Updates from the deadly Calico Roundup by Craig Downer and Elyse Gardener
Below are the photos of the roundup that took place today (Saturday, January 2, 2010) showing how the captured band stallion, “Freedom,” valiantly fought for and regained his liberty although he had to leave his family of 8 adult mares and 2 colts. Jumping a 6-foot fence and immediately thereafter breaking through a barbed wire fence and injuring himself, this was an awe-inspiring, do-or-die effort demonstrating the loathing of captivity to a wild horse and his need for freedom. We can only pray for his recovery from the injuries the sustained from the barbed wire.
Before his escape, he became hung up by his front legs when he reared with all his might to attempt an escape from the narrow fenced area where he was being examined by Sue Cattoor and her wrangler.
Also included here are shots of the capture of his entire band, the 11 horses including Freedom himself.
More to come. Right now we are just sending stills. We have videos and interviews, but these photos really do capture the anguish and drama of the roundup for these majestic icons, our treasured American wild mustangs.
Sincerely,
Craig C. Downer, Wildlife Ecologist
Additional Note: On New Year’s Day, the BLM rounded up 10 wild horses but only captured 9 because a 6-month old foal died en route. APHIS vet at the scene, Dr. Al Kane, reported that after being chased by the helicopter for “1/4 mile” the little foal was behaving strangely, lying down periodically. It is reported that the pilot radioed Dr. Kane that this foal was having problems and Dr. Kane went out to see the foal who was found dead. Dr. Kane said that he did a necropsy in the field and discovered congenital heart defect and said that foal couldn’t have handled any exercise and probably wouldn’t have lived to adulthood. They left the body in the field and refused to allow the public observers to witness the body.
Band stallion, Freedom, in the lead. You can see the Judas horse, trained to run into the pens so the wild horses will follow, being released. - Craig Downer
During examination, Freedom attempts escape and gets caught up on the fence while Sue Cattoor looks on. - Elyse Gardener
Preparing for final herculean effort to clear 6-foot fence to freedom. - Craig Downer
Freedom escapes only to hung up in barbed wire - Craig Downer
A horrible victory, injured with entire family left behind - Craig Downer
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Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
terribly sorry about the foal; funny i was just posting about the Faols during roudnups how tragically sad the Catta moors do not know how to round up horse safe
my comment is:
That is wonderful to see the Black Horse escape; just wonderful; I tip my hat to you O’ wild Mustang; you have done the unthinkable; you have outsmarted the Cattamoors;
even I have not been able to figure out how to do that ! You are smart oh brave one
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To Craig or anyone: when anyone has time:
Has this horse Freedom been rounded up before ?
I was just wondering if they play the old :round em up let em loose round em up
routine (psychological demoralizing); as they did on Cloud the Super Stallion ?
YOu go Freedom; and may any injury sustained by healed by the force of the horse…
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What a will to be free this horse has, and may he heal and not be caught again. Another foal lost and I will not believe their reasons. Stop this BLM, Now. Mar
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I saw these photos late last night and I can’t get the images from my mind. That beautiful courageous black stallion is now alone, his entire band behind bars. I can only hope that there are some others of his kind out there for him.
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a quarter mile my a**. those horses weren’t just “hanging out” so close to the traps that it would have run only a quarter mile. bloody liars.
& why is there barbed wire anywhere around where they are rounding up wild horses???
& why can’t we have an objective veterinarian look at these animals?
& how much were we paying these b******s for running the horses on new year’s day? double time again? i cannot imagine what kind of mentality/soul/heart (or lack thereof) these people have to celebrate the new year by running wild animals to extinction & foals to their deaths. wow.
craig & elyse, thank you for witnessing & documenting this….for us AND for the wild horses. it’s hard enough to look at this on the blogsite & to read the captions of the photos…i cannot imagine how much worse it was to see it first hand….even more, how much worse it was for the horses who lived through this terror….
oh freedom, harrassed, injured, ripped apart from family, still able to be rounded up again, yet free…bittersweet freedom. we love you, brother! heal…stay free.
