When horses were accidentally fenced into a National Park, a piece of living history was enclosed within. Thought to trace back to Sitting Bull's war ponies. Their ancestors include early Native American and frontier ranch horses. For at least a century horses lived wild in the rugged area of the Little Missouri Badlands. Harsh winters, hot summers and rugged landscapes made these already tough horses even more durable. In the 1950's when they were fenced into the National Park, they received a certain amount of protection from the fences, but their story doesn't stop there. In the 1980's two brothers, Frank and Leo Kuntz started buying horses from the National Park Service round ups in order to save the horses from slaughter. In 1999 the Nokota Horse Conservancy was created and the breed registry was formed.

Today they are being used for all types of disciplines, from dressage to mounted shooting. Blue roan is the hallmark color of the breed, but they also come in a wide variety of other colors and patterns. Nokota horses are known as sound athletes. They develop strong bonds with the people they trust. There are less than 1,000 Nokota horses worldwide.