Montana was a part of the July 1996 Bureau of Land Management round-up of wild horses in Nevada. The horses were rounded up to be sold at auction. If they were not healthy a worse fate awaited them.
Annie and her friend stepped in to help bottle feed and care for the over 200 foals that had been brought in, all between only one and three days old. The babies had to be bottle-fed round the clock for the first weeks of their lives.
Montana, LaKota and Cheyenne all came from the same herd. After the round up the three of them seemed to gravitate to each other. Out of the three of them, Montana was the healthiest. Even when she was only a couple of days old she stood fast as their protector. At the time BLM was starting to separate the foals for adoption they tried to pull Montana. She fought them with everything she had to let them know she was NOT going! Cheyenne and Kota were still ill, their fate was not good. I told BLM that I was taking all three of them or I would let everybody know what they were doing!
When I got them home, Blue only three years old, help with the raising of them. She was so excited! The bond between the four of them was an amazing thing to watch. I know in my heart, this was meant to be.
Update:
When we lost Kota in 2016 it was a shock to them, but they still had each other. Then in July, 2020, we lost Blue. Two weeks later we lost Cheyenne. You could see a part of Montana went with them and me as well.
Update:
January 4, 2021 Montana passed away. We are pretty sure she died of a broken heart…