Beautiful landscape in Salt Wells Creek

On Sunday, I was driving in Salt Wells Creek Herd Management Area in the Red Desert of Wyoming. This area is over 1 million acres in size, vast and beautiful in parts, with power plants, a few ranches, wildlife (which includes deer, antelope, and wild horses), plus cattle and sheep.  You can drive for over 30 miles on dirt roads from I 80 south and still not reach the border of the herd area.

I was there because last week, a judge in Wyoming Federal Court signed a Consent Decree which will eliminate all wild horses from this Salt Wells Creek Herd Area this coming summer. I wanted to see and photograph some of the over 600 wild horses inhabiting this area that would soon be separated from their homes and families and end up initially at the Rock Springs Short Term Holding Facility.

The last time I had visited this herd was in August of 2010 before the last round up of Salt Wells and Adobe Town.

No horses in sight

On Sunday is was rainy and sunny alternating, and there was a storm that was supposed to be coming in that evening, and the roads were wet in spots, so I planned to stay to paved and extremely improved dirt roads only. I was driving along and saw a sign for County Road 27 and the road looked good, so I turned.  I drove and saw manure from wild horses and stud piles, but no horses.  The scenery is varied and beautiful, and there was one ranch along this road which I passed.

Deer near the ranch look at me curiously

I saw no other vehicles, and I had been going for about 10 miles.  Soon there was a turn for Aspen Mountain, and the road underneath my tires got looser and looser and I started to slide.  I almost turned around, but I got this urgent feeling that I needed to keep going.  I turned north up CR27 and drove a little bit, and the road got a little firmer which was a relief.  But the clouds started coming in, and I almost turned around.  Then I spotted a horse – finally!

My first view of the foal, all alone

As I got closer, I realized that this was a foal, and he looked miserable, head down, standing next to a post.  I looked and looked but could not see any other horses.  I drove closer and got out, and got my binoculars.  I could see for at least a few miles in every direction, but not a single other horse was in sight.  The little guy had worn a path around the post, and from the little bits of manure it looked as though he had been there a while.

He never moved far from the post, as if someone had told him to stay there

I approached slowly, not wanting to scare him, and notice a big bite mark on his neck, from another horse.  It looked like a big scrape, not a deep wound and it was not bleeding.  He was bright eyed and moving just fine. I wondered how he had come to be there all alone – perhaps he had a young first time mother who had wondered away, perhaps a stallion had bitten him and driven him off, or maybe his mother had died shortly after having given birth. I knew he was less than a week old.

He was moving fine, but only a few days old

When I got closer he whinnied at me, a little high pitched happy noise, clearly glad to see another creature! I was able to touch him, and he tried to nurse on my fingers.  He was thirsty!  I knew foals this small could not graze and need to nurse from their mothers every few hours, and there was a big storm coming in the next day, so he clearly needed help. I could not fit him in my vehicle, let alone lift him in, and also there were regulations about how to interact with wild horses and so I needed help.

I had no cell service way out here so I jumped in my vehicle and started driving toward town, and told him I would be back even though I knew he would not understand. I saw another truck and flagged down the rancher who owned the ranch nearby. He tried calling the Rock Springs BLM office but the number just rang and rang – it was a Sunday.

I decided to drive into the BLM office and see if I could find an after hours number.  I did not think I had Jay D’Ewart’s number with me – he is the Wild Horse Specialist for Rock Springs and the person to call for anything related to the wild horses in herd areas around Rock Springs.

There was not an after hours phone number on the BLM office doors, so I asked a sheriff who else to call and he suggested the Department of Fish and Game, but then I remembered that someone on Facebook had messaged me Jay’s number a few months ago.

