July 15, 2013 Day six

Woke up early to head off to a favorite “off the beaten path place”: The Wild Horse Sanctuary.  Here hundreds of horses live a wild and free life.  We went on the two-hour tour, enjoying bumping along through the fields and dirt roads to have the chance to see wild and rescued horses living on a 13,000 acre sanctuary.    The plight of horses that either have owners who cannot or will not care for them, or ones who live on Federal land that cannot support so many animals, is very sad.  We are glad to support this non-profit organization that strives to treat these animals with great respect.  The horses look healthy and happy in this environment. 

The land is also beautiful and has been used as the set for filming several movies, such as Crazy Horse and Hidalgo, as well as having a site for an annual Lakota Sun Dance ceremony.    The man who started the sanctuary, Dayton O. Hyde, has been made an honorary member of the Lakota tribe.

Because of the glut of horses on the market leading to more and more horse being abandoned, the sanctuary has chosen to use birth control to keep the numbers in check. 

There are always a few new colts, including some Choctaw Indian Ponies, who just had a baby white colt.  Adorable!

Following that tour, we went to the home of Patti’s old co-worker, Maggie, and her husband, Jeff.  Patti and Maggie worked together nearly 20 years ago, and were so pleased to have a chunk of time together to get caught up on each other’s lives.  Maggie and Jeff are recent transplants to South Dakota, having lived in the Yucatan of Mexico for two years.  One of the interesting things about Jeff is that he is part of the local Search and Rescue team, and he carries with him at all times his rescue gear and radio.  We heard many tales of the intensive training and dedication of these rescue workers. They help when people are lost in the woods, are injured, help in evacuations for wild fires, and other emergency situations.

Maggie went along with us on a visit to Jewel Cave national Monument, the third longest cave in the entire world.  We had a wonderful tour going through the cave and learning about all of the historical and current cave explorations.  The 750+ steps foot the scenic tour and seeing the formations WAS fun.  This cave is really interesting for all of its networks of tiny passages.  The minerals that gave the cave its name are similar to those inside a geode, hence the name Jewel Cave.

Patti tried out going through the test box to see how small many of the cave openings are for the explorers or the “wild cave tour” (which we did NOT go on).  We took the educational, scenic tour.  None of us thought that squeezing your body through tight tiny places for hours at a time sounded like fun.

We went and picked up Jeff and headed off to Custer State Park, named recently by a touring company as one of the top ten wildlife parks in the world.  We enjoyed a village of prairie dogs, some dear and antelope, but the highlights were a herd of wild donkeys, and then bison.    The donkeys were mostly curious and friendly towards the visitors.  Especially if you had brought carrots or apples, which luckily we had a bag of carrots along with us.  They would eat right out of your hand and it was so special to feed and pet them. 

We also saw a male Pronghorn Antelope that was surprisingly close.  They are such beautiful animals and can run up to 60 miles per hour.

We saw a number of solitary male bisons.  They are so huge but we know they are very agile and can run up to 40 mph.  It is dangerous to get too close to them, especially when on foot.   This is one of the world’s largest bison herds. We saw more bulls, lots of cows and lots of calves.  The little calves were so playful and filled with fun. We left the park as the sun was setting, all feeling so satisfied at the wonderful animal experiences we shared together

We were very fortunate that at one point our car drove slowly next to a gigantic male bison that walked beside us on the road for a half-mile.  He watched us, and we watched him (pretty carefully to just make sure we were safe).  He only left us when another car came the other way.  It was a very intimate experience.  

We left the park as the sun was setting, all feeling so satisfied at the wonderful animal experiences we shared together.

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