Wild Hoofbeats

Rewilding America Now and Wild Horse Advocacy Groups Call for Audit of BLM Sale Program

Carol Walker — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:53:57 +0000

Organizations Raise Concerns That Federally Protected Wild Horses and Burros Are Entering the Slaughter Pipeline Through BLM’s Sales Authority Program

Various organizations are expressing worries that wild horses and burros, which are under federal protection, are being funneled into the slaughter pipeline via the Bureau of Land Management’s Sales Authority Program.

This day, Rewilding America Now (RAN), supported by, The Cloud Foundation, RJF Equine, Save Our Wild Horses, Carol Walker and Sweet Grass advocacy, appealed to Congress to commence an official investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) into the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Sales Authority Program, particularly its utilization of “sales without limitations.”

Sign the Petition Here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/count-every-horse-stop-bureau-of-land-management-wild-horse-sales-to-slaughter?

This request arises from escalating worries that the Sales Authority Program’s insufficient protections are facilitating the sale of federally safeguarded wild horses and burros via auction routes, which ultimately results in their slaughter, even in the presence of long-established congressional mandates designed to preclude such events.

Over the past decade, tens of thousands of wild horses may have entered similar circumstances, yet little effort has been made to track or recover animals after title has been transferred. Currently, the BLM does not provide consistent post-sale monitoring to ensure the long-term welfare of horses sold through the program.

Rewilding America Now, along with its associated groups, is appealing to Congress for intervention. Proponents contend that without greater accountability and more stringent oversight, animals under federal protection will continue to be funneled into the slaughter system.

Linda Grieves, Co-Founder of Save America’s Wild Horses, added her support to the campaign:

“Save America’s Wild Horses is committed to protecting wild horses and burros on our public lands and raising awareness of their plight. Together, we can ensure they remain free and receive humane management and care.”

“The growing number of federally protected mustangs entering kill pens demonstrates a failure of the system intended to protect them,” said Jenni Sloan, President of RFJ Equine. “The Bureau of Land Management must evaluate horses’ welfare after removal from public rangelands and ensure humane outcomes following adoption or sale.”

Carol Walker, Founder of Wild Hoofbeats, added:

“The BLM’s aggressive use of the Sales Authority Program is a betrayal of our wild horses. These sentient beings do not deserve to end their lives in the slaughter pipeline.”

Kerry Ferguson, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation, emphasized the need for transparency:

“Americans care deeply about the fate of our wild horses and burros. The public deserves confidence that animals removed from the range and placed into federal programs will not ultimately end up in the slaughter pipeline. Greater transparency and oversight can help ensure that the protections promised to these animals are protections they actually receive.”

Rewilding America Now and its coalition partners have formally submitted a request to Congress calling for a comprehensive audit of the BLM Sales Authority Program. The proposed audit would investigate whether the program is:

Undermining congressional directives prohibiting slaughter
Failing to enforce its own safeguards and protections
Misrepresenting the fate of wild horses and burros to Congress and the public

Read the full letter to Congress here:

About Rewilding America Now

Rewilding America Now (RAN) works to conserve and restore North America’s landscapes through innovative rewilding initiatives, with a focus on wild horses as a keystone species. Through science-based research, partnerships with Tribal Nations, and the integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, RAN advocates for public policies that protect wild horses and native ecosystems while advancing groundbreaking rewilding projects.

Rewilding America Now is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and a member of the Global Rewilding Alliance.

The post Rewilding America Now and Wild Horse Advocacy Groups Call for Audit of BLM Sale Program appeared first on Wild Hoofbeats.

Ep #68: Closing in on Wild Horses

Carol Walker — Mon, 25 May 2026 01:00:00 +0000

What happens when the people shaping public lands policy are closely tied to the very industries competing with wild horses for those lands? In this episode, I look at the growing influence of grazing and extractive interests on public land policy, and why these changes could have serious consequences for America’s wild horses.

I explain how proposed grazing changes could reduce public oversight, weaken protections for land health, and prioritize livestock grazing above wildlife conservation. I also discuss the expanding sale authority program for wild horses, the increase in online sales and transport to states with nearby slaughter auctions, and why many advocates are deeply concerned about where these policies are heading.

You’ll hear why these developments matter right now, how Project 2025 connects to current policy changes, and what actions you can take to speak up for wild horses. I also outline why contacting senators and representatives is so important as Congress considers the fiscal year 2027 budget and ongoing public lands policies.

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

How proposed grazing rule changes could reduce public oversight of grazing policies.
Why grazing interests continue to shape wild horse management decisions on public lands.
What the expanded sale authority program means for wild horses in holding facilities.
Why advocates are concerned about online sales and transport to states with nearby slaughter auctions.
How Project 2025 connects to current wild horse policy discussions.
Why the fiscal year 2027 budget is so important for wild horse protections.
What actions you can take to contact Congress and speak up for wild horses.

Listen to the Full Episode:

Featured on the Show:

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.
Follow along on F acebook and Instagram!
Living Images by Carol Walker
Follow my blog to get updates: Wild Hoofbeats Blog
Learn more about my book, Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses by Carol Walker

Episodes Related to Closing in on Wild Horses:

Download Transcript

Have you wondered what is going to happen to our wild horses in the midst of all the changes going on right now on our public lands? If so, this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses is for you. I’m your host, Carol Walker, and let’s get started.

Welcome to the Freedom For Wild Horses podcast, the place to find out about wild horses in the American West and what you can do to help them stay wild and free. If you love wildlife, wild horses, and the freedom that they stand for, this show is for you. I’m your host, Carol Walker. Let’s get started.

With the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Director, Steve Pierce, nearing confirmation by Congress, we cannot forget that while in Congress, he advocated for the selling off of public lands to pay down the deficit and reduce spending. Our wild horses in this country reside on public lands, which have been managed for “multiple use,” but there is a movement right now by the administration to pander to extractive and grazing interests.

Earlier this month, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum canceled seven livestock grazing allotments in Montana for bison being used by the American Prairie Reserve, supporting conservation of this bison herd. I guess grazing permits are now to be used for livestock only.

Currently, there is a comment period until July 13, 2026, for a new proposed grazing role that would no longer allow input from the public on grazing leases and policies. It would also weaken BLM oversight of grazing and its impacts, and it would redefine grazing to exclude all animals except cattle and sheep who are being raised for food.

At the center of an increasing scandal over ethics violations and conflicts of interest is Interior Department’s Associate Deputy Secretary, Karen Budd-Falen. The Campaign for Accountability, which is a government watchdog group, sent last weekend letters to the House and to the Senate asking for congressional investigations into Budd-Falen for ethics violations. She’s a longtime rancher and attorney with her and her family having major financial holdings in many western ranches in Wyoming and Nevada, including grazing lease permits on BLM land.

During Trump’s first term, she was banned because of conflicts of interest from working on anything to do with grazing policy. But now, in his second term, she has returned to the Department of the Interior. She’s been working on grazing policy, as well as being involved to the changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, regulations.

At the end of 2025, in a video conversation with Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, Budd-Falen said, “There are around 1,300 vacant allotments for the Bureau of Land Management right now. By the end of next year, every single vacant allotment will be filled by a rancher who will be able to get their cattle in there grazed. We’ve added some categorical exclusions so that if you have places like in northern Nevada, where my father-in-law’s place is, we added categorical exclusions so you can move cattle in there temporarily. Get some of this grass grazed off that will also really help the wildfire situation.”

There is no concern about standards for land health or wildlife or wild horses, but only a rabid desire to derive the absolute most use for grazing on our public lands. And then she goes on to talk about wild horses, quote:

“And we are also gutsy enough to take on the wild horses and burros. We’re taking revision of the Wild Horse and Burro regulations. I know we’ve got the sideboards that we’ve got from Congress. We’re going to live within the sideboards. David Bernhardt’s trained me that you got to live with the statutes you got. But there’s a lot more wiggle room than we’ve been able to do, and we’re going to take that on.”

Of course, in Project 2025, we were warned that the intention was to remove the guardrail against slaughtering healthy wild horses or selling them to slaughter, which has been banned in every interior appropriations bill for many years.

Budd-Falen again, “You can sell horses in the east. People want to buy wild horses there, but we don’t spend the money to transport the horses from California or Nevada or Wyoming to the eastern states where people will buy them, which is a perfectly legal thing to do. We’ve got our spending priorities all mixed up. We’d rather just put them in short-term holding and feed them hay for the rest of their lives. Look at the numbers. It’s not that hard. So let’s send them someplace where somebody wants to buy them.”

This is exactly what has happened this year with the BLM expanding its sale authority program. Now, instead of being able to purchase four horses per year per person who are over 10 or who have failed to be adopted three times, which is the definition of sale authority, each person can now purchase four horses every six months and can apply to purchase even more. The BLM has ramped up its online sales to now hundreds of horses being offered for sale and adoption through its online corral every month.

They are shipping thousands of horses around the country to sale and adoption events in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, where there are kill pens nearby, and it’s been documented that horses purchased are sometimes taken the same day to slaughter auctions.

How can you make room in the holding corrals so that more and more horses can be rounded up and removed from their homes on public lands? Sell them quickly, for now, or slaughter them. And that is the long-term plan.

The BLM is planning to round up and remove over 14,000 wild horses in 2026, even though there are over 58,000 wild horses in holding facilities at this time. Plans are in the works for a new grazing rule, now open to public comment until July 13, 2026. The livestock lobby is the biggest reason for wild horse roundups.

