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Mustangs: Spirit of the Shrinking West_National Geographic magazine 2/2009 138 images Created 1 Apr 2021

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  • Wild horses thunder across parched desert wilderness on public lands in Nevada. Dust kicks up as their hooves pound the scorched, barren rangelands. Mustangs are a mystic symbol of freedom, courage and the rugged, untamed American West.
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  • Hiding behind a jute fence, a cowboy watches as a helicopter drives wild horses into a trap. A “Judas” horse that is trained to run into a corral dupes the frightened horses into following. A gate slams shut and they are captured in a Bureau of Land Management roundup.
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  • A foal stands out in the herd as mustangs head down a dusty trail to a waterhole. Wild horse herds have a distinct social order and as with other animals that live in large groups, establishment of a stable hierarchical system reduces aggression. A lead or “alpha” mare guides the herd to food and water while stallions follow behind protecting their bands from predators and threats.
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  • Phantom, a charismatic stallion, challenges a rival stud after he was captured then released with a herd in California's Wild Horse Sanctuary. He roamed free on public lands in the Nevada wilderness for 17 years leading his band of mustangs out of the mountains and through the valley to water.
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  • A curious yearling approaches warily and wind-blown, shedding his shaggy winter coat. Although cautious, the horses’ ears are forward showing interest and openness. Horses are very social. Young ones play fight and gallop showing little fear as they test their skills while they navigate the hierarchy among members of a wild horse herd. These horses are descendants of a herd bred for the US Cavalry in the 1800s. Rounded up during WWI and WWII, they were shipped to Europe serving as "War Horses" pulling artillery and serving as mounts.
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  • A rumble of thunder, crack of lightning, and winds blow dark clouds across the prairie alerting a mustang herd that a summer storm approaches. When the sky opened with torrents of rain, the nervous young wild horses bolted to outrun the storm.
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  • An illusive band of wild horses crests a ridge under a full moon and a night sky. Horse sleep only a few hours a night ever on guard for their safety from predators.
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  • A ghostly gray horse stealthily emerges from the darkness of a dark summer night under a full moon.
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  • Wild horses exhibit a "fight or flight" instinct typical of prey animals. As a noise startles the band, the horse on the right flees, the middle one quickly turns to follow while the mustang on the left looks back to see the threat and why the alarm was sounded for them to run to safety.<br />
<br />
South Steens wild horse herd located south of Frenchglen in the high desert country with extremely rocky surfaces divided by deep canyons, rim rocks and plateaus.
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  • An alert, young foal with interesting markings and roan colors is part of a herd of approximately 120 wild horses in the Pryor Mountains. <br />
Foals are often born with a pale shade of their adult color. In the wild, the dull colored coat camouflages babies from predators. However, they typically shed their fuzzy foal coat at three or four months of age and evolve into their adult coloration.<br />
The herd range is in the high meadows down through rugged juniper-covered foothills to colorful desert-like badlands that border the green fields of Crooked Creek Valley. Bureau of Land Management's Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Wyoming.
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  • Bachelor mustangs spar and mock battle to practice their fighting moves and build up the courage to challenge a stallion to steal mares for their own bands. A thick blanket of fog made it tough for the dominant stallion to keep a watchful eye to protect his band.
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  • Tension mounts as two battle-scarred wild stallions face off. In a wild horse herd, the dominant stallion is challenged by other studs in a brutal quest for hierarchy. Eye to eye, the horses stare and smell each other which is the beginning of the fight ritual. Many mustang studs have missing ears, and their bodies are battle-scarred from bite marks and strikes from front hooves.
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  • Two stallions battle for dominance in a war dance of wild horses showing typical fighting behavior in a herd. Many mustang studs have missing ears, and their bodies are battle-scarred from bite marks and strikes from front hooves. <br />
The mustangs' primitive markings are consistent with ancient coloration of horses brought to North America by the Spanish Conquistadors in the 1600s.
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  • Two gray stallions put their heads together to smell a territorial marking. Although it may look friendly, the mustangs are exhibiting behavior typical in a wild horse herd when studs are vying for dominance. At this point, they may fight or walk away to battle another time.
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  • Two wild stallions eye each other and begin a ritual to establish dominance. They paw the ground establishing their turf and next they will either walk away or fight. Horses are prey animals with a strong "fight-or-flight" response where they flee for safety but they defend themselves or stand their ground when their hierarchy is challenged.
