Preserving McCullough Peak’s Wild Horses

A Look Into Friends of a Legacy

In the vast and expansive land that is known as McCullough Peak, one can find steep canyons, flat desert foothills, beautiful colorful eroded badlands and most uniquely, wild horses. With the uncommon sight of these untouched creatures, it is important that they can remain properly managed within our Wyoming ecosystem in a way that allows for their survival in the state’s dry climate without unchecked overpopulation.

Friends of a Legacy (FOAL) is a local non-profit organization that has taken the protection and preservation of McCullough Peaks’ wild mustangs into their own hands in cooperation with the BLM.

The history of these wild horses is extensive and marked by a brutal cycle of conflict; prior to 1971, unregulated commercial hunting and aggressive roundups drove their numbers down from (what Western writer J. Frank Dobie recorded to be) millions, to an estimated 17,000. After the “Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act” (Public Law 92-195) was passed, the horses were granted strict federal protections, but due to the fact that they had almost no natural predators, this allowed for the horses to mate at a rapid rate, with populations expanding by roughly 20% each year.

FOAL has been an early proponent and continued supporter of a local BLM administered contraceptive darting program (PZP), which has been successful in stabilizing the herd’s growth while keeping the mustangs truly wild and free on the range.

According to the American Wild Horse Conservation, Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) is a “non-hormonal, reversible fertility-control vaccine that has been used successfully in various wildlife species, including wild horses. It works by preventing fertilization, thereby controlling population growth without disrupting the social structure of the herds” (americanwildhorse.org).

Heather Green, Executive Director of Friends of the Legacy said that, “There have been more stable population rates. We haven’t seen that big of an increase in population rate since using PZP on the McCullough Peaks herd, so it helps keep the population more stable and less dramatically growing.”

Before this collaboration had begun to take place, in the year 2005, three of the FOAL founders, Bettye Dominick, Marshall Dominick and Ken Martin, went to the Herd Management Area (HMA) where roughly 500 horses roamed. The herd’s size led to its perceived poor condition and thus sparked a discussion as to what could be done to support these horses. After adopting several mustangs, the Dominick’s passion for the horses grew. Eventually land near the HMA went up for sale, and with substantial community support, and a matching grant from Nancy Carroll Draper, they made the decision to purchase the land for $90k, and FOAL officially began its operation.

Today, Friends of a Legacy continues to protect regional wild horses through its “Living Waters Initiative” and other conservation programs. The LWI started back in 2021 aiming to discover old and dilapidated reservoirs and rehabilitate them using excavation work so that they can function properly again.

“The Living Waters Initiative was a project that started with the goal of rehabilitating 25 reservoirs over a 10 year period in order to disperse some of the grazing pressure that happens within the herd management area,” Green said. “When there’s more watering holes available for the horses and for the livestock and other traveling or migratory animals, it helps to disperse or distribute some of the pressure that exists when there’s only one place for those animals to be. So we’ve been strategically identifying existing reservoirs out there that need rehabilitation.”

Further, FOAL had displayed a traveling photography exhibit in different libraries throughout the state of Wyoming to show the importance of the wild horse population.

“It gives an opportunity to help educate the public on our herd management area and the horses that live there, while also bringing awareness to wild horses and their needs, attributes and what they contribute to our landscape in the United States” Green said.

Friends of a Legacy has also been a participating organization of the WyoGives fundraiser for the last several years. This year, WyoGives takes place on July 15, 2026 and operates as a 24 hour event. Donating through WyoGives allows for FOAL as well as many other non-profit organizations the ability to continue their operations, and for FOAL, it allows them to care for these wild horses for years to come.

“WyoGives has been a great way for us to continue to support the wild horses and in the herd management area,” Green said. “Donations we receive through WyoGives to FOAL are generously boosted with additional funds that have been made available through the Hughes Charitable Foundation Incentive Pool.”

Donations to Friends of a Legacy directly fuel this vital mission. As Green notes, “Through our reservoir rehabilitation project, community education, and work with the BLM, our goal is to see a healthy wild horse herd as a permanent part of the McCullough Peaks landscape.”

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📸 Header Image Courtesy Vicky M. Olson 

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