Under this administration, wild horses are the very last thing of importance in the use of our public lands. In fact, the President’s fiscal year 2027 budget does not have the prohibition against killing wild horses and burros or selling them for commercial slaughter. And this is the second time in a row that this was omitted. This was corrected in the fiscal year 2026 budget, but has not yet had the prohibition added for 2027.

So now is the time to speak up to your senators and representatives to ask them that the prohibition against killing wild horses or selling them for commercial slaughter be prohibited in the fiscal year 2027 budget. And then to ask for a congressional investigation of Karen Budd-Falen and ask for her removal from the Department of the Interior.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses. If you want to learn more, follow me at www.wildhoofbeats.com for more information and for ways to help America’s wild horses. See you next time.

Enjoy the Show?

Don’t miss an episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.
Leave us a review in Apple Podcasts.

The post Ep #68: Closing in on Wild Horses appeared first on Wild Hoofbeats.

Ep #67: Planning for the Red Desert Complex Wild Horses Needs Your Comments

Carol Walker — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 01:00:00 +0000

Have you heard about the new herd management plan for the Red Desert Complex? If not, now is the time to pay attention. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released a plan that will impact the wild horses in this area, and the comment period is open. In this episode, I explain why submitting your comments is crucial and how they can influence the future of these horses.

The BLM is planning how to manage the wild horses across 753,000 acres of the Red Desert Complex. This is your chance to speak up. I outline the main concerns with the current management plan, including water availability, drought conditions, sterilization, genetic diversity, and the continued reliance on non-scientific approaches in managing the horses.

I also explain how these factors could affect the horses’ ability to thrive in the Red Desert Complex. You’ll learn what specific issues you should address when submitting your comments and why it’s so important to ensure that the BLM considers long-term sustainability for these wild horses.

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

Why public comments are essential for the future of wild horses in the Red Desert Complex.
The impact of water shortages and drought on wild horse management.
How past management decisions have failed to address current environmental challenges.
Why the Arapaho Creek herd area should be restored as a Herd Management Area.
The benefits of using reversible fertility control like PZP rather than sterilization.
How to effectively submit your comments to the BLM before the deadline.
What actions can help improve the long-term health and sustainability of the herd.

Listen to the Full Episode:

Featured on the Show:

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.
Follow along on F acebook and Instagram!
Living Images by Carol Walker
Follow my blog to get updates: Wild Hoofbeats Blog
Learn more about my book, Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses by Carol Walker
Learn more in this blog post: Wild Horses in Wyoming’s Red Desert Complex Need Your Comments
View the documents and submit your comments by May 4, 2026, here: BLM Project: Red Desert Complex Herd Management Area Plan & Wild Horse Gather

Episodes Related to the Red Desert Complex Wild Horses:

Download Transcript

If you’ve wondered how you can help some of Wyoming’s most amazing horse herds, this episode is for you. I’m your host, Carol Walker, and let’s get started.

Welcome to the Freedom For Wild Horses podcast, the place to find out about wild horses in the American West and what you can do to help them stay wild and free. If you love wildlife, wild horses, and the freedom that they stand for, this show is for you. I’m your host, Carol Walker. Let’s get started.

On March 25th, 2026, BLM issued a press release for a scoping document for the Red Desert Complex in Wyoming, with public comments due May 4th, 2026. In commenting on a scoping document, the public has the opportunity to tell BLM what to analyze, which is why this is so important.

The BLM proposed a herd management area plan for the Red Desert Complex in Wyoming for five wild horse herd management areas in Wyoming, consisting of 753,000 acres, which they have divided up into two parts. They actually cannot do this division without a change to the land use and resource management plan. But this is what the scoping document says for five wild horse herd management areas in Wyoming.

The North Red Desert Complex consists of Antelope Hills, Crooks Mountain, and Green Mountain herd management areas with about 333,694 acres. It is managed by the Lander BLM field office. The South Red Desert Complex consists of Stewart and Lost Creek herd management areas with about 419,000 acres. It is managed by the Rawlins BLM field office. The BLM has never before changed a Red Desert Complex into two BLM complexes

No mention is made of Arapaho Creek herd, which lies in the middle of these five herd management areas, because it is not managed any longer for horses. It is dismissed as the “donut hole,” and wild horses who enter its confines are classified as off-range. More about that as I continue.

The appropriate management level, AML, for the whole complex, north and south together, is 480 to 724 wild horses. This number was set over 30 years ago and has not been revised since. AMLs are not supposed to be set in stone, but they should change as conditions change on the ground.

Many of these herd management areas have AMLs set together at 80 horses, far below the number needed to ensure genetic viability. And the reason given for this is that the horses move between HMAs, and there is cross-breeding. And this even comes up in the section of documents devoted to genetic viability, which was found to be good, and, quote, “a single interbreeding herd” with some, quote, “limited population subdivisions beneficial to the maintenance of long-term genetic diversity,” unquote.

And where do most of these wild horses cross into other HMAs? Through the Arapaho Creek herd area. The horses from the different HMAs meet and mingle and breed there. I have been observing and photographing the wild horses of the Red Desert Complex since 2016, several times per year. I have witnessed bands moving from one HMA to another through the herd area.

There are distinctions in color between the HMAs. Stewart Creek has many Appaloosas, mostly varnish roans. Crooks Mountain has many bays and some pintos. Green Mountain has many blacks and pintos. Antelope Hills has the most Spanish of the herds, including some amazing buckskins and duns with primitive markings. Lost Creek has quite a bit of Spanish in it as well, with many pintos. The Arapaho Creek is a mixing bowl of all the HMAs.

The last roundup on the Red Desert Complex was in the fall of 2020, when 1,970 wild horses were captured with helicopters. Ten died, and 197 were returned. The population estimates are wildly skewed and don’t take into account the devastating winter of 2022 to 2023. Just adding 20% every year to the numbers is not an accurate way to assess the population of the complex. Also, movement of the horses between the HMAs is not accounted for.

There has been tremendous movement of horses since the catastrophic winter of 2022 to 2023, and then the drought of last year. Horses are moving in ways I have not seen before, and these changing conditions with the record low snowpack of this year, lowest since 1981, means the BLM should be taking current and future conditions into account when making a herd management area plan.

Sweetwater County, South Red Desert, was designated a USDA natural disaster area due to drought conditions in 2025. The BLM should also be taking into consideration present and future mining operations, which take a tremendous amount of water. Additionally, in summer, a cow-calf pair, which the BLM calls one AUM, uses 40 gallons of water a day. A wild horse uses 15 gallons per day. Which population is more suited to resisting a drought? It is completely inadequate in summer for the BLM to say, quote, “it is important to note that these HMAs are not exclusively used by wild horses. In accordance with BLM’s multiple user mandate, there are many other legal users of this land within these HMA boundaries. This can make attributing impacts on the land to a specific land use or user difficult.

When talking about impacts to forage, water, and space, blame is often attributed to the “other” users. As this relates to wild horses, it is clear that wild horses are contributing to impacts on the landscape, but they are not the only contributors. By the same token, other users also contribute to these impacts and cause their own unique impacts, which may directly or indirectly affect wild horses.

The purpose of this management evaluation is not to parse out impacts by resource use, but the goal of this evaluation is to compare current use with past use and to identify any future changes related to wild horses that may need to be made.” This is on page 18.

This is extraordinary and not in a good way. In fact, exactly what the BLM should be doing, is working out how each user of the land is impacted. Otherwise, they are just throwing up their hands and scapegoating wild horses for damage to riparian areas and for drinking all the water without making any determination about the impacts of cattle and sheep, especially since some sheep can be out on the range all year long.

Quote, “Large populations of wild horses often strain the key water supplies in riparian zones. Many run dry during summer,” unquote. There will be drought this summer, and BLM must not be allowed to blame wild horses for any and all impacts. They must analyze the impacts for all users. They must analyze and propose range improvements that help deal with the increasing drought so that the wild horses can have their use.

The BLM should map out all water resources and list those with fences that block access to water; fix broken springs, wells, and pipelines. Wells that are turned off by ranchers when no cattle are in the area should be evaluated.

Interestingly, Arapaho Creek herd area, where there have been wild horses for decades, is the most water-rich area of all, and it was changed from a herd management area to a herd area. It should be changed back to a herd management area, recognizing that it is central to all the herd management areas and an integral part of the complex.

Regarding birth control, quote, “aggressive,” unquote measures are not needed. Just because the BLM administers PCP during a roundup, and it does not follow up with more treatments until the next roundup six or 10 years later, does not mean birth control has failed. Rather, it is a failure of the BLM to administer it properly. There is no need for unscientific and unproven sex ratio skewing. The sex ratio in the complex was already wildly skewed stallions to mares by the extreme winter of 2022 to 2023, due to pregnant and nursing mares being more vulnerable. Do not skew the sex ratio even further, which will result in greater instability for the herds.

There is no need to use GonaCon, an known sterilant. No need to geld stallions. The darting mares is possible. Traps can be set up at water sources. Documentation of the herds must be done. All this takes time and manpower, but it is possible. Birth control darting has been done in Stewart Creek. Planning needs to be done in order to implement birth control across the complex.

I visited Antelope Hills, Green Mountain, Lost Creek, Stewart Creek, and Arapaho Creek in February of this year. All the horses that I saw were in good to excellent condition, coming out of a very mild winter.