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Hello : I have read though I cannot verify this:
a. Cattamor gets $400 PER EACH HORSE roudned up
b. I do not know if Catamoor get a daily salary
c. Catamoor get free lodging and meals at fine Inns druing the 6 week roundup
This is what I have read; about how much the Roundup co. gets per horse rounded up;
Looks like Freedom just saved the US Taxpayer $400…! (cuz Freedom escaped and Catammor will not charge the BLM for this horse…
my comment: You go Freedome; you Run boy; Run Freedom Run…you can make it ! anna
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I hope and pray that Freedom will never be rounded up again, if this doesn’t show that these horses should be left alone, I don’t know what else could.
Sue Cattoor looks like she’s really trying to help him, and is concerned that he might get hurt, doesn’t she, NOT,
Oh that these people are making more money doing this then I will ever make in my lifetime as a teacher and WE, OUR tax dollars’ are paying them just makes me see red.
I thought it couldn’t get any worse, this is unbearable,
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jo bunny: Very, very astute observations and comments. Anyone with a brain knows…NO BARBED WIRE AROUND HOSES!!!!…domestic and more importantly, wild. I guess that’s just the COW coming out of Cattoor and BLM. What total incompetents! Maybe we should put them in charge of airport security?…they’d fit right in with stupid.
As to the foal that died (surprise, surprise!!!), sorry BLM, but I’d rather have that foal die “natural causes” in the wild versus idiots harrassing (that would be you BLM/DOI/Cattoor and all “special” contractors for same) that foal to end this way…without his/her mare, without the band, without it’s family.
Sick, just sick sanctioned behavior by OUR government.
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I just hope to GOD Freedom is not seriously cut up by that barbed wire. And I second the question: What the H#%&L is barbed wire doing anywhere NEAR the roundup site!!!!!
Makes me sick. But I gotta suck it up and reblog this and spread it all over the Net. Starting NOW. I’ll be back…
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I first saw these photos last night and posted a link, they are sickening. I also pray that his injuries are not bad but I have seen what happens when a horse runs through fencing and barbed wire is even worse!
Cattoor, isnt she the wife of the helicopter pilot who is the convicted fellon? She sure looks worried about the Freedom doesnt she!!!!! Geez.
On the quarter of a mile claim, Bull#$%^%$. More and more coverups, also have you thought about the fact that most of the mares in these bands will be heavy in foal at the moment, they usually have their babies in the spring, I would not be surprised to see more casualties, abortions and death if they keep this up just amongst the pregnant mares.
Tears now, courage later!!!
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Sue Cattoor is the wife and grand matriarch of the multi-million dollar Cattor Family. Her husband is the owner of the business and yes, he is the one. You and I have made these people millionaires by paying them millions to chase down wild mustangs. In another story, I will detail Sue Cattoor’s “speech” to us on the last day of the Pryor gather.
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Yes, I need Sue Cattor’s speech, I have a byline idea that I need to get to before I run out of time.
Why are they all named Sue? I now lots of Sues who are not like these people. OH, wait my freinds named Sue ARE PEOPLE, ARE CIVILIZED HUMAN BEINGS!
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RT I had heard the company was in her name….Mar
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Went to the Cattoor’s website, she’s a piece of work, some of what she says on there is unreal, and she says it like WE are all the crazy people and they are just good souls who want the best for the horses. Both her and her husband and son troy and I’m assuming wife are listed as owners of this taxpayer subsidized million dollar business.
After reading the incredulous BS on her site, I am going to email about the Calico roundup, as they say, pictures don’t lie, and I really want to hear her take on the steaming wet horses, the foal who died, because according to her the pilot NEVER drives the horses too fast; and especially the picture of her standing there picking her teeth while “Freedom” was hung up on the fence right in front of her. I am sure it was his fault, not hers and the wrangler, that caused him to freak out and almost kill himself to get away from her.
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Jan, Good, you found it. Go for it! Remember she will be defensive if she replies… “Sue, how does it feel when a 900 pound horse throws himself onto a 6 foot fence right in front of you?” Mar
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How disrespectful you all are!! How dare you people spout off like you actually know anything about resource or horse management is a complete joke!! BTW, Ms Cattor’s husband passed away over a year ago – so THAT is why the company is in her name. God rest his soul for dedicating his life to this thankless job – and to Sue: God bless you – anyone that ACTUALLY knows you, knows the dedication and kindness of your soul. SHAME on all these disrespectful people who no doubt has never truly know nothing about our great state of Nevada and real resource management. On that note, can anyone tell me where Craig Downer got his Wildlife Biologist degree?? NO ONE has ever been able to produce a document to back up his claims….
