03/31/2026
FREEDOM FAMILY BEGININGS By Ginger Kathrens
September 2009: This was the last time we heard the “Whomp, whomp, whomp” of the BLM helicopters in the Pryor Mountains, when they removed an entire sub‐population of wild horses from the Custer National Forest lands in the Pryor Mountains. (Since then, there has only been bait trapping.)
The Cloud Foundation (TCF) stepped in and rescued the older horses of four family bands in 2009, in order to prevent them from being separated from the family members they’d known all their lives — and to save them from spending their lives penned in feedlot-style facilities.
TCF acquired these horses intending to preserve the unique genetics of the Pryor Mustangs. Known today as our “Freedom Family,” these horses would be a genetic reservoir for the main Pryor herd, one of the last remaining Spanish Colonial horse herds in the West.
The isolated Pryor Mountain herd is maintained at such a low AML that it faces the risk of irreparable genetic loss. The Freedom Family horses embody the characteristics of the small but resilient Spanish-style horses native to the Pryor Mountains.
For 14 years, they lived on a ranch in Montana, safe, secure, and free to roam. 2 1/2 years ago we brought them to Colorado, where they now live near TCF headquarters.
In coming weeks, we will tell you more about the FREEDOM FAMILY, where Jesse James and his family will soon be living.