To the rescue – Jay follows me with his truck and trailer

I had reception here in town so was able to get on Facebook to find the number, and called, and Jay called me right back.  I told him about the foal, and he said to give him 30 minutes and he would meet me at the office with a horse trailer. We met up in the packing lot, and drove out toward the foal.  When we turned off the main road Jay asked me to lead the way.  Once we turned at CR 27, we saw a large band of sorrel horses which the rancher had mentioned to me.  Maybe this was his family! But as we looked, we noticed that every mare in the band had a foal with her, and there was no distraught mare wandering around calling for her foal. We kept driving and sure enough there was the foal, next to another post only about 50 feet from where I had left him 3 hours earlier.  He was just over the rise from this family of wild horses, so they knew he was there, and we could even see by the tracks in the mud that they had gone right by him and had not picked him up.  So Jay made the decision to take him in. As we got out of our vehicles and approached him, he whinnied at us, happy for the company.  Jay walked up to him slowly and gradually put his hands on him. As he touched his rump he jumped his rear end a little in the air.  Then he tried nursing Jay’s leg.  Clearly catching him was not going to be difficult.  Jay got out the little foal halter and lead, which was still too big but looked like it would stay on.

He stood up all the way to town, and whinnied at us every time we checked on him

He held the foal who struggled a bit when I put the halter on, but we finally got it on.  Jay started to lead him, and I brought up the rear, tapping him gently on the rear to encourage him to move forward. Of course this baby knew nothing about being led, but we needed to get him into the trailer. Finally Jay lifted him in, and then shut the gate, after taking off the lead rope.  We were ready to go.

Looking at us while in the trailer

Jay keeps him in the traler

He wantes to nurse and sucks on any nearby fingers

The truck and trailer lead the way to the vet clinic.  We stopped a couple of times to check on him, and he was still standing up and whinnied to us each time. Jay called the vet on the way in to town.

Jay and Dr. Zancanella get ready to get the foal out of the trailer

He needs a little help from behind to keep moving

Once we arrived at Mountainaire Clinic, Dr. Paul Zancanella came to meet us and helped Jay get the foal out of the trailer and into the clinic.  He needed a little encouragement from behind to keep going but finally was in the clinic, and he had his first exam, got blood drawn, temperature taken and antibiotics given in just a matter of minutes.

The foal’s first exam, gentle but efficient

Jay and the foal

He struggled a little but was remarkably calm and just happy to be around some other creatures, and he stood calmly next to Jay until he was led into a stall for the first time. They were going to give him goats milk rather than formula at first since Dr. Zancanella said it was high in fat like mare’s milk, and that it would not give him the runs, which is very important – we did not want him to get dehydrated.  I left the clinic content that he was in good hands, but not sure how he would fare this first night.  I would check up on him tomorrow on my way home. It turns out he made it just fine through the night.

I decided to call the foal Destiny.  It was destiny that led me down an unfamiliar road in this herd area just that day, before he was in bad condition, and before the storm which would keep people off the road for days hit. It was destiny that had a wild horse specialist from the BLM and a wild horse advocate working together for the sake of the life of a wild horse foal. And it was destiny that he was from this herd, all of whose members are soon to be zeroed out and removed from the land that this foal called home.

I was very happy when I heard the next day that he was doing well, and they were looking for a foster home for him – baby horses require feeding every 4 hours initially which is quite a commitment, and lots of care for the first couple of months.

Today I heard that they have found a foster home for the initial period for Destiny, and there is a wonderful local Rock Springs wild horse advocate who wants to take him to a forever home.  I am glad that Destiny will have a new home, but sad at the same time that he will not grow up in the wild, rugged and beautiful land that he was born in. In a way, he is luckier than most of the horses in his herd whose future is still completely uncertain.

Destiny has a new home, but the fate of his herd is uncertain

Here is a link to the press release about the Consent Decree, which was signed last week:

http://www.wildhoofbeats.com/news/wild-horses-the-fight-to-save-wyomings-wild-horses-is-on

If you want to help Destiny’s herd and three other herds in the Red Desert of Wyoming stay wild and free and on our public lands, you can donate to two legal funds that will be funding the challenge of the Consent Decree:

The Cloud Foundation:

http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/about-us/donate/310-mustang-legal-fund

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign:

https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6931/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=8791

Related Posts:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/how-the-department-of-the-interior-sold-out-americas-wild-horses/274159/

http://www.wildhoofbeats.com/blog/wild-horses-the-blm-and-the-grazing-association-partner-to-destroy-4-wild-herds-in-wyoming

Contact:

