March 16th

We have sad news. When a horse back rider reported a deceased horse to us (thank you), we went to investigate and found that it is the beautiful 6 yr old stallion Dirk. Dirk was seen just a few days ago with his little family of one mare and one yearling, he appeared very healthy.

Because Dirk was in the prime of his life, we (SRWHMG and AZDA) investigated the circumstances, but did not find anything suspicious (no bullets), but also no conclusive evidence of what exactly his cause of death was. There was a little bit of blood in his nostrils but not any fight marks on his face or broken bones anywhere. It is possible that he died from a kick to the head, but he also could have died from colick or an underlying medical issue.. we will likely never know exactly, this happens in nature, and nature keeps it’s secrets sometimes.

Dirk is the son of Neiman and Ayla and leaves just one offspring, his name is Kindness. Some of you may remember what a sweet father he was. We have followed and known Dirk from his birth, to becoming a bachelor to becoming proud father and lead stallion, so we are sad.

But what we will remember most, is that he woke up every day in his home where he knew every corner, every horse and every tree. He was happy with his new little family.

He knew freedom every day of his life and knew how to enjoy it. He was never chased by a helicopter or separated from his family. He never knew the pain of a whip or the un-kindness that can come from humans.

He died, but more importantly, he lived, wild and free.

Their humane management is possible through novel cooperation between the US Forest Service, the AZ Department of Agriculture (AZDA) and our -all volunteer non-profit- organization, SRWHMG

Pictures Destini Rhone, Maile Alday, Jameil White and Rick Blandford.

SRWHMG.

Click here to watch the video.