The Last Of America's Wild Horses (Wildlife Documentary) | Natural Kingdom | Real Wild

[Music] [Music] deep in the mountains of the western wilderness the elusive spirit of wild untamed north america still runs free [Music] once horses roamed free throughout the world now banished by civilization to a few remote outposts they make a final stand against the unforgiving pressures of progress and their days like their numbers are in danger of vanishing forever in north america the wild mustang once numbered in the thousands ruled the west and became a symbol of frontier freedom but now they too stand firmly on the brink of extinction 55 million years ago the evolutionary journey of the horse began here in north america its prehistoric lineage can be traced back to a small dog-like creature with five toes that over time would adapt to the great plains and ultimately a single hoof fifteen million years later descendants of the first horse began to migrate across the long gone land bridge between europe and the americas as the glaciers of the last great ice age retreated 13 000 years ago the mountain foothills became the feeding grounds for an abundance of mammoths camels bison musk oxen and large herds of pony sized horses fleet of foot and quick of ear and nostril they were well adapted to life on the open steps but 2 000 years later the north american horse mysteriously vanished in 1996 on the drought-stricken bed of alberta st mary reservoir local school teacher shane tolman took a walk into history glittering in the sand he found a spearhead looking closer he found dozens more and beside them animal footprints and then he found what made them the bones of a wealth of ice age animals rarest of all were the skeletons of prehistoric wild horses intrigued with the news that animal remains and human artifacts had been found in the same place a team of scientists went to investigate what became one of the most significant archaeological discoveries in north american history on the surface the arid reservoir revealed an astonishing visual profile of animal and human interaction at the end of the last ice age but as they dug deeper their excitement grew with the discovery of new evidence that could solve an ancient mystery there's no other site in north america probably in the world that has the richness of animal tracks from the end of the glacial period no other site like that in north america and probably not in the world three millimeters 50 by 75 centimeters to the east the other thing that's really really significant about this site is the fact that we have horses that we can see were exploited by people and there are archaeological sites elsewhere in north america where there are one or two horse bones but this is the only site where we have a number of horses stone tools associated with them cut mark bone we can actually see that people were hunting and butchering these animals using the carbon 14 method the site could be dated to about eleven thousand three hundred years ago when southern alberta looked a lot like africa's teeming serengeti plane and herds of ancient animals roamed its grasslands we lost there for carbon 14 it was also the time when many of these remarkable creatures began to inexplicably disappear although several unproven theories exist the horse skeletons and native artifacts found together at the site are the first solid evidence that hunting was a contributing factor [Music] fourteen thousand years ago big game hunters from siberia crossed the bering land bridge to a new world using simple stone-tipped spears the first north americans were fearless predators but no evidence existed to suggest they were also hunting wild horses these points were all found at the site these two actually had horse protein residue on them and that's the key thing when you find the people's tools in particular weapon tips covered in the protein residue of the horses well there you are that's pretty clear proof that they are actually using these and hunting the horses the lure of a constant water supply for hundreds of animals made the banks of the ancient river valley an ideal ambush site spear tips found and dated here proved that human hunters were doing just that as far back as 13 000 years ago it's telling us a slice of art history that we had no clue about really before at all and of course because some of this stuff is totally unique it's giving us a slice of you know late place to see an early holocene you know right at the end of the ice age a slice of animal and human history at that time the issues about how the horses went extinct here in north america's complex at the end of the ice age there's a great deal of change that's happening in the environment and into that you throw suddenly a new predator on these animals and that would be humans then maybe that tips the scale just in terms of you know being in the wrong place at the wrong time only mute bones scarred by stone cutting tools speak of his origins and perhaps his extinction [Music] but eleven millennia later the journey of the north american horse would continue [Music] in 1519 conquistador hernando cortes reintroduced the horse to its evolutionary birthplace on the east coast of mexico [Music] the breed was called the spanish colonial horse and it would help shape the destiny of a continent [Music] in 1808 the first white man to cross the canadian rockies and enter the nemaya valley reported meeting indian warriors on horseback here riding swiftly across the plateau