My first morning in Montana, I drove from East Glacier Park to St. Mary’s. Along the way, I encountered these horses:
I pulled over to look at them, curious as to whether they were feral, or if they were someone’s stock. And if they were someone’s stock, what were they doing loose along the road? Regardless of their status, they sure were pretty:
On my way home, having explored the eastern half of the Going to the Sun Road, as well as Many Glacier (which I’ll post about later), I ran into another band, completely filling the road. It took me a minute to get my camera out, by which point, most of them had walked past me. These three straggled behind, and I got a picture through the windshield. Isn’t the foal adorable? He looks like he knows they own the road. I think that’s his daddy in the background:
I managed to get a picture of one as it walked past the driver’s side window, and I think the brand on the shoulder answers the question of whether these are feral horses or stock:
Both bands had young with them. I read later that the Blackfeet Indians have free range rights to the east of Glacier. So I’m guessing the horses belong to them, and perhaps they are left loose to graze as breeding stock. I sure wouldn’t want to try to catch them, though. They were constantly on the move. At first I thought maybe they were nervous about my presence. Then I realized they were probably being munched on by all kinds of biting insects, and that’s why they were so twitchy.
Feral or range stock, it was fun to get a good look at them. They made a nice addition to my shots from the area.
