Equine Rescue

53 Heritage Wild Horses Saved From Immanent Slaughter

By on • ( 18 Comments )

Update on the South Reno “53” supplied by Willis Lamm

Global Advocacy Team Effort Proves “Working Together” Saves Equine Lives

“It’s a restless ‘Feel Good Sunday’ with much going on but we can all take a deep breath in knowing that this past week 30 Virginia Range wild horses, stripped from their rightful homes, were saved at a public auction by a combined effort of dozens of organizations and multitudes of individuals from around the world.  Likewise, the week prior, 23 other VR horses were saved at the same auction place while kill buyers and an auction employee bid up the prices to wound and injure the pocketbooks of concerned advocates.  None the less, ALL have been saved from the knife to the withers in Mexico.  This is a clear cut case of advocates actually making a tangible and successful difference.  I not only tip my hat to all involved but do so on a bended knee.  May God bless you all.” ~ R.T.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Willis: We realize that a lot of folks are anxious about the 30 horses rescued Wednesday night.  We’ve really had our hands full, up till nearly midnight on Wednesday and getting in late on Thursday, so we haven’t had time to put together a journal page with a lot of details.Today we’re drawing Coggins on some mare and foal pairs and doing a lot of cleanup of trailers, the arena, horse pens, etc., since this bunch probably hadn’t been wormed.

Hopefully we’ll have a bunch of good stuff with images posted by Saturday.

So here’s the quick and dirty summary.

Hidden Valley recovered all 30 horses.  LRTC handled logistics.  There were more horses than LRTC could handle so HorsePower and a couple of volunteers from the Douglas County Mounted Posse provided some much needed assistance with transport so we were able to get the horses over to the Camelot Arena in Stagecoach for the night.

On Thursday we had to carefully sort 30 horses that were out in a very large arena into loading groups, then make sure all of the foals were in the right groups as they tended to lose track of their dams in the sorting process.  We took about 3 hours to do this so that none of the foals would get hurt.The horses were then transported to a pasture that Hidden Valley had leased where they can stay until placed with adopters or moved to permanent sanctuaries.

So many people and groups worked together on this that it will take us a little while to produce a complete list, but in addition to the groups and volunteers providing logistic support, the horses had incredible behind the scenes support from (in alphabetical order) Let ‘Em Run, Lifesavers, Protect Mustangs, Return to Freedom, Wild Horses in Need, Wild Horse Preservation Campaign in helping organize fundraising and sanctuary and adoption options.Gotta run but a more complete report will follow.  If I’ve left any groups out that should be listed in the final bulletin, please drop me an email.

Thanks to everyone on the scene and behind the scenes.  This clearly was a team effort.

Related articles

Categories: Equine Rescue, Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs

Tagged as: , , , ,

18 replies »

  1. Dear RT although there have scores of wonderful Sunday Morning stories, this one in particular touches my very soul, so many people working together to make this happen , brings to mind that the horses have taught us well , team work !!!!! although theirs are herds, together we can move mountains alone we are stunted, they have brought us all here together…..and we will move those mountains that stand in the way of their FREEDOM, like us there is nothing more precious, nothing more worthy of this all out effort !!!!!! I rejoice in this today, I can feel what these 30 horses are feeling and it is purely divine, Thanks to all your hard work this week and Thanks to anyone who worked so beautifully together to make the lives of these 30 horses a reality… God Bless each one of you !!!! A Horse is a form of Pure Beauty, I remember a horse we Called Freedom, I think of him in particular, somehow I believe he knows , God Bless you Freedom wherever you are now , !!!!

    Like

    Reply

  3. Just goes to show that when people or groups work together, great things can be accomplished.
    So glad these horses are safe
    thanks to all of the people who were involved

    Like

    Reply

  4. Thank you for this wonderful, heart warming story. Perhaps what we need to do is adopt families from the range to keep them together until this madness is over.

    I have read a number of articles over the past couple of days that indicate the ranchers, wildlife, water, miners, wild horses and burros, seem to be at the mercy of whatever the current DOI Secretary decides his priorities are. A couple of the articles referred to the Clinton administration when Al Gore insisted on being put in charge of the environment and he insisted on appointing Bruce Babbit. There was a story about 250 ranchers losing their ranches in the Klamath valley because Bruce Babbit decided that two fish needed to be saved, so Babbit turned off the water to their irrigation system. Apparently, Babbit made a number of executive decisions without the approval of congress. I haven’t seen ranchers as particularly sympathetic since they have chosen people like Sue Wallis, John Falen, Karen Falen, and other aspiring horse killers. However, this article made me understand that there are many, many ranchers who have lost everything due to the capricious decisions made by Interior. One of the themes in these articles has been the recurring failure to use peer-reviewed science.

    Reading over the land acquisitions during the Clinton administration and the goal which was to remove people from the land and preserve the land for wildlife habitat and nature. There were also some references to the The Antiquities Act–misused.

    There is also a statement regarding that the BLM has been willing to let these cases go to court because it often manages to string the cases out from year to year. The BLM has a greater ability to outlast advocates for 25 years or so. At least that was before the Internet, and before R.T., John, Jerry, Ginger, and the many others began to pull together. That might also have been the BLM’s wild horse adoption program caught on giving people like me living in the hot, humid, East a reason to pay attention to what happens in the West.