today not much has changed for the heineken first nation who can't remember a time or a life without horses [Music] 250 years after its reintroduction the spanish horse had been adopted by first nation tribes from texas to canada settlers horses added to the bloodline and by the 18th century they numbered in the hundreds of thousands they called the breed a mustang from the spanish mistina meaning wild unbranded horse settlers called them feral trespassers who stole grass from their cattle and in british columbia alone over ten thousand were killed but inside the territory of the henny goteen and fifty still prevail isolated deep in the interior the land of the henigratine is the brittany triangle a rare pristine ecosystem that has never experienced the effects of logging or mining [Music] towering above is mount silosh whose legend says that pointing at it will bring a terrible change in the weather to us is a sanctuary for the wild horses for the people it has been the way it is before european contact and today it's still the same we always hunted we always fish we all as food gather we're always prepared for for the winter and a lot of our people you know use the land live off the land even their stories of um how we used to gather going to other children communities and a lot of soon to remember that horses is always part of the tejkoten part of the honeygood inn people [Music] unlike the beaver or bear in canada the wild western horse isn't classed as wild or even a mustang although its origins or genetics have never been studied [Music] but to the people who've lived here for thousands of years it's one of nature's gifts that helped create one of the last surviving horse cultures in north america in the brittany triangle those wild horses are there for us to take when we need it we use it as transportation we use it as a recreation our forefathers before us before us have used those and trained these wild horses and these wild horses being part of us is something that we don't want to lose until the first and only road was built in 1973 the only way in or out of the valley was on a horseback a journey that could take a week today ancient horse trails are still the preferred highway made by the wild mustangs of the henny people [Music] recognized in the united states as an indigenous breed mustangs are smaller and lighter in the hindquarter than the modern quarter horse marked by long tails and generous forelocks its spanish origins are most notable in the convex profile of its iberian head well adapted to life in the wild the mustang's historic role in the culture of the henniga team has withstood the test of time the gymkhana or horse competition is a traditional source of recreation and equestrian training for the any people and their wild mountain horses barrel racing is a popular sport and the chorale like the baseball diamond or hockey arena is a common social gathering place aboriginal nature reserve and a respected horse trainer who's captured many of the band's current wild stock this is a coyote i came from the connie lake site hill and i caught him when he was a one years old he's five years old right and look at him we got bloody uses for these horses horses like a kaios we use some for mountains pike chips things like that it's ironic that harry would use the word caius to describe a native horse it comes from the caius indians a tribe that ceased to exist a long time ago the only mechanic and you have to do on these horses is just put shoes on them that's all you do and no flat tires you can go 12 hours a day you don't have to worry about gas or breakdowns or these guys just need grass and water that's about it the building of the road has forced a change to the legend of mount siloche now it's said that if a newcomer points at it their vehicle will break down [Music] time is catching up to the namaya valley and a culture rich in tradition and horses [Music] our people have been using horses as far as i can remember all the time they're talking about moose and deer that's part of our survival and anything that happens on the land that affects them will affect us the same with the wild horses if something happens to the land that affects them it's going to affect our livelihood the henny goutine may be able to harness their future but for the wild mustang the journey remains precarious until their legend can become scientific fact ranches on the eastern slope of the rocky mountains were founded by men on horseback cowboy culture is still alive and well here and celebrated in towns like dog pound alberta site of one of the world's oldest rodeos like the first nations of the great plains the first cowboys also rode the spanish pony called the mustang now the larger american porterhorse is king [Music] but a century ago it was the wild mustang who bucked the hardest and drew the crowds today only a few small herds remain and their place in frontier history almost forgotten i went to ride before i learned to walk 94 years ago my mother used to take me further on the saddle horse and you know we had enough wild horses at that time they were really beautiful they'd stand on a ridge and they'd watched you they wasn't afraid because nobody ever bothered them until the meat hunters started chasing them they wasn't any wilder than the other animals now they're the wildest thing in the bush and pretty well the scariest stuff the eastern slope is a vast territory of ancient rock and lush valleys ideal for grazing cattle and horses