Wild Horses (literally)

One of my clients this past year, Happy Appy Wild Horses, is a new conservation group out of Tonasket, Washington. The town is a sleepy, small, country town with vast landscapes, good people, a strong sense of community and deep connection to nature. I was immediately hooked when I first spoke to Huckleberry, the founder of the group.

For Huckleberry’s whole life, he’s lived and learned from the land. Born in a wickiup in the Aeneas Valley, his birth in the wilderness is symbolic; he’s taking his mission back to the roots of his existence. Huck aims to raise awareness and build programs that support healthy and humane conservation of the wild herds in Washington State.

Many are surprised about the wild horses in Washington State, I had never heard of them either. But, they do exist! Wild herds roam free over private and government lands in North Central Washington. Washington is unique in that there is no formal horse management program. In other states, where wild mustang populations are prolific, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) intervenes, often culling herds with roundups, auctions, and other harsh and harmful means.

It’s a delicate situation out in Washington. Because of a lack of formal program, Huckleberry saw a need to proactively support the wild herds. Essentially, his group aims to create a framework for conservation and ethical population control; by managing the issue up front, they can prevent future BLM intervention. Protecting the horses and their place on the wild lands involves understanding the complex issue completely. So, we designed an approach that built in a ‘learning year’ to optimize the programs and work of his group to get the horses, and community, what they need for optimal conservation.

Since January, Huck has been testing out programs and projects and spending time up in the hills; researching, learning, testing and speaking with community members about the horses and what they need to survive. Simply spending time with the horses and community has produced a successful 6 months of learning.

So far, he’s determined a few non-negotiable aspects of his program, which include hay delivery through the harsh winters (several horses died of starvation this year) and land clean-up (barb-wire is prolific, and horses get caught regularly). In the meantime, he is building awareness about the horses through social media.

His focus and goals all stem from his mission, and the values tied to that mission (connection, community, nature, and kindness to name a few). The magic of wild horses is simply that they are wild and free. Huckleberry and Happy Appy Wild Horses are making sure they stay that way.