pdf)

1. MustangConservationSouth Dakota. 2. Wild horsesConservationSouth Dakota. 3. Day, H. Alan. 4. CowboysSouth DakotaBiography. 5. RanchersSouth DakotaBiography. 6. Wildlife conservationistsSouth DakotaBiography. 7. Wild horsesGovernment policyUnited States. 8. MustangGovernment policyUnited States. 9. Ranch lifeSouth Dakota. 10. South DakotaSocial life and customs. I. Sneyd, Lynn Wiese. II. OConnor, Sandra Day, 1930. III. Title.

SF 293. M 9 D 39 2014

599.665'5dc23 2013035591

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

This book is dedicated to fellow horse lovers everywhere.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That 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.

The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971

There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.

Winston Churchill

Contents

Illustrations

Foreword

When my brother, Alan, told me that he had agreed to keep fifteen hundred wild mustangs on his South Dakota ranch, I thought he had temporarily lost his common sense. It sounded like a very challenging task and a great deal harder than raising cattle, which he knew how to do very well. Indeed, Alan had been a cattle rancher all his adult life. But Alan was very enthusiastic about the mustang project and about seeing whether he and the mustangs could adjust to each other. Alan likes a challenge and the project was certainly that.

For more than four hundred years, wild mustangs have existed in the region that is now the western United States. They fared well before the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 reduced their habitat. But even in the last century there were many pockets of public land in the West where they could live free, breed, and multiply. But the pressures of the multiple-use policy of the Bureau of Land Management and the restricted uses of national forest and national park lands meant that many of the wild mustangs would be captured, sold, or destroyed. The wild horse and burro law dictated that the Bureau of Land Management was to capture many of them and care for them until they could be adopted. Sadly, many of them were not suitable for adoption. This opened the way for the project Alan undertook.

It is impossible to see a herd of wild horses running free without feeling a surge of excitement and enthusiasm for their vigor, power, and beauty. To watch them run with their manes and tails flying in the wind is to experience a sense of the ultimate freedom of motion.

This book tells the story of the Mustang Meadows project in a way that enables the reader to see and feel that excitement and to glimpse what was and what might have been with these splendid animals.

Sandra Day OConnor

Acknowledgments

Few books come to fruition without teamwork, and we were fortunate to gather and work with an exceptionally talented team. A special thank you to Sandra Day OConnor for encouragement that began long before the first draft even emerged and continued throughout the writing process. Stuart Krichevskys guiding wisdom early on kept us focused on a story about horses, horses, horses. Matt Bokovoy of the University of Nebraska Press grabbed this project and, along with Martyn Beeny and the rest of the folks at that fine organization, poured unending energy, vision, and support into it. We also were blessed to have the eyes and editing talents of Liza Wiemer, Meg Files, Nancy Wiese, Marina Day, Debra Brenegan, and Margo Barnes. A warm thank you to Ann and Kevin McQuade for sharing their writing sanctuary. And finally, to our families, who endured the writing process from the sidelines and never stopped cheering us onward, our love and appreciation always.

The Horse Lover

Part One

A Sexy Find

They were out there somewhere. I scanned the horizon through the pickups bug-spattered windshield. To the right, sunlight reflected off a small stream trickling in and out of view down the mountainside and meandering near this stretch of back road. Maybe they had been here. I pulled off the gravel, dragging a plume of dust, set the parking brake, and grabbed my binoculars from the front passenger seat. Hot wind whistled past me and bumped against the brown hills. I scouted for tracks in the soft, wet soil next to the stream. Not finding a one, I dredged up more patience and focused the binoculars on a distant ridge. This was the fifth time I had gone through this exercise since leaving Reno at sunrise. Sooner or later, Id find them.

I panned the ridge. Left to right, right to left across clumps of scrub cedar and outcroppings of rock. I was about to turn back when the slightest of movements caught my attention. There, at the top of the ridge, was what I had driven miles to see. I held my breath to keep the binoculars steady against the rush of adrenaline.