Here are some talking points to use in crafting your own comments, which are most valuable when in your own words. Signing on to a form letter will not be useful for your comment. They will not be considered.

This is a list to start from. It is by no means exhaustive, and it will be most helpful if you use your own words.

One: Study and present the impact of all users of the complex. Use data, tables, and maps.

Two: Study, map, and present the movement of the horses throughout the complex, between HMAs, and including barriers and fences. If BLM must use north and south to divide the complex, they must show how the horses cannot move between them or can move between them. If there are plans to keep this designation, it must be included in a resource management plan.

Three: Study and display information on the historic and essential area, Arapaho Creek herd area, and restore this herd area to herd management area status. It is an essential part of maintaining genetic viability of wild horses, as well as providing important water and forage to maintain healthy wild horses.

Four: Redesignate foaling season as March 1st to October 1st. July is the height of foaling season in the complex, not the end.

Five: Repair and support water sources. Inventory all springs, troughs, ponds, lakes, tanks, wells, and document their condition and what users can access each one, and for how many months. Repairing water access will be a vital tool to spread out wild horse use of the complex, not the end.

Six: Detail where the current resource management plans for Lander and Rawlins are inadequate and no longer match current conditions. Include the impact of human use, mining, drought, wildlife, sheep, and cattle.

Seven: Make amendments to the resource management plans that will match the reality on the ground and include a section for wild horse management, rather than removal.

Eight: Plan to use humane, reversible birth control like PZP instead of sterilization. Document wild horses on the range. Saying it is too hard to implement fertility control on the range and then using helicopters to round up and remove the horses every few years is unacceptable.

Do not skew the sex ratio of the stallions to mares. There is no scientific data showing this works to control population growth, and it just results in greater instability for the herds.

If you go to my latest blog post on www.wildhoofbeats.com, you can get the link to the BLM project with the documents and the place to submit your comments by May 4th. Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses. If you want to learn more, follow me at www.wildhoofbeats.com for more information and for ways to help America’s wild horses. See you next time.

Enjoy the Show?

Don’t miss an episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.
Leave us a review in Apple Podcasts.

The post Ep #67: Planning for the Red Desert Complex Wild Horses Needs Your Comments appeared first on Wild Hoofbeats.

Wild Horses in Wyoming’s Red Desert Complex Need Your Comments

Carol Walker — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 21:48:35 +0000

by Carol J. Walker

On March 25 BLM issued a press release for a Scoping Document for the Red Desert Complex in Wyoming with public comments due by May 4. In commenting on a Scoping Document, the public has the opportunity to tell the BLM what to analyze, which is why this is so important. This Scoping is being done in order to create a Herd Management Area Plan (HMAP).

Arapahoe Creek HA is in the middle – the so-called “donut hole.”

The BLM proposes a Herd Management Area Plan for 5 wild horse Herd Management Areas in Wyoming consisting of 753,000 acres which they have divided up into two parts. They actually cannot do this without a change to the Land Use and Resource Management Plan, but this is what the Scoping Document says:

The North Red Desert Complex: Antelope Hills, Crooks Mountain, and Green Mountain Herd Management Areas, with about 333,694 acres. It is managed by the Lander Field Office.

The South Red Desert Complex: Stewart and Lost Creek Herd Management Areas, with about 419,000 acres. It is managed by the Rawlins Field Office. The BLM has never before changed the Red Desert Complex into two different complexes.

No mention is made of Arapahoe Creek Herd Area, which lies in the middle of these 5 HMAs, because it is not managed any longer for horses – it is dismissed as the “donut hole” and wild horses within its confines are classified as “off-range.” More about that as I continue.

The Appropriate Management Level for the whole of the Complex, north and south together is 480-724 wild horses. This number was set over 30 years ago and has not been revised since. AMLs are not supposed to be set in stone but should change as conditions change on the ground. Many of these Herd Management Areas have AMLs at 80 horses, far below the number needed to ensure genetic viability and the reasoning given by that is that the horses move between the HMAs and there is cross breeding, and this even comes up in the section of the documents devoted to genetic viability, which was found to be good and of “a single interbreeding herd” with some “limited population subdivisions,” “Beneficial to the maintenance of long term genetic diversity.”

And where do most of the wild horses cross into other HMAs? Through Arapahoe Creek HA. The horses from the different HMAs meet and mingle and breed there. I have been observing and photographing the wild horses of the Red Desert Complex since 2016, several times per year. I have witnessed bands moving from one HMA to another, through the HA.

There are distinctions in color between the HMAs. Stewart Creek has many Appaloosas, mostly varnish roans, Crooks Mountain has many bays and some pintos, Green Mountain has many blacks and pintos, Antelope Hills has the most Spanish of the herds, including some amazing buckskins and duns with primitive markings. Lost Creek has quite a bit of Spanish blood as well with many pintos. And Arapahoe Creek is a mixing bowl of all the HMAs.

The last roundup was in the fall of 2020 when 1970 wild horses were captured with helicopters, 10 died and 197 were returned.

The population “estimates” are wildly skewed and don’t take into account the devastating winter of 2022-2023. Just adding 20% every year to the numbers is not an accurate way to assess the population of the Complex. Also movement of the horses between the HMAs is not accounted for. This is the table from BLM’s Scoping Document.

There has been tremendous movement of horses since the catastrophic winter of 2022-2023 and then the drought of last year. Horses are moving in ways I have not seen before and these changing conditions with the record low snowpack of this year, lowest since 1981, means the BLM should be taking current and future conditions into account when making a HMAP. Sweetwater County, South Red Desert, was designated a USDA Natural Disaster Area due to drought conditions in 2025. The BLM should also be taking into consideration present and future mining operations which take a tremendous amount of water. Additionally, in summer a cow-calf pair, 1 AUM, uses 40 gallons of water a day. A wild horse, 1 AUM uses 15 gallons per day. Which population is more suited to resisting drought?

It is completely inadequate for the BLM to say:

“It is important to note that these HMAs are not exclusively used by wild horses. In accordance with BLM’s multiple user mandate, there are many other legal users of this land within these HMA boundaries. This can make attributing impacts to a specific land use or user difficult. When talking about impacts to forage, water and space, blame is often attributed to the “other” users. As this relates to wild horses, it is clear that wild horses are contributing to impacts on the landscape, but they are not the only contributors. By the same token, other users other users also contribute to these impacts and cause their own unique impacts which may directly or indirectly affect wild horses. The purpose of this management evaluation is not to parse out impacts by resource uses. The goal of this evaluation is to compare current use with past use, and to identify any future changes relating to wild horses that need to be made.” (Page 18).

This is extraordinary, and not in a good way. In fact, exactly what they should be doing is working out how each user of the land is impacting it – otherwise they are just throwing up their hands and scapegoating wild horses for damaging riparian areas and drinking all the water, without making any determination about the impacts of cattle and sheep. “Large populations of wild horses often strain these key water supplies and riparian zones….many run dry during summer.” There will be drought this summer and BLM must not be allowed to blame wild horses for all impacts. They must analyze the impacts for all users. They must analyze and propose range improvements to help deal with the increasing drought and improve water resources for wild horse use. BLM should map out all water resources and list those with fences that block access to water, fix broken springs, wells and pipelines. Wells that are turned off by ranchers when no cattle are in the area should be evaluated. Interestingly, Arapahoe Creek Herd Area, where there have been wild horses for decades, is the most water rich area of all – and it was changed from a HMA to and HA. It should be changed back to a Herd Management Area, recognizing that it is central to all the HMAs and an integral part of the Complex.

Regarding birth control – “aggressive” measures are not needed. Just because the BLM administers PZP during a roundup and does not follow up with more treatments until the next roundup 6 or 10 years later does not mean that the birth control has failed. Rather it is a failure of the BLM to administer it properly. There is no need for unscientific and unproven sex ratio skewing. The sex ratio in the Complex was already wildly skewed stallions to mares by the extreme winter of 2022-2023 due to pregnant and nursing mares being more vulnerable. Do not skew the sex ratio even further, which will result in greater instability for the herds. Sex ratio skewing has no scientific data showing it works in population control. There is no need to use GonaCon, a known sterilant, and no need to geld stallions. Darting mares is possible – traps can be set up at water sources. Documentation of the herds must be done. All this takes time and manpower but it is possible. Birth control darting has been being done already in Stewart Creek. Planning needs to be done in order to implement birth control across the Complex.

I visited Antelope Hills, Green Mountain, Lost Creek, Stewart Creek and Arapahoe Creek in February of this year. All the horses that I saw were in good to excellent condition coming out of a very mild winter.

Here are some talking points to use in crafting your own comments, which are most valuable when in your own words. Signing onto a form letter will not be useful for your comments – they will not be considered. This is a list to start from, it is by no means exhaustive.

1. Study and present the impact of all users of the Complex. Use data, tables and maps.

2. Study, map and present the movement of the horses throughout the Complex, between HMAs and include barriers like fences. If BLM must use “north” and “south” to divide the Red Desert Complex, then they must show how the horses cannot move between them. If there are plans to keep this designation, it must be included in a Resource Management Plan.

3. Study and display information on the historic and essential area of Arapahoe Creek, and restore this Herd Area to Herd Management Area status. It is an essential part of maintaining genetic viability of wild horses as well as providing important water and forage to maintain healthy wild horses.