deep in the foothills hummingbird ranch is the home of slim davis born and raised at a mountain's foot slim grew up alongside the stony and blackfoot indians tribes whose culture flourished with the arrival of the horse he saw his first mustang in 1920 and remembers a time when thousands roamed wild and free i rode that saddle thousands of miles i liked it for roping horses because it was good and strong and you don't have to cinch it too tight i roped a lot of horses on that side it was a lot easier for slim to saddle up 80 years ago but once on it's still tough to buck him off slim's no scientist but a lifetime in the rockies has made him a wildlife expert in his own right and during most of it he's fought hard to protect the wild mustang well rangers don't do anything to protect the wild forces the government won't either i tell you i've been in the meetings over these hair different things the guys that have to say have no never been here they've never seen it to get them to guys and make the walls like british columbia alberta considers all wild horses to be feral and allowed thousands of them to be killed off in 1974 slim convinced the government to outlaw hunting them on public land but their numbers still declined and now it's rare for even slim to see one there was a big bunch of wild horses there used to be many little bunches the only natural enemy that the wild horses you got is the wild horse hunters cougar might kill the odd cold but not likely and the wolves just can't get into a pack of wild horses when there are lots of wild horses there were lots of mule deer because when the walls had bothered the deer the deer would run for the horses so that was just natural way of doing things [Music] in man's world a big horn mountain ram is worth a small fortune to a trophy hunter but after fall hunting season is over goats deer and moose are all protected by strict wildlife laws while the wild horse remains fair game in the united states wild horses have been protected since 1959 but here in the heartland of the canadian west it's still legal to shoot a wild horse on private land and sell it for dog food well how come we're still here slim's too old now to take his fight to the government but like the horse he still champions he's become a living legend drawing people to the ranch to listen and learn firsthand his version of rough human natural history yeah hey slim how about a palm when you start up a trail on the day you're born with many a curve and bend you don't know where to lead you and you don't know when to land but when you come to the end of the trail there's nothing there to fear your spirit will leave your body and your spirit will still be here [Music] haunted by visions of trails plowed under today old cowboys can only dream that some things priceless will survive the steel wheels of progress i'd like to see the wild horses protected what's left of them well i'd like to see them left anyway some you know because they're not hurting anything and they got a right to be here they was here before people was and these guys say well their horses have got away you know i know better than that in the rodeo or on the range slim's ridden with the best of them [Music] his trail may be coming to an end but at least he knows that somewhere out there the last wild mustangs still run free [Music] [Applause] [Music] in 1895 a census taken of the alberta wild horse population counted over 42 000 head today about 300 remain [Music] after running for a century from the pressures of progress their behavior like their numbers has changed dramatically extremely sensitive to every sight and sound they now prefer thick forest cover to graze in rather than the open range but so far they've beaten the odds prevailing over hunters harsh weather intense grazing competition and a high infant mortality rate conditions that domestic rejects couldn't survive for even a decade in the lexicon of nature these are wild horses [Music] they travel in small bands of mares and cults ruled by a stud horse or stallion he maintains his band year round and controls it with an iron will the band will establish a home range of about 15 square miles and mark it with manure that send a scent warning to rival stallions the rockies are the northern limit of wild horse country winters are severe and often the snow is too deep to forage unless a warm chinook wind decides to blow [Music] like the male alpha wolf the stallion is constantly alert watching for intruders and ready to challenge anything that approaches his harem [Music] but it's an older mayor who knows the range well who will actually lead the band away from any threat [Music] foals are usually born from march to june and can run at the gallop 48 hours after birth essential to their survival where cougars or grizzlies wait in ambush [Music] cowboys claim that it's impossible to break a mature wild horse [Music] the only way is to capture them young at a year or less in the west stories are still told of wild horses willing themselves to death after only a few days of being deprived of their freedom horses are extremely social animals but for wild horses in particular the band is crucial to survival they keep together to fight off predators or to stay warm in a blizzard always there's a sentinel watching for danger and allowing the rest to graze or sleep in peace [Music] so feral horse trespass grazer and wild mustang are sensitive issues in the canadian west where the right to graze cattle on public