Nokota Horse Conservancy
208 NW 1st Street
Linton, North Dakota 58552
www.nokotahorse.org
The Nokotas are naturally beautiful and athletic horses that developed on the North American plains during the nineteenth century. They are descended from an enclave of wild horses that inhabited the Little Missouri Badlands in southwestern North Dakota for at least one hundred years. President Theodore Roosevelt lived and ranched in the these badlands as a young man, and he wrote about the horses, noting that they were “as wild as the antelope of whose domain they have intruded.”
History
Roosevelt observed that the wild bands developed from renegade ranch and Indian horses, a process that was uncontrollable during the open range era of the 1880s. Some of the ranch horses of that time were brought into North Dakota by cattlemen from Texas and the Southwest who were expanding their operations to the northern plains. Others were Cayuse-based stock from Montana and other points west.
The Marquis de Mores, a wealthy Frenchman who was a contemporary of Roosevelt’s and founded the town of Medora, North Dakota (now the location of Theodore Roosevelt National Park), bred horses in the badlands. He used Sioux mares that he purchased after they were confiscated from Sitting Bull’s people and other Lakota bands when they surrendered at Fort Buford, North Dakota, in 1881. Some of these mares still had visible bullet wounds from life with the Hunkpapa Lakota, who used them when they fought in the Battle at Little Big Horn and other battles. De Mores admired the durability and stamina of the Indian horses, as well as their exotic heritage. Like other ranchers of that time, he let his horses loose on the open range and complained of loss to wild stallions and thieves.
This blue roan Nokota herd stallion is quiet and friendly yet very competitive. Shawn Hamilton CLiX Photography/courtesy Nokota Horse Conservancy
Thus, the Sioux horses are believed to have influenced the wild herds and saddle stock of local ranchers, as recorded by historians such as J. Frank Dobie and in the oral and written accounts of early ranchers. Other evidence of the influence of Sioux horses points to the seemingly minimal phenotypic changes of the horses over the past century.
De Mores sold some of the Sioux mares to A. C. Huidekoper, who developed the immense HT Ranch and Little Missouri Horse Company some twenty miles to the southeast of Medora. Huidekoper crossed his Sioux mares with a Thoroughbred stallion and a Percheron stallion to produce polo ponies, cow ponies, and all-purpose saddle and harness horses. The practice of breeding local and Indian pony mares to Thoroughbred, draft, early Quarter Horse, and driving stallions in order to produce an agile and tough all-purpose horse continued well into the twentieth century.
Crossbred Indian horses were the standard ranch mount for many years, and they in turn contributed to the wild herds in the Little Missouri Badlands. When homesteaders and small-scale ranchers replaced open-range ranchers during the early 1900s, they continued to lose some of their horses to the wild herds. However, the transition from large-scale, open ranching to more intensive, controlled livestock production resulted in less tolerance for wild horses and less interest in their merits as saddle stock.
During the twentieth century, federal and state agencies eradicated most wild bands from public grazing lands. At the same time, ranchers increasingly developed a preference for Quarter Horses and other emerging modern breeds, while disparaging of the presence of wild and Indian horses. Ranchers continued to chase wild horses in the Little Missouri Badlands for sport, admiring their indomitable spirit and evasion abilities. Captured animals were increasingly sold for profit, many to slaughter buyers. Over the years, many of the draftier animals that became wild must have been removed in roundups, probably because they were easier to capture and were more valuable by weight.
The social and physical conditions of life in the badlands seem to have encouraged the retention of Spanish and Indian pony characteristics in the animals that survived. Only the hardiest and most intelligent horses were able to withstand the long, frigid winters of western North Dakota and escape capture in the rugged, steep terrain. As a result, the Nokota horses of today retain many of the best features of their early ancestors. Photographs of the De Mores and HT Ranch Sioux horses show individuals that look strikingly similar to today’s Nokotas.
Although energetic and alert, this traditional Nokota lead mare is level-headed and affable. Shawn Hamilton CLiX Photography/courtesy Nokota Horse Conservancy
Much of the Little Missouri Badlands remained as unfenced public grazing land until the creation of Theodore Roosevelt National Park during the 1950s. At that time, some of the remaining wild harem bands—the last surviving wild horses in North Dakota—were inadvertently enclosed into the fifty-thousand-acre south unit of the park. For twenty years, the park sought to eradicate the horses despite local support for their presence. During the 1970s, park policy was amended to preserve a small number of horses as an “historic demonstration herd,” yet, in 1973, the National Park Service (NSP) was granted legal exemption from the Wild and Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971, as well as other legislation governing the management of feral equines on public lands.
Unusual historic color patterns are one of the Nokota’s most striking characteristics. This youngster is a beautiful overo. Nokota Horse Conservancy
In the following decade, the park decided to remove the original wild horses and replace them with representatives of contemporary breeds, including Quarter Horses and an Arabian stallion. The motive for this decision was to increase revenue from the sale of horses following the periodic roundups held to control population size. Park managers cited phenotypic conformity among the horses and a preponderance of blue roans, blacks, and grays as undesirable characteristics of the park herd.