4. Redesignate “foaling season” as March 1 to October 1. July is the height of foaling season, not the end.

5. Repair and support water sources. Inventory all springs, troughs, ponds, lakes, tanks, wells and document their condition and what users can access each one and for how many months. Repairing water access will be a vital tool to spread out wild horse use of the Complex.

6. Show in detail where the current RMPs for Lander and Rawlins are inadequate and no longer match current conditions. Include impacts of human, mining, drought, wildlife, sheep and cattle use.

7. Make amendments to the RMPs that will match the reality on the ground and include a section for wild horse management rather than removal.

8. Plan to use humane, reversible birth control like PZP instead of sterilization. Document wild horses on the range. Saying it is too hard to implement fertility control on the range and then using helicopters to roundup and remove the horses every few years is unacceptable. Do not skew the sex ratio of stallions to mares – there is no scientific data showing this works to control population growth and it just results in greater instability for the herds.

You can view the three documents and submit your comments here:

https://eplanning.blm.gov/Project-Home/?id=6c9a6ab7-c027-f111-8341-001dd804183b&

Use the green “Participate Now” button.

Please comment by May 4, 2026 at 4 pm MT.

The post Wild Horses in Wyoming’s Red Desert Complex Need Your Comments appeared first on Wild Hoofbeats.

Ep #66: The Winter that Wasn’t with the Wild Horses of Salt Wells Creek

Carol Walker — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 01:00:00 +0000

What is it like to visit the wild horses of Salt Wells Creek during a winter with almost no snow? In this episode, I share what I saw during my recent trip to this Wyoming range, where unusually dry conditions made travel easier but also raised concerns about the lack of moisture across the region.

Despite the dry winter, the horses I encountered were in excellent condition, with plenty of forage and water available in creeks and springs. You’ll hear about several of the families and bachelor stallions I observed during my time in the range, including familiar horses I have followed for years and new foals born outside the official foaling window defined by the Bureau of Land Management.

This visit also highlights how wild horses organize themselves during winter, when survival takes priority and conflicts between stallions are often subdued. I reflect on the families I observed, the young horses growing within those bands, and why understanding the realities of wild horse life on the range matters when decisions are made about how they are managed.

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

What conditions were like during a snowless winter in Salt Wells Creek.
How the wild horses were faring despite the lack of winter moisture.
Which family bands and bachelor stallions were observed during this visit.
How wild horse behavior changes during winter months.
Why foals are often born outside the BLM’s official foaling season.
What this visit reveals about life for wild horses on the range.

Listen to the Full Episode:

Featured on the Show:

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.
Follow along on F acebook and Instagram!
Living Images by Carol Walker
Follow my blog to get updates: Wild Hoofbeats Blog
Learn more about my book, Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses by Carol Walker

Episodes Related to the Wild Horses of Salt Wells Creek:

Download Transcript

Have you ever wondered what it’s like visiting the wild horses of Salt Wells Creek in Wyoming in a dry winter? If so, this episode is for you. I’m your host, Carol Walker, and let’s get started.

Welcome to the Freedom For Wild Horses podcast, the place to find out about wild horses in the American West and what you can do to help them stay wild and free. If you love wildlife, wild horses, and the freedom that they stand for, this show is for you. I’m your host, Carol Walker. Let’s get started.

The last two years, I visited wild horses in Salt Wells Creek in Wyoming in February, and there was so much snow that I could only travel down a couple of roads, and the horses were difficult to find. This year, in both Northern Colorado where I live and in Southwestern Wyoming, there has been virtually no snow all winter. The lack of moisture is alarming, and of course, we hope for much more before summer comes.

But the horses were in excellent condition. I didn’t see a thin horse. There was plenty of forage as well as plenty of water in the creeks and springs. And other than my first day in Salt Wells Creek, where a little rain caused enough mud to slip and slide before I beat a hasty retreat, I was able to get down all the roads and most of the two-tracks that I normally travel to find wild horses.

The first horse I saw on this trip was a sorrel bachelor stallion, and he was running flat out with wisps of snow on the mountains behind him. He was on a mission to get to a family of horses. I drove as far on the roads in the southern part of the range as I could until I had to turn around for fear of being sucked down by the mud. As I drove toward Rock Springs on Highway 191, I saw a big group of horses near the road.

Ace of Hearts, the stunning four-year-old sorrel curly stallion son of Jack of Hearts was there, and he moved quickly away. Then I realized that Zorro, a big wild curly black stallion with a bent ear was there. But he seemed to be in his usual bachelor state, not in charge of the family. That fell to the young black stallion Jet, son of Bobby, who calmly stood in the middle of the mares as they were grazing.

As I continued up the highway, I saw a large group of elk not far from the road. As I stopped to admire them, they bounded off, beautiful in the afternoon light peeking through the clouds.

The next morning, as I drove into the range from the road to Maggie Springs, the wind was blowing, and I saw a family of horses run across the road with the dust kicking up over the road, and the wind almost blew me off my feet. It turned out to be the gorgeous seal brown curly stallion Coyote and his family.

Then I saw three young bachelor stallions. One sorrel curly, Joker, who looks just like his father, Jack of Hearts, a black stallion, and a bay stallion. They were curious and watched me closely. Further up the road, I spotted a large group of horses. And looking through my binoculars, I was able to make out Teton’s unmistakably loud, red, and white pinto markings. I drove up and down the road several times, down two-two tracks, and finally found a two-track that led out to them.

There were about six or seven families standing butts toward the wind. As I drove near them, they watched but did not move, and I carefully climbed out of my car, wrapping a scarf around my head, and walked toward them, holding on to my camera for dear life.

I was delighted to see a new sorrel filly in Sid’s band. She was nursing on her sorrel mother, and Sid and Lieutenant Teton were keeping watch over the family. Teton has been with Sid’s family now for three years, as the family has grown from one mare and a foal to now several mares and youngsters, and now little Firefly, the new filly. She is very brave and watches me, unafraid and curious. Her fluffy winter coat is keeping her warm.

Right next to Sid’s family is one of my favorite wild horses, the curly cremello stallion Julian, whom I’ve known since he was a fuzzy little baby. His winter coat is dense and textured, and his sensitive blue eyes are closed against the sun. His rather unorthodox family is made up of four other stallions, a dapple gray mare, her two-year-old dapple gray colt, and Palomino yearling colt. Julian plays with the gray colt gently and rests his head across his back.

Once the families wake up and begin heading to water, I head back to the highway. I see wild stallion Sage lying down in the sagebrush, napping with colorful black and white pinto mare Nizoni and her black foal. And then as I travel further from the road, I see a larger family with a Palomino stallion, Palomino mare, and her new little tiny Palomino foal. The mare is very shy, and the family moves off the minute I get out of my car. I also see Ace of Hearts again, his sorrel curly coat glowing in the sun.

On my second day, the first family I saw is one that I spotted several times last year. The flashy bay curly stallion Socrates, who has three white stockings and a wide blaze. He has a pale Palomino mare, Gemma, and a pale Palomino colt, Nugget, but also, new right now, a sorrel mare who Socrates is romancing. He chuffs a soft, and rubs her gently, then lays his head on Nugget. Wild horses are extremely tactile, and I often find families snuggled up together, all touching.

Out along two-track headed toward Meller Mountain, I found the amazing wild curly stallion Jack of Hearts and his family, with Barbados and his family nearby. Jack had a bit of a shakeup with his family this summer, but he still has three mares and a two-year-old colt with an hourglass mask on his face in the family. Jack’s stunning blue eyes, bald half mask, and four white socks make him a stunner in the summer, and simply spectacular in winter when his curly coat has deep patterns and whorls, and his curly mane and tail fly free.

Jack was not happy with the black bachelor stallion, Smoke Signal, who kept close, nor was he happy to be sharing space with the black stallion Barbados who has a big family. He and the bigger stallion Barbados puffed and postured and sniffed the manure pile together. But there was no scuffling or fighting. Wild horses are focused on survival as the number one priority in winter, and the urge to fight or steal mares are less dominant until spring.

As I’m climbing the hill, I see many sorrels at a distance. I take the first two-track I can get down, and I can tell now that it’s Woodrow and Legacy’s band. Legacy is a dark brown curly whose coat is thick and textured even in summer. So I was excited to see what he looked like with a winter coat. Woodrow is a big curly sorrel stallion, and his girls and offspring are sorrel as well. So sort of Lieutenant, Legacy really stands out.

They went down to one spring, Legacy bringing up the rear, and then decided to keep going to another spring that had more water. As they made their way west, I saw another family close by who’s often in this area. A gray stallion who is solid white with a gray mane, and he has a Palomino mare and foal who both have somatic markings. These are gray patches on their sides and barrels, and a black mare and a sorrel mare with a new small baby foal. They were on the move to the next spring, and the baby was keeping up really well.

Both families stopped near the next spring when they saw my car, and I watched the gray stallion chase both Legacy and Woodrow and the girls away from his family. He’s a very dominant brave boy to take on those two big curlies. I was able to get some images of Legacy’s amazing winter coat, which resembles a Berber rug before I left the area so they could go get water at the spring without distractions.

I saw four foals in my time in Salt Wells Creek. The BLM decides that foaling season is between March 1st and July 1st and that this is the only time the helicopters don’t fly. But foals aren’t just born then. Some herds have most of their foals in the summer. Mares heavy with foal should never be run by helicopters. And I constantly see in Wyoming foals being born July, August, September, and October. Winter without snow, but the horses are doing fine in Salt Wells Creek. Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses. If you want to learn more, follow me at www.wildhoofbeats.com for more information and for ways to help America’s wild horses. See you next time.

