"...when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another Heaven and another Earth must pass before such a one can be again."
-William Beebe

Current ALBC News Sample Article: January/March 2013

Looking Back and Forward with Choctaws

By Mary McConnell and Jeannette Beranger

It was five years ago this spring that we embarked on the Oklahoma Choctaw horse rescue. We began with inventorying the threatened Bryant Rickman herd and driving over to their home range on Blackjack Mountain in Southeastern, Oklahoma. The group included Bryant Rickman, ALBC staffers Marjie Bender and Jeannette Beranger, and ALBC members Mary and Jamie McConnell.

During our drive that day to find horses, Bryant saw a small group perhaps a mile away and decided to stop the truck in the hope that we could view the band more closely. This particular group Bryant recognized as being led by a beautiful dun stallion known as “SS.” Bryant got out and began to call the horse to him. It was clear as we stood by the truck and watched the scene that the stallion knew and trusted Bryant. He proceeded with purpose down the mountain towards Bryant and it was as if the horse was recognizing a friend. The lead mares were less trusting and they all hung back to see what their leader was doing. We suspected there were too many humans for them to evaluate and the circumstances are perhaps a bit scary for them. Despite this, a buckskin foal came forward with the stallion and because of her intent to follow SS, her very reluctant mother came also. The foal was beautiful and her attitude and trust immediately endeared her to all present. Bryant knelt and offered SS, the mare and foal a feed tub filled with sweet grain that none of them could resist. All hearts within our group were engaged with the scene.

When Bryant’s grazing lease was pulled on the land in 2008, all of the 300 horses on the mountain had to be moved. Thanks to a large financial gift from an anonymous donor and further support from others, ALBC was able to step in and help Bryant with the rescue of this genetically important herd. Over the course of a year, Bryant was able to capture almost all of the horses and move them to his ranch and many into the hands of new stewards.

The buckskin filly on the mountain was at the top of the McConnell’s list to personally rescue. That fall, 8 weanlings and 8 older horses were safely captured and then came east to their farm in Virginia, the buskin filly among them. She named the filly She Comes Dancing and proved to be everything Mary McConnell, an avid horsewoman, had hoped she would be. Today the horse is 4 years old, going on five. Several months ago Mary arranged for Dancing and two other mares to go to Josh and Emily Rector to begin training for driving. This was done in an effort to promote the breed and make them shine in the show ring and grab people’s attention as they had that day on the mountain five years ago. Giving these horses a job is crucial for the long term survival of the breed and it was hoped that this would be a good one for Choctaws.

Josh Rector is one of the best drivers in the sport of combined driving events. Within the sport, the teams compete at dressage, an obstacle course of cones, and then in a marathon with various obstacles.  Josh competes at an international level with his four in hand and will soon be driving a four in hand of buckskins from the McConnell herd. This is a huge opportunity for the breed rarely known outside of Oklahoma. Josh had this to say of his experience, “Dancing’s tenacious and brilliant spirit, along with her desire to please and protect her people give her the amazing qualities that make her a quick study for driving. Her strength through and through makes me excited to drive her in the lead of the team I am training.” He observed that the horse is a natural leader with an incredible desire to learn and to please her people and found that special characteristic rare to find in animals.  

Back in Oklahoma much has been accomplished by Bryant and his friends to further promote the breed at home and with the Choctaw tribe. Each Labor Day weekend for the past several years they have been invited by the Choctaw Nation to bring horses to their annual Festival and Inter-Tribal Pow Wow which sees nearly 100,000 visitors each year. The Choctaw nation further supported the horses with an offer to display them at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Choctaw Days celebration in Washington D.C.. Windrider Farm and  Dr. Robert Kraybill & wife, Tricia of Cumberland Valley Equine Service brought Choctaw horses to the event where visitors were able to come meet the horses, while enjoying Choctaw culture with food, dancing, storytelling.

Another project led by Bryant’s friend and Choctaw horse enthusiast, Jim Stevens, is using the horses as a catalyst to revitalize the small town of Antlers, OK. The town has a long history with the horses, which are a part of its local culture. Jim fenced off over 800 acres of his own property to set up a center for training the horses and for visitors to see them first hand through tours whose revenues will lend financial support to the Choctaw herd. Beyond the local agritourism opportunities, Jim has also built the Hungry Horse Café in town. Together with Dianne and Randy Weeks, the operation, decorated with Choctaw horse memorabilia and information, will supply an income stream to support the conservation efforts. In further support, local artisans have chimed in and will sell items at the café with part of the proceeds going to horse conservation.

A golden dun mare, a part of the mountain herd of five years ago, was rescued and moved to the McConnell herd. In the spring of 2011 this mare, Kiamichi True Gold, produced a gaited golden dun colt sired by the McConnell Cherokee stallion, Tabac. The colt, Tabac Gold, is destined to return to the Rickman herd in Oklahoma as a breeding stallion and brings the objectives of the Choctaw rescue project full circle. With local floods, drought, and other natural disasters in Oklahoma recently, Tabac’s rare bloodlines were lost at the Rickman ranch and needed to be replenished. It is a measure of the success of the work done by everyone concerned with these horses that we have the bloodlines safe on a number of farms and are able to share them with one another. Through the dedication of many people on a wide array of fronts, the future of the Choctaws is much more secure than we could ever have expected five years ago. Thanks to all and for the amazing dedication of the breed’s stewards and friends!

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