Mustang Meadows Ranch

Mustang Meadows Ranch

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
The creation of the first government-sponsored wild horse sanctuary in the US.

In 1988, Alan Day, brother of former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, purchased a 35,000-acre ranch in the Sand Hills of South Dakota. He already owned and managed two ranches and needed a third about as much as he needed a permanent migraine: that's what Alan said every time his friend pestered him about an old ranch in South Dakota. Getting back to South Dakota, an unbelievable opportunity dropped into his lap and he began an effort to establish a sanctuary for unadoptable wild horses previously warehoused by the Bureau of Land Management. After Day successfully lobbied Congress, those acres became Mustang Meadows Ranch, the first government-sponsored wild horse sanctuary established in the United States.  One of Alan Days amazing accomplishments was to train all 1500 wild horses to follow a man on horseback. Lynn Wiese co-authored a book entitled: The Horse Lover -- A Cowboy's Quest to Save Wild Mustangs. Here she is: "He was able to get 1500 wild horses to follow a man on horseback through pastures, through gates. They traveled up to 6 miles when they went to summer grazing."

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