Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary — Attraction in Hot Springs

Omg! What an awesome place, visit! I have dreamed about visiting the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in Hot Springs S Dakota for years and made a sojourn to go this week with my hubby and grand daughter. The sanctuary was a lifetime dream of Dayton O. Hyde to do his part to save our wild horses after he toured a blm holding facility. I was not disappointed...our 2 hr tour guided by Dean McGriff was exceptional. Dean provided a plethora of info about Dayton O. Hyde and the horses between many stops where those who took the tour were able to mingle among various groupings of herds. I was thrilled to say the least and took hundreds of photos of the horses, including a herd of Spanish ( Kiger) mustangs with tell- tale markings of zebra-like striping on legs and the one main dark stripe aligning the back from withers to tail. All the horses were in incredible shape and as we slowly mingled among them were blessed with some approaching for scratches and petting. My 11 yr old grand daughter was "adopted" by a quiet mare who followed her everywhere...by the end of the 2 hrs she was begging me to adopt the mare & take her back to MI with us. I was in Heaven, to be sure..and felt transported back in time to those better and more peaceful times when Americans appreciated and valued these symbolic icons of spirit and freedom, of the west. The thousands of acres the horses roam at will is stunning and also shared by mule deer, ( we saw 4 enormous bucks right off the beaten parh) and other wildlife and petroglyphs are also found there. have to say that time flew and before we knew it it was time to return to the ranch yards. I felt so honored to have had such a enriching, meaningful experience. The entire staff was friendly, knowledgeable and thoughtful. If you love horses or have a friend or family member that does please consider visiting this incredible place. Dale O. Hyde truly must feel incredibly peaceful and joyous to have realized his dream. IRAM, a 501c3 non profit, does a superb job saving, protecting and caring for America's legacy...our magnificent wild horses.It is so worth the time &...

On Friday, June 13th, myself and 9 of my friends decided to run over to the horse sanctuary. We were visiting South Dakota from Texas for the week with our own personal horses. Long story short, someone at the camp we were staying at mentioned that there was a wild horse sanctuary. We decided to visit. We arrived there at 3:35pm. None of us are familiar with the sanctuary nor had we visited the website, etc. So we get there and a volunteer, Mo, asked if we had a reservation. We did not, nor did we know we needed one. Mo advised that they give 3 hour tours for $350 per person. With it being 3:35pm and they close at 5:00pm, we knew we could not do a tour. We were also leaving early the next morning to head back to Texas, so we could not schedule a tour the next day. So Mo then said that she could maybe do a short tour for our group for a total of $1,000. We had dinner plans with the rest of our group, so we asked Mo if she could maybe just drive us up the road to see some of the wild horses for $50 a person and we got an immediate, "No". Guess a quick $500 wasn't worth it to her. So then several of us asked Mo a few questions about the sanctuary. Since we can't get a short van ride, we can at least get some info...we thought. Mo was rude and short with us, almost like we were invading her time and we weren't welcome. Afterwards, we walked around the gift shop to see a few of the horses they have penned up, then left. We had no issue with not being able to get a short van ride; however, it was the rudeness of Mo that gruntled all in my group. Had she been polite, told us a bit about the sanctuary and not treated us poorly, all in my group would have left nice donations, as we all are horse people and know what it takes to care for horses. Even if you're a volunteer, you represent the sanctuary and should be polite...

My fiancé (not a horse person) treated me (horse nut) to a horse filled pre-birthday day starting with the Wild Horse Sanctuary!

We did the 3 hour private ride and it was worth every penny! We got to interact up close with the wild horses and loved it.

Yes, as some have commented the horses you see on this aren't truly wild. (they have a wild side with the real wild horses) but these horses you interact with live just about as close to wild as you will get.

As much as a horse lover as I am, I really didn't know much about the situation with the Wild Horses and the BLM. Our trail guide (I wish I could remember her name, blonde super bubbly super sweet!) started in with a tour of the ranch and history of the founder Dayton and how he came to establish the sanctuary.

The views are spectacular especially the lookout over the Cheyenne River. We learned that that particular spot was very important to the Native Americans as the river runs east west north and south in that location.

There are carvings made by the Native Americans that are so interesting to see on the tour as well!

The horses are so well cared for and we loved seeing the interaction between the groups. We had horses right in the windows of the SUV. Even my non-horse crazy fiancé had a great time.

The bets part of the whole tour had to be seeing our guide and hearing about Dayton and his assistant Susan and everyone else on the ranch. To be witness to a group of people with such passion and truly selflessly helping these horses was an amazing energy to be around.

For an authentic tour of the Black Hills and to help our a great cause, don't miss this while in the...