Rare Nokota horses find a new home at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, a move to help ensure their future

STANDING ROCK RESERVATION, N.D. — Frank Kuntz is getting ready to say goodbye to a herd of unique horses he has dedicated almost 50 years of his life to saving. When the time comes, and a corral gate opens to release them to graze at a new home, it will be a moment of hard-won triumph. The horses originally came from the rugged Badlands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where they have roamed since at least the 1880s. Starting in the late 1970s, Frank and his brother Leo bought surplus horses from the park after they were rounded up, saving them from ending up in the hands of slaughterhouse buyers. The brothers considered the wild park horses, with their sturdy build and agility on rough terrain, ideal for endurance racing, and intended to cross them with domestic breeds such as Quarter Horses. As the Kuntz brothers learned more about the horses, and their historic ancestry, their purpose changed. The horses, with their gentle natures, helped the brothers he