Preservation
In 1979, brothers Leo and Frank Kuntz of Linton, North Dakota, began buying individual horses removed from the park for use in competitive cross-country racing. They quickly became impressed with the strength, stamina, and intelligence of the horses. When old-time ranchers began commenting on the Kuntz horses’ resemblance to turn-of-the century ranch and Indian horses, the brothers began investigating their horses’ history. By the mid-1980s, they had committed to preserving these types of horses and began buying as many as they could from park roundups, which had become increasingly focused on eliminating the original wild horses.
In 1986, the Kuntz brothers purchased fifty-one horses after a park roundup, including many animals now regarded as important foundation stock. In the same year, anthropologist Castle McLaughlin began compiling a comprehensive social, cultural, and management history of the horses for the NPS. Medora-area rancher Tom Tescher, who began observing the wild horses about 1950 and often managed roundups for the park, contributed valuable documentation of the herd’s social and genealogical history.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the Kuntz brothers and McLaughlin waged a vigorous campaign to have the NPS reinstate the animals they named “Nokota” horses back in the park. Their efforts garnered widespread media coverage and the support of several wild-horse experts, Native Americans, and other concerned citizens.
In 1993, the state of North Dakota passed legislation declaring the Nokota as the state’s “honorary equine,” in recognition of its role in North Dakota history. Yet despite increasing pressure from historians and wild-horse experts, the NPS has persistently refused to consider managing a historically accurate wild-horse herd in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Today, virtually all of the horses in the park are the offspring of recently introduced domestic stock.
The indomitable and free spirit of a Nokota herd on a North Dakota range. Nokota Horse Conservancy
Failing to make headway with the NPS, the Kuntz brothers promoted the value of the horses among riders interested in sound, athletic animals. While working at a ranch in Montana, Leo Kuntz met Pennsylvanians Blair and Charlie Fleischmann, an active couple in the steeplechase and fox-hunting community. Impressed and intrigued by the Kuntz brothers’ horses, the Fleischmanns began introducing Nokotas to fellow equestrians in Virginia and Pennsylvania. Other individuals successfully introduced them into equestrian communities in California, the Pacific Northwest, and elsewhere.
The horses demonstrated their versatility by excelling at ranch work, fox hunting, stadium jumping, timed events, endurance rides, and even dressage. Thus, a community of interested owners and riders began to develop.
Galvanized by Blair Fleischmann, the non-profit Nokota Horse Conservancy was organized in 1999 to preserve the horses and maintain a registry. In concert with Frank and Leo Kuntz, the conservancy struggles to maintain a core breeding herd of 125 animals that are descendants from stock removed from the Little Missouri Badlands, relying solely on donations from the Kuntz family and other devotees to keep the herd alive. In 2000, the Kuntz brothers received the Rio Vista award for outstanding animal rescue and welfare work.
Several preservation breeders have also emerged, including Dale and Holly Offermann who stand their Nakota stud, Chief, on their Rocking Bar Ranch in Arlington, Washington. Chief is one of the best-known ambassadors for the breed; he is a nationally known gray liberty stallion whose sire and dam were wild and removed from the park. (Liberty horses are trained in the liberty arts, that is, performing stunts without the use of tack, both under saddle and on the ground.) Chief freely and easily performs Lipizzaner-type exercises on command.
Blue Moon Rising, a Nokota gelding that was the first Nokota to be accepted into the Horse of the Americas Registry, represents the new breed at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
In 2007, Nokota horses were selected as the annual Benefit Model by the Breyer Model Horse Company. Considering the number of model horses that Breyer has done, this is quite an honor.
Nokota horses are now owned by both professional and amateur riders in a number of both western and English disciplines, and have been warmly received as field hunters, jumpers, and all-around youth horses.
A ranch-type Nokota stallion, undeniably athletic and relentless, and one of the Conservancy’s most dominant stallions. Shawn Hamilton CLiX Photography/courtesy Nokota Horse Conservancy
A traditional Nokota stallion, standing only 14.2 hands, but compact, powerful, and “old-line.” Dominique Braud/courtesy Nokota Horse Conservancy
A colorful ranch-type Nokota stallion, athletic with good bone. This is a stunning foundation stallion in a Nokota herd. Shelly Hauge/courtesy Nokota Horse Conservancy
Characteristics
Characteristics of the Nokota breed include great intelligence, hardiness, a square-set stance, thick, dark hooves, and unusual, intrinsic color patterns.
Like other wild horses, they also have extremely strong legs and feet. Researchers have become increasingly interested in this characteristic; farriers and horse owners are beginning to utilize what they learn about wild-horse legs and hooves to promote soundness in domestic horses.
