Northern Shrike Nokotas (Sweden)

I have always been interested in animals and nature, and as a teenager I cared for neighbors’ animals. I grew increasingly interested in breeds compared to natural populations and human selection versus natural, and began planning a trip west to hike and explore. I wanted to see wild horses in their natural setting and found the website for the Nokota Horse Conservancy, so I offered to volunteer as soon as I had completed high school.

When I arrived in early June of 2000 there were multiple stud bands in most of the large pastures, plus a large flock of fillies and another of young studs and geldings; I was struck by the order and structure of it all, the dynamic and constant communication, competition, and cooperation. I was even more impressed by the degree to which we humans could participate in this, as the Nokota horses were amazingly clear and open in their communications and willingness to cooperate.

Leo and Frank, their parents and Shelly were all likewise so profoundly experienced and driven in their struggle to preserve these horses with so much history and at the same time so much potential, so after my scheduled month of volunteering I decided to move in and join in with their preservation.

I have been involved with Nokota horses ever since, and after moving to Sweden to raise a family I returned to the Kuntz ranch to quarantine and then fly with 3 containers of Nokotas in 2010 and then again in 2011. Northern Sweden is more similar to Minnesota than Dakota, so a bit to the periphery of the Nokota’s native range, yet the winters and growing seasons are more similar than most, and I find a lot of satisfaction in knowing that there is some backup if something horrible like a pandemic hit the in situ population in North Dakota. Meanwhile we try to spread the word and opportunities to experience Nokotas, with some individuals on loan and some ridden and used for draft work here. That loaning makes it a little hard to count how many « we have »… I like to think we are more partners than owners. Currently we have Snowy at home as a mature stallion plus Leo, who just turned 3, Skata, Värgfuru and Vit Hov as mature mares, plus a 3 year old filly named Annie, Skata’s yearling filly named Nötkråka, and Skata’s weanling colt and Vit Hov’s weanling filly. Ultimately I aspire to phase out the tractor and use Nokotas more and more to power a sustainable farm.

Seth Zeigler

Sunnansjö, Sweden

seth.zeigler@gmail.com