Honoring the Legacy of Founder Dayton O. Hyde
Hero and Founder of the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary Dayton O. Hyde is honored in commemoration of his legacy of conservation
Media Contacts:
Susan Watt, President & Executive Director
605-745-5955
info@blackhillswildhorse.org
Fran Perchick
Resound Communications
646-369-6643
franperchickmarketing@gmail.com
Available for interviews and site visits regarding the Sanctuary's work, Dayton O. Hyde's legacy, and our upcoming centennial celebration.
March 25, 2025 – Hot Springs, South Dakota – The impactful legacy of Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary founder and visionary Dayton O. Hyde is recognized this week with the launch of a year-long commemoration. On the Sanctuary’s 11,000 acres of forever conserved prairie in South Dakota, more than 600 rescued wild mustangs run free, wildlife flourishes, and landscapes thrive. Hyde’s innovative conservation work continues as a successful model to be used to manage wild herds and lands sustainably. Since the inception of the nonprofit Sanctuary in 1987, the land remains home to big sky, Great Plains vistas and horses who roam the protected landscape. It is a place of last hope for wild horses and for the survival of breeds like Sorraia horses and Choctaw ponies, of which only a few hundred remain worldwide.
Since 2020, 126 wild horses have faced difficult journeys to find safety at the Sanctuary. Twenty-nine Spanish Mustangs from across the country came through a Mississippi rescue before arriving at the Sanctuary. Fifty Gila Bend Arizona horses found temporary respite at another horse rescue, then to California sanctuaries where they endured the smoke of wildfires several years ago, and finally, came to their forever home at the Sanctuary. Eight geldings arrived at the Sanctuary after their placement elsewhere was compromised. And 40 horses who were initially rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management went through an unfortunate adoption that landed them in kill pens on their way to slaughter, when they were rescued and brought to the Sanctuary.
Hyde's vision and the mission of the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary is to protect the land while saving wild horses. Sanctuary President and Executive Director Susan Watt has been with the Sanctuary for 29 years, most working alongside Dayton in a leadership role. Watt is an expert on wild horses and their history, wildlife conservation, and Sanctuary operations, and in tribute to Dayton notes, "The Sanctuary is a critically important place. What Dayton Hyde wanted was to safeguard the land, protect it from the threat of subdivision and development, and to let it be home to wildlife and wild horses as the land was intended. We are immensely proud of what Dayton Hyde accomplished, and his success continues today. On March 25, 2025, he would have been 100 years old, and we celebrate his dream and legacy with the wild horses he helped to save."
Hyde believed that people have a responsibility to be stewards of wildlife and nature, to protect all creatures and ecosystems. In recognition of Hyde's legacy and to educate audiences to inspire conservation action, a new Sanctuary website will be launched featuring storytelling focused Hyde. Sanctuary social media will include anecdotes and never before seen footage of the Sanctuary and Hyde. A "Legacy Defender Donation Campaign" will be launched to support the continuation of his vision—the care of the Sanctuary and its horses. And a live webinar featuring Susan Watt (date TBA) will engage attendees in a Q&A about the horses, the Sanctuary, and the founder's legacy and teachings. Additional audience engagement opportunities are in the works.
The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary provides refuge to horses who have faced challenging circumstances at best, or in worst case scenario, been saved from slaughter. Various breeds live in multiple herds in this permanent home where they will never be sold or saddled and ridden, including American Mustangs, Choctaw Ponies, Spanish Mustangs, Sorraia, and other breeds who carry bloodlines that stretch back centuries to Europe as well as through the American West. More than 1,000 horses in total have run across the Sanctuary prairies in freedom.
The donor funded Sanctuary ensures the health of the herds is maintained through harsh winters and drought, providing them hay and horse cake. Horse fertility is managed to control population, though a few unexpected and beautiful foals have recently been seen. Special and medical needs horses and seniors receive compassion and proper care in the corrals of the Sanctuary, and those who can be released afterwards join the herds. The Sanctuary is a working cattle ranch—Hyde was an early proponent of conservation and ranching going hand in hand. Hyde saw the Sanctuary as a "wildlife extravaganza," with many species of wide-roaming animals and biodiverse flora and fauna. The Sanctuary remains home to South Dakota listed species of greatest conservation need and species listed by the federal Endangered Species Act.
In addition to conservationist and rancher, with 20 published books to his name, Hyde was one of America's most distinctive literary voices on ranching, wildlife, and western heritage. His vivid storytelling and deep ecological insights earned him national acclaim. In Hyde's vision of conservation, every species played a vital role and that understanding continues today.
Hyde’s extraordinary life and deep reverence for nature are powerfully captured in Running Wild: The Life of Dayton O. Hyde, an award-winning documentary feature film. In 2013, Hyde embarked on a cross-country journey to attend screenings of the film, where he received standing ovations from audiences inspired by his conservation work and the profound impact of the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. Running Wild is currently streaming on Amazon and Apple TV, Popcorn Flix, Roku, and multiple FilmRise channels, searchable and accessible on smart TV’s and the FilmRise app for Android and iOS. The documentary is also available for purchase on DVD.
Hyde was connected to nature since early childhood. By 13, he left home in Michigan for his uncle's cattle ranch in Oregon and became enthralled by the western lifestyle. His relationship with the land and wildlife strengthened, shaping his identity as a cowboy, conservationist, and writer. Decades later at the age of 63, while on a trip to Nevada to purchase cattle, Hyde came across corrals of wild horses the Federal government had captured during one of their roundups. Seeing these magnificent creatures confined to pens and separated from their families and herds, he was inspired to create a home for them where they could run free over the land. Hyde had said, "People were saying 'it couldn't be done,' and that's the wrong thing to say to a cowboy."
He petitioned Congress for the release of captured horses to him, and formed a partnership with South Dakota Governor George Mickelson, the Bureau of Land Management, and the South Dakota Community Foundation to secure the land, saving it from industrial destruction. In 1988, the first rescued horses arrived. The rest is not only history, it is the future of the Sanctuary as well. As Dayton Hyde liked to say, "These horses are my partners in saving this land forever."
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Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary: Since its founding in 1987 by Dayton O. Hyde, the 501(c)3 nonprofit Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary and Institute of Range and the American Mustang in Fall River County, South Dakota, continue to protect America's wild horses while preserving the vast, ecologically diverse Sanctuary they call home. They aim to educate and inspire future generations to safeguard this land forever.
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