INTERIOR, S.D. (AP) - Thirty-five wild horses rounded up from a sprawling missile range in New Mexico arrived at their new home in South Dakota Friday. The herd was unloaded into a corral on a South Dakota ranch, the end of a long journey to save the horses.
``It was beyond my wildest hopes,´´ said Karen Sussman, president of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros. ``They´re quiet, they´re all grazing. We can walk right next to them.´´
The horses will remain in the corral for a week or two until they adjust, then they will be turned loose on half of the 10,000-acre ranch, Ms. Sussman said.
Jeff Krolikowski, son-in-law of ranch owner Alan Amiotte, says the ranch, which lies on the Pine Ridge Sioux reservation, has knee-high green grass, rolling hills, towering pine trees and an abundance of fresh water.
The horses were trucked off the missile range in the New Mexico desert Thursday, ending the era of wild horses on the 3,000-square-mile range. The herd, descended from horses left behind by ranchers when the military took over the area in World War II, once numbered 1,800.
Ever since 122 horses died of starvation and dehydration during a 1994 drought, the military and an animal protection group have worked to find the animals new homes.
Adoptions that began in 1995 whittled the population down to about 80 horses this spring. Last month, another group of 35 horses was taken to Amiotte's ranch. Those horses are roaming free in several small bands.
Up to 10 horses remain on the missile range. If any mares are found - there are believed to be three or so - they too will be sent to South Dakota. The stallions will live out their lives at White Sands.