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Ok Realist, if he died, there is no mention of that anywhere, the company is still listed in both their names, and poor souls the Cattoors, who have become millionaires doing this “work.”
Also no mention of this fact on her blog, where she has posted in the past year; in fact, you are the only person who has mentioned it ;
you really need to tone it down if you expect people to take you seriously and listen to anything you may have to say.
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If it is true (as reported below) that Dave Cattoor “passed away over a year ago,” somebody should tell reporter Brett French of the “Billings Gazette.”
French published an article about the Pryor Mountain round-up on September 6, 2009, and quoted “Dave Cattoor” extensively. Here is a sampling from French’s article:
“According to Dave Cattoor, the owner of a contract helicopter roundup service . . . there may be little demand for the wild horses offered for adoption, which are sold for $125. ‘You can buy a papered colt for under $200,’ he said. ‘Why would anyone want to buy a wild one?’ Cattoor started his business in 1971. His main client is the BLM. According to federal records, his company earned more than $12 million between 2000 and 2007.”
http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_c780d0d8-9aa7-11de-8431-001cc4c03286.html
I mean no disrespect to the man and his family, but what is the truth?
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Need to stay factual, and God knows I make many errors myself (still learning so much), so no ill intent Lori, but Cattoor is not a convicted felon – that was a misrepresentation and partial story, with omitted pertinent facts – and was quickly removed from The Cloud Foundation once the error was found.
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Here’s a link to something. . . not sure what. . . .
Click to access Cattoor_Indictment-GuiltyPlea_Hunting-Killing-WH-1992%5B1%5D.pdf
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JF, This is Hilary Wood, a friend of Ginger’s. I have been a supporter there for a year or two. Very good lady and good place for horses, including mustangs. She was up at the Pryors at the start of the roundup but had to leave. She is in this with us. Mar
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Believe it or not he was convicted of a misdemeanor for stealing 2 truck loads of Nevada? mustangs that were captured using aircraft illegally and then transported them across State lines to Texas and sold them all to slaughter. A MISDEMEANOR for all that. At their site there is a defense of him on the whole thing as they were hired by Tribal people to take the horses. Yet he was charged with stealing Government property…. mar
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Mar, thanks, looked back and appears I might have been endorsing him – NOT MY INTENT whatsoever, my opinion of him, along with the rest of the horse thiefing bunch is he’s the lowlife of the lowlife, but we don’t want to be slandereous either, as he was not convicted of a felony.
We want to be above them at all times. Fortunatley for us thats not too hard to do.
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No, it is not, Roxy, they have become millionaires from our money destroying our horses; they are low… mar
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a misdemneanor? for selling gov. Prop.
amazing how they re hired this felon;
however; hiring a convict goes hand in hand with rounding up Innocnets !
whether Cattomor is a Felon or a midenamnearo is not the issue
Cattar is a Convict roudning up horses
Roxy; Cattor was arrested and charged!
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Sometimes I hate to look at this site, (no disrespect R.T.) I can not imagine the horrible sounds that must come out of the throats of these terrified animals. How can ANYBODY just stand there and watch and listen????? Sue Cattoor can not have a heart, none of them can. Do they not feel pain???? Do they not care????
Where did ‘Freedom’ get his name, has he and his family been ‘followed’ by wild horse enthusiasts or tours?
Can we get these photos in the NY Times or USA Today or CNN?
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Kas and RT, Yes, these photos should be released to AP if they want that. If they want to retain ownership, then they cannot. If they have a set of photos they can ‘do with out’ then they should go to AP. Mar
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kas said:…” Sue Cattoor can not have a heart, none of them can. Do they not feel pain???? Do they not care????…”
UHhhmmm…no. Not only does she nor her “wranglers” (bought and paid for by us) not have heart, they basically don’t have common horse handling smarts. Gee, what a surprise coming from the horse exterminators. But I guess they are either on the Fed money train or living in the 19th century. I suspect both.
