Where in the Wilderness?: Breaking Down the Route for our 40-Day Journey
When we get questions about the project, a lot of them revolve around the ride itself and the route we’ll take. We are doing a route similar to what NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) uses for their students, except our route goes into Northern Colorado. We’ll start a little southeast of Lander, WY, and traverse the Red Desert into central Wyoming to a point just northwest of Rock Springs. From there, we’ll trailer our horses south of Rock Springs to a remote area in Southwest, Wyoming. Once we cross over into Colorado, we’ll ride south towards Yampa and then head due west, ending our ride at the Columbine Rodeo and Fairground in Meeker, CO.
Our route map
This route crosses a number of Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Wyoming and Colorado. We will be crossing either through or close to each of the following: Little Colorado HMA, White Mountain HMA, Salt Wells Creek HMA, and Sand Wash Basin HMA in Northern Colorado. Crossing through HMAs will allow us to observe horses in the wild as we ride our own mustangs, which I’m excited to experience. By then, we will have formed a strong bond with our horses but I also have my worries that we will get swept up in a wild horse herd. Our horses will have a natural drive to interact with wild horses in a similar habitat to where they once roamed free (fun fact: this is why we will be buying exclusively castrated male horses). If we were to ride mares on the trip, there is possibility for a wild band of horses to take a fancy to the mares and run off with them. Not exactly the kind of adventure we want!
A map of Wyoming HMAs (Courtesy of Wyoming BLM)
All of the HMAs and the horses within them have their own unique physical characteristics. For example, Little Colorado HMA is over 632,000 acres and according to the Wyoming BLM website, “Most horses in [the] area are dark—bay, sorrel, brown, black or gray. The Wyoming horses have a diverse background of many domestic horse breeds. They are most closely related to North American gaited breeds such as Rocky Mountain Horse, American Saddlebred, Standardbred, and Morgan.” Comparatively, White Mountain HMA horses are known for their full range in coat color, many being paint horses. Visitors can actually go see these horses on the Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Tour. While I (this is Louisa by the way) was fly fishing on the Green River this summer, I came across these horses, close to the towns of Green River and Rock Springs, WY. Most of the wild horses in Wyoming are located in the southwestern part of the state.
Mustangs I encountered near Green River, WY
According to Wyoming BLM, “The appropriate management level for wild horses in Wyoming is approximately 2,490 to 3,725 horses. Approximately 1,100 to 1,600 wild horses can be found on the public lands managed by the Rock Springs Field Office.” If you’re ever in that area, make sure to visit the wild horses managed by Rock Springs.
When we cross over into Colorado we will be riding through the Sand Wash Basin HMA. It is important to note that wild horses are managed differently depending on the state and the individual HMA. According to Colorado BLM, “Horses within the HMA exhibit many different colors, although the most common are gray and sorrel. Based on genetic analysis, the herd's highest similarity is to Iberian Spanish breeds, followed by gaited breeds, North American breeds and Arabian breeds.” It will be interesting to see these different HMAs in person on our route and talk to BLM officials to learn a bit more about how the horses are managed. I actually have the contact for the women who manages the herd in Sand Wash Basin HMA. Her name is Stella Trueblood and she is the ‘lead darter’. Although this title may sound harmful, her job is to dart mares with PZP which is a form of birth control that keeps mustang populations in check humanely. Mares are darted every three years; Stella keeps documentation and knows the herd at Sand Wash Basin very well. We look forward to learning more from all the BLM officials we will meet along the route.
Overall, the route will be very dry and desolate with sparse vegetation. Areas with these characteristics are where wild horses have been able to fight to survive. Thank you for reading and if you have any more questions regarding the route, please do not hesitate to reach out and ask your questions.
Warmly,
Louisa & the Wild Women 💕