Suzanne Roy, 919-697-9389, sroy@wildhorsepreservation.org

Ginger Kathrens, 719-633-3842, ginger@thecloudfoundation.org

Wild horses running from a helicopter at a roundup in Adobe Town

Federal Court Sanctions Gov’t Plans to Eliminate Wild Free-Roaming Horses from Wyoming Checkerboard

Wild Horse Advocates Vow to Continue Fight Against Plan to Reduce Wyoming’s Wild Free-Roaming Horse Population by 46%

Cheyenne, WY ( April 4, 2013) – A federal court in Wyoming has approved a consent decree between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Rock Springs Grazing Association (RSGA) that will wipe out wild free-roaming horses from the Wyoming Checkerboard, a two-million acre swath of public and private land in the southern part of the state.

The Consent Decree was vigorously opposed by the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, The Cloud Foundation and the International Society for the Preservation of Mustangs and Burros, which were granted intervenor status in the case. The intervenors were represented by the public interest law firm Meyer, Glitzenstein & Crystal.

“We are appalled that the court has put  a seal of approval on the BLM’s plan to destroy some of Wyoming’s last remaining and most popular wild horse herds,” said Suzanne Roy, director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC). “The court’s decision to prioritize the interests of the livestock industry over protection of wild horses is blatantly wrong from a legal perspective. We vow to fight with all legal means available the BLM’s unlawful plans to wipe out wild horses from the Wyoming checkerboard.”

“As a party to the original agreement that protected wild horses in this critical habitat area, we are devastated by this decision, which will have lasting impacts on wild horses in Wyoming,” said Karen Sussman, president of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros (ISPMB). “This continues the BLM’s trend of managing our wild horses to extinction.”

Sussman noted that since the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed in 1971, the BLM has eliminated wild horses from over 20 million acres of designated habitat and reduced the number of Herd Management Areas from 303 to 179 today.

“This is a sad day for wild horses in Wyoming, a state that ironically promotes its mustangs in the state’s ‘Roam Free’ tourism ads,” said Ginger Kathrens, director of The Cloud Foundation. “The sweetheart deal between the ranchers and the BLM was put into motion when the Interior Department invited RSGA to file the suit against it, so that the BLM could capitulate to the ranchers’ demands, and then claim it is under a ‘court order’ to remove the horses”

Kathrens recently photographed the Great Divide Basin wild horses, which are targeted for elimination under the consent decree. The backroom dealing involved in this case was recently exposed in an article on The Atlantic.com entitled, How the Department of Interior Sold Out America’s Wild Horses.

Also objecting to the consent decree was Lloyd Eisenhauer, a former BLM manager in the Rock Springs and Rawlins areas. Eisenhauer submitted a declaration for the intervenors stating the following with regard to the BLM’s plans to zero out the Great Divide Basin and Salt Wells herds:

“The BLM has no biological or ecological basis for zeroing out a herd of wild horses in an HMA that existed at the time the wild horse statute was passed in 1971 . . . [B]ecause the wild horses have a statutory right to be there, whereas livestock only have a privilege that can be revoked at any time by BLM, there also is no authority or precedent, to my knowledge, for the agency to zero out these two longstanding wild horse herds simply to appease private livestock grazers.”
Eisenhauer also called the BLM’s plan to convert the White Mountain wild horse population to non-reproducing a “slow motion zeroing out of this HMA” that is “inconsistent with any wild horse management approach I am familiar with that BLM has implemented on public lands.”

Under the now-court sanctioned consent decree, the BLM will move forward with a plan to reduce the maximum number of wild free-roaming horses allowed in the state of Wyoming by 46%, from 3,685 to 2,070. An additional 205-300 sterilized horses (castrated stallions and spayed mares) would be allowed to remain on the land.

Specifically, the consent decree outlines the BLM’s plans to:

·      Zero out (entirely eliminate) wild horses from the Salt Wells and Great Divide Basin Herd Management Areas (HMAs);

·      Sterilize wild horses in the White Mountain HMA, thus destroying the federally-protected wild free-roaming behaviors of the mustangs who are a popular tourist attraction

·      Cut by more than half the number of wild horses in the famed Adobe Town Herd Management Area.