Poster child for abuse and the heart of all horses?…I nominate FREEDOM. Who’s the Man…HE IS THE MAN! God bles nature…they know so much more than the DVD, Mickey D humans.
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140 wild horses gathered in Nevada
Submitted by Ted Williams on Mon, 01/04/2010 – 12:57.
Of course the horse mafia “criticized the killing.” It wants no animal anywhere to ever die from any cause no matter what. It would rather see the discarded livestock it calls “mustangs” gradually deteriorate for eternity, like Jonathan Swift’s “strulbugs.”
This is the kind of online crap editorial comments we have to deal with. Sorry, I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.
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Yeah, everyone is entitled to their opinion. It’s just that I’m SO tired of having to read such UNINFORMED opinions. You really do need to do your homework before you stick both feet in your mouth in public.
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Please correct wrong date asap at top of update -should be 1/02/2010. Lets stop CORRUPT BLM DEATH SQUAD . GO FREEDOM !!!!!!!!! LONG MAY YOU RUN !!!!!!!!!!
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I worry now about tetanus, it lives on rusty wire, and horses die from it, I doubt he received any vaccinations,
will he hightail it for the hills, or will he remain closeby, waiting for his family?
how can any former wild horse EVER remain sane when it hears the sound of a helicopter?
I don’t know how any of the workers out there justify their actions,
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OMG!! He’s a wild horse – I thought that’s what you wanted him to be?? Now you want him to get a tetanus shot?? You probably also want the BLM to feed and water him since there’s no forage out on the winter range…. Geesh.. do you even have a clue??
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He’s no longer a wild horse once he’s in BLM care, and yes, they do vaccinate the horses, and yes, he should have been treated as he was in their care when this happened, and who are YOU???? most of us go by our given names on this blog, you show up and start blasting us, try having a dialogue, if you have a differing opinion that’s great, but share it w/us, don ‘t come here and have a go at us, we are American citizens, exercising our right to free speech, are willing to listen to another viewpoint, when expressed in a civil way.
Are you out in NV right now???? Can you attest to the condition of the range????? And yes, supplementary hay on the range seems to me would be cheaper than the $1.7 million of MY money and yours, too, if you’re a taxpaying citizen, being spent to conduct this roundup. Most of these horses will go to longterm holding, which costs us $100,000 a day to maintain. So yes, I have a lot of clues, becuae that’s exactly what the BLM WILL do once he and his herdmates are removed to longterm holding facilities. They WILL feed and water him, for the rest of his life.
Get your facts together before you go challenging other people.
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You are right, Jan. We are all very transparent and up front, here. One more blast and the Realist is Toast!
This is always how the “dark side” behaves when they don’t know the facts, know that the truth is against them and feel backed into a corner. “Come out swingen” is all they know. I have little patience or time for stupid.
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From what I read, he accepted a plea bargain to this charge instead of going to trial, unfortunately, it’s how our legal system works, saves the expense of a trial, so defendants are offered plea deals, it would be interesting to see what the terms of the deal were, has this been expunged from his file after a certain number of years.for example, if so, than there would not be a conviction on his record.
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Thanks R.T. Realist got my Irish up, that’s for sure, I think everyone here is willing to listen to other viewpoints, but don’t attack us! that’s not how to get people to listen;
Also, Realist, why don’t you ask Craig Downer for his credentials, I am sure he will supply them to you;
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Realist, Ugh, lets see – barbed wire fences and wild horses brought together by humans, wild horse gets hurt on fence – who’s responsible? Enough said.
Or maybe you are not talking about the Calico horse referred to now as “Freedom” pictured getting ripped by a human constructed barbed wire fence during a human conducted roundup. I don’t live in Nevada, where does that thar “wild free range natural barbed wire fencing” grow exactly? If there were such a thing, then, YES he is wild, leave him to natures end, he is wildlife and should live and die in the context. But that is not what happened.
And re: your rant about how horrible we are to Sue Cattor? Yeh, when I see animal abuse I say bad things about that animal abuser? And you sir, what do you say about animal abuse? Since you made so many suppositions, I’ll suppose you think Michael Vick should get that “high ethics” award thing he has been nominated for?
And, no one in a roundup crew, no cattle person, has ever said anything bad about Ginger Kathrens, Laura Liegh, Craig Downer, or others, or anything like “wild horses are just pests”, nothing like that? We can find your cattle feed companies statements about us too you know.