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  • After ritualistic pawing and sniffing, an aggressive gray stallion goes for the throat of another wild horse in a confrontation to establish dominance. Fur flies as the stallion rears back, caught off guard at the attack. Although many conflicts are short and not so brutal, serious injuries can occur as stallions fight. Many mustang studs have missing ears, and their bodies are battle-scarred from bite marks and strikes from front hooves. <br />
White Sands herd from the missile range in Utah have a rare gaited gene.
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  • A mare and foal crest a hill under darkening gray skies of a looming storm in South Dakota.  The silhouetted pair are part of the Gila herd of wild horses with Spanish origin that came to North America with the Conquistadors in the 1600s.
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  • A blue-eyed Palomino mare approaches for a closer look. The U.S. government released Thoroughbred horses at Nevada’s Sheldon range to mix with the Standardbred bloodlines making a bigger, faster “war horse.” During World War I and II, horses were rounded up from Sheldon, loaded onto railroad cars and taken to the East Coast where they were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. Horses that survived the journey had a bit placed in their mouths and began to pull artillery or serve as a cavalry mount. A shipment of 500 horses left every day and a half to supply American and Allied troops.  Nearly eight million horses died in World War I alone. <br />
Remnants of the “war horse” herds roamed free until they were totally removed from the Sheldon National Wildlife Range.
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  • A band of wild horses follow single file to water as they roam the wide open spaces near Pilot Butte a unique formation that stands out in the high desert on public lands in western Wyoming.
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  • Curious foals are drawn to a water hole making a reflective, pastoral scene as the herd grazes in early spring in South Dakota.
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  • Protected wild horses come to a water hole drinking in order of dominance in the herd. Ears perked forward, the curious mustang shows no fear.
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  • Under a threatening storm, a herd of horses crosses a stream following the lead mare. In a wild horse herd, she leads them to food and water while the stallions follow behind to guard. A herd is similar to a neighborhood and made up of bands that are like families. These horses have dark dorsal stripes and primitive markings. They are genetic descendants of the Gila herd that came with Spanish Conquistadors to North America in the 1600s.
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  • Strong winds blow rain from a storm cloud that violently erupts with loud claps of thunder that sends a band of horses running for safety. The young foal runs behind, following her mother and another mare.<br />
The wild horse herd nervously watched as a storm approached in central South Dakota. When lightning and thunder began, they galloped to a far away fence where they could go no further. The "fight or flight" instinct of behavior is powerful and horses often panic and flee when they sense danger.
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  • Young studs playfully practice their moves to fight for dominance in the White Sands Herd. A well placed bite may give one an advantage in a battle for mares during breeding season. The instinctual training is to insure preservation of the strongest in the herd. Brutal fights can leave mustangs scarred and injured so the yearlings practice as they mature.
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  • As night falls, a blur of galloping horses reveals a stud that is chasing a younger male from the band. When males come of age showing sexual maturity, they are driven from the family to find a mate. It is believed this is their natural way of warding off inbreeding. The younger horse must find other males to form a bachelor band or win a mare for his own.
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  • Evening on the ranch, a young cowboy stands under a full moon with his trained former mustang, Paiute. Decked out with a black hat, a sheriff's badge and red cape, Tanner follows in the footsteps of his mother who trains wild horses and learned the talents of her grandfather.
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  • Wild horses create a cloud of dust as they gallop making trails across dry, sagebrush-covered public lands. Trails mark paths the horses follow in their trek through the barren desert of the Bureau of Land Management's Jackson Mountains searching for water and food.<br />
Nearly half the wild horses in the U.S. live in Nevada where they compete for food, water and territory with cattle, other wildlife, and oil gas and mineral exploration. Drought and wild land fire place greater pressures on the scrappy herd that survives on little to nothing in the Winnemucca rangeland.
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  • A helicopter circles back to drive a herd of wild horses across the desert toward a trap in a roundup by the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada. Dust rises as the panicked horses flee the buzzing noise above them. Drought and wild land fire create stressful conditions with little water and food available for the herd.
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  • A cloud of dust rises as two helicopters guide 870 mustangs across the desert into a trap. They were rounded up from the Winnemucca Rangeland Area after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) determined that the number of wild horses there could not be supported on public land. Drought and wild fires created a dire situation for the horses, but advocates of mustangs believe horse herds are systematically being eliminated from western lands.<br />
Although there were as many as two million mustangs at the turn of the century, their numbers are much smaller and reduced regularly by these BLM gathers.