The consent decree settles a lawsuit, filed in July 2011 by the RSGA against the BLM, seeking removal of all wild horses from the private and public lands of the Wyoming checkerboard. The RSGA is the nation’s largest grazing association and grazes thousands of livestock on BLM lands in the checkerboard for tax-subsidized fees that are approximately 1/16th of market rate.

For more information on the case, please click here.

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) is a coalition of more than 50 horse advocacy, public interest, and conservation organizations dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. AWHPC is a campaign founded and sponsored by Return to Freedom.

The Cloud Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on our Western public lands with a focus on protecting Cloud’s herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana. Cloud is the subject of Foundation founder Ginger Kathrens’ groundbreaking PBS/Nature documentaries.

International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, founded over 50 years ago, was instrumental in securing the enactment of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the landmark federal legislation that established protections for wild free-roaming horses and burros on public lands in the West.

# # #

Suzanne Roy, Director
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
919-697-9389

Under the “Consent Decree” the entire Great Divide Basin Herd will be eliminated

Here is an excellent article By Andrew Cohen in the Atlantic about the lawsuit that the Rock Springs Grazing Association brought against the BLM at the behest of the Department of the Interior.  Our wild horses will be the biggest losers in this lawsuit.

“Say you were sitting in a law school classroom taking an exam, or you were on a panel of experts talking about ethics in government, or you were the Inspector General of the Interior Department or a member of Congress, or you were just a plain old citizen who still believes that public officials ought to be honest brokers in conflicts between competing interests — and the following hypothetical were posed to you. What would you think? What would you say? What would you do?

In 2010, Jane Doe was a deputy assistant secretary at the Department of the Interior. With strong ties to the oil and gas industry, over two separate stints at Interior, she was publicly indifferent and sometimes hostile toward the nation’s wild horse herds, which under federal law are supposed to be protected and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. For her positions, she was sharply criticized by wild-horse advocates.

One day that year, some ranchers and livestock operators met with Jane Doe to discuss their frustration about the number of wild horses living and roaming in and around the “checkerboard” area, a mix of private and public land, in a Western state. The BLM, these folks told her, wasn’t doing enough to remove horses from the land — portions of which they lease from the federal government at well below market rates.

There was a decades-old agreement between them and the BLM, the ranchers told Jane Doe, a deal enforced in 1981 by a federal judge. At the time, the feds agreed to manage the herds and remove most of the horses from the Checkerboard except for those the ranchers reluctantly agreed to allow to stay. The feds have reneged on the deal and the terms of the court order, the ranchers now claimed, and something had to be done about it.

Jane Doe listened to these advocates for an industry the Interior Department directly regulates. And then she offered some advice. If she stridently reminded the ranchers of the BLM’s persistent removals of wild horses from the Checkerboard, roundups of thousands of mustangs over the decades which had angered wild horse advocates in the area, it is not reflected in the record.

Instead, what is on the record, what in fact the ranchers later would include in their court filings, is that Jane Doe told the ranchers that “litigation” against the Interior Department “would be necessary to secure additional funding for wild horse gathers.” She had, in effect, told them to sue her own agency to force Congress to pay the cost of ridding the Checkerboard of most of its federally-protected horses.”

Please go here to continue reading the article:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/how-the-department-of-the-interior-sold-out-americas-wild-horses/274159/

Under the “Consent Decree” the Adobe Town Herd could become a sterilized herd, thus eventually resulting in its complete elimination

If the “Consent Decree” is signed by the judge, two wild herds, Great Divide Basin and Salt Wells Creek will have their wild herds entirely removed, and the White Mountain and Adobe Town Herds will be subject to sterilization, which is a slow but inevitable way to completely extinguish wild horse populations in the Red Desert of Wyoming.

What can you do to help?

Two organizations, The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign and The Cloud Foundation have legal funds that they are using to intervene in this lawsuit and in any further litigation should the Consent Decree be signed.

