Abbie Branchflower is preparing to share her experiences and research about Pryor Mountain Mustangs during a one-hour presentation at C.H. Booth Library on Wednesday, February 24, starting at 7 pm. Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies, a documentary on PBS, which focused on a stallion in the mountains of Montana by the Emmy-winning filmmaker Ginger Kathrens.horsetalk1270.wordpress.com also has more of her photography available.Facebook page, Keepsake Photography,. Her "Saving the Pryor Mustangs" will presented in library's meeting room. Those interested in attending can register online at the library's website, chboothlibrary.org. The library, at 25 Main Street, can also be reached by calling 203-426-4533.

Ms Branchflower said she plans to discuss her experience from studying the horses, "and I want to talk about the research I have been doing and hope to continue in graduate school."

A flyer for the library presentation says Ms Branchflower will share a slideshow of her photos and will discuss the position of the feral horse in today's society, and how interested parties can have a hand in the fair management of mustangs.

Pryor Mountain Mustangs are recognized as a rare breed, according to the Newtown resident and 2010 Newtown High School graduate. She attended Delaware Valley University to study equine science and hopes to attend Guelph University for graduate studies this fall.

Ms Branchflower said all Mustangs are important, "but these guys are a specific breed."

About 11 years ago Ms Branchflower said she watched

"I realized later on that these horses were the same ones that [were] featured on a postcard I had posted in my room several years before," said Ms Branchflower. "I have been following the horses ever since."

Last August, Ms Branchflower said, she saw the horses in person while at the Pryor Mountain Mustang Range in Montana and Wyoming.

Ms Branchflower had applied for the chance to stay at the ranch, for the cost of flights and food. After demonstrating her interest and ability, Ms Branchflower said she earned the opportunity to go on the study tour with Sandy Palen, who also offers day tours and camping tours, according to Ms Branchflower.

Cloud, who was featured in the documentary Ms Branchflower had watched as a girl, is one of the stallions in the mountains.

Ms Branchflower said the trip last summer involved a lot of walking, following herds, taking notes and photos, and using a guidebook. August up the mountain was hot and stormy and the horses were dispersed, but Ms Branchflower followed the walking trails and took notes, frequently pulling her camera from her backpack to take photos. The photos from that trip are sold by Ms Branchflower to raise money for her studies. They will be among those shown, and will also be available for purchase, during the February 24 program at Booth Library.

During her August excursions, Ms Branchflower worked to document pedigree and lineage, tracking information, behavioral trends, and she kept notes on the success of the contraceptive PZP (Porcine Zona Pellucida) vaccine.

For her senior seminar project at Delaware Valley University, Ms Branchflower said she looked into the effects of the PZP on horses and combined that research with her own observations. To conduct her senior seminar project research Ms Branchflower said she looked at different management studies on managing herds.

Before her project, Ms Branchflower had been studying horses and following bloodlines as a hobby beyond her educational efforts.

At the library presentation, Ms Branchflower plans to discuss efforts to control the horse population, the Pryor Mountain Mustang bloodlines in the heard, conservation efforts, why the horses are important and unique, and will possibilities for the future of the herd. Ms Branchflower also plans to share personal insight into the Pryor Mountain Mustang behavior.

"Managing these mustangs isn't simply a numbers game," said Ms Branchflower. "They truly have their own society and family units, and also represent unique genetics that, if lost, cannot be recovered.

"It's not simply about having some mustangs left, it's about making sure that there is a healthy population and minimizing human interference - particularly interference that directly messes with the bonds between the horses," she added.

Ms Branchflower intends to travel back to the ranch in June. She worked as a veterinarian assistant at Trumbull Animal Hospital until recently, and is a receptionist at Northeast Natural Medicine, LLC, in Newtown.

For her graduate studies, Ms Branchflower said she plans to continue evaluating the impact of the PCP vaccine and assess, "at the individual and population level, the effect of contraception on behavior, welfare, and genetic diversity."

Ms Branchflower kept a blog about her studies and many of her photos are available with notes from her summer 2015 trip to the mountain. The blog is available online at

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