By the way, exactly where are your comment blog pages that we may freely join in?
Craig C. Downer is a wildlife ecologist (UCalifBerk, UNevReno, UKanLawr, UDurhamUK) who has extensively studied both the wild horses of the West and the endangered mountain tapirs of the northern Andes…He is a 4th generation Nevadan and grew up with his best friend Poco, a tall chestnut stallion, with whom he had many adventures in the deserts and mountains of western Nevada and eastern California (took me less than 5 minutes).
Please come back and see us again real soon, ya hear?
But at least make it challenging! Maybe you can find some real questions to ask next time you drop by.
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the reason the Tetanus shot might have been necessary is not because the horse is a wild horse and does not have defenses against the Tetanus germ; but becasue the Man made Barbed wire “interfered with the Horse’s Natural Living conditon; get it ? anna
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There is a new video about the Calico roundup from Craig Downer. If you follow the link from the wild horse and burro warriors blog at http://wildhorsewarriors.blogspot.com/, listed under Goodbye Calico Horses – A Video Narrated By Craig Downer, there is a link to the video on youtube titled, Calico, Nevada-Where Wild Horses Roam. You can also go directly to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&NR=1.
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Quick 3 things –
Thanks Craig and Laura and may your dreams be blessed by the absence of your experience here. You, and everyone that witnesses these deeds, these tress passes into our wild horses lives, you are our heroes – fill your rest with peace for you do GOOD!
Keep naming the horses, that personalizes them. Ginger Kathrens said once that BLM was very upset that she was naming the Pryor horses! New Breyer set? – Wild horse heroes – “Freedom”, “Conquistador”, and “Cloud” the magnificent! I’d through in Raven too, just because I want a representation of him.
Last, if you read the FOIA minutes from the BLM “Conquistador project” of how to go about killing all the wild horses, you will find warnings from Cattor that rounding them up over and over will cause cost to go up – they will become harder to chase, will learn to hide, etc. Will go from current about $600 per horse (I think?) to $1000 – $1200. My take – soon it will become impossible – that is probably why they are trying to get rid of the older horses, they know they are not adoptable and they know they have knowledge and experience!
Ok four – BLM – Cattor – EVIL, my broken record going again, – M. Scott Peck – Wikipedia – Evil – a must read!
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HI Jan:
u wrote: Anna, according to both reports I read, the colt was a yearling, so able to eat on his own;
my comment is:
I do not understand why they harmed the Colt’s Mother for no cause; however I am relieved the Colt is old enuf to eat on his own; there is a chance this colt may not survive tho’; becuz he was attached to his Mother and the stress is great;
thanks for the info; i have a feeling they do this to Mare to spook the Horses; : (
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HI Roxy just a comment; I like your idea of naming the Horses; I may give that idea to a blog by Terri Farley who runs blogs; writes books for children;
I bet the school children would like to name the Horses; thanks for writing…anna
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Anna, yes, Children do LOVE contests! Great idea. Maybe The Cloud Foundation would post the winners recommened from the school from time to time – contact Makendra, she has been busy working on classroom programs. And I love childrens art, so not only name them but draw them too from the photographs and post along with photo. I might even buy some childrens art, proceeds to IDA or Freedom Fund!
I’m very inspired by your writing and questions and seeing your personallity developing your own perspective.
Keep it up.
Remember – stay with “known” facts – otherwise say “in my opinion” or “at this stage of my learning” “or as I understand it at this time”. Supply references when at all possible. Just tips I got from someone on TCF.
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Hi Rosy; I agree; by naming the Horses as you and otherS suggested; the Horses become personalized; and not Pasture ornaments…oh children do love Horses and naming Horses;
Look at how famous Cloud has become !
(and Freedome and the ohters
Thaks for your tips; idea and thoughts
ps what is the story on Conquistador? I missed this segment of the wild Horse round up saga; SAVE THE HORSES !
pps yeah; the kids could draw Horse pix for a contest; I’ll contact Terri Farley; she has a good following; Anna
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Anna, look through R.T.s site directory and you can find the whole story on Conquistadore – bitter sweet with a nice ending. He became our Poster Child for a DC event – that story on here too (so much to read, so little time).
