Oregon’s Big Summit Wild Horse Territory is located within the Lookout Mountain Ranger District. It is approximately 25 miles east of Prineville, Oregon, and totals about 25,434 acres entirely within the Ochoco National Forest. The Big Summit Wild Horse Territory is currently the home-range for about 130 native species wild horses; that’s about one horse for every 200-acres.

Wild Horse Population Management

It is the only wild horse population in the Pacific Northwest that is managed entirely by the US Forest Service, hosting some of Oregon’s few wild horses.

The United States Forest Service ('USFS') (Mr. Shane Jefferies) claims that the 'appropriate management level' (‘AML’) for native-species American wild horses in the Big Summit Wild Horse Territory of the Ochoco National Forest is about “12 - 57 wild horses”.

However, the best science informs that the minimum herd size (AML) required for native species wild horses to maintain genetic diversity and vigor is about 175 wild horses.

“The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recommends that wild horse herds should contain a minimum of 150–200 animals.” (BLM Handbook at 22). 

The foregoing BLM herd management information was confirmed in a comprehensive report (page 28) presented to the National Academy of Sciences Committee to ‘Review the Management of Wild Horses and Burros’, by Animal Welfare Institute.

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