    Like

    Reply

    • Bruce Babbit cares for our environment and was against the dams that blocked the salmons’ return to spawn. The steelhead was another fish Babbit saved for those anglers. He conserved water and clean air. So is that so bad? The Klamath region ranchers got enough water to give to their sheep. Recently Babbit came out saying our congress, led by the House of Representatives, is the most radical in our history in their drive to dismantle all our land and water conservation laws, delisting the gray wolf, a species that is being killed right now. Our fisheries along with fishing jobs will not be rebuilt. Our public land laws are slowly being chipped away, e.g., the Antiquities Act, and the Wilderness Act 1964. Babbit said nothing about the Roam Act of 1971, but congress cares nothing about our wild horses either. It’s time to let all the radicals return to their home states and elect those who actually care about our country.

      Like

      Reply

  6. It was effective social networking which got the word out to individuals who also stepped in to donate. Is there any way to ratchet social networking up to the next level to inform and bring about huge public outcry with regard to the BLM roundups? I read the FB posts by different groups about the roundups, but I wonder if there is a way for all the horse advocate groups to be in perfect unity so that they ask the same thing of citizens, exactly who to write and email and so on? Do you think there is any amount of public outcry that can affect the actions of the BLM? (You’re all doing an amazing job, thank you.)

    Like

    Reply

    • Yes Janet there is as way to bring the plight of our wild horses and burros and the abuses of the BLM to the eyes and ears of the public. There is also a better way for groups to work together. The BLM is not going to listen to us. They will only listen to Congress and the President. Check the voting records of your congressional representatives on the environment. Paul Ryan’s voting record for example is pathetic.

      As we speak there is a group of advocates working together for the answers to the questions you have brought up and developing a ‘business’ plan so to speak. The business being ridding Washington from the lives of our wild horses and burros.

      Like

      Reply

  7. With a tear in my eye, I thank each and everyone involved in this rescue. Wild Horse Annie would be proud!

    When it comes right down to it though everyone who signs a petition, makes a donation, sends an email, makes a phone call or mentions the plight of the wild horses and burros to their neighbors and friends is a hero. No effort is too small. We may not currently have the organization to finance long lengthy legal battles but that is definitely a goal for the very near future. It is going to take a cooperative effort by everyone and I mean everyone! All the advocacy groups, the non-profits. along with every individual needs to solidly band together for the one cause. This has been tried so many times yet due to personality conflicts or massive egos it always seems to fall short.

    We have to keep the “Goal” in mind. Freedom for our wild horses and burros and the end of slaughter in this country forever. Forget who said what about who. Check your egos at the door and let’s get to work in solidarity. We need to gather together if we want any chance at fighting Washington. We need a strong voice to be heard by the media and we need to be respected by politicians.

    Over the year and a half or so I’ve been directly involved with this fight I’ve noticed that there is no central data bank. Within the past 48 hours it seems things really came to a boil when someones publishing an “investigative” report prematurely put some people’s lives at risk and has dealt a death blow to the evidence collected for use in court. Communication among the factions could have kept this from happening. There needs to be a coordinated effort by everyone involved. If one group is advancing a particular agenda then post it in the data bank so no one else is stepping on toes or duplicating efforts. Now I’m not hear to pass judgement on what occurred with the investigation or get into a he said she said. I’m merely offering a suggestion as to how we keep from fighting among ourselves and focus more on the true enemy…Washington D.C.

    With that said, again thanks to everyone for the fine work saving 53 wild horses from a questionable end. Your cooperative efforts are a great example many of the rest of us need to follow.

    Like

    Reply

  8. Wonderful and there will be more horses the Ag Dept. will capture? Will all the Virginia Range horses be gone from this historic range eventually? I know they needed safer surrounds. It makes me feel something special when folks mobilize and raise the funds needed. The horses are heading for safety and food and good people have done incredible work and sacrifice. I applaud your transparency and I know it is important to acknowledge all the deserving help. Thanks for the update, Willis! Cheers!

    Like

    Reply

  9. I read of SANDY & her beautiful Herd ~ on the very DAY they were to-be-Auctioned….and while I could n0t Give much $$, I fretted anxiously over their “fates”.
    While I was (somewhat Impatiently) waiting for this page to Load — I stared at the 1st few lines:
    The heading “WHY WE ARE HERE” ~struck me!
    “WHY we are Here!” …
    “Why ‘We’ are ALL Here” ~ ON this page…ON the innumerable Linked pages. ….ON the front-lines, & ON the back-lines….
    Whether: in Person –
    Admiring this gorgeous* Free-roaming Herd at home, or Others like them – or AT the Auction – or Loading/cleaning/transporting ….
    Or “Here” in Spirit – donating $$ – ON the phone to protest – or ON knee in Prayer …
    This* noble Being + All her kin ARE
    “Why We are Here”! «-(in astounding numbers, From around-the-globe).
    *HERE to Reach-out towards these magnificent fellow-Creatures of our world – TO give them Respect, Safety, Comfort, & Compassion (+ Freedom* when we can….)
    ¤ On whatever level that HORSES may “contemplate” such tangential “Ideals”: (?) :
    these* noble Ones need never DOUBT – that they have* DIGNITY and VALUE & Respect in Life, well~lived…. (because “we” WERE/& are “Here’ for them) ! 🙂

    ~& all this caused me to Muse upon – yet another “caption” for
    Pele & Harley, peeking Out, (2 Sundays ago) ~ perhaps they could’ve been Thinking,
    “so, THIS is “Why” you-guys are Here??!”
    😀
    Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

    Like

    Reply

  12. This is wonderful that such an outpouring of assistance came from around the world for this wonderful group. That auctioneer who had the bids run up should be shot. At the very least should be arrested because I think that’s similar to bid rigging. Thanks to the law enforcement volunteers who assisted in moving the horses to safety.

    Like

    Reply

Care to make a comment?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.