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  • Mustangs gallop in a tight pack as hired contractors herd large numbers of horses into a trap chasing them with helicopters. Nearly panicked, they are tricked to follow a tame “Judas” horse let loose in the confusion. The trained horse runs along the jute fence and into a corral expecting food and the wild horses that follow are captured.<br />
The Jackson Mountain Herd consists of mostly brown and dun colored horses. Most were dehydrated and hungry from drought conditions on Bureau of Land Management public lands in Nevada.
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  • Bureau of Land Management contractors drive wild horses galloping toward a trap using helicopters. Wyoming rangelands have "checkerboard" ownership of adjoining public and private land complicating management of wild horse herds. Ranchers won a lawsuit to have them rounded up and removed.
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  • A Palomino mare follows a trail through the sagebrush with her newborn foal and other horses in their band. They grazed near a waterhole then moved to join the herd of wild mustangs that live in Oregon's high desert on public lands.
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  • An adopted former wild horse now works the Wyoming range with a sheepherder and dogs.<br />
Dot, white mustang, was trained by prison inmates and then bought by rancher owners at a public auction. The docile horse earned his keep one week later when he saved the life of a shepherd who was lost in a blinding snow storm. The rider dropped the reins trusting the horse to find his way back home in spite of the blizzard.
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  • Wild horses kick up dust as they gallop through the dry Nevada desert. Horses survive on little living on barren public lands in the American West.
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  • Wild horse hooves kick up dirt as the herd  gallops through the dry Nevada desert. A camera was set on a remote as panicked mustangs ran into a trap during a Bureau of Land Management roundup.
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  • Dust settles as wild horses come to a halt, trapped after running from a helicopter during a Bureau of Land Management roundup. Drought and wild land fire created stressful conditions for the rugged, wily and skinny equine who barely survived eating twigs and dried up grasses.
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  • Palomino Valley houses wild horses captured on public lands that are processed and prepared for adoption. A Bureau of Land Management facility in Nevada, mustangs trucked there are fed hay, vaccinated, given a freeze-mark brand and placed in corrals where they wait to be adopted or moved to another facility making room for more captured horses. There is little to no shelter from the sun in the barren facility.
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  • A wild stallion attempts to escape but is roped by cowboys during a Bureau of Land Managment roundup. The wily wild horse whinnied to the other trapped horses, then tried to outrun his captures.
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  • Contractors wrestle with a foal attempting to load the colt into the back of a trailer after the herd was captured during a Bureau of Land Management roundup of wild horses in Wyoming.
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  • Foals hover in a corner of the pen, separated from mares and stallions following the round up by the Bureau of Land Management. Mothers nearby call out trying to find their young ones that are frightened and huddle together for safety.
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  • A herd of mustangs move across the grasslands as a summer storm builds over the high plains. It is believed that over two million wild horses roamed the largely unfenced American West in the 1900s.
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  • A wary foal stands with his mother near other mares in the herd as they graze together.<br />
Foals are often born with a pale shade of their adult color. In the wild, the dull colored coat camouflages babies from predators. However, they typically shed their fuzzy foal coat at three or four months of age and evolve into their adult coloration.
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  • Golden light of early morning illuminates fog lifting around horses in a pasture at Wild Horse Sanctuary in Northern California.
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  • Head lowered and ears laid back in an aggressive posture, a stallion is "herding" or "snaking" or to control his mare and foal. The white mustang is also sending a warning to others. Wild stallions protect their families and this behavior is in reaction to a threat to his band.
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  • Dot, a former wild horse, patiently waits under a guard dog's watchful eye as a sheepherder checks on the animals in his care.<br />
After the mustang was trained by prison inmates, the horse was sold at auction. He earned respect the first week on the ranch in the Wyoming range when he found his way back to the corral in a blizzard saving the life of his mount.
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  • Wild horses graze at an abandoned industrial site near a waterhole in Nevada. The scrappy equine are survivors on sparse, dry range as they roam across state, private and public federal land.
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  • A horse trainer on a wild mustang gallops full tilt across the Nevada desert leaving a cloud of dust. He had thirty days to train a wild horse for a competition in the first Extreme Mustang Makeover established to show off abilities of adopted wild horses.
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  • A photographer holds a cracked housing for remote cameras used to photograph wild horses stampeding.
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  • A photographer sets a camera trap at a water hole so a laser beam will trip the shutter to photograph wild horses.