Here are the links to the legal funds:

 http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/about-us/donate/310-mustang-legal-fund

https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6931/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=8791

Wild Horses of the Red Desert are the real losers in this lawsuit

Related articles:

http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/news-events-and-media/press-releases/326-fed-l-government-plans-to-eliminate-wild-horses-from-2-million-acres-of-wyoming-public-land-to-satisfy-livestock-industry

http://wildhorsepreservation.org/media/govt-get-rid-wild-horses-wyoming-checkerboard

 http://www.wildhoofbeats.com/blog/wild-horses-only-the-complete-destruction-of-red-desert-herds-will-do

http://rtfitchauthor.com/2012/11/27/please-oppose-blms-devastating-plan-for-wyomings-red-desert-wild-horses/

All four horses

Last month, Rich came out to work with my horses, and I had put the four of them into my corral. As soon as he walked in, they were paying attention to him, but that did not mean they were just going to walk up to him and be caught.

Mica leads the horses around the corral

There had to be some fun running around.

Mica stops

Mica is always the easiest to catch, and he finally stopped and stood as Rich walked up to him.

Rich prepares to catch Mica

Rich handled him before putting the halter on, to make sure he was soft, then led him to the fence.

Rich moves Mica in a circle before getting on

He put the saddle pad then the saddle on, this was old hat after last time, and then Rich started to get up on Mica’s back, stepping up and stepping down several times so that Mica could become used to this.

The other mustangs watch Mica

Rich steps up and down in preparation to mounting Mica

Then Rich swung up on his back, and Mica stood, ears swivelling.

Rich is on Mica’s back

Rich bumped his sides a few times and as soon as Mica moved off, he stopped, so that Mica could begin learning the meaning of leg pressure.

Rich rides Mica around the corral

Mica looked much more relaxed than during his first ride, but I have to admit I was surprised when Rich told me to open the gate – he rode Mica out into the pasture, with only a rope halter on him, no bridle.  This was to give Mica more room to move.

Rich rides Mica out into my pasture

Mica trots in the pasture

I watched in delight as Mica walked then trotted around, leaning to turn from Rich’s weight and pressure on the halter.

Mica learning to move under saddle

Finally Rich got off, and Mica’s second ride was over, uneventful, but Mica clearly had learned quite a bit.  After Rich let Mica go int he pasture, everyone had to run around again, just for fun.

Cremosso, Mica and Claro run

Mica and Monty Run

It is Monty’s turn

Monty was more difficult to catch, so Rich got on his horse and roped him.

Rich ropes Monty

This time, Rich would work with Monty on become soft and accepting, and this was all done on the ground.

Rich works with Monty on the ground

Monty is relaxing

Finally Monty looked very relaxed, his head down, eyes almost closed.  This was a breakthough for him, and so this was where Rich stopped.

Monty lets down

I am very proud of both of my boys.  They are happy to head out to graze.

A family band in Adobe Town

Now is your last chance to comment on the Scoping Document for the proposed destruction of the Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek Herds in the Red Desert in Wyoming. Please get your comments in by Friday December 7 at 4:30pm Mountain Time.

Less than three years after the removal of over 2200 horses from these two herds, the BLM is planning to round up and remove possibly all of the horses from these two herd areas due to pressure from the Rock Springs Grazing Association.

Here is a link to the scoping document:

http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/news_room/2012/november/07rsfo-ATSWScope.html

You can comment two ways – the best way is to write your own letter in your own words, and the Cloud Foundation has some terrific suggestions of what to cover in your comments here:

http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=b16d80346618d3ce64e8e9877&id=036ac994b1&e=c518788566

You can fax, mail or email comments:

Send to:
AdobeTown_SaltWells_HMA_WY@blm.gov

Jay D’Ewart, Wild Horse & Burro Specialist
BLM Rock Springs Field Office
280 Highway 191 North
Rock Springs, WY 82901
Fax: (307) 352-0329

and you can also use the online form provided by the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign:

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6931/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=12192

Thank you for taking the time to help protect two of the largest remaining wild horse herds in the country.  Your efforts DO make a difference!

Wild stallion in Adobe Town

RSGS will not rest until every last wild horse is gone

The BLM has targeted the Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek Herds for complete destruction this coming summer.

