A Letter from the President by Dayton O. Hyde 2004
Yesterday, a phone call from one of the volunteers roused me from bed. Across the river from headquarters, a tiny foal had fallen into a basin in the rocks and could not get out. A coyote was sitting watching its struggles, waiting for it to die.
On the rim of the bowl, a big sorrel mare trotted back and forth, nickering to her baby, but was unable to descend to it. As I drove up in my pick-up truck, threading my way between boulders large as elephants, I saw that the mother was a special friend of mine we named Seahorse, due to the uncanny shape of the blaze on her forehead.
The mare showed no fear as though she knew that I would rescue the little sorrel colt. She nickered softly to her baby, and the animal relaxed. There were scuff marks on the rocks where the colt had been trying to climb to freedom. The little horse seemed to know that I was there to help, for it came up to greet me and allowed me to run my hands over its body to gentle it. One of the volunteers brought a pick axe from my pick-up and we made a ramp for the colt, and pushed him bodily up the incline to freedom.
It was the first baby Seahorse has ever had, and I hope that she will take better care of him from now on for I am getting too old for such emergencies and my time is better spent fighting for the survival of the sanctuary.
A question frequently asked by potential donors to the sanctuary, is what percentage of their gift goes to the horses and how much is retained for salaries. I welcome the question because we are unusual among 501(c)3 charities. We are all volunteers here and one hundred percent of funds donated by friends of the sanctuary, go to the horses. Summer tour drivers get salaries from tourist-generated income. Gifts for the Land Acquisition Project secure more land for the new wild horses coming to the sanctuary by providing for hay production and grazing. The Endowment Fund insures financial security for the sanctuary.
Since the tragedy of 9/11, times have been extremely difficult for similar organizations. There is a point where I can no longer cut our costs. I face the constant reality of land taxes, insurance, and other fixed expenses. I cannot escape the reality that our four hundred or more wild horses have to be fed and cared for. Uprooted many years ago from native ranges, these horses have been happy here. We have given them over ten thousand horse years of freedom. If we fail them now, they will have nowhere else to go. – Dayton O. Hyde
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President: Dayton O. Hyde
Secretary: Robert Friese
Treasurer: Richard Blue
Program Development:
Susan W. Watt
Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary
P.O. Box 998
Hot Springs, SD 57747
www.wildmustangs.com
A 501 c 3 non profit corporation
registered in the state of
South Dakota
Federal Tax Number
46-0401462
Toll Free: 1-800-252-6652
or 1-605-745-5955
Fax:1-605-745-4339
Email: iram@gwtc.net
