Pryor Mountain mustangs: on the range or on the bring?

Author

Monica Gokey, The University of Montana

Year of Award

2012

Document Type

Professional Paper

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism

Department or School/College

School of Journalism

Committee Chair

Jule Banville

Commitee Members

Alison Perkins, Mark Hebblewhite

Keywords

mustang, Pryor Mountain, Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, Spanish mustang, wild horse

Abstract

At the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range straddling the Montana-Wyoming border, the fate of a herd of mustangs rests with the Bureau of Land Management and local horse conservationists. Nationally, the two sides are generally pitted against each other in the ugly world of horse politics. But in the Pryors, advocates and government have forged a tenuous partnership. Both sides want to see healthy horses on healthy range. And there could hardly be a better herd to benefit from such a truce. The Pryor Mountain mustangs have a unique genetic heritage at stake. The horses are some of the last surviving relics of an old-world horse lineage that dates back to the equines originally brought to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors. It’s a lineage on the cusp of being eclipsed in the wild.

Recommended Citation

Gokey, Monica, "Pryor Mountain mustangs: on the range or on the bring?" (2012). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 783.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/783