The Alberta Mountain Horse—The Official Animal of Calgary

The Alberta Mountain Horses

Calgary’s family

West of Sundre, in winter light the color of pewter, a stallion lifts his head. Frost smokes from his nostrils. Two mares close ranks around a foal the colour of the dry grass they are eating. The herd holds still—listening, deciding—and then flows as one across the snow-brushed meadow.

They are called Alberta’s wild horses. On paper, the province will reclassify them as feral still, and manages them under the Stray Animals Act and its Horse Capture Regulation. The horses are beyond debate—alive, social, intelligent, important for the environment, and emblematic of this landscape.

A recent provincial framework count estimated a little over 1,400 free‑roaming horses, with the Sundre Equine Management Zone holding the greatest number. That means a mere handful of family bands scattered along the eastern slopes of the Rockies—close enough to be seen, scarce enough to be precious.

A family that protects its own

If you spend time quietly watching, a pattern emerges. The herd is a family band. A harem stallion keeps watch, mares lead in choosing forage and movement, and foals learn by shadowing their mothers. Young males peel away into bachelor groups to test themselves until they’re ready to lead. This is not sentiment; it’s equine social biology observed worldwide in free‑roaming horses.

Protection here is not drama—it’s vigilance. The stallion positions himself to the wind and the treeline. He moves the band with his head. He guards the edge so the foal can drift, doze, and grow. In a province that stakes its motto on being strong and free, the band is both: strong in muscle, free in spirit.

Why this matters—especially to Calgary

Calgary’s story is built on horses—work horses, ranch horses, rodeo legends, and wild horses. Free‑roaming bands are a living bridge from that past to a future where city and foothills are intertwined by weekend drives, school field trips, and quiet moments in nature.

Designating the Alberta Mountain Horse as Calgary’s official animal now honors history; and signals the city’s commitment to family, vigilance, and care—the core behavior of the herds themselves. It invites Calgarians to learn how the province actually manages these horses today—through population counts, equine management zones, and unscientific proposals for fertility control—so that public love is aligned with informed stewardship.

“Symbol + Stewardship. A symbol without stewardship is marketing. Stewardship without a symbol struggles to move hearts. Calgary chooses both.” - GUSTAFSON, Jaeger ✔️

The medicine

Bring a child or a parent or a friend carrying grief to the foothills on a morning. Let the wind carry the resin of the trees. Watch a band thread through aspen and grass. What you feel has a name: awe—an emotion that research links to reduced stress, greater meaning, and stronger prosocial connection. Awe shifts attention from the self to the larger whole, opening space for healing after hard seasons. Nature is particularly potent at inducing this state.

Pair awe with a story—one foal, one family band—and people remember and care. Narrative psychology calls this transportation: being carried into a story world in ways that shape beliefs and motivate action. That’s why a quiet morning with one small band can matter more than a hundred statistics. And change lives.

What the horses teach

1) Strength is forged.

The land builds muscle and vigilance. Endurance is not a pose; it’s a daily decision to move, conserve, and move again.

2) Freedom is cooperative.
The band acts like a braided rope—each strand independent, the braid stronger than any strand alone. Freedom here is responsibility to the herd.

3) Love is practical.
Care looks like body‑blocking wind for a foal, sharing watch, or yielding the best forage to a mare heavy with the next season. It’s tenderness you can measure in hoofprints.

The facts (so our love stays accurate)

• Where they live: Foothills and eastern slopes of Alberta’s Rockies, with the highest concentration in the Sundre zone northwest of Calgary.

• How many: A bit over 1,400 province‑wide, fluctuating year to year. Small numbers mean small margins.

• What the law says: Alberta manages them as feral horses under the Stray Animals Act and Horse Capture Regulation; round‑ups, murder, contraception, adoption, and abuse continue.

• How a band works: Typically a harem stallion, several mares, and their young; bachelor bands form among younger males.

How to meet them with respect

Keep your distance. Use binoculars; let horses set the terms. (Stress burns winter calories they need.)

• Do not feed. Human food changes behavior and harms health.

• No dogs; move calmly. The stallion reads posture and pace.

• Support local stewards. Groups of humans work on rescues, monitoring, education, conservation, and collaboration.

Calgary’s Promise

Imagine field programs where students learn to read ear set, head set, and band spacing like a second language. Imagine community science weekends logging sightings, paired with teachings on kinship with land, and life. Imagine a city that places the wild horse beside its other civic emblems and says: This is who we are at our best—strong, free, protective, and family‑minded.

The Alberta Mountain Horse is Calgary’s official animal, and pair the title with a public stewardship plan—education, respectful viewing guidelines, and reporting tied to police and provincial counts.

The Alberta Mountain Horse is Calgary’s official animal.

The last look (and what we carry home)

Dusk warms the color of the meadow. The stallion’s silhouette sharpens against the golden glow of the sky. He stands, not posing but doing the oldest work in the world: protecting his family. The mares crop a final patch of grass; the foal leans into the windbreak of a shoulder. Then the band slips into the dark line of of the trees, leaving the field to quiet and the stars.

We know the Alberta Mountain Horses. We are reminded of something simpler and harder: peace is a posture we take toward one another. Protection is a promise we keep. Family is who we love—and who we choose to stand beside.

If Calgary has an emblem worthy of its motto, it is here already, moving like weather across the foothills.

The Alberta Mountain Horse - The Official Animal of Calgary

Dusk warms the color of the meadow. The stallion’s silhouette sharpens against the golden glow of the sky. He stands, not posing but doing the oldest work in the world: protecting his family.

I remember.

Strong and free—together.