SAND and SAGE and the Wild Horse Herd

Wild horse herd along the Powder Rim in Wyoming. John Bradford Branney Photo.  

My newly released novel SAND and SAGE is a historical adventure based on the introduction of horses to the Plains Indians in the latter years of the 17th Century. Even though most of the characters originated in my mind through my own knowledge and experience, the storyline is based on historically documented accounts from Native Americans who claimed to have been there when the first encounter with horses happened.

This red roan colt was the inspiration for SAND and SAGE - 

I photographed this wild horse in 2002.  

I wrote SAND and SAGE using separate storylines for three different characters. As the plots developed in the book, the paths of these characters start to intertwine. One of the three main characters in the book was a young Spaniard named Santiago who was embarking on a journey to find his brother Luis who the Comanche Indians captured. Santiago held a deep grudge against the Indians for destroying his family and his life. He was not sure whether his brother was alive or dead, but he vowed to find Luis. 

The second character in the book was a young Indian named Ouray, an outcast within his own tribe called the Snakes. He also had an unfulfilled quest. His quest was to find Haiwee, the girl he loved, A hostile tribe of Indians captured Haiwee, and Ouray committed to finding Haiwee and exacting his revenge on the Indian tribe who stole her and also killed Ouray's mother. During his quest, Ouray discovered something so remarkable that it would change his life forever. 

The third character in SAND and SAGE was a red roan colt in a wild horse herd. The red roan colt, once domesticated, was surviving day-to-day in the wild world he found himself. I won't spoil the book by telling you how these three characters fared on their different quests. The short passage from SAND and SAGE below describes two main roles in the red roan colt's wild horse herd.

The big sorrel mare led the mustang herd up the slope of a rocky ridge. Horse hooves clattered against cobbles of broken sandstone. The big sorrel mare was the matriarch of the herd which meant the day-to-day decisions for the herd were hers. She decided where the horses drank and where they grazed and whether they stayed in one place or moved on. She was also the disciplinarian of the herd, at least this matriarch was. She did not tolerate any nonsense from the other horses and meted out her justice like a hanging judge. One might wonder why the herd followed this mare. One reason was fear. The other horses were afraid of the ill-tempered matriarch. The main reason that the herd followed her was she kept them out of trouble.   

Bringing up the tail end of the herd was a tall bay stallion. He was the monarch of the herd or the breeding stallion. His role was different than the matriarch’s. His role was to protect the herd and to procreate. The bay stallion spent most of his time off by himself, grazing at the outside fringes of the herd. He became more interested in the herd when a mare came into season. At other times, there was little for him to do, especially with the  feisty sorrel mare controlling the herd. The bay stallion and sorrel mare would hold their positions in the herd until younger and stronger horses challenged them. When the day came when a younger stallion overthrew the monarch, the bay stallion would leave the herd and live out his days alone. A lone horse on the high plains was in a bad way with less than a fifty-fifty chance of surviving. Hungry wolf packs roamed the countryside in search of their next meal.   

Wild horse herd along the painted claystone formation in the
Washakie Basin of Wyoming. John Bradford Branney Photo.

Why do horses live in herds? Horses live in herds because one, they are social animals and  two, the herd provides each member protection from predators. Within each wild horse herd, there is a social pecking order. Each horse in the herd plays a role. The stallion in the herd serves the purpose of procreating and protecting the herd against predators, but it is the matriarch, the dominant mare, that officially leads the herd. The matriarch picks where the herd waters and grazes. The matriarch leads the herd and makes most of the day-to-day decisions. She is the disciplinarian of the herd and usually has a way of dealing with any anti-social behavior within the members of the herd. Her punishment can include driving the offender out of the herd and she decides when the offender can return to the herd. Since the horse herd in SAND and SAGE was in continous danger from predators, banishment from the herd could be fatal for any offender. The red roan colt finds out about this firsthand. 

Read SAND and SAGE for the rest of the story.

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