Yes we know he has a kindoff girlie name, Luna, but that’s because he was born under a full moon and his birth was filmed by Tyler Sichelski, who then named him, thinking he was a girl. (We didn’t have a public naming process back then.) In our app, we logged his official name as Indian Prince, because his beautiful mother is Indian Princess, but Luna is what stuck.

Some people say these horses should not have names. However, it’s how we remember each and every horse, which is the most important part of our management of them. Their names become ingrained in our memories and in their personalities, which you really do get to know, when watching them grow up from vulnerable foal, to mischievous bachelor, to lead stallion, to loving parent. This amazing stud has a personality, a unique soul, and a purpose in life.
Luna was born in may of 2015. His mother did not have very good luck with her foals, (4 of them are deceased) and she had lost her 2014 foal to a broken shoulder when it was just a few months old. (That was a bad experience for both her and us.) So watching her be so happy with baby Luna was amazing. Luna’s father is Diego, both of his parents are still alive today but are very old.

Luna was emancipated at 2 yrs old (this means kicked out of his birth band by his dad), which is the usual age when that happens in wild horse society. He was a rambunctious bachelor, who also formed close relationships with other bachelors, he was never a loner.

Luna first formed his band in 2019, at only 4 years old, which is very young for a bachelor to be successful. He stole Paquita and her baby, and raised that foal, Paquito, as his own.

(So don’t hate on bachelor stallions too much, because they are the lead stallions of the future.)

Luna fell in love with Nichy in 2021 and added her to his band, which was growing quite large. Then he and lead stallion Cilantro formed a mutual understanding, and they combined their bands, which many lead stallions of the Salt River have done. We think it has to do with the mountain lion attacks they’ve had to deal with.

Fast forward to today, Luna loves Nichy and Lainey so much, that he has given his entire bands control over to Cilantro, so that he can fully concentrate on defending and caring for Nichy and Lainey, he will not leave their side. This is why sometimes you’ll see the 3 by themselves, and sometimes you’ll see them with the entire larger band.

Luna had a tough job those first few days of Lainey’s life, and he bravely fought off numerous bachelors, with a little help from people. (not just Susie, but 5 other photographers, 8 volunteers, plus our Ag Liaison Ken and group president Simone) We all watched how Luna valiantly defended his new baby with amazing and swift maneuvers and some fierce battles. He had the skin hanging off of his cheeks, but it fazed him very little.

Things all came to rest and peace again after the bachelors understood they didn’t stand a chance. Lainey is growing up wild and free with a loving doting mom and dad.

Soon we will feature mom Nichy and how she became pregnant after 6 consecutive darts of PZP. We will also try to find the footage of Luna’s birth, which is pretty cool.

PZP fertility control is amazing, because it does not influence the natural behavior of wild horses, that is why it is the only fertility control we will use. We have worked very hard these past 8 years and we have proved beyond anyone’s doubt now, that it works, that it does not harm mothers or foals, and that it does not change natural behavior.

We are proud of this amazing, studly, kind, caring, tough, sweet, majestic, powerful, and still adorable lead stallion Luna, and we are thankful that YOU the public still make our important work possible. Long live the Salt River wild horses!

We will start tagging our wild horse stories with #astheriverflows. It’s the best soap opera you’ll ever experience!

SRWHMG.

Pictures by Tyler Sichelski and Erin Yager.