The Bureau of Land Management is in charge of managing wild horses on public lands. Their objective is to keep the population small.

Along with other bands, Shaman’s family with Little Cloud is captured.

The chopper flies off in search of more horses… while Little Cloud stands exhausted in the corrals. His gallop over rocky trails has left him stiff and foot sore.

Then I see Cloud’s family running in the desert.

Later, I learned that it took the chopper pilot four tries to bring them all the way in. In all, the band must have run over 30 miles, perhaps far more.

Ironically, the band was selected for capture because the new members of Cloud’s family are targeted for sale.

They’re taken from Cloud whose loud protests are ignored.

Every horse captured is run through a chute, including Cloud.

Blood drawn confirms he is Little Cloud’s father. It also establishes the link between the Arrowhead herd and the horses of the Spanish Conquistadors.

Horses not to be auctioned off are released.

Cloud’s brother, Red Raven, his mare, Blue Sioux, and their daughter are released together.

Most of Shaman’s band is released.

Little Cloud’s foot and muscle soreness is nearly gone.

Of the family bands, only Cloud’s little group remains confined because Flint has been seriously injured and can barely walk. Whether he can recover from being run too far, too fast is in doubt.

Weeks later the auction of the wild horses begins with Flint’s future still in limbo.

The sale marks the end of freedom for 46 horses.

A few days later, good news! Flint is improved and the vet believes he can recover.

So that Flint can receive treatment, he, his mother and sister are separated from a frantic Cloud.

LYLE: Sync and OS “There’s where we got the drainage. It came right out the top there—the hole where the abscess broke and drained. And here’s where we found the abscess, there’s a little bit of drainage there.”

GINGER K. (OS): “How long do you figure Lyle that will stay on?”

LYLE: “Probably where he’s out moving a couple of days at the most if that long. Okay, Justin let his foot down now.”

Without excellent care, Flint might have faced euthanasia… now he has a chance to live free.

Cloud’s family is finally released.

It’s a long journey for a lame colt… 18 miles on a rocky trail…through the desert…up the ridges of Sykes…and onto the mountain-top.

The horses freed earlier reclaimed the high meadows weeks before. I watch as Red Raven and Blue Sioux groom each other affectionately.

On a rocky ridge, I spot Shaman’s band. Little Cloud is looking fine.

Nearby, a coyote hunts grasshoppers. I’m thrilled to find Flint. He watches the young coyote warily.

Flint is still so lame I wonder if he will ever race across the wide meadows again. His very survival depends on his parents for he could never outrun a serious predator.

I half expect Cloud to run the coyote off, but he’s wise enough to know that a young coyote poses little threat.

A month later I search again for horses. On a far hillside I spot Cloud’s band.

Flint has lived up to his name. He still limps but the tough little colt has survived!

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