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Ep #65: A Year for Wild Horses

Carol Walker — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 01:00:00 +0000

What could this year mean for wild horses? As we enter the Year of the Fire Horse, a symbol of movement, passion, and freedom, I reflect on what lies ahead for the horses who embody those qualities more than any other. Wild horses represent vitality and resilience, yet their future remains uncertain as policies and priorities continue to shift.

More than 64,000 wild horses are currently confined in holding facilities, and over 22 million acres have been removed from herd management areas. Recent changes to BLM sales policy make it easier for sale authority horses to be purchased in larger numbers, raising serious concerns about their safety. Oversight remains limited, roundups continue to loom, and transparency has steadily declined, leaving the public with fewer tools to ensure these horses are protected.

In this episode, I share what I believe must change, from ending roundups and restoring habitat to creating independent oversight and returning horses to public lands. The Year of the Fire Horse calls for action, not silence. I will continue sharing ways you can stay informed and speak up for the wild horses who depend on us.

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

What the Year of the Fire Horse symbolizes and why it matters for wild horses.
How much public land has been removed from herd management areas.
Why expanded BLM sales policies raise new concerns for horses in holding.
The ongoing lack of transparency and oversight within the wild horse program.
Specific reforms that could shift wild horse management in a new direction.
What returning horses to public lands could mean for their long-term future.

Listen to the Full Episode:

Featured on the Show:

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.
Follow along on F acebook and Instagram!
Living Images by Carol Walker
Follow my blog to get updates: Wild Hoofbeats Blog
Learn more about my book, Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses by Carol Walker
American Wild Horse Conservation

Episodes Related to Year for Wild Horses:

Download Transcript

If you’ve wondered what this coming year may bring for wild horses, this episode is for you. I’m your host, Carol Walker, and let’s get started.

Welcome to the Freedom For Wild Horses podcast, the place to find out about wild horses in the American West and what you can do to help them stay wild and free. If you love wildlife, wild horses, and the freedom that they stand for, this show is for you. I’m your host, Carol Walker. Let’s get started.

You’ve probably heard that 2026 in the Chinese Zodiac is the year of the Fire Horse. What does that mean? Of course, the horse is a symbol of movement and freedom, vitality, and drive. Fire adds passion and creativity and ambition. It will be a time of rapid change and breakthroughs. Nothing epitomizes the Fire Horse more than the wild horse, who lives their life unfettered, limited only by their wild environment and the limits that our government puts on them.

There is no question that the Bureau of Land Management is a corrupt agency whose management of our wild horses has been a disaster from the very start of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The agency never should have been charged with the care of our wild horses. Their ties to and submission to livestock ranchers who have grazing permits on our public lands make the idea of fairness and multiple use on our public lands a farce.

Wild horses have been forced out of over 22 million acres that they used to call home. And over 64,000 wild horses are stockpiled in holding facilities, corrals, and pastures that are mostly privately held and inaccessible to the public.

A recent policy change on sales has made it extremely easy for unscrupulous people to take advantage and purchase sale authority horses, those that are 10 and over, and those who have failed to be adopted three times, to be purchased by the truckload and dumped at auction, where they can be purchased by kill buyers and sent to slaughter.

After the government shutdown last year, the roundups were halted except for a so-called emergency roundup in the Ewani HMA in Nevada that was supposedly because of lack of forage due to a fire that had been in the HMA. But somehow, the horses were in good condition, and there were cattle out grazing.

There is no oversight of the BLM. They don’t comply with their own comprehensive welfare program rules and standards. They don’t do the range assessments that they are required to do before planning or scheduling removals of wild horses. They prevent the public from having meaningful observation during roundups. And there are many other issues. Wild horses will always come last on the priority list for this agency.

What do I think should happen? First, remove the Bureau of Land Management as the manager of wild horses on our public lands. Install an independent agency with the welfare of our wild horses at its core.

Stop the roundups. Period. No more stockpiling wild horses in holding facilities.

Do research. Put the roundup dollars towards studies of the wild horses that are still free on our public lands. See what the actual effects of having them in their herd management areas does to and for the land. And find ways to improve their homes, their lands.

Do studies to find out what numbers of wild horses are sustainable in each herd management area and abolish the outdated and arbitrary appropriate management levels.

End grazing leases for livestock on all the herd management areas. Stop trying to convert herd management areas where wild horses live to herd areas not managed for wild horses. Yes, Wyoming Checkerboard, I mean you.

Get the new agency’s employees out on the range with the horses. Wild horse manager is not a desk job, but a field job. Set up partnerships with locals to aid in studies, research, and where the population needs to be controlled in administering safe, reversible birth control.

What to do with the 64,000 wild horses in holding facilities? Well, the stallions are gelded, so it’s not a breeding population. Return them to the 22 million acres of public lands that were removed from wild horse herd management areas. Let them live out their lives in freedom. Close the holding facilities. Most of these are private. Most of these are big moneymakers for the livestock ranchers.

Wild horses are not pests. They are not a nuisance. They are not feral. They are not useless. They are magnificent, wild, sentient beings with an innate sense of the wild lands where they belong. They are an essential part of our western lands and inheritance and deserve to be protected.

This year of the Fire Horse gives us an opportunity to leap forward, and for the wild horses, that is everything. Silence and stillness will not serve them. I’ll be keeping everyone informed about opportunities to help them as the year progresses.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses. If you want to learn more, follow me at www.wildhoofbeats.com for more information and for ways to help America’s wild horses. See you next time.

Enjoy the Show?

Don’t miss an episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.
Leave us a review in Apple Podcasts.

The post Ep #65: A Year for Wild Horses appeared first on Wild Hoofbeats.

Ep #64: Why BLM’s Expansion of Sales Threatens Wild Horses with Debbie Coffey

Carol Walker — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 01:00:00 +0000

What happens to wild horses once they are removed from public lands and placed in holding facilities? In this episode, I examine a new Bureau of Land Management policy that expands the use of sales as a way to reduce the number of wild horses in government care, raising serious concerns about oversight and protection.

I’m joined by longtime wild horse advocate and Freedom of Information Act expert Debbie Coffey to explain what this policy change allows and why it matters. We discuss how increased reliance on sales, especially group sales, creates risks when transparency is limited and public access to information continues to decline.

We also outline why advocates view this shift as a direct threat to wild horses belonging to the American public and what listeners can do in response. This episode focuses on the importance of accountability and the specific actions needed to push back against policies that put wild horses at risk.

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

Why curly horses disappeared from public adoption lists after recent roundups.
Why the BLM’s expanded sales policy is raising alarm.
How sales differ from adoptions and why that distinction matters.
What past sales cases reveal about risks to wild horses.
How reduced transparency affects public oversight.
Why Freedom of Information Act requests play a critical role.
What steps you can take to speak up for wild horses.

Listen to the Full Episode:

Featured on the Show:

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.
Follow along on F acebook and Instagram!
Living Images by Carol Walker
Follow my blog to get updates: Wild Hoofbeats Blog
Learn more about my book, Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses by Carol Walker
American Wild Horse Conservation

Episodes Related to BLM Sales:

Download Transcript

If you’ve wondered what the BLM’s new sale policy for wild horses and burros means, then this episode is for you. I’m Carol Walker, your host, and let’s get started.

Welcome to the Freedom For Wild Horses podcast, the place to find out about wild horses in the American West and what you can do to help them stay wild and free. If you love wildlife, wild horses, and the freedom that they stand for, this show is for you. I’m your host, Carol Walker. Let’s get started.

Carol: I am absolutely delighted to have my good friend Deb Coffey on with me today. She has done more for wild horses behind the scenes than anybody will ever know. And she’s also the Freedom of Information Act queen, knowing the most about that of anybody I know. And she continues to work tirelessly for the horses. And so I’m really happy to have her input on this really important issue today. So thanks for coming here, Deb.

Deb: Oh, sure, Carol. I’m always happy to be on the show. I admire you and the work you continuously do, your blog, and keeping up with everything. So on behalf of everybody, I’m thanking you for that.

Carol: Oh, thanks, Deb. And we really wanted to talk about this new press release from the BLM about their change in policy about sale authority horses because it’s very, very important.

Deb: Yeah. I’ll kick this off talking about my opinion, Carol. With the BLM now highlighting sales, highlighting means the BLM is going to focus and push sales. And this is really concerning for many reasons. And we’ll get up that they’re about they’re not being follow-up on their care or welfare. But for me, because I’ve filed so many Freedom of Information Act requests about the disposition of wild horses over the years, the sales of five-plus that only need an approval.

You know, so somebody sends in a thing, it gets approved, and we won’t know where these horses are going or how many horses are going, where they’re going, unless we file Freedom of Information Act to get a copy of those records. And I can tell you it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get any Freedom of Information Act requests. It takes probably a year to get, it’s just we won’t know where they’re going.

Carol: Oh, so let’s start, Deb, by telling people basically what the BLM announced. So basically, the BLM is offering opportunities for qualified buyers to purchase wild horses and burros, including options for purchasing larger groups. And they’re saying that now individuals and organizations may purchase up to four animals every six months. It used to be every 12 months. And they also offer an application process to purchase groups larger than four. And that is a big change.

