The Place Where the Wind Lives
Wild Horses on the Yakima Nation Indian Reservation
Yakima, WA 98908
United States of America
I travel through the reservation several times a week and wanted to share my experience on finding these animals in their natural habitat. Sometime back in 2004 I recall Bush signing some bill in regards to eradicating wild horses on federal lands. I was disturbed about how these animals were destroyed, but understood the reasons for the need to control the population but thought there was probably a better solution.
In 2006 there was an aerial count of 4534 horses, and this is a lot of animals to manage as there are elk and other animals that share the same habitat. The Yakima have stated that they are a sovereign nation and will manage their animals as they deem correct and they are doing just that. The Yakima have a Wild Horse Project (K'u-see) and for $100 dollars you can adopt a wild horse. The Yakima program also will harness train and actually break the horse so it can be ridden. This is an extra charge and is determined by the the program.
Just a few miles into the reservation south of Toppenish on highway 97, you will find horses on both sides on the road. I was curious why they were so close to a populated area ,but I would suspect the abundance of water and agriculture just a few miles away in a large valley was probable. I had been through this reservation many times and only had seen a few horses here and there and did not really consider this of much importance. I thought if I could get to the reservation right before sunrise I would probably see more of these horses to substantiate the claims of so many horses.
This past Saturday, 10/25/08 I decided to go to the reservation early, set up my tripod, camcorder, and take a few videos and pictures of the mustang herd of the Yakima Nation. I was really surprised when I saw hundreds of horses were I had only seen a few. I also had seen a gray horse further south on 97 and I wanted to find him as I figured he was a stud. He had a black mane and tail and I did get a picture and was surprised he had a solid white face, which I have determined is a common face of most of the gray horses. I hope you enjoy the pictures and videos of these beautiful animals.
Published by Okgah
Born in Cincinnati, OhiO in 1954 USCF Visalus Distributor Technical Director/QA Manger View profile
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11 Comments
Post a Commentgreat job! Hugz CJ
I talked to a man that lives in out complex and works for the tribe as a law enforcement officer and he told me indeed someone is shooting these horses, these killings are senseless and only thing I can think of is someone is killing them for coyote bait or just plain meaness.
my brother, a long haul trucker, thought he counted over 10 dead horses this weekend. is someone looking for the bastard?
my brother, a long haul trucker, thought he counted over 10 dead horses this weekend. is someone looking for the bastard?
I just called Tribal and they are aware of the dead horses and verified that someone is shooting them. Not much else I can do in regards to the senseless killings.
I was just talking to a young man that works for me and said he saw two dead horses last time he went to Goldendale. I care for sure, I asked the same question is someone shooting these creatures, or diseased, or what. I will see if I can get any information from the tribe.
My concern is lately in the past 2 weeks I have noticed 4 mustangs dead. This is all happening in a 8 mile stretch of Hwy 97. I am upset that because I see these horses on a daily basis and they were healthy looking. This needs to be addressed.. Is someone shooting these horses from the Hwy or what? They are not just dying one by one. There seems to be a pattern. Can someone answer to what is happening or does no-one care?
I would love to go visit this place.
When referring to the tribe, you should spell Yakama with all "a's". Yakima with a "i" refers to the city, river, county, etc. But don't just take my word for it. You will see this is true if you look at the Legends Casino website or the Yakama National Cultural Resource Center in Toppenish. The tribe operates both. (fellow associated content writer and resident that lives 40 miles from Toppenish)
Enjoyed viewing the videos, Mike but appreciated more after reading your article. You're so lucky friend, for having the experience to go around the Yakima Nation Indian Reservation and explore the creatures such as the wild horses aside from the winds that live there,(smile). However we're much luckier to have a friend who give us the opportunity to read articles like this thats so informative, unheard at the regular news, so thankful you're there to share. Your efforts are not worthless. (I can also see your love for horses, how I wish you could get that one gray horse with a solid white face) (smile).