A Scoping Document has been published for the Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek Herds. Although the Adobe Town Herd is, even according to BLM estimates, NOT over AML, they still are planning to round up and remove possibly all of the horses in both Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek in the summer of 2013:

“The most recent population surveys were conducted May 15-18, 2012. Approximately 433 wild
horses were located in the Adobe Town HMA and approximately 572 wild horses were found
within the Salt Wells Creek HMA. The wild horse population in the Salt Wells Creek HMA
exceeds the appropriate management level (AML) of 251-365 wild horses. The wild horse
population in the Adobe Town HMA does not currently exceed the AML of 610-800 wild
horses. Land owners have requested the removal of wild horses from private lands within the HMA
boundaries. Wild horses that are on private lands or checkerboard lands within the Rock Springs
Field Office portion of the HMA would be gathered and removed.”

Mare and foal that were not removed in the 2010 Adobe Town roundup

In these two herd areas, there is a “checkerboard” of public and private land, dating back to when the railroad went through, and in the 80s, an agreement was made between the BLM, the Rock Springs Grazing Association, which represented most of the private land owners, and wild horse advocates that set a number of wild horses for each herd area that would be allowed to use the checkerboard lands so that public and private plots would not have to be individually fenced. Last year, the Rock Springs Grazing Association decided that they wanted all wild horses removed not only from all private lands but also from all public lands as well, since they consider public lands that they lease to be “their” lands anyway. They sued the BLM demanding that all wild horses be removed from the 4 largest herd areas in Wyoming, over 2 million acres. Wild Horse advocates have intervened in this ongoing lawsuit to protect the interests of the wild horses.

Mares with the foal tucked protectively between them

Here is information about the lawsuit and the intervention:

http://wildhorsepreservation.org/media/big-oil-cattle-vs-america’s-wild-horses-showdown-wyoming-federal-court

But that has not satisfied the Rock Springs Grazing Association. They want all the wild horses removed NOW and probably are hoping that forcing the BLM to do a roundup and removal in these two herd areas of as many horses as possible before there has been any resolution in the lawsuit will make any findings by the court moot.

Colorful Adobe Town family band runs

What can you do to help keep wild horses on the 1.5 million acres of Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek?

Battle-scarred stallion in Adobe Town with Pronghorn Antelope

1. Write to the BLM commenting on the Scoping document by December 7:

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/information/NEPA/rfodocs/adobetown-saltwells.Par.3977.File.dat/ATSWScopeNotice.pdf

Please submit your comments to:
Jay D’Ewart, Wild Horse and Burro Specialist
BLM Rock Springs Field Office
280 Highway 191 North
Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901
Fax: (307) 352-0329
Electronic comments must be sent to the following email address to be considered:
AdobeTown_SaltWells_HMA_WY@blm.gov
(Please include “ATSW Scoping Comment” in the subject line.)

2. Forward this information to others so they can act as well.

3. Donate to the two legal funds supporting the intervention into this lawsuit to represent the interests of wild horses.

The Cloud Foundation:

http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/about-us/donate/41-legal-fund-for-intervener-status-wy-lawsuit

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign:

https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6931/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=8791

Please act to prevent these two herds from becoming just a memory

 Blog Post From Straight From the Horse’s Heart:

http://rtfitchauthor.com/2012/11/27/please-oppose-blms-devastating-plan-for-wyomings-red-desert-wild-horses/

Action Alert from the Cloud Foundation, includes points to cover in your email or letter:

http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=b16d80346618d3ce64e8e9877&id=036ac994b1&e=c518788566

Action Alert from American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign:

(you can use their online method to comment)

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6931/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=12192

The bachelor stallion Half Moon, playing with other bachelors the day before

Last week when I was driving in the northern part of the Sand Wash Basin Herd Area, I had Nancy Roberts with me. She has been observing, photographing, documenting and working to protect this herd since 2009.
The Sand Wash Herd is in northwestern Colorado and is on over 150,000 acres. I first visited this herd during the roundup of 2008.