Deb: And what this means, remember a long time ago, I filed Freedom of Information Act requests and found out they were thinking of, really not just thinking about, they were heavily in planning sending wild horses to Russia where they’d be used as prey for Siberian tigers, and also sending them to Ghana and areas where they would not be safe. What my fear is going to happen with these group sales, there’ll be some middleman with the organization. That kind of was a red flag to me because when they’re selling a group to an organization, it’s just a middleman that’s used to dispose of the wild horses and burros.

And I was thinking back, why is it that when a wild horse or burro is sold, it becomes private property? Once they’re freeze-marked, they should be wild horses and burros for the rest of their life. It’s BLM’s policy not to look after them anymore after that. Even if they’re sold, they could make some stipulation. I don’t understand the legal thing, but they’re abdicating their responsibility when they sell wild horses and burros.

Carol: Yes. We all knew that when Project 2025 came out, and they talked about disposing, basically, of the wild horses in holding, we knew that it was going to get really ugly. And just because Congress just passed the budget for the Department of Interior, it says it precludes the slaughter of wild horses.

So there’s no accident that right after that, the BLM issues this new press release because this is how they’re going to get rid of the horses in holding.

Deb: Oh, yeah. And basically, they only have a quote, unquote “certification of intent” to provide humane care on. That’s what the people promise when they send these applications in. So I’m some organization. I could then sell these horses to another organization or to another, they could sell it to another organization. They do not know where these horses, what will happen after that.

Carol: No. And there’s no penalty if people find them at auctions being purchased for slaughter. There’s no penalty.

Deb: Yeah, there’s nothing BLM can do after that point. Once they become private property, when they’re sold, they become private property. And you think they can do anything in other countries? They can’t even do anything here. You think what if our horses get sent, who knows where, and they’re tortured? Who knows what’s going to happen to them?

Carol: And look what happened with the AIP. So the adoption incentive program, there were people who were completely making use of this. They were giving $1,000 for people to take a horse. And people were abusing it. There was one family that made $52,000 selling these horses, turning around and selling them to slaughter afterward. And they were making money. And did they even preclude these people who were proven to have dumped the horses at slaughter from getting more horses? No. They don’t care what happens to the horses.

Deb: No. And these people belong to the American people. They don’t belong to the Bureau of Land Management. They belong to the American people. They belong to you and me and all of you that are listening. So I think it should be a stipulation that the BLM before they sell a group of horses, make it public who they’re selling them to online. They can do a press release and they can announce in next month, we’re planning on selling these horses and get public comment on it. So that we have any concerns, they certainly don’t look into who they’re selling it to, or they don’t care. But that way, if the public has any concerns, we can let them know.

So there should be a stipulation if they’re going to do group sales. It’s not hidden, and only a couple people know about it, and certainly not the public, but they should announce, okay, next month we’re planning on selling 60 horses to this organization for this purpose. If we’re going to be sending them somewhere. So that’s the bare minimum that they should do, in my opinion.

People need to see this as a total abdication of their responsibilities, caring for the welfare of the horses, and it’s also in violation of the act as far as I’m concerned.

Carol: Right. Well, they’re still doing adoptions, but what also is happening is they are doing less and less in-person adoptions and more and more online adoptions. And they have been loading these online adoptions with 1,000 or more horses at a time. And the horses that do not get adopted, they get a strike against them. So after three strikes, even a young horse becomes a sale authority horse.

So this is a great way to turn these horses that are not eligible for sale into horses that are eligible for sale. And this is happening more and more. And there’s no way that there are 1,000 people at the online adoption who are going to take 1,000 horses. It’s just not going to happen. So these horses just get lined up to be turned into sale authority horses.

Deb: Well, and the BLM has created this problem because they put all the horses on private property where the public cannot go and see them. If you go, generally, the horses have a tag around their neck, and you can see the last four numbers of the freeze mark. So if you wanted to adopt a horse, but you can’t go to Indian Lakes Road, you can’t go to a lot of these private facilities.

Carol: You can’t go to Wheatland. You can’t go to Axtell. These are the places the Wyoming horses are going to. You can’t go to these places and get horses.

The Wheatland facility pulls out 20 horses out of their maybe 2,500 in their whole facility and puts them in corrals outside the facility and says, “These are the ones you can take.” And the other 2,560 horses, you can’t even get access to. And they have only so many adoptions a year. And that’s the only access that you get to that facility. Axtell may have a two-hour tour once a year. A lot of these facilities don’t even have a tour once a year.

And so the public doesn’t see the condition of the horses. They’re not able to adopt them. It’s completely wrapped up. It’s like, “Okay, that’s our contract with our private contractor.”

Deb: And I’ve seen the contracts. They cannot answer questions, the contractors not allowed to answer questions. The public might ask. So if you drove by one of these places and you see the contractor, he can’t talk to you. They have to let him know if anyone wants to request seeing the horses. This whole wild horse and burrow program has lacked transparency, putting them on private property where you can’t see them. This is like taking your wallet out of your purse and saying, “We’ll take care of this for you. Don’t worry,” and you never see it again. You know? They’re stealing something from the public that you own.

Carol: The budget, $100 million a year to pay for these horses in holding. Of course, they’re going to say this is too expensive, we need to get rid of these horses. Of course, they’re going to say that. And the press release, they say that there is 63,000 horses in holding facilities right now. And Deb and I were talking about how you used to be able to go online on the BLM website and see from month to month how many horses were at each facility. But somehow that’s gone now.

Deb: Well, it’s not gone. They only show one month. And right now it’s the November 2025. So for the past two months, we didn’t get a December report up. But they used to show the rest of the year. So you could scroll down and say, okay, this was this month. Now they only have one month up there. So they’re becoming less transparent that way.

Carol: They don’t want us to see the change. I mean, especially if they start doing these big group sales. They’re not going to want people to see, “Oh, gee, somehow there’s 5,000 less horses in holding facilities this month.”

Deb: Mhm. That’s exactly it. Why else? They’ve done this for 15 years. Why all of a sudden do you only get one month of off-range facility reports on the Wild Horse and Burro, I think it’s on their data section or whatever. You have to, you have to kind of look to find it. But being less transparent, this has been an ongoing theme. You used to be able to see a for each BLM field office, you could look at a directory and see who their wild horse and burrow specialist was.

Carol: Hah.

Deb: You don’t know who anybody is at any field office.

Carol: And there’s no phone numbers on half, on half of the things.

Deb: Oh, no phone numbers or emails. You get the field office manager and that’s it.

Carol: And the main office phone number, and that’s it. That’s all you get. And there used to be, was it 2015 that they started taking down everything off the websites. You used to be able to go and look on the websites and find out about a particular herd management area. There were maps, there was information about the horses. All that was has been mostly taken down. And so it’s horrifying how little access to information we have these days.

Deb: And I’ve filed many FOIA requests on my own. I’ve helped other people, I’ve helped other organizations file FOIA requests. I’ve worked on appeals. I’ve worked on lawsuits. It’s so hard to get any information from the BLM. You almost have to file a lawsuit. They’ll just let it languish for years. And it’s become harder. You have to narrow the scope of your request so much. So it’s very hard to get information from the Bureau of Land Management.

Carol: So I thought we might talk a little bit about Tom Davis, Deb.

Deb: Oh yeah.

Carol: Between 2009 and 2012, Tom Davis took 1,700 horses from holding facilities. He arranged it through Washington, D. C., and Sally Spencer. And those horses, somehow, they just disappeared.

Deb: Yep. They went to slaughter. So there was a big investigation, and that’s why the BLM came up with their new applications that you couldn’t buy. This was supposed to be, there was so much public outcry. That’s how they came up with this plan. Okay, we won’t sell more than four horses at a time, or they have to get approval. But now that I see that they’re pushing sales to organizations,

Carol: More than four horses, for sure.

Deb: Yeah, five-plus. This is very concerning. This is what we need to really focus on, everybody.

Carol: Everybody. We do not want thousands and thousands of horses going to slaughter because of this.

Deb: Or being sent overseas to horrible conditions.

Carol: Exactly. And it’s almost like it’s revenge for the AIP being stopped. It’s like, okay, you’re going to stop us from paying people to take horses. Okay, we’re just going to let anybody take a horse or more than one horse or more than four horses. We’re going to try to empty the corrals as much as possible.

Deb: I think if anyone lives near corrals, please drive by and see what you can see. As you know, we did an investigation when I was with, Carol and I were with the Wild Horse Freedom Federation. I actually went to Oklahoma, Kansas, and in Oklahoma, you can actually, there’s public roads that drive through these off-range pastures. And one of them in Oklahoma, it was a residential section, part of the map. And most of them, we didn’t even see a third of the horses that were supposed to be there. We felt like crying the whole time. It was really sad.

So we don’t even know if all these horses are still there and haven’t already been… They don’t give public tours of these places, or if they do, it’s only two places a year. The BLM has just been horrible about transparency. And then they’re wondering why the advocates don’t seem to trust them.

Carol: Right. Can’t imagine why that would be.

Deb: One thing I wanted to bring up, Carol, about the adoptions and why they’re pushing sales, in the over 50 years, the BLM has had this program. To my knowledge, not once have they ever used a wild horse and burro training expert to make a video to show potential adoptees or people that have just adopted a wild horse how to gentle the horse.

Carol: Well, yeah. And the adoption program, a significant portion of the adoption program should have been aftercare support. “Okay, you’re having this issue with a horse. Let’s hook you up with somebody who can help you with this.”

