To emancipate: to release from parental control and responsibility.

With our highly successful humane birth control program, we do not have as many opportunities to witness the process of a young stallion being emancipated. Many times, it felt like, “Now you see them in the band, and now you don’t.” It would be only later when you’d find the youngster alone, running frantically with a dazed, wide-eyed look, crying out and hoping for a friendly response, but hearing only the breeze.
Now you may ask, how exactly are they asked to leave the family? It is not pretty, and it can be gut-wrenching to observe. The lead stallion will start to bite, push, kick, and chase the young stallion away from the band. Our volunteers have watched as a stallion chases him across the desert. This scene may play out multiple times, as the poor, startled youngster attempts to return home, only to be rebuffed each time. We have witnessed them watching their families from afar and following their band for weeks, ever hopeful to be asked to return. Eventually, they do move on and search for friendly faces… somewhere.

This is where those rascally bachelor bands come in. They are the home for wayward boys, with all of their shenanigans. They open their “hearts and homes” to these lost boys, furthering their education on how to become strong stallions.

So, the next time you’re out enjoying the peace and quiet, only to have those rambunctious bachelors arrive in an uproar, remember the important job they do in helping raise strong, future lead stallions.

Photos by Pam Buschbacher, David Stallings and Destini Rhone