I got an email from my friend Cedric yesterday, announcing the birth of the first Pryor foal born this year (born yesterday!). This colt is also the first Pryor foal to be born in Europe. He has named him Onida.
Cedric agreed to give me some more information to share and I will let him tell his story. Thank you so much Cedric for sharing!
Sandy
I bought my first horses 9 years ago. Two colts. I had a small pasture or a large paddock and as long as I was not born with horses, I started to learn as much as possible about how horses living in the wild. And I found Ginger’s movie, on DVD.
This was my first encounter with the Pryor Mustangs. I got in contact with BLM to adopt one, but unfortunately, it’s not possible for non US resident. I’ve check some Pryor’s breeder websites and I met (by email) Bess Carnahan. I asked her about wild horses behavior when they were rounded up and how to gentle them. That was in 2005.
In 2007, I saw on Bess’s website a wild stallion for sale. It was Targa. He was born in 2002, from Starbuck (Starbuck is the sire of Capucino) and a mare called Mae West. Targa, who was called Chai by the BLM, was removed in 2006. He was proposed to internet adoption but the BLM had a problem with their website. He was on page 2 and this page has not been published. So nobody adopted him and the BLM finally asked Bess if she would buy him. She already had stallions but accepted. After one year, when she finally got the papers form the BLM, she put him for sale. And she has accepted to sell him to me.
But I had a kind of feeling of guilty. Targa was not born to spend his live in a bachelor band and to carry an human. He was born to live free and to have progeny. Bess Carnahan was ready to sell me Pryor mares born in captivity but the pasture / paddock I had was not suitable for a breeding program.
I’ve convince my wife to move and in the end of 2010, we bought an old farm, 30 miles away from our house and still 20 miles away form Geneva / Switzerland. While we were restoring the farm, I’ve agree with Bess to buy Media Noche, a black mare born in 2003 in captivity by El Cid, a born wild stallion by King and an unknown mare and by La Sombra, a daughter of the famous Shaman. With my family, we moved to the farm in July 2011 and Media Noche arrived in October 2011.
Unfortunately, Media Noche died 24 hours after she arrived. She probably didn’t support the stress of the travel. I was desperate and guilty to have make this poor mare endure such a long trip to die here. All my projects were stopped. I had to take some time for reflection. It came obvious that I had to go and see the wild Pryor horses. In August 2012, I’ve travel alone to the US to see them and to meet Bess for real.
I was on the range during the 2012 round up. I was thinking to buy a mare at the auction but once again, it was very complicated because the BLM don’t allow foreigners to adopt horses. But once again, Bess was there and accepted to sell me a daughter of Media Noche : Bella. She is a daughter of Chico, a stallion bought by Bess to the Hartman.
Bella spent 6 months at Steve Smith facility in Nebraska. He worked and gentle her enough to let her be able to endure the quarantine and the flight toward Europe.
Bella arrived at my place in March 2013 and after a few days to rest, she’s been introduced to Targa. They became a nice pair, very in love together.
Finally, one year after Bella and Targa’s meeting came Onida. It’s an O year for foals in the Pryors Mountains and I choose this name because it means in Iroquoian language “long awaited for”.
Like Hope Ryden, I can say, “Thank your, Pryor Mountain wild horses. You changed my life!”.
And the story is not finished! I’ll be back on the range next Summer with all my family and you, Sandy. I’m sure we will enjoy those coming days.
Cedric
Thank you Cedric and Sandy for sharing this.
What a great story. Thanks so much for sharing it Cedric and Sandy. The horses are beautiful and Oneida is adorable.
Wonderful post and story! 🙂 its so great to see the descendants of so many great horses living great lives like this in captivity and around the world! 🙂
Deos Bess have a web site ??
What a gorgeous little family! I love the colt’s name too 🙂
Thank you Cedric! Onida looks a lot like Dusty! Ginger met Dusty minutes after he had been born! He was buckskin like Onida but had no black markings on his legs. He’s in the third book about Cloud from Ginger and in the third video.
If you are coming on Aug perhaps well get to meet! I sure hope so cause I’d love to hear how your Pryor horses are doing! How awesome is it that cousins of Cloud are now in Europe!
What a wonderful story! The appreciation for this beautiful herd of horses has become international : )
What a beautiful foal! Congratulations, Cedric, and thank you and Sandy both for sharing the story. It is heart-warming to know how much Cedric loves the Pryor Mountain horses! Best Wishes for many years of enjoyment with your new foal and your other precious mustangs! 🙂
Oh my gosh! This is so cool! What a great story about the Pryor mustangs and the people who love them. thank you Sandy and Cedric for sharing. All the horses are so beautiful, and what a great little family. Targa almost looks like he has enough webbing on his face to be considered coyote dun, like Jackson—my favorite color—and I love that Starbuck has such a grand progeny. Bella and Onida are grand, as well. Thank you again, Cedric, for caring about the horses so much, and for sharing your story and pictures. 🙂
I was wondering if Targa is considered coyote dun too. I also think Onida may end up looking exactly like Bella. Such a beautiful little family.
Wow Targa looks a lot like his brother Cappuccino! I also had no idea that Mae West had at one time lived in the dryhead. Bella and Targa make quite the couple. Onida is adorable! And I think that is the perfect name! It’s great that you made your dream with the Pryor horses a reality. Thank you Sandy and Cedric for sharing!
Wow what a long way for a horse to travel! I’m glad they are both being well cared for. I also just recently learned horses can travel by plane which blew my mind.
Also this is a bit random Sandy but I think this will interest you. The New York Times Magazine which is published every Sunday has a column called the Ethicist. People write in questions about problems or questions they have about the ethics of a particular situation. Someone wrote in asking about the ethics of protecting wild horses in the USA and argued horses were an invasive species. I thought you might be interested in how the Ethicist responded to it: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/magazine/should-we-protect-wild-horses.html?ref=theethicist&_r=0
Thank you so much for that link Amelie! That was an interesting response they did have some very interesting points!
Glad you liked it! I just discovered the comments section of that article too–lots of people have very strong opinions about it! And it seems most agree wild horses should be protected.
Cedric, El Cid’s mother was the grulla mare Named Queen! 🙂 the one cloud gets in the first of Ginger’s films!
Thank you all for your replies. I’m always amazed to see that we all share the same incredible attraction for the Pryor mustangs. And thank you Sandy for getting us together on this blog.
Thank you again Cedric! I look forward to spending some time on the mountain with you and your family this summer!
Wow, what a story. It is amazing to think that a Pryor Mnt Horse now resides in Europe. I think it is wonderful. What a beautiful little baby. Looking forward to pictures as his little one grows. Thank you Cedric and thank you Sandy, so much,,
Thanks Jeannie! 🙂
Sandy, did you ever receive updates and pictures of the sweet Onida?? and Targa, Bella , the whole family? Did Cedric get to come back to the PMWHR with you this summer?
Great story. Thank you. Hope to go back to the Pryor this summer.
I took my 15 year old granddaughter to the Pryor a few summers ago. She says it was the best thing she ever experienced.