When we were talking about the AIP getting taken away, it’s like, you can give people benefits that aren’t money. How about giving people vouchers for vet care? How about giving people vouchers for training? Something that will help support the horse, support the adoption, not just get rid of the horse.

Deb: Yeah. To me, it’s very clear. They just want to dispose of these horses. They want to empty out the corrals. They can’t do a mass euthanasia without everyone having a major hissy. But this is a second step below that. This is a step right below that.

Carol: Well, they can’t, they can’t do it without going against Congress, but a lot of things are being done against Congress anyway. But the easy way to do this is to just empty the corals by giving them to a person who might turn around and take them to auction for slaughter.

Deb: Yeah, and worse yet, organizations that will ship them overseas or wherever.

Carol: Yes. So I don’t anticipate this being a boon for wild horses. I anticipate this as being a horrible thing for wild horses. And as you know, and I had spoken about this before, they also have been closing down the prison training programs. They have gotten rid of the contracts for all the prison training programs. They haven’t renewed any of them. And so those facilities have been emptying out.

Deb: Had they had a Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting in the last year?

Carol: I think they have. I think they’ve had one. Yeah.

Deb: Okay, their minutes aren’t online yet for that.

Carol: But nothing about what’s going on right now.

Deb: That’s what I mean. Coincidentally, there’s no meeting and no minutes about this to look into it.

Carol: There haven’t been any roundups recently either, which is different. Since the shutdown, usually wintertime is when they’re rounding up wild horses, and there hasn’t been anything. And we’re still waiting for the 2026 roundup schedule. That has not come out yet. So we don’t really know what they’re planning, and it’s a really creepy feeling waiting.

Deb: Mhm. I think we’re going to have to, everybody’s going to have to stay really…

Carol: Vigilant.

Deb: Yeah, vigilant.

Carol: And of course, it’s always a good idea to speak to your members of Congress and tell them that you want the horses to continue to live on public lands, to be managed on public lands, and that you don’t want them slaughtered. You don’t want them shipped overseas. You don’t want them sold en masse because that is a recipe for abuse. So that’s always a very good idea to do.

Deb: And it’s what’s needed, not just a good idea. They really need it now. They need your voice. Take a couple minutes this coming next week and make a phone call.

Carol: Yep, to your senators and representatives. This year could be a very crucial one, and I don’t want to find out that in March, there’s only 50,000 horses left in the holding facilities because a lot of them have, thousands of them have been shipped. It’s not to their benefit.

Deb: And for any of you doing research out there, information tends to disappear. The BLM takes it offline or whatever. So if you see something important, print it up, please. Take a screenshot or print it up so that somebody has a record of it. Because you never know. Like now, I’m so glad that I printed up and saved all the old facility reports for years, because if anyone ever has a FOIA lawsuit or any other lawsuit, some of these records could be very helpful.

Carol: Every FOIA that’s been filed is available for people to view as well. Correct, Deb?

Deb: Yes. Anyone can request a copy of any FOIA number. You just say you want to copy the responsive records for this FOIA. You can go to an online, the BLM FOIA log and look at what people have requested and see the FOIA number. So you can always get any records you’re interested in, or contact groups. You can contact me or American Wild Horse Conservation or somebody may have or know of who might have some FOIA records, and they might be willing to share it with you for your research purposes.

Carol: Exactly. Exactly. People always ask me, “Well, what would you do with all these horses in holding?” Well, there were 22 million acres that were taken away from wild horses since 1971. I would like to see them back out on our public lands.

Deb: Yeah, I would too.

Carol: The stallions have been gelded. So it’s not going to be a breeding population and put into these areas where they can live out their lives. That’s what I would like to see for these. I don’t want the corrals and the holding facilities to get filled up again with more horses rounded up because they’ve been emptied. I don’t want to see that either. So we need to, have a stop to the roundups, and we need to put these horses back out on public lands to live out their lives.

Deb: I agree with you, Carol. I think that they took away land at herd management areas. They shouldn’t have been removing them in the first place. They’ve favored the grazing of privately owned livestock. It’s such a corrupt thing that they’ve done and abdicated their responsibility for caring for wild horses on public lands.

And that was the whole crux of the issue with them removing them. They took away that land the horses were on. So they’ve basically violated the act from the beginning of this. They didn’t even do a census for a couple of years after the act was passed. So they’ve basically been violating this the entire time it’s been in effect. And this is coming to a culmination now. “Oh, we can’t afford the horses.” Yeah, for 55 years of terrible management.

Carol: Right. And their primary purpose is to manage and care for the horses, care for their welfare, not to abdicate responsibility and dump them. That’s not what the Bureau of Land Management is supposed to be doing with our wild horses.

And that’s not what any of us want to have happen to these 63,000 horses that are in holding.

Deb: Yeah. So Carol and I are asking you to call your representatives, your senators and representatives, and tell them you’re very concerned with BLM’s new policy on highlighting sales of wild horses, especially the groups, large numbers to organizations or people, and Carol, you want them protected.

Carol: Yeah, we want them protected. So yeah, I think that was basically it for today. And Deb, thank you so much. You have such a wealth of knowledge, and it’s so valuable to help our horses. I appreciate everybody listening today.

Deb: Thanks, everyone.

Carol: Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses. If you want to learn more, follow me at www.wildhoofbeats.com for more information and for ways to help America’s wild horses. See you next time.

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The post Ep #64: Why BLM’s Expansion of Sales Threatens Wild Horses with Debbie Coffey appeared first on Wild Hoofbeats.

BLM Opens the Door to Slaughtering Wild Horses Even Wider

Carol Walker — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 20:46:15 +0000

By Carol J. Walker

On January 12, The Bureau of Land Management issued a press release touting offering an increased ability to purchase wild horses through its sales program. Now, for only $25 each member of the public can purchase up to 4 horses every six months, and “the BLM also offers and application process to purchase groups larger than 4.”

This ability for group sales has been severely limited since 2013 when the story about Tom Davis broke, where he bought 1700 horses over three years and was unable to provide any proof that he had “provided humane care,” and those horses had gone to slaughter.

In 2004 Senator Conrad Burns slipped the Burns Amendment into the Appropriations Bill, which calls for the sale of wild horses “without limitation” for those over 10 years old and for those horses who had been offered for sale 3 times without being adopted.

The whole point of the wild horse adoption program was to protect the wild horses under the BLM’s care. Each adopter had to keep the horse until a a year had passed and was supposedly inspected to ensure the horse was being cared for properly before the adopter received title. This was a way to get the horse titled immediately so it could potentially go to auction and be purchased for sale to slaughter.

In 2019, the Adoption Incentive Program was started wherein the buyer of a wild horse would receive $1000 per horse. In 2024 a judge ruled against the BLM and the program was ended after thousands of wild horses had been sent to slaughter by abusers of this program who used it to pad their pockets. https://www.wildhoofbeats.com/blog/a-win-for-wild-horses-cash-incentive-for-adoption-overturned-in-federal-court

Now by opening the slaes of wild horses back up top group sales, this is a way for the BLM to start to empty the corrals. They have not renewed the prison program contracts, moving the number horses in privately held facilities with no public access higher and higher. They cannot outright slaughter the horses because Congress just passed the Interior Appropriations Bill that precludes this, so the way around this restriction, the way to conform to Project 2025’s mandate to get rid of the 63,000 wild horses in holding is to open up these “group sales.”

Ep #52: What Project 2025 Means for Wild Horses: Interview with Debbie Coffey

https://www.wildhoofbeats.com/podcast/project-2025-wild-horses-debbie-coffey

BLM has in 2018 explored the options of transporting wild horses to Russia for use as food in tiger sanctuaries, transporting them to Guyana and other countries, also likely to end up as food, and with no ability for any oversight by our government once the horses had been sold.

BLM relinquishes any control or say in how the wild horses are treated once they are sold.

The Adoption program still exists for horses under 10 years old but another work around for the BLM is to offer more and more wild horses, over a thousand at a time, in the Online Adoptions. Each time a horse appears and is not adopted is a “strike” against them, and after 3 strikes even the youngest of horses is eligible to be sold outright.

Wild horses and burros need to be protected from these plans to empty the corrals, likely just to make room to fill them again with rounding up the wild horses that are still free. Instead of managing our wild horses on the range where they belong with research and humane management, the push is toward removal and disposal, driven by livestock, mining and other interests in our public lands.

What can you do to help? Tell your Senators and Representatives that you want the BLM to withdraw this change in policy and that you want added protections to the Wild Horse and Burro Program to add federal monitoring requirements, follow up inspections and most importantly, welfare protections for our wild horses and burros.

The post BLM Opens the Door to Slaughtering Wild Horses Even Wider appeared first on Wild Hoofbeats.

Presentation on Saving and Spending Time with Salt Wells Creek Wild Curly Horses

Carol Walker — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:28:49 +0000

by Carol J. Walker

Yesterday I talked about the wild curly horses of Salt Wells Creek, the largest population of wild curlies for the Wild Horse and Burro Virtual Summit.

You can watch the presentation on YouTube here:

I appreciate the opportunity to share my love of these horses and educate people about the curlies and what makes them so special. I also gave updates regarding the Checkerboard lawsuit to prevent the zeroing out of this herd as well as Great Divide Basin and 1/3 of Adobe Town. And last I talked about visiting the herd and resources.

