While Americans on holiday, Labor Day weekend round up decimates herd as winter arrives
Cloud, after capture, Labor Day 2009
LOVELL, WY –September 26, 2009 – On Saturday at noon, 57 wild horses from the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Herd, made famous in part by the PBS Nature documentaries, will be auctioned off to the highest bidders. A large crowd is expected due, in part, to the publicity surrounding the controversial roundup earlier this month.
While the missing members of their herd wait, tagged and branded in BLM holding pens, the damages of this poorly planned roundup are highly visible on the range. Beyond leaving this unique wild horse herd seriously below genetic viability, the horses on the range are clearly damaged.
“We were up on the mountaintop yesterday and the cruelty of this massive roundup has not faded away,” explains Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation. “Cloud is lame on his right front and his filly-daughter is still extremely sore. It was painful just watching them walk to water.”
One of Cloud’s mares, also injured, appears to have a possible stifle injury. His four-year-old daughter, Firestorm, has significant difficulty walking at all. “I think they will recover but it is hard to know and winter is just around the corner,” Kathrens continues. In the past 15 years all roundups in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range have occurred later in the year when the horses were lower down on the range. This roundup took place in early September when nearly all the mountain horses were the furthest away possible from the trap site. Foals less than one month old were forced to run over 12 miles along with their families to the BLM corrals at the base of the mountain.
This roundup was scheduled early due to contractor availability, BLM desire to remove all horses from Commissary Ridge outside the designated range (a plan not revealed to the public until day one of the roundup) and National Adoption Day. The BLM is holding adoption events across the country and hopes to adopt out 1000 horses. “This is a significant event and will raise awareness for mustangs, but why they had to pillage this little herd for 57 more horses to adopt out when there are 31,750 wild horses in holding already is beyond me,” says Kathrens.
While at the turn of the century, there were approximately 2 million wild horses in America, there are only 33,100 mustangs left on the western ranges according to BLM. “I think the BLM knows that these horses will draw a considerable crowd and they put all the horses in danger with this early roundup. In what was planned to be a “model” roundup, even the most famous wild horse in the world was injured,” says Kathrens.
Citing “a disturbing round up a few weeks ago,” Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) was instrumental in legislation that passed the Senate on Sept. 24, 2009. The legislation directs the BLM “to develop a new comprehensive long-term plan for wild horse populations by September 30, 2010” according to a press release from the legislation’s sponsor, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA).
“The public outcry for preservation of our wild horses and burros is being heard” says Kathrens.
“People are not willing to sit by and watch an unchecked government destroy a Western American treasure: the wild Mustang.”
For more information contact:
Valerie Kennedy
312-371-4933
Makendra Silverman
719-351-8187
http://www.thecloudfoundation.org
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
I was saddened to see what has happened to Cloud’s family and the other wild horses of the Arrowhead range. What is wrong with the BLM? Why this herd of horses? What can I do to help? Where is Cloud now? I have not been able to find the online chat. I want to thank Ginger Kathrans for her wonderful video and stills of these beautiful animals. I know it must have been hard at times for her to witness many of the things that happened and I appreciate her willingness to continue to film these horses. I have purchased both her books and dvds and will do the same with the new book and dvd. My thoughts and prayers are with them all. Peace, Patty
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patty, cloud was returned to the pryor mountains, minus a few family members. all in all, the blm removed 57 horses from the herd, & all were adopted or sold at the national wild horse & burro day auction (26 september). if you go to the cloud foundation website, http://www.thecloudfoundation.org, or to their blog, http://www.thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com, you can learn more. they recently posted information on where the adopted horses went & how they are doing.
& the pbs nature website came back up & people are still posting questions & comments at 11.45 pm, sundae, 25 october! go back & read the comments!
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I think the activities of the BLM can be likened to the dolphin slaughter in Japan. The BLM has its own agenda for ridding the West of wild mustangs, driven by the cattle ranchers who view the mustangs as competition for food for their cattle. The BLM does not have the right to destroy an American Heritage, which is what the wild mustangs are. The BLM has to be stopped and the wild horses returned to their ranges. I did not see one cow in the documentary on the wild stallion, Cloud. Time to contact our representatives in Congress and stop this genocide against wild horses.
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BLM does not do their job correctly or do not care to do it correctly as can be seen from the heartbreaking news about Cloud’s family. And another thing, why dont they THIN OUT MOUNTAIN LION populations because they seem way more overpopulated than the 33,100 mustangs left in the U.S. It is just ridiculous what we do to wildlife these days in “THE NAME OF CONSERVATION!!!” bunch of bull
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The BLM is crazy. That’s right, completly insane. They’re hurting more then helping even though they believe they’re helping. I believe some Mustang should be taken off the range for injuries or deformaties because they’ll just make bad foals or be a cougars next kill but other then that the Mustangs should be left alone. I even have a mustang myself. She was not one of the BLM mustangs because up here in Alberta, Canada we do not have them. We have theives who round the mustangs up for meat. Though our Mustang population doesn’t need the BLM because it does not have quite as many horses. I do believe that if the herds of horses got a bit out of control the BLM should step in and take a few but they’re taking more then they need too and hurting other horses in the process. It’s not right and I’m sad that the government that everybody voted for does not see this. It’s mainly human fault that the Mustang doesn’t not have enough room because we’re taking all of it so the Mustangs have less food which is when the BLM comes in and takes some horses. The BLM needs a new goverenment or something because they obviously aren’t working right.
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The BLM is rounding up horses because they think the wild horses will not survive. They are treating these innocent horses like livestock. They are taking away most of the the wild horses, so much that the herds are not sustanable. Already there is a naturally wild horse breed near extinction. The BLM might cause this in Norht America (this is just my opinian). They aren’t listening to horse experts. If the wild horses could not survive, they would all be dead. Yet they are alive, and the BLM is rounding them up. I was in Washington D.C. the other day and spoke to the senator’s co-worker( I can’t remember what his job was), and he said that he would research it. I feel horrible for not doing anything about this before it began. Thank God Cloud and his herd are alive. The BLM is obviously not aware to how much the wild horses help our inviroment; their stampeding hooves help develop gullies, and their dropping make good soil. By taking away these horses, the BLM is, at the same time, preventing natural resources. I was watching something about this earlier, and in the description it said ‘everything that is against the law the BLM is planning to do to these horses.’ I can’t possibly see how the BLM thinks that they are helping these horses. These horses belong in the wild. I’m pretty sure that there are at least 60,000 horses that are demestocated. It outrages me that the BLM is adding to these numbers. And nobody really seems to mind this because nothing is being done about it. This too really upsets me. They should leave some horses to be wild and enjoy their lives while they can. Something HAS to be done about this. If things do not go well, I promise I’ll open a horse sanctuary in Cloud’s herd’s honor. I’m praying that they’ll be OK.
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