lands is a jealously guarded asset eldon bruins is a wildlife biologist with the alberta government well versed in horse behavior he's uncomfortable calling them wild like the elk wolf or grizzly he's observed here for the past 20 years we've got around 300 head of horses that it probably has been up to a thousand in the past so the government is trying to maintain them roughly at that level for the last several years if an area seems to be increasing they will allow ranchers outfitters cowboys that are interested they will allow them a permit for a designated area to come in and catch wild horses the government's mandate here has never been to define the terms wild or feral its politics and money every year large tracts of public grassland are leased to the cattle industry and grass eaten by a wild horse is that much less to feed the insatiable appetite of 100 000 head of beef the ecological impact of 300 wild horses seems small but they still create a big problem under pressure from both ranchers and conservationists like slim davis alberta now tolerates small bands of horses on public land but remains indifferent to proving that they could be a natural treasure as far as tracing their genetics back to the original spanish mustangs there probably is a little trace in there but it'll be pretty thin with but all the horses in the wild horses in alberta should technically be called feral horses they're horses that were at some stage domesticated released there are several generations out here now probably that haven't been handled by men but the original stock was definitely introduced [Music] [Applause] the question is who introduced it a rancher or a conquistador since the west was opened though the number of wild horses has dwindled drastically it has never completely vanished [Music] historically the bloodline can still be traced unbroken from 16th century mexico to present-day alberta as one genetic heritage but since no one has ever genetically tested a wild horse in the canadian west no one really knows for sure like the old hollywood westerns the mustang is still part fact and part fiction [Music] [Music] dwayne papke has been a mountain guide and outfitter for over 30 years he's a new breed of cowboy and runs a successful ranch for tourists near banff alberta's famous national park come on boys come on boys [Music] come on boys come on every summer people from around the world come here to experience the lifestyle of the old west a big part of the draw are the elusive bands of wild horses who found refuge in the remote back country like a lot of modern cowboys dwayne's skeptical of their spanish origins but he can't deny their important role in his own western heritage and his business i have a great love for the wild horses it is adrenaline pump to see that animal in the wild free and fighting the elements to exist and which carries on today [Music] you'll go through a valley where you might see 50 to 60 head of these wild horses and they're just a little different bunches to me that is one of the greatest views that you want to set your eyes on duane's backyard is known as the yahatinda ranch region most of it remote unspoiled public land ideal for wild horses there's a few more people in the area besides myself we felt that these numbers of the wild horses should be maintained to where we have this this value of taking people out to see these wild horses you look at some areas with easy access we find that the numbers dwindle in them areas a lot faster than the more areas that are rugged and hard to get at [Music] the yaha tinda is a designated wilderness preserve and the only grazing competition for wild horses here are other wild animals like the elk ironically it too is a reintroduced animal but strictly protected thirty years on this range has made dwayne one of the best horse trackers in the business and when he finds unshot footprints he can usually follow them right to the source it's just a four-year-old stud he's all by himself greasy come in to look at us and sears we spooked them off of the flat beat by himself he's pretty eerie of us moving slow and careful dwayne follows the young studs trail he could be part of a band of bachelors driven from their herds by the dominant stallion until they're older and strong enough to assert their right to breed soon enough he's proven right high on a hill is a rare sight a band of young stallions but instead of running for cover they stand and watch dwayne approach they seem intrigued by his whistling and quite possibly have heard it before [Music] by nature these animals are extremely nervous especially of man and only the stallion will dare approach an intruder to learn whether they are friend or foe it's a rare moment for these horses too this is a human who poses no threat both the ancient and reintroduced wild horse evolved as a prairie dweller using speed of foot as their primary survival mechanism one false move and they're gone in a flash in duane's words it's adrenaline pumping to see a horse running free in the wild but even in this remote back country band sizes are decreasing and horses harder to find in alberta here through the wild horses in the existence of the wild horses for all these years we feel that there could be a sanctuary set up just for these horses to me is it's it's a a forefather system back through heritage and to me my grandchildren and the future grandchildren of other people that have a love for a horse should see these running in the wild and the