Bachelors looking over the fence at the two girls who were outside the boundary fence

We drove onto the northern boundary road, CR-67 and saw a disorganized group of bachelors in the middle of the road, looking over the boundary fence at two young two year old fillies, the pinto Destiny and the bay Ohynee. These two fillies were outside the Herd Management Area, and their stallion Blue was nowhere in sight. The boys ran in front of my car along the road, and the two girls followed on the other side of the fence. Nancy knew where the gate was, and so we planned to see if we could get the fillies to move toward the gate. But it was not going to be that easy – the boys split off and ran back to where we had seen other bands watching, and then the girls ran back the other way as well.

The bachelor boys – Half Moon is second to the left

The boys coming down the road toward us

We drove down to the gate which Nancy opened, and then got behind the two fillies again. Over the hill trots Half Moon, a gorgeous red roan bachelor stallion. He moves to the fillies and touches noses, and as Nancy walked behind the girls, I drove behind Half Moon who paralleled them along the fence. The horses seemed to know that we were trying to help – they could have run away at any time.

The two fillies looking at us as if they were asking for help, Destiny in front

Half Moon comes back to help

A family band watches us from across the road

As we approached the open gate, Destiny shied away from it, with Ohynee following close behind her, and they both ran down to the corner. We decided to try again, with Nancy walking behind the mares and me driving on the road behind Half Moon, but I hung much further back this time, not wanting to crowd the horses. As Destiny approached the open gate this time, Half Moon stepped away from the fence, out toward the Herd Area, leading the way, and Destiny finally ran out the gate toward him, with Ohynee on her heels. As they met up in the road and ran free together into the Herd Management Area, I was elated. Half Moon had won a new family, and the mares were reunited with the herd.

Half Moon stands at the gate waiting for the girls

Destiny takes the lead and heads out the gate toward Half Moon and safety

Free Again! And Half Moon has a new family.

Destiny looks back at me – I am sure she would say thank you if she could.

To find out more about the Sand Wash Basin Herd, visit their Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sand-Wash-Basin-Wild-Horses/101181969939406
And Nancy Robert’s Blog: http://sandwashwildhorses.blogspot.com/

Rich catches Monty

Claro, Mica and Cremosso watch from the shed

When Rich came out to work with Monty and Mica, we started with Monty – as Rich saddled him up, I was surprised to see all three of my mustangs hiding in the shed, peeking over the fence to watch what was going on.  I had been certain that the very curious Mica would be right there next to the fence, trying to figure out what was going on.

Rich rides Monty

Rich rode Monty and then then I got on and had a lesson on him which went very well with the new saddle I had gotten fitted for him.  Then I asked Rich if he could put the saddle on Mica, as the last time he had been out, Mica had worn a saddle for the first time.  By this time Mica’s curiosity had gotten the better of him and he was right there waiting to be caught.

Monty and Cremosso watch as Rich catches Mica

Mica first wears the saddle pad

Then Mica moves freely with the saddle on

First Rich started by putting the saddle blanket on Mica’s back.  He did this very casually, throwing it on there, so that Mica could get used to it and not get startled or upset.  Then Rich took the saddle and swung it up on his back a couple of times.  Mica’s ears were swiveling quickly to Rich, then forward, then back to Rich, but he gradually relaxed and wore the saddle, walked and trotted around the pen on the leadline.

Mica looks all grown up with the saddle on!

Rich uses the mounting block to stand on to out weight in the stirrup

Lots of stroking going on to tell him he is a good boy

Then Rich put some weight into the stirrup, and then using the mounting block, put his foot into the stirrup and stood in it, next to Mica.  Mica was fine with this. So Rich went on to the next step – getting on!

Rich swings his leg over as Mica stands still

Rich sits on Mica – notice Mica’s ears and attention are on Rich!

He finally swung his leg over the saddle and sat on Mica’s back.  He did this a couple of times, and Mica stood very still.  Then Rich got on and stayed there.  He moved his legs back and forth, and gently put them against Mica’s sides, the way you would ask a horse to move forward, but Mica did not know what that signal meant yet.

