If you are looking for a unique experience that you'll remember for many years to come,
check out the wild horses near Rangely.

Approximately 165 wild horses live year round in the rugged rim rock
and pinyon juniper woodlands just east-southeast of town.

Rangely's "Self-Drive"
Wild Horse Tour Loop

Background

No one can say for certain when wild horses first established themselves in the area. Most of the horses that Native Americans used in this part of North America came from stock that ran away from Spanish explorers to the south, and French explorers and trappers to the north.

The Ute obtained horses in the late 1600s, and by the time Dominguez and Escalante passed through the Rangely area in 1776, horses were an established part of the Ute culture.

Today's wild herds are ultimately descended from runaway Spanish horses. But the invention of the internal combustion engine reduced the need for work horses, so many farmers simply turned their unemployed horses loose on the range. And many farmers also released horses during the severe droughts of the 1930s dust bowl era. Blood tests have demonstrated that the herds in northwest Colorado have liberally interbreeded with Arabians, thoroughbreds, draft horses, and many other breeds. Even today, there is some reason to believe that well meaning horse lovers are deliberately releasing good quality horses to improve the bloodlines in the wild herds.

Although all the wild stock in the huge Piceance/Douglas Creek area are considered to be a single "herd", the wild horses actually are widely dispersed in groups, called "bands". A band usually consists of one mature stallion, all the breeding mares he can gather up and defend from challengers, and the immature male and female offspring of his mares. The strongest and most aggressive stallions gather the largest number of mares; less aggressive stallions have smaller bands. And the smallest and least aggressive studs tend to form bachelor bands until they've matured to the point where they too can accumulate some mares. Some studs, because of poor bloodlines or physical problems, never are able to get and keep any mares, and spend their entire lives with their male pals. This behavior pattern assures that young are born from the fittest stallions.

You may not be able to discern the social structure in a band of wild horses the first time or so. But it's there. For example, several horses tend to stick together, like cliques of friends. They eat together, run together, and sleep together. Horses from other "friendship groups" in the same breeding band will not be warmly welcomed if they stray into a group of horses who have formed a friendship. If you watch long enough, you'll be able to tell which horses like each other, and which horses don't.

If you disturb a band of horses, and they begin to move away, look for one big horse to hang back and form a protective rear guard. Most of the time, that will be the dominant male protecting his mares. Sometimes, however, it will be a dominant female. Either way, you know you're looking at one of the bosses.

For additional information regarding wild horses, contact the Bureau of Land Management at (970)878-3601, or visit their web page at http://www.co.blm.gov/wrra/wrraindex.htm. Maps of the area are available at the Flowersmith Exchange and the True Value Hardware in Rangely, as well as the BLM office in Meeker.

The Northwest Colorado Wild Horse Association is a local group dedicated to wild horses. This organization provides an easy way to meet people who know about wild horses and their habitat in Rio Blanco County. For information regarding this organization, contact the Association's president, Lisa Ankarlo, at (970)434-9354.

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