Hello everyone, and greetings from Medora, North Dakota!  My name is Alanna Kirby, and I will be a second year veterinary student at CSU starting this fall.  I’m interested in equine medicine, and this summer I’m working for two months in the wilds of the badlands. I have been hard at work from my first day here, traveling throughout Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) in search of feral horses.  The project I am working on this summer involves monitoring behaviors of feral horses in the park enrolled in a fertility control study.  TRNP houses elk, bison, deer, pronghorn, rattlesnakes, and of course the feral horses, although the park is not home to any natural predators.  This has led to an increased number of animals within the park, and more than the environment can sustain.  Thus, the concept of fertility control measures are being explored, where mares are given a vaccine to prevent them from becoming pregnant for a period of time.  Although this is a good idea, researchers want to be sure that the vaccine is not causing any unwanted behavioral changes between the horses in the various bands, or groups, which is what I’ll be studying.  I’ve posted a few neat pictures, and I’ll keep the blog updated with my ongoing adventures!