I recently visited Georgia where I did a book talk at the Richland Rum Distillery, located in a verdant, tall-pines area a couple of hours south of Atlanta. There I met Karin Vonk who owns the distillery along with her husband Eric.

Karin and I had been in email contact several years earlier when I was working on my novel Wild Horses on the Salt, a story which discusses, among other things, the plight of the wild horses here in Arizona. Like many places in the West, our wilderness areas are being eating up by development, putting the animals at risk.

You are probably wondering how a rum maker might have been a useful contact in regard to a book about horses. Well, when Karin is not making rum she’s saving mustangs. Following my book presentation—and, lucky me, a rum tasting—Karin invited me to her ranch, a sprawling 2,000 acre spread with rolling hills and lakes, streams and forests.

We parked near a line of oak trees by a fence, behind which multiple mustangs grazed. Black and brown, spotted and white, 26 in all, though many were not visible, since the animals have over 150 acres of their own upon which to roam.

The horses are wild. None have worn a bridle or saddle, and Karin confirmed they never would. Note that mustangs are by definition free-roaming horses that are descendants of those bought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. Though horses were once indigenous to this continent, they died out around 10,000 years ago, possibly due to climate change and human predation.

At the turn of the 20^th century, roughly two million wild horses roamed the West. Today, the Bureau of Land Management estimates the number at 73,520, a count that includes free-roaming burros. Despite the dramatic drop, the animals are running out of room, and the question is what do we do with them.

The BLM conducts roundups, often by helicopter, where some horses are sterilized and released, while others are offered up for adoption. But horses are expensive, as are the efforts involved in training a creature that has always been wild. Despite financial incentives from the BLM, only 6,220 wild horses and burros were adopted in 2023, leaving many thousands languishing in holding facilities across the West. That’s where Karin and others like her come in, many of whom scour the Internet for mustangs in need of a home.

As we stood inside the fence and gazed at the animals placidly grazing beneath a bank of bluish-gray clouds, she told me about one specific horse, a 25-year-old black-and-white paint, an animal that tugged at her. Eventually, she brought him to the ranch and only then did she notice the many pictures of him online. The paint was a long-time photographers’ favorite and in those pictures Karin noticed another animal, a black mare who was always by his side. So, again, Karin went to the Internet, hoping to find the mustang’s mate.

“She was very tentative when she came out,” Karin said when the mare arrived at the ranch. “I wasn’t sure what he would do, so I kept her on the other side of the fence. Then their noses touched and he started jumping and kicking.”

The mare perked up as well. While it was unknown how long they’d been apart, they clearly recognized one another. A short time later, they were reunited.

“See, over there, on the hill?” Karin pointed to the couple, who grazed alone near a thick stand of trees.

A white horse wandered over at that moment and Karin gave him a pat on the neck. I reached out and touched the mustang, as well. Then she nodded at the couple. “They won’t come to me yet,” she said, not seeming the least bit displeased. She explained that the horses are not pets. She tries not to give them names. An effort perhaps to keep them always wild.

Karin wants nothing from these animals except what she can give them. A little bit of open land to live out their lives in peace.

WILD HORSES ON THE SALT

A WOMAN FLEES AN ABUSIVE HUSBAND

AND FINDS HOPE IN THE WILDS OF THE ARIZONA DESERT.

Published by Liaison – A Next Chapter Imprint

Rebecca Quinn escapes her controlling husband and, with nowhere else to go, hops the red-eye to Arizona. There, Gaby Strand – her aunt’s college roommate – gives her shelter at the Salt River Inn, a 1930’s guesthouse located in the wildly beautiful Tonto National Forest.

Becca struggles with post-traumatic stress, but is enthralled by the splendor and fragility of the Sonoran Desert. The once aspiring artist meets Noah Tanner, a cattle rancher and beekeeper, Oscar Billingsley, a retired psychiatrist and avid birder, and a blacksmith named Walt. Thanks to her new friends and a small band of wild horses, Becca adjusts to life in the desert and rekindles her love of art.

Then, Becca’s husband tracks her down, forcing her to summon all her strength. But can she finally stop running away?

Wild Horses on the Salt Universal Buy Link

Anne Montgomery’s books can be found wherever books are sold.