February Monthly Highlights
Volunteer Highlight: Dorothy
Meet Dorothy Nylen a devoted and passionate Virginia Range Volunteer. We sat down with her virtually to talk about being bitten by the horse crazy bug as a young girl, the majesty of the wild horse, and living with her own rescues!
Pinto Post: How did you learn about wild horses?
Dorothy: One morning in 1998, my husband and I were commuting to work in Carson City after moving to Dayton. We were in the thick of rush hour traffic coming into Mound House from the east when suddenly everyone slammed on their brakes. Twenty-eight wild horses thundered through, passing directly behind our vehicle. I was awestruck!
Not long after, I met Bonnie Matton, a founder of the Wild Horse Preservation League, at a craft fair at Dayton High School. I would like to say “and the rest is history,” but I continued working full time as an artist for the Nevada State Museum exhibits department for another ten years. Around 2002, my son took me up into the Pine Nut Mountains above Dayton where I saw hundreds of wild horses of every color imaginable. Tragically, a BLM roundup soon removed most of those horses, and for a long period of time following the color range of these animals there, was very limited.
Post: When did you really get involved working to protect the Virginia Range horses?
Dorothy: I did not become really active in helping horses until I retired at the end of 2008. But at this point, I can say I have never looked back.
Once I did get involved I participated in rallies for horses at the capitol, and attended legislative hearings. As time progressed I became increasingly active.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to proudly serve as a member of Dayton's Wild Horse Preservation League (WHPL)’s board of directors, and briefly as president on two occasions. I am presently also on the board.
WHPL has continued to grow and expand its role in the community and beyond, and is a firm partner with AWHC’s birth control program. Many members are also active with other hands-on local organizations, involved in emergency rescue, field treatment of injuries, as well as with long term care and placement of animals that had to be removed from the range. WHPL’s involvement in diversionary feeding to help keep horses away from US 50 has been key in helping to prevent deaths there. I am honored to contribute when possible with these kinds of activities. I was also involved with the first birth control agreement with NDA.
Post: What’s your favorite part of being involved in wild horse protection?
Dorothy: I love nature and have always found horses to be exciting and beautiful, they touch my “artist’s eye.” Wild horse behavior is miraculous. They are such social animals, I never tire of watching them and following the changes in band makeup and the connections between groups and individuals. I was literally “crazy” about horses as a child and read everything I could find about them, and rode every one I could. I lived in the country, but my mom was afraid of horses, so there was never a chance that I could have my own. My father grew up on ranches and was too young to remember the first time he was on a horse’s back. There is such a difference between individual domestic horses and those charismatic free flowing beings. I would come to realize I did not know what a horse truly was until I was in my fifties.
My favorite thing is documenting horses, although I will do whatever the horses need me to do.
Post: Is there anything else you’d like us to know?
Dorothy: While monitoring trucks coming in from the Antelope roundup on the Nevada/Utah border into BLM’s Palomino holding facility in January of 2011, I impulsively adopted several wild dun colored Spanish mustangs. The carrier that unloaded contained animals not yet sorted from their mothers. I was still living in suburbia and had no place to put them, and it was such a surprise to my husband. Today we live in the country with 5 rescue horses. Our most recent and our last, is a local boy whose mother was killed in Dayton on US 50.
Dorothy doing what she loves… documenting wild horses!
Rapunzel
By Deb Sutherland
Rapunzel was born March 16, 2014 and I had the honor of watching her take her first steps. She was born in a field near my house and when I was driving by on my way home, I saw that Ginger Snap, aka Aurora, had just finished giving birth. With camera in hand, I went over to see who the new foal was. Rapunzel stood up and got caught under her dam's tail, and it looked as if she had flowing silver and blond hair, so I aptly named her Rapunzel! (See picture)
She is the fifth foal by Bodie and Ginger Snap. After she untangled herself, Rapunzel stood facing Ginger Snap and they looked like beautiful bookends. They were often seen standing side-by-side, and Rapunzel didn’t stray far from Ginger Snap or Bodie. I called them the two prettiest ladies in the canyon.
I have been photographing Bodie and his family band for over 10 years. I have known all of Ginger Snap’s and Bodie’s foals, as I started photographing them right after their first foal was born. Ginger Snap’s sire was Skydancer and her dam was Windsong. One day Skydancer vanished and Windsong was pregnant with Ginger Snap when she joined Bodie’s family. Shortly after that Windsong gave birth to Ginger Snap (2007) and she became one of Bodie’s mares when she grew up along with her sister Momma Mia who is Prince, aka Steener’s dam.
Rapunzel has seven full siblings (see chart) but she and her sister, Aurora’s Princess, are the only ones who are still with us. When Rapunzel was growing up, her best friend and playmate was Steener (aka Prince) who is Rapunzel’s half-brother Rapunzel and Steenr are the same age as they were born just weeks apart. The two were always seen running around the canyon together along with their older half siblings Spats and Sandra.
Rapunzel has many half-siblings and I am glad to see that she is still living in the same band as her three half-sisters, Sandra, Spats and Sunday. I’ve known them since their birth as well. Sandra and Spats are Pinkie and Bodie’s daughters. Sunday is Momma Mia and Bodie’s last daughter who is Prince Steener’s full younger sister. The sisters have been together since birth, even surviving a few stallion changes.
After Bodie vanished, they lived on and off with Goldie, Shaggy, Tank and Flashy, until Flashy finally won the band after a 3-year battle. Now, Flashy is sharing the band with Midnight and more changes in the family are taking place but the sisters are still together … at least so far!
Rapunzel has needed to be rescued several times in her life and I was called upon once to help find her band. Rapunzel has given birth to three foals, Princess Mitten, Cricket, and Paddy. I spent New Year’s Eve (2020) with my heart horse, Rapunzel and her sisters, and it was a great way to bring in the New Year. I am thankful for all the people and groups who help the wild horses, because of them Rapunzel and many other wild ones are still living wild and free.
Thank you Deb Sutherland for your incredible story telling and beautiful photos!
Rapunzel and her mom
All grown up!
