Education, Engagement & Interaction:

The Wild Horse Living Museum

The Wild Horse Living Museum

America’s wild horses are iconic representations of a quality that defines America: Freedom.

We also believe that they embody our collective history and have much to teach us. History that certainly includes our expansion into and settling in the west. It also includes cultural histories and individual stories.

AWHF founded The Wild Horse Living Museum to provide education about the breadth of history that our wild horses can and do provide. We use this history to create educational opportunities in a variety of formats. One format is interactive engagement with rescued wild horses. We believe that, at its core, the preservation and continuation of wild horses living free on American ranges lie in the hands of each American. Education and engagement is how we empower and ensure their future for generations to come.

“Education is the most powerful weapon

which you can use to change the world.”

- Nelson mandela

The Wild Horse Living Museum Program:

Ambassador-Teacher Interactive Learning

In 2017, we rescued our two Ambassadors who serve as Ambassadors and Teachers for the Museum. Trey and Divine were rescued from the Delta, Utah holding facility. They were rounded up from the Utah mountains and different herds when there were months old.

As teachers, they interact with individuals and students who have never heard of wild horses. These individuals learn about wild horses and how they are managed today. It provides an ongoing opportunity for engagement educationally regarding the fate of our wild horses living on government lands.

In addition, they provide a broader opportunity for learning. We engaged Texas A&M to do an Ancestral Equine DNA Report for Trey and Divine. This is a report that provides the top three breeds prevalent in a horse’s DNA.

Though they are both from the same range of mountains of Utah, their DNA is very different. Trey’s top three breeds in order of rank are: 1) Caspian; 2) Arabian; 3) Turkoman. Whereas, Divine’s are: 1) Islandic Horse; 2) Norwegian Fjord; 3) Shetland Pony.

We use this information and build education materials to explore each breeds history in the US and what organizations may exist for the breeds today. For example, according to the Arabian Horse Association of Arizona, the first Arabian horse belonged to America’s first President, George Washington. They are also the oldest recorded breed.

Students also examine physical characteristics and personality traits said to exist in each breed. They are then encouraged to see if they can identify some of those characteristics and traits in Trey and Divine.

This is one of our educational programs in action.

If you would like to learn more, donate, or volunteer, please reach out to us.