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  • Kitty learned to train horses from her grandfather and now, she works with mustangs and difficult horses on her western ranch. Her daughter rides one of the many wild horses she has tamed and trained.
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  • Lightning bolt strikes and a rainbow appears as sun sets during summer storm season. The gate is closed tightly at the end of a long work day.
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  • Born in the cover of a dark night, a foal slowly takes his first steps to walk beside his mother at dawn. Young foals are stand and walk within minutes of birth. Instincts drive the mares to move their newborns to safety. The mare has a freeze brand on her neck indicating she was once a wild horse captured by the Bureau of Land Management.
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  • A wild mustang trudges through snow pawing at drifts foraging for grasses to survive on in the Ochoco Mountains.
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  • A stallion nips at at another stud as they fight for dominance in a wild horse herd. Dust rises as the pair clash in the dry summer months in the West.
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  • Ears pointed forward, a wild Palomino canters blurring at a fast pace through grasslands and prairie. Palominos are recognized by the color of horse distinguished by their cream, yellow, or gold coat and white or silver mane and tail. The Palomino horse is said to have originated in Spain around 1519, at the beginning of the Spanish New World and Cortez's reign. Although the exact development of these horses is unknown, their origin is rooted in Spain. Ears tipped forward indicate excitement or interest.
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  • A yearling finds a low lying limb on a tree to scratch his back.
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  • A former wild horse, adopted and trained, now works the Wyoming range with a sheepherder and his dog. Owners find that mustangs are sure-footed on a trail and spook less than domesticated horses.
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  • Horses flee from helicopters in a Bureau of Land Management mustang roundup. Bands stay together to protect the younger wild horses as the herd gallops full speed trying to run to safety.
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  • Skeleton of a wild horse likely killed by a cougar in the high desert has teeth intact in the skull. The horse's natural enemies are predator animals: mountain lions, wolves and humans.
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  • A mare watches over a newborn foal that is her grandson, scolding him for trying to nurse with her. Although he is minutes old and just standing for the first time, she is teaching him his first life lessons while his mother rests after just giving birth.
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  • Phantom, a charismatic white mustang, fights a roan stallion at the Wild Horse Sanctuary. He was captured by the U.S. Forest Service and rescued by loyal fans who raised money to save him. Once released with other horses, he was tested for hierarchy in the herd.
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  • A sleek stud challenges a paint stallion as they clashed near a water hole in Oregon's high desert. Wild horses drink in order of hierarchy that is determined by their dominance. Their hooves thud when pounding each other in a fight within the herd.
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  • Two young foals explore a scratching post tree after watching other horses in the herd pass under it  creating a well-worn path.
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  • A herd of colorful mustangs including Paints and Palominos graze through sagebrush as evening approaches. After stopping at the waterhole, they headed toward salt licks and to roll taking dust baths in Oregon's high desert.
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  • A wild horse takes a dust bath by rolling  in the dirt.  It may be a sign he is happy or it may be to self-clean his coat by eliminating extra oils and to discourage insects.<br />
The more dominant horses will have a favourite rolling spot and will be the last to roll in it. This means that their scent is the strongest and therefore their rank is higher within the herd.
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  • An older red stallion scarred from bites and fights intently watches a challenging stud. Battles for dominance in a wild horse herd can be brutal.
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  • Young studs playfully mock battle to earn confidence to battle a stallion. They practice their moves by chasing, biting, kicking and fighting.
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  • Two yearling mock battle to earn confidence to battle a stallion. As they mature, stallions fight for dominance in a herd.
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  • A protected wild mustang foal naps in a meadow near his mother. Newborn horses sleep up to twelve hours during the day, but graduate to adults that sleep only three hours -- and often standing.
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  • A young foal rests in a bed of chamomile flowers creating an idyllic scene as he watches the herd graze. Newborn horses sleep up to twelve hours during the day, but graduate to adults that sleep only three hours -- and often standing.
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  • A pattern of light streaks across a young cowboy who competes in a horse show with his trained formerly wild mustang. Special competitions for trained wild horses draws interest in their abilities when adopted.
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  • A frisky mustang foal romps in a meadow.<br />
Foals are often born with a pale shade of their adult color. In the wild, the dull colored coat camouflages babies from predators. However, they typically shed their fuzzy foal coat at three or four months of age and evolve into their adult coloration.
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  • Wild horses stand opposite ways to flick flies off each others faces with their tails.
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  • A wild horse struggles to find food in the snow packed Ochoco mountains. They are adept at pawing at ground under trees where drifts are not as deep.