Mica starts walking

Mica looks more confident now, and Cremosso watches

He again touched his sides, a bit firmer, then Mica finally took a few steps very hesitantly.  Then he started walking more freely around the corral.  Rich was using a halter to guide Mica, no bridle, and Mica did not seem bothered by this activity at all.  I was so proud of him!  After a short ride, Rich got off, and Mica was very relaxed as he took the saddle off. I was delighted by this happily relaxed and uneventful first ride!

Mica and Rich after Rich gets off

Mica almost looks like he is falling asleep as Rich takes the saddle off

Wild horses being driven in by helicopter, soon to lose their freedom

Currently, the BLM is accepting public comments on a scoping document with the deadline of September 19, 2012 for its preparation of an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) for an eco-sanctuary for wild horses in northeastern Nevada.

A mare nuzzles her foal in Sand Wash, Colorado

Yes, this is indeed the eco-sanctuary that Madeleine Pickens and her Save America’s Mustangs Foundation is proposing. Mrs. Pickens’ plan to give the horses that are currently in holding a better life in a natural setting and using BLM cattle grazing allotments to do so is a worthy goal.

Formerly wild mares in a Long Term Holding Facility in Kansas

However, the BLM, in its Scoping Project Brief, http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/elko_field_office/blm_information/nepa/nenvwh_ecosanctuary.html is indicating that in order to set up the eco-sanctuary,  they are considering removing all of the mares from the Spruce Allotment, gelding all the stallions, and also removing the mares and gelding the stallions in the surrounding Antelope and Goshute HMAs.

This would mean the complete destruction of three wild horse herds in Nevada.  The BLM cannot be allowed to take this action.  This could set a very dangerous precedent for sterilizing and zeroing out wild horse herds all over Nevada and the west, and replacing them with sterile herds of unrelated horses. Their eventual extinction will be guaranteed.

Here is video provided by Elyse Gardener of the Public Open Houses that the BLM held about the Eco-Sanctuary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNdtSWesP0o

Mare and foal in Sand Wash, Colorado

I have been observing and photographing wild horses in the wild on our public lands in Wyoming, Colorado and Montana for over 9 years. One of the most essential, and unique characteristics of these wild herds is that they live in families. The stallion is the protector of the wild family, ensuring their safety and fighting for that right when necessary.  The mares are the heart of the family, bearing the foals and raising them to grow up and one day have their own families. The bonds between mares and their foals, and between stallions and mares who have been together for over a decade are incredibly touching and inspiring to see.

The stallion in front, protecting his family in Adobe Town, Wyoming

I have spent thousands of hours observing the interactions of family members as well as interactions between families and between the wild families and the bands of bachelor stallions who do not yet have their own families.  Watching them is nothing like watching a group of unrelated geldings and mares in a pasture. If the BLM is successful in carrying out this plan, something precious, unique and fragile will have been destroyed forever.

Wild stallions in Sand Wash, Colorado

I have visited tow Long Term Holding Facilities in Oklahoma and in Kansas, where the mares are together, then the geldings are in separate pastures. There are no foals. There is no family behavior.  These horses are strangers to each other.  They are in fenced pastures.  While the horses in Short Term Holding are housed in undeniably grim corrals with no grass and no shelter, depriving yet more horses of their families and their freedom is not an acceptable alternative.

Canon City, a Short Term Holding Facility in Colorado

Thousands upon thousands of wild horses have already lost their families and their freedom, and currently many of us are still fighting to keep America’s wild horses where they belong – on public lands, in their homes, with their families, wild and free.

A wild mare and her foal, still free in Adobe Town, Wyoming

Please comment by September 19 to the BLM and tell them that this plan they are considering in Nevada of sterilizing 3 wild herds for the sake of an eco-sanctuary is not what we want for these herds, and not what we want used as a model for managing our wild herds.

Please comment on this plan by September 19th.

BLM Elko District Office, Wells Field Office
3900 E. Idaho Street
Elko, NV 89801
Attn: Wild Horse Eco-Sanctuary

Comments can also be faxed to  (775) 753-038 or emailed to: EcoSanctuaryComments@blm.gov.

You can read more about this plan and comment online here at American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign:

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6931/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=11631

and read more on the plan here:

http://rtfitchauthor.com/2012/09/11/pickens-wild-horse-plan-betrayed/