Hagerman Horse exhibit opens at Idaho Museum of Natural History

IMNH will open its new exhibit “The Hagerman Horse: Idaho’s State Fossil Comes to Life” on Monday, April 6, as part of the final ISU Gallery Walk this academic year. The Gallery Walk starts at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

ISU’s other galleries including the Transition and Mind’s Eye Galleries in the Student Union, the John B. Davis Gallery in the Fine Arts Building and the Oboler Library will also feature new exhibits that evening.

IMNH’s exhibit will feature a prehistoric Equus simplicidens skeleton cast, better known as the Hagerman Horse, which is the state fossil of Idaho.

“We just recently acquired this full mount skeleton,” said Dave Mead, IMNH exhibits manager. “We will be developing an extensive exhibit on Hagerman horses and other fossil mammal casts that we have acquired, but this Gallery Walk exhibit will allow participants a sneak peek of Idaho’s state fossil.”

From the late 1920s until the present, excavations at the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in south central Idaho have yielded fossil remains of over 150 horses. Most of these Hagerman Horse fossils are in the Idaho Museum of Natural History collections, including several on exhibit in the IMNH gallery.

The IMNH will also host Phil Gensler, curator at the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, later this month to give a presentation on the Hagerman Horse. Additional information will be disseminated when a date is confirmed.

For more information about the exhibit, contact Dave Mead at (208) 282-3410 or meaddavi@isu.edu. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.