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Wildflowers and wild horsesBy Doug Rich Wildflowers are not the only wild things on Rex and Amy Hamilton's farm. They also raise registered Pryor Mountain Mustangs. Amy Hamilton said a friend from Wyoming, who was working on their farm to learn about native grasses, introduced them to these horses. Pryor Mountain Mustangs come from a very remote area along the Wyoming-Montana border. The area is surrounded by steep canyons, a mountain range, and desert, which isolated the Pryor Mountain Mustangs and kept them more pure than other mustang herds in the western U.S. These horses have a direct genetic link to the horses brought here by the Spanish Conquistadors 500 years ago. Blood typing has verified that these mustangs are descendents of the Colonial Spanish Horses. "We have two horses in our herd that were adopted from the wild," Hamilton said. "Another one came from a person who is raising the mustangs and then we raised the rest ourselves." Hamilton said they have around 20 of these mustangs on their farm. They are not a very big horse, averaging around 14.2 hands tall. "Mother Nature selected these horses over a 200 year period of time," Hamilton said. "The result is a horse that is stout, sturdy, and does not need a lot of extra care." Pryor Mountain Mustangs come in a wide array of colors. The duns raised by the Hamilton family have dramatic dark dorsal stripes along their backs with distinctive shoulder stripes and zigzagged stripes on the legs. The markings on the legs resemble zebra stripes. Although they would like to sell some of their mustangs, Amy Hamilton said, they are not big in the horse business. They just enjoy riding and raising these very unique wild horses. Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com. 8/4/08 Date: 7/31/08
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