The Nokota Horse Conservancy’s 12^th annual Board of Directors meeting on Saturday, June 19, drew visitors from across the country to Linton for a weekend of activities.

The Conservancy was founded to protect, promote and preserve the Nokota breed, descendants of Lakota Sioux ponies crossbred with Thoroughbreds, Percherons, and other ranch stock in Western North Dakota at the end of the 19^th century. For most of those who visit Linton in connection with the Nokotas, however, the main attraction is the opportunity to observe bands of horses in a near-natural state.

A diverse group of Nokota supporters gathered from places as far away as Texas and Washington across the plains to New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia and from as near as Minnesota and South Dakota.  A special thanks to those folks who chose to travel significant distances to attend and participate in all things Nokota during this annual 4-day extravaganza.

Thursday's Horses on the Prairie Camp saw a group of youngsters hiking through horse pastures, pointing out and identifying various plants and flowers, enjoying Mother Nature to her fullest.  It was an educational experience for all involved, including the Conservancy's guests from around the country.  St. Michael's Catholic Church Hall provided the perfect setting for a barbeque and campfire, as well as an overnight adventure for the young campers.  Tours of pastures in the area where the Nokotas are summering over were the main event on Friday. The most popular place in town during the weekend was Leo Kuntz’s northwest pasture, where mares and new foals are grazing over the summer months. For most residents of non-rural areas, this is a rare and wonderful opportunity to observe horse behavior in the “wild."

The board met on Saturday morning, and then invited everyone for a hot lunch before the open afternoon session began. Although the day was beautiful and most were impatient to get back out to the pastures, the afternoon session was an informative conversation about the breed, its history, and its future – including the upcoming exportation to Sweden of a group of 7 Nokotas belonging to Seth and Emma Zeigler, who intend to breed their horses there. Those horses will be the second group of Nokotas to migrate to Europe; another breeding program is already in progress in France.

A cream can dinner prepared by Terry Vetter followed the meeting, and then the action moved to town, where a street dance with music provided by John Caruso's Stax of Wax drew together the Nokota visitors and local residents.

On Sunday morning, a Father’s Day pancake, egg and sausage breakfast was served at Seeman Park, with Joe Schlosser providing wagon rides around the park and Ben Wald favoring the crowd with familiar accordian tunes. Most visitors left reluctantly for home that afternoon, most with cameras full of pictures of the Nokota horses and the beautiful Emmons County landscape in June.

From July 29 to August 2, more visitors will come to Linton for a colt-starting clinic with Aaron England and Jack Leiser, professional trainers from Texas who have become passionate advocates of the Nokota breed. For information about the clinic, contact Megan McAndrew at 254-4259.