One of the most striking Nokota characteristic is the preservation of the coat patterns often associated with horses of Iberian descent. Roans, frame overos, and sabinos dominate the breed, and Medicine Hat markings are not uncommon. Blue roan is the predominant color and is, to some extent, a hallmark of the breed. Some of the horses also exhibit a strong dun factor, and many of the roans are grullo at birth and into their first year. Black, the base color for roan, is common, as is gray. Bay, brown, and chestnut occur with less frequency.
Nokota horses are strikingly athletic and most demonstrate a natural jumping ability. Some owners have reported Nokotas with unusual gaits, such as an amble or “Indian shuffle.” Professional trainers who have worked with Nokota horses have remarked on their capacity for rapid learning, independent thinking, and problem-solving capabilities—qualities that were imperative to their survival in the wild.
There are an estimated 150 foundation and foundation-bred horses that descend wholly from animals removed from the park, and they are the focus of conservation efforts. The registry also tracks crossbred horses that are at least one-quarter of foundation descent. Since the 1980s, the Kuntz family has bred many park horses with their own ranch stock, including running Quarter Horses, horses obtained from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, Thoroughbreds, and ponies. The resulting crossbred Nokotas have enjoyed widespread success as using horses in a variety of activities.
The registry recognizes two somewhat distinct phenotypes of Nokota horses, Traditionals and Ranch Stock, although individual horses often exhibit traits associated with both types.
Traditional Nokotas share many phenotypic characteristics with Spanish Mustangs. They are small, sturdy, and refined, seldom reaching 15 hands in height, with large eyes, delicate, inward-curving ears, well-defined shoulders, short backs, sloped croups, and low-set tails. Many have exceptionally long manes and tails, while some have hair around their fetlocks.
In 1994, Dr. Phillip Sponenberg evaluated both the park and the Kuntz horses, and concluded that the latter owned about twenty individual animals (while the park had none left) that were phenotypically consistent with conformation standards for Colonial Spanish horses such as Spanish Mustangs. Since that time, Leo Kuntz has selectively bred those animals to maintain and concentrate these Spanish characteristics. Known as traditionals, their preservation is a priority to the conservancy.
While it is clear that horses of Colonial Spanish breeding were important to the foundation of early Indian and ranch herds on the northern plains, they were always less numerous than in the Southwest and far west, where they were concentrated near Spanish settlements. The artist Frederic Remington and other nineteenth-century observers often remarked on a distinction between mustang horses of the Southwest and Indian and ranch stock on the northern ranges, which were somewhat larger and rangier. These differences were probably due to both environmental conditions and crossbreeding.
Contrary to popular belief, most Native Americans did not selectively breed to preserve mustang or Spanish traits in their horses. During the nineteenth century, Euro-American notions of animal husbandry increasingly focused on the appearance and purity of descent, ideas that were critical to the project of creating animal “breeds.” In contrast, with the partial exception of coat pattern and color, Plains Indians (and early Anglo settlers) overwhelmingly valued performance characteristics, such as speed, stamina, and durability. While this focus served to encourage the retention of hardy Iberian traits, it did not preclude the use of other influences, as Native Americans creatively adapted to the changing conditions of life on the plains and mounted warfare.
Ranch Stock Nokotas are larger and more robust, showing the effects of past crossbreeding, especially to draft horses. These horses reflect an early and sustained history of interbreeding between Spanish and Indian animals, as well as other early ranch strains of both saddle and utility types.
The expanding cattle industry, progressing settlements, and the U.S. Cavalry introduced larger, heavier-boned horses to the northern plains after the American Civil War. These bigger horses were well received by Native Americans, who crossed them with their ponies. Horses of this type often appear in photographs taken on Indian reservations in the Dakotas and Montana before 1900. Sitting Bull’s autobiographical ledger drawings depict him riding to war on a large, stout, blue roan with feathered fetlocks.
Such crossbreds were useful for a variety of purposes and were sometimes called Dakota Stouts. They were the backbone of the ranching industry in North Dakota between 1880 and 1950. Even though they were replaced by Quarter Horses and other specialized saddle stock, they continued in service as dray animals and rodeo broncs. Today, these ranch types are finding new favor as field hunters, dressage horses, and show jumpers.
Genetic analysis of the Nokotas has suggested descent from a wide range of both Iberian and western European horses, with no significant relationship to any contemporary recognized breed. A century or longer of living wild in a harsh environment with constant threat from humans has molded their heritage into a constellation of set phenotypic characteristics that remain observable over several generations of out-breeding.
While their history and coat patterns are colorful, it is the Nokotas horses’ balance, athleticism, soundness, and thoughtfulness that have stirred a genuine interest among serious riders. Nokota horses have survived thus far on the merit of their abilities and through the intervention of appreciative individuals, such as the Marquis De Mores, the Kuntz brothers, and the Fleischmanns. Their future will depend on the same factors.
Credit: Castle McLaughlin, Ph.D., vice president of the Nokota Horse Conservancy and associate curator of North American Ethnography, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University and Nokota Horse Conservancy