wishing that they have a good future is how i look at it [Music] [Applause] dwayne even has a name for his wild mountain sanctuary in an upland meadow at the headwaters of a glacier fed stream a place called wild horse creek but for the wild mustangs of alberta getting there may be a long time coming [Music] a thousand miles due east of the rocky mountains in the heart of the canadian prairies lives a very special horse shandy is a 25 year old spanish mustang in 1976 her mother was captured in foal not far from duane patki's ranch and six months later shandy was born she now belongs to steve howlett whose farm is located in dougald manitoba about as far as you can get from the wild horse's home range and a lot safer [Music] shandy was a horse with a will of her own when steve first acquired her ain't nothing here gonna hurt you although born and raised in captivity the wild mountain life seemed bred into her jeans and it took hard work and a lot of patience to win her trust and the first thing i remember about it was the fact that oh my god she's so small my boss an old cowboy came up and said what are you looking at and i said well look at her he smiled at me and he says you know you're gonna wear the seat of your pants out before you wear her out she was tough as nails i think she's a little upset without you hey honey steve howlett it turns out is as unique as his horse in the united states scientists have genetically tested wild horses extensively and found spanish dna in at least three herds but in canada only steve howlett has spent the time and money to test a single wild horse shandy she had the same pattern as all of the sulfur horses from utah most of the tigers from oregon and most of the registered spanish mustangs in the states they all have the same iberian pattern that modern horses don't have once he'd confirmed and registered shandy's mustang bloodline howlett began a one-man breeding program hoping to preserve his horse's unique pedigree he recently brought another registered spanish mustang to the farm an american stallion called silverton for his small size the stallion is extremely jealous of his mayor and takes exception to any show of interest even if offense divides him from his rivals the standoff is frustrating for silvertip he'd like to see his competitors running for the hills but that won't happen here these mustangs are far from the fields of freedom what's even more frustrating is having only one lonesome mare to bully around instead of an entire hero in a lot of cases uh a horse is a horse a lot of their behavior is the same there is kind of some peculiarities about spanish mustangs hey mama how you doing huh there was a saying that uh not all spanish mustangs are wild and not all wild horses are spanish mustangs how are you doing hon hmm are you today a lot are ranch bread now but they're not housed in barns they retain the toughness they retain their wild instincts that way silvertip was brought up to perpetuate her line we're hoping for one two if we're really lucky maybe three or three foals offer that we can keep this uniquely canadian line intact and the more we have the broader the genetics the greater chance of survival these horses have so far not a single scientific body has expressed interest in how let's one man genetic study and although he's fought hard to protect the wild mustang she goes unrecognized in canada today shandy is a mature 25 old for a horse older still for a broodmare and the odds of silvertip reading with her successfully are slim at best she's the only horse from a canadian wild herd that is registered with any of the spanish mustang or spanish colonial registries anywhere shandy is the only living proof we have that these horses are descended from spanish horses that there is something special in the rockies of alberta and quite possibly in the rockies of british columbia in the states they seem to take great pride in the western heritage that these horses show now in canada we ignore them i'd really hate to think that you'd be the last spanish mustang that we have in canada [Music] what if the ancient horse of north america had not become extinct 11 000 years ago what would it look like and would it still be wild or free the answer may lie in its ancestors and their descendants who now roam the world including the new north america here the wild horse called mistina maintains a precarious hold on survival a paradoxical symbol of freedom in a changing world but wherever man lives on the planet our treatment of wild horses echoes our response to all species of wildlife and despite laws or the lack of them the saga continues at the horse's expense [Music] no other creature has affected man's imagination entered his soul and captured his heart as much as the horse for these reasons alone we can't afford to lose any of them you

Channel: Real Wild

Views: 105,288

Rating: 4.7406282 out of 5

Keywords: full documentary, wildlife documentary, wild animal, real wild, animal documentary, animals, wild horses, the last of the wild mustangs, natural kingdom, horse documentary, full wildlife documentary, wildlife, natural kingdom documentary, wild horses running, wild animal encounters, horses, mustangs, wild mustangs, full episode wildlife documentary

Id: N0BHMX3IPyY

Length: 45min 11sec (2711 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 06 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Salty-Night5917]

So glad to see other nations are picking up on this travesty....