August 9th @ 1PM

There’s a Salt River wild horse named Ducey and he is now a lead stallion! (Ducey is the horse on the left)

On February 3rd, 2017, the first foal of the year was named after Governor Doug Ducey, because of how much he has done, and still does, to preserve and protect this historic and recreational resource for Arizona.

We predicted that horse Ducey would emancipate (leave) his birthband at 1.5 years old -which he did- and that he would become a lead stallion around 4 to 5 yrs old, because that is the norm… but Ducey is only 3.5 yrs old and this is his little family band!

Ducey has become a lead stallion much sooner than is normal. He battled hard to conquer this mare Serena, her yearling (Sargent), and her newborn foal named Soldier. Neither the yearling nor Soldier are the biological offspring of Ducey, but Ducey treats them as his own and protects them with his life.

Ducey also has a lieutenant stallion named Sarge who is still in the picture- just not in this picture. He was just standing off to the side, like lieutenant stallions do. Sarge and Ducey together battled hard to protect this foal from intruding bachelors on the day of his birth. (See previous post for Soldier’s story)

Little Soldier is one of only 13 newborn foals this year. Compare this to last year when there were 85 foals by this time, that is a very low number of foals. So, it is especially cool that Ducey is with one of them.

The big difference in the number of foals is due to the success of the PZP birth control program. 100% of the mares who received the birth control in time did not get pregnant! Serena received hers just a tad bit too late, so she was already pregnant.

We are happy with these results because it stabilizes the population and over the next few years will reduce their numbers through natural attrition. This is so that there will never have to be a roundup of Salt River wild horses, which has been our goal all along. To learn more about how PZP is safe and effective please check out our website.

Ducey the stallion, not unlike his namesake, is a good, caring and compassionate leader.

Ducey the Governor -even while he is very busy- is currently evaluating the long term management plan for the Salt River wild horses. Please let the him know that you love being able to see horse Ducey, plus the rest of the Salt River herd, grow up wild and free.

Thank you, Governor Doug Ducey.

Keeping them wild and free,
SRWHMG.

** The above image is a framed canvas that we are gifting to the governor. The amazing picture was taken by SRWHMG photographer Paul Martin.