The Wild Horse and Burro Summit continues each weekend through the end of February,

The Wild Horse and Burro Virtual Summit continues each weekend through the end of February so there is still time to listen to all the wonderful presenters. You can sign up for free here:

https://secure.everyaction.com/pHZ86aq9ikCsdBQPR0beOg2

The post Presentation on Saving and Spending Time with Salt Wells Creek Wild Curly Horses appeared first on Wild Hoofbeats.

Ep #63: Revisting Wild Curly Horses

Carol Walker — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 01:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered what makes a wild curly horse so distinctive? In this episode, I revisit my first experiences with the curly horses of Salt Wells Creek and share how discovering this rare lineage changed the way I understood the diversity within America’s wild horse herds. These horses carry traits that set them apart from others on the range, and encountering them for the first time revealed just how unique this population truly is.

I talk about the wide range of curliness found in this herd, from horses whose coats shed dramatically in spring to those whose curls soften or disappear entirely in summer. I also explain what makes curlies genetically different, how their characteristics have been documented across history, and why they have become so valued by both breeders and advocates. Their presence in Salt Wells Creek represents one of the rarest wild curly populations in North America.

As I revisit this story, I also share why these horses are now at risk. Salt Wells Creek is one of the herds slated for full removal under the new land use plan, and curlies were notably absent from public adoptions after the most recent roundup. I hope this episode encourages you to learn more about what is happening to these unique horses and to take action to help protect the wild curly herds that remain.

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

How curly horses first appeared in North America and the earliest known records of them.
What makes a curly horse physically and genetically different from other wild horses.
Why curly horses survived some of the harshest Nevada winters when others did not.
How their coats and traits change between seasons and across individual horses.
Where the Rock Springs curly lineage originated and how it connects to Salt Wells Creek.
Why curly horses disappeared from public adoption lists after recent roundups.

Listen to the Full Episode:

Featured on the Show:

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Living Images by Carol Walker: Salt Wells Creek | Red Desert Complex
Follow my blog to get updates: Wild Hoofbeats Blog
Learn more about my book, Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses by Carol Walker
Map of Salt Wells Creek HMA
International Curly Horse Organization
American Bashkir Curly Horse Registry
American Wild Horse Conservation

Episodes Related to Wild Curly Horses:

Download Transcript

Have you ever wondered what’s special about a wild curly horse and what a curly horse might be? If so, this episode is for you. I thought I might revisit this episode during the holidays because the curly horses are such an important part of the Salt Wells Creek wild horse herd in Wyoming.

Welcome to the Freedom For Wild Horses podcast, the place to find out about wild horses in the American West and what you can do to help them stay wild and free. If you love wildlife, wild horses, and the freedom that they stand for, this show is for you. I’m your host, Carol Walker. Let’s get started.

I didn’t know anything about curly horses until a trip to visit Salt Wells Creek in Wyoming to visit this herd of wild horses in the spring of 2018. I had visited this herd before, but given it was almost a million acres in size, it makes sense that I was unfamiliar with this particular area that my friend Meg invited me to go with her to visit.

A wild black stallion named Bubba was my first introduction to curly horses in this herd. His long curling ringlets of mane and his thick curling coat were amazing looking, and he was so large and heavy. He reminded me of the horses that the medieval knights of old rode. And when he galloped by chasing another stallion away from his family, I could feel the ground shake. And he was a very gentle guy, very kind to his mare and his foals. And I was just entranced by him.

There were other curly horses in this area of Salt Wells Creek. There were three other black stallions that were curlies: Bobby, Rocket, and Zorro. This year, Rocket has three offspring, and the only one whose dam is a curly palomino is Curly, a little black colt I named Tristan. The sorrel mare and the gray mare, who are not curly, have foals that do not show curliness.

I was intrigued to find that there were varying degrees of curliness. Cassidy is a reddish sorrel bachelor stallion, and the waves and curls in his coat, even in the summertime, are dense and thick. Julian, the curly cremello I fell in love with at first sight after he was born, had such a thick curly coat as a foal that he looked like a little lamb with curly hair in his ears. And then as he grew into a 2-year-old, in the summer, his curls would fall out, his coat would be much thinner, and his tail became short and sparse.

This change from winter to summer is common for curly horses, especially for what are known as extreme curlies. The stallion Mooney is one of those. When he sheds his coat in late spring, the hair comes off in patches or sheets like a bison, leaving him bare underneath with very little hair in his mane and tail.

Another thing that puzzled me, the dramatically colored blue-eyed curly stallion named Jack of Hearts has some curly foals and some that are not curly. On the other hand, curly bay stallion Ike, with a thick curly coat, has only curly offspring in his family. The wild stallion Dollar is the only gray curly that I know of in this herd. His mane sticks up in lush curls, and he has a large family with mostly sorrels and curly offspring.

On doing some research into curly horses, I found that there’s an international organization that has a registry and history posted on their website: The International Curly Horse Organization. And they call them North American Curly Horses. There’s also the American Bashkir Curly Registry, and they call them the American Bashkir Curly Horse. However, it has been found unlikely that the Russian Bashkir horse is an ancestor.

Although it seems to be a mystery how curly horses originally came to North America, the earliest documentation is evidence that the Sioux Indians had stolen some curly horses from the Crow Indians in 1801 or 1802. And they can also be traced to reservations in South and North Dakota, acquired from wild horses.

Both of the organizations I mentioned agree that the first modern-day documentation of curly horses in North America date to 1898 in central Nevada with the Damele family, who captured wild curly horses and then began a breeding program. They had observed that these horses were unusually hardy and some of the lone survivors after the harsh winters in 1932 and 1951. And this family bred curlies with other breeds, and then the resulting horses were the foundation of the current breed.

Some of the characteristics of the curly horses are a calm demeanor, a friendly disposition, intelligence, a tough constitution, and great stamina. Their coats, interestingly enough, are hyperallergenic. The curly coat comes from a gene, and some horses carry the gene and display little curliness but can have offspring that are curly.

They have tough hooves and strong bones, and usually are between about 14 to 16 hands tall. Their eyes can have an elliptical slant. Curlies have split manes, and they come in chestnut, bays, blacks, browns, buckskins, grays, pintos, appaloosas, roans, grullas, and cremellos. They are heavily curled in winter and much less so in summer. Their coats have a wave pattern even in summer, and the coats can even look like crushed velvet. They all have curly hair in their ears. Their tails generally thin in summer, sometimes shed out completely, and then grow back in the next year.

There are wild curlies in Nevada, and there are also two herds with curlies in Wyoming: White Mountain and Salt Wells Creek. The Wyoming herd that has the most curlies is Salt Wells Creek. According to the International Curly Horse Organization, the wild curlies in Wyoming are only in the Rock Springs area. They are rarer than the wild Nevada curlies. They are a unique pocket of curlies that are stoutly built with excellent temperaments.

The Rock Springs curlies can be traced back to one famous curly horse, the Laramie Stud. He was purchased from a horse trader in Laramie between 1942 and 1945 by a man named Isaac Newton Brooks. The Laramie Stud is the father of a curly stallion named Rocket, the foundation of the Rock Springs curlies.

These horses belonged to Ike and his nephew, John Napps, but when the Bureau of Land Management no longer allowed the ranchers to use the land for horse breeding, the remnants of this herd left on the land became the Rock Springs wild curlies. Some of these horses were shipped east in the early 50s. Through genetic testing, there’s proof that the Salt Wells Creek curly line carries the curly gene KRT25, as do the Nevada curlies.

As I was writing this, I remembered seeing two magnificent stallions, one bay and one black, who looked so much like the noble horses I remember from medieval paintings of the knights: stout, with proud, thick, arching necks, at a BLM holding facility in 2014 after a roundup in Salt Wells Creek. And these two horses had curly coats.

I was told they were not going to be gelded, which is strange because normally the BLM gelds all the stallions that come through before they’re adopted, but they were being saved for a breeder of curlies back east. These days, the BLM in Rock Springs does not allow stallions to be adopted without being gelded.

However, after the 2021 roundup in Salt Wells Creek, curiously, there were no curlies offered for adoption at Rock Springs. What happened to the curlies that had been rounded up? I know they are much in demand.

When I went to the private facility in Wheatland, Wyoming, where most of the 3,500 wild horses that had been removed during the Checkerboard roundup of five herds, which included Salt Wells Creek and White Mountain, that does have some curlies as well, I asked, “Do you have any curlies here at the facility?” I got several vague, non-committal answers.

And since the facility does not allow the public in to see all the horses in that huge facility, which has a capacity for 3,500 horses, but just brings out 30 to 40 to the outer pens for adoptions, there was no way for me to go and look and check.

But later in 2022, I heard there had been some curlies shipped to Texas, and at least one BLM staffer had ended up with one. I think perhaps quite a few BLM staff and BLM friends end up with curlies before any horses are offered to the public for adoption, which is actually against their own rules.

And now Salt Wells Creek is one of two herds, along with Great Divide Basin, that is slated to be zeroed out entirely under the new land use plan. Yes, curlies are rare and unique and precious, but none of the horses in either of these two herds deserve to be removed, and their entire herds eradicated simply to appease the Rock Springs Grazing Association.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Freedom for Wild Horses. If you want to learn more, follow me at www.wildhoofbeats.com for more information and for ways to help America’s wild horses. See you next time.

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The post Ep #63: Revisting Wild Curly Horses appeared first on Wild Hoofbeats.