NORTH DAKOTA BADLANDS HORSE

REMEMBERING HAYES

HAYES
3/31/24-7/11/24

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of colt, Hayes.

There was a terrible accident July 10th and Hayes ended up in a sink hole. That night I was photographing the band about 100 yards away when the band started moving and Hayes was no longer with them. His mom Maiden called for him but he stopped calling back after a few minutes. The entire band called for him and they tried to get to him but they were unable to do anything. Sidekick soon moved Maiden and the band away. After they left we started searching on foot and we found him in the sink hole. We made a few calls to notify park staff. They came out right away and did their best to get him on his feet and dug a way for him to climb out. It was late and they had done all they could that night. The next morning they came out to check on him, he was still in the sink hole. They were able to get him out with more time and daylight but he was deteriorating physically and not recovering from the fall, the difficult decision to euthanize was made by park staff.
​
RIP beautiful boy. May you run wild and free forever.