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  • Stallions battle for mares during the foaling season which is generally in the spring, There are constant conflicts that interrupt the wild horse's grazing habits.
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  • A wild horse's mane flies forward as the stallion stands after rolling to take a dirt bath on a foggy morning. The more dominant horses will have a favourite rolling spot and will be the last to roll in it. This means that their scent is the strongest and therefore their rank is higher within the herd.
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  • Wild horses wade in a waterhole to drink and cool off on a summer evening in the Wild Horse Sanctuary.
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  • Former wild horses are rewarded with oats after a long day working a Wyoming ranch with sheepherders. Camp is set up near the sheep and herders live on the range.
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  • Dot, a former wild horse now works the Wyoming range with a sheepherder. He is tame enough for trick riding and is a patient, obedient, old soul.
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  • A young stud lifts his lip catching a whiff of a mare in heat. The Flehmen response is a biological reaction to smell where an animal curls back the upper lip and senses pheromones.
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  • A charismatic mustang stallion looks like a white horse on a merry-go-round as he arches his neck and proudly walks through a flowering meadow in the Wild Horse Sanctuary. Phantom was well-known in the wild, and after capture, his fans raised money to find him a safe home with his band.
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  • A bachelor band of wild horses stick together to face into the wind picking up scents. Older studs join younger ones forming a family when none have mares or are accepted into another group.
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  • Stallions kick up their heels as they spar in a battle for mares during the foaling season.
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  • A former wild horse stands steadfast while patiently waiting for a shepherd to check on a lamb as they work together on the Wyoming range.
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  • A young cowgirl sits atop a tall, tamed and trained, former mustang at the family ranch.
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  • Two mustangs groom each other, a common social behavior among wild horses. The mutual grooming brings heads together and reaffirms bonding between horses, reducing social tension within a herd.
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  • A powerful, wild stallion with ears pinned back and a mouthful of grass breaks from grazing to chase a challenging stud in the horse herd.
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  • Two paint mustangs playfully bite while grazing at South Steens mountain in Oregon. The wild horses are friends and hang out with other bachelors in the herd.
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  • A young mustang foal romps to play in a meadow running circles around his mother while she grazes with other mares in the horse herd.
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  • Foals are often born with a pale shade of their adult color. In the wild, the dull colored coat camouflages baby horses from predators. They typically shed their fuzzy foal coat, however, and at three or four months of age evolve into their adult coloration.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7517_1222787.jpg
  • A trainer rides down a steep embankment trusting his sure-footed mustang. Many adopters of wild horses say they are calm and confident when riding on a trail.
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  • Trainers gather at the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame the night before a wild horse competition, Extreme Mustang Makeover. All dressed in white hats and shirts, they met for opening ceremonies and instructions for the next day.
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  • Spectators donning cowboy hats fill a Texas stadium to watch trained wild horses in the Extreme Mustang Makeover competition. Thirty trainers were given unhandled wild horses and thirty days to train them. The competition is organized to show off the skills, talents, and trainability of wild horses. They were auctioned off to the public following the two day event.
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  • A cowboy competes with his newly-trained wild horse in the Extreme Mustang Makeover. Thirty trainers were given unhandled young Bureau of Land Management horses and thirty days to prepare. Judges scored them on how well the horses performed certain tasks and an open program to show off more talents. Horses were auctioned off to the public following the event which featured mustangs strengths and trainability.
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  • A white-hat tops a cowboy who competes with the wild horse he trained in thirty days for the Extreme Mustang Makeover. For this exercise in the competition, the horse is turned in circles keeping inside the square of orange cones.
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  • A patient cowboy trainer works with his mustang to for the Extreme Mustang Makeover competition. The two-year old Nevada horse had never been handled and within thirty days he was trained and ready to show off their abilities.
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  • A dog rides in the saddle on the back of a horse at the Extreme Mustang Makeover. The wild horse had bonded with the canine as a companion. Riders waited their turn to enter the ring.
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  • Prison inmates train wild horses and ride them under the watchful eye of a corrections officer in a program run by Wyoming's Warm Springs Correctional Center. Inmates bond with the horses but they are auctioned off to the public after they are handled which makes them more adoptable.
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  • A cowboy and his girlfriend calm his mustang before competition at a wild horse show.
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  • A captured wild horse eyes his surroundings after loaded onto a trailer following a roundup by the Bureau of Land Management.
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