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Karen Parker—Sponsored Photographer for the
Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary
Image Gallery - May, 2009
Image Gallery - August/September, 2008
Image Gallery - May, 2008
Image Gallery - July/August, 2007
Image Gallery - May, 2006

  

"Look back at our struggle for freedom, trace our present day's strength to its source; and you'll find that man's pathway to glory is strewn with the bones of a horse."

—Author Unknown

 

A PASSION FOR HORSES
Thanks to my wonderful family, horses have been a part of my life since childhood. There have been many great horses throughout my life. I currently have a sorrel quarter horse that is more of a rescue of sorts. While not the ideal trail horse I had in mind, he has taught me more than any another other horse. He definitely has more of a wild spirit and maybe I'm just enticed by that spirit. That same spirit found in wild horses all over our vast west.

I've become devoted to helping wild and feral horses after engrossing myself in their history and evolution, and learning more about what they have really meant to man's progress since the dawn of time. I find great satisfaction in traveling to areas where horses still run wild and free. These are the most exhilarating times out with the camera so it only made sense that I give back to the wild and feral horses since they have given me so much enjoyment and perspective.

While there are dozens of meaningful and worthy wild horse organizations to note, one private not-for-profit organization stole my heart. A five hour drive from home, it has become a regular adventure to visit and support the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in South Dakota.

THE BLACK HILLS WILD HORSE SANCTUARY
A celebrity in the old west rodeo, rancher, wildlife conservationist, photographer, and author, Dayton O. Hyde, will probably be best memorialized one day with his 11,000 plus acre wild horse sanctuary in the southwest Black Hills of South Dakota. A chance to tour this wild horse paradise with the likes of a character like Dayton Hyde, a man who has been best friends with rodeo and TV stars like Slim Pickens, is an experience in and of itself. Read Dayton's book, "The Pastures of Beyond" and relive the thrill and hardship of the old west, and you'll understand why a visit to this special wild horse sanctuary is hard to top. It's nature and the wild west at their best. Or read Dayton's new book, "All the Wild Horses," a complete history of wild horse breeds around the world.

When many people think of wild horses, they think of starving and struggling animals with shrinking range, or horses that have lost their freedom and end up living in dreadful conditions. While this can be true in some cases, it is not true at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary (BHWHS). Here you find happy and healthy bands of wild horses with plenty of room to roam. The only thin or unhealthy animals you will find have just arrived or are coming to the end of their natural life cycle. Our own Bureau of Land Management (BLM) charged with protecting our wild horses and burros could learn a lot from Dayton's approach that harmonizes so well with nature and the land.

The wild bands of the BHWHS roam the rolling hills and canyons and live like wild horses were meant to live. One visit to a BLM feed lot, and you'll know why a hard core cowboy's heart broke and caused him to change direction in his life in 1988 and to devote his future to wild american horses and mustangs.

I encourage you to visit this amazing place. Your visit will provide a rewarding experience. Take a one to two hour jaunt, or take in a full day adventure tour in the back country. And if you plan well in advance, you can stay overnight in a quaint but modern cabin. This remote area of the Black Hills is just gorgeous and you'll see why movies like "Crazy Horse" and parts of "Hidalgo" were filmed here. The Native Americans still come here for annual rituals on Sundance Hill.

Click here to learn more about the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, plan a trip, buy merchandise, sponsor a wild horse to ensure it's good health, or to make a donation—please tell them Karen Parker sent you. Click here to see a You Tube video from a visitor to the sanctuary.

IMAGE GALLERIES FROM THE
BLACK HILLS WILD HORSE SANCTUARY

And when you visit the sanctuary, be sure to stop in the gift shop where you'll find more of my donated work for sale.

MORE WILD HORSE AND MUSTANG IMAGE GALLERIES

MUSTANG AND WILD HORSE LINKS

STILL NEED MORE HORSES?

Humans are the youngest member of mammals on earth, and horses are the oldest mammals on earth. Think we have anything to learn from them? Click here to read more on the evolution of the horse.


"The Greatness of a Nation and its moral progress
can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

—M. Gandhi

 

"A thousand horse and none to ride!
With flowing tail, and flying mane,
Wide nostrils never stretched by pain,
Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein,
And feet that iron never shod,
And flanks unscarred by spur or rod,
A thousand horse, the wild, the free...

—Lord Byron, XVII - Mazeppa 1818

 

"The Red Man was the true American. They have almost all gone,
but will never be forgotten. The history of how they fought
for their country is written in blood; a stain that time cannot grind out.
Their God was the sun, their church all outdoors,
their only book was nature and they knew all the pages."

—Charles Russell - 1964-1926