Wisconsin native horses; Ojibwe ponies return to Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE - It is an animal you have probably never seen before – a creature some believe dates back to the Ice Age. The rare mammal returned home to Milwaukee – with four legs and a hearty appetite. 

"Furry, and when people think of mastodons and that kind of animal – these horses were here," said Mark Denning, UW-Milwaukee Lecturer for the School of Continuing Education.

They are Ojibwe ponies – and only 180 of them remain worldwide. 

"It’s a living history. Especially for Americans – all Americans because these horses were one of the main horses in fact the only horses in the Great Lakes area," Denning said.

Emily Loerzel, the founder of Humble Horse, said the ponies helped Ojibwe people navigate and work the land in Wisconsin. The nonprofit works to preserve and education people on the critically endangered horse – which was sacred to Ojibwe communities.

Loerzel explained the horses were nearly driven to extinction in the early 1900s when Native Americans were moved onto reservations. The ponies were either killed or sold.

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"One of the things we strongly believe in is reconnecting their Ojibwe ponies with their Ojibwe relatives," Loerzel said.

The native horses were welcomed back to Milwaukee through a program, "Repairing Together." Students from the Indian Community School and Milwaukee Jewish Day School greeted them at MKE Urban Stables. 

"Some people have gotten really, really emotional because they either didn’t know that we had horses, or they have heard stories of these horses, and they finally get to meet them," Loerzel said.

"I went over by them to say hello and speak the language and saying hello in a very kind, spirited way, welcome back," Denning said.