CLOUD-WILD MUSTANG OF THE PRYOR MOUNTAINS

As the Pryor Mountains in southern Montana and northern Wyoming catch the clouds so, too, do they catch another cloud...a famous, almost to the level of "super-star," mustang stallion that humans have named Cloud. Cloud is a nineteen year old Pryor Mustang made famous by three documentaries on PBS about him and his herd.

The Pryor Mustangs are genetically related to the horses brought to the Americas by the Spaniards. Wild horses have been running free in the Pryor Mountains since the late 1600's. By the early 1900's they numbered in the thousands. Many were rounded up or killed to make way for grazing of cattle. By 1964, there were only 200 wild horses left. The herd is now protected by the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act. This law gave responsibility to maintain the herds to the BLM.

Since that time, the BLM has attempted to improve the mustang's range land through several measures including improving access to water. However, the BLM has set a very low "Optimum Herd Number" of just 120 horses for the Pryor Mountain herd. This necessitates several programs to keep the herd size under control, considering that a wild mustang herd can double in size in just 4 years. The Cloud Foundation, which, like me, supports the use of PZP, a temporary contraceptive, fears the permanent sterilization techniques proposed by some in the BLM. You can read more about The Cloud Foundation here:  http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/

Now, a little about Cloud himself! Cloud is a pale palomino. His unique color saved him from capture by the BLM. Actually, they captured him in one of their round-ups but let him go because of his color.  His life has been documented by film maker Ginger Kathrens. You can watch one of her documentaries here:  https://youtu.be/hJyoqdNChJk  He is quite a super-star. One thing going for him is that his herd lives in an area where the horses are easy to observe and many tourists have come to see the horses in the wild.

Cloud is short and stocky, typical of the Pryor Mountain Mustangs. People who have adopted and trained these mustangs love them for their strength, sure-footedness and their stamina.

In my newest book: In the Heart of a Mustang, I focus on adoption as a great answer for managing the mustang herds as well as the ability horses have to be healers for troubled teens.

 If you are interested in learning more about mustang adoption, go to the BLM website. Click here: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/adoption_program/schedule.html

Warning: You need to know what you are doing if you want to train any horse...they are big and powerful, not just beautiful! I have trained all three of my horses and have the broken bones to prove it!

In the Heart of a Mustang is available on the website: www.dancinghorsepress.com

or wherever books are sold. It is available in print or Ebook versions