Many wild animals captivate us, but few compare to the glorious image of a lone stallion running unbridled across the open range with his herd. Breathtakingly, mustangs come in all colors and sizes - paints, appys, buckskins, and palominos. These beautiful mares with frisky foals and big, strong, bold stallions all evoke passion, freedom and unsurpassed beauty. In the early 19th century, more than 2 million of these wild horses roamed free in the American West; today, only about 25,000 remain. What has happened to all the wild horses? We travel to the “Gateway of the West” to find the answer. Our journey begins at the foot of the sacred Bear Butte. Long known for its mystique, Bear Butte majestically overlooks the infamous Black Hills of South Dakota— a national treasure of the West. Offering more than 6,000 square miles of unglaciated wilderness blanketed in pine, the unique, massive rock formations of the Black Hills create a stillness like no other. We make our camp and hike through Wind Cave, which offers us more than 100 miles of passageways to choose from. We summit Harney Peak, the highest point East of the Rockies and West of the Swiss Alps, for a panoramic view of this mysterious land.
We head northeast to a beautiful 680-acre preserve where more than 300 wild mustangs roam free. It’s here we discover a deeper understanding of wild horses, herd behavior and the politics surrounding them. Mustangs have been federally protected since 1971—under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act—from capture, branding, harassment or killing. Recently, this law was revoked. In 2005 the Consolidated Appropriations Bill was passed to allow the sale of wild horses for processing into commercial products, opening the door for long-protected mustangs to be slaughtered for human consumption overseas. Since then many states have lost their entire wild horse and burro populations.
We join the oldest wild horse and burro organization in the United States to work alongside them to help prevent the elimination of herds and work towards a solution that will raise public awareness on the need to protect wild horses on public lands. After our orientation, we work caring for three separate and unique wild horse herds: the White Sands, Gild and Catnip herds. Our work is both physical and mental, as we create a more sustainable means to preserve the future of the mustangs by maintaining fencing and stalls, feeding young “orphaned” foals, monitoring herd behavior, assisting in the feeding and care of injured stallions and ultimately, educating others.
With our work completed, we travel south to the Rosebud Reservation, where the Sicangu band of the Lakota Sioux lives. We work with the local university and a respected elder to understand the history, arts and traditions of the Lakota Sioux, as we experience ceremonies, hear stories firsthand and appreciate the relationship between all things — mitaku oyasin.
We then venture into the ethereal Badlands, where the peaks, gullies, buttes and prairies are full of traces of ancient life. With a population of 30,000 – mostly Native Americans or their descendants from the Sioux tribe – they are one of the most impoverished communities in the Western world. Unemployment hovers around 80 per cent and life expectancy is among the shortest for any group in the Western Hemisphere – just 47 for men, early 50’s for women.
The Badlands have long challenged and attracted the interest of travelers. We spend a night beside the White River before we return to the shade, water and stillness of the Black Hills. We camp among the pines of the Paha Sapa before traveling to view Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument. We end our journey by roping up to rock climb in the famous Needles area of Custer State Park. We venture up some of the best crags in the United States and enjoy two days on these famous rocks. For our final night, we head back to our base camp for our final campfire, and sleep beneath star-filled skies as we hope for a future of grandeur in this gateway to the West – and, for the mustangs which belong here.
| AGES |
DAYS
|
TUITION |
DATES |
ARRIVE/DEPART |
| 14–18 |
19 |
4,795 |
7/05–7/23
|
Rapid City, SD
|