We are all still pushing to have him and his mares and all the older horses returned to the Pryor area – should happen for all areas.
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Anna to answer your question about bands and herds, etc. all that – a picture tells a thousand words. (Your qustion was a reply to a reply to a reply – there is no way to directly answer those.)
Go ot PBS: Nature: Cloud Stallion of the Rockies – you can watch all 3 episodes and more clips nd more comments – and Ginger Kathrens tells the whole saga. Its streaming so not best quality – if you’r like me you will then order the DVDs from The Cloud Foundation (TCF) – part of the proceeds go back to support the horses.
Also at TCF, maybe here on R.T.s sight too you can hear recordings of all the radio spots that Ginger and Craig Downer and many other knowledgable people have provided us with – all great first hand eyewitness stuff!
And you can atually watch most of the BLM Wild Hore and Burro Adviosry Board meetings – get plenty of cafiene ready though, to say these people are disengaged is putting it mildly – snooze. But you will also get to see the little bit of time they allow citizen input and with what disdain they listine – watch the body language when the citizens start to talk – its a drama in the making!
Have fun with these – not a one day endeavor, a fews days at least.
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I have read that the “free” or “loose” stallions will sometimes return to their families, and wait outside the enclosures. . . possibly tonite the stallion, Freedom, if he can physically, may return to the corrals. If someone were waiting to dart him; tranquilize, give antibiotic shot & look at the wound. Is that too off the wall?
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Janet, you mean doing something REALLY humane? If its BLM they would do that, but he would end up in the pens, or they will let him die so they can have a picture of a “non-captured horse died on its own – see they are starving, or he died from disease (they would call tetanus a disease if is suited them)” and showing that same pic 10 years from now – I guess my loathing BLM has taken me over..
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They should be required to followup on these injury events. They should track, dart, check injuries and release.
There must be a strain of really wild wild horses up there since over time these stories have been related of the “ones that can’t be caught.” If they can’t be caught, they reproduce others of their kind, so a strain would run thru their blood of, “Extra Wild.”
But BLM needs to take responsibility for barbed wire, lack of containing horse and find it.
I have spoken.
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Opps meant to say if its BLM they would NOT do that!
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I knew I could depend on you Craig! Please continue helping Freedom and the other horses from being caught.Have you sent copies to the Congress? Stay safe and stay free Freedom!
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Can we copy and use these photos on handouts?
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If Freedom were to return how about a gate left open and .. Golly Gosh, his family just slipped out don’t know how it happened!? or how about blanted freedom riders turning them all loose ! The BLM could never respond fast enough.!I know its all dreams of what if !! God keep you safe Freedom we can’t but are trying so very hard!
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I read somewhere that once captured and released, these horses will learn how to avoid capture again / get away or hide from the helicopter. Seems like I read it on a BLM document, but can’t remember.
The killing of the old mare with a yearling: They said she was in bad condition and too old to make it thru the winter. A 20 year old mare that was still raising foals. Sounds like a smart, tough horse to me. I’ll bet she knew where the food and water to get thru the winter was. Her offspring would have been better served to leave her alive and learn from her, even if she didn’t make it thru the winter. Besides, wasn’t she gathered and going to a long term holding facility?
This is just speculation, but I feel, deep in my bones, that as one of the mature horses of the herd, (how many of her offspring were a part of the same herd?), she was shot in front of all of them as psychological warfare.
That has been festering inside ever since I read about it. Thanks for letting me get it out and vent my disgust.
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Gardenbelle, two things. I only know of one reference to the horses getting harder for the helicopter’s to gather, and that was a report from Cattor himself to the “Conquistador project” (you can find those team meetings notes on The Cloud Foundation- the BLM project to kill all the wild horses in holding deemed old or unadoptable), that frequent roundups would end up costing about double as I recall he said. He did not say why. But the recent events in Pryor of horses going to the trees, and Clouds attempt to turn his band against the helicopter – Seeing Freedom today (but I don’t know if Freedom had every been rounded up before) in my mind just sort of put 2 and 2 together – how does it make sense to gather older horses that are not adoptable – it makes perfect sense if you do not want the bands to have that leadership. I suppose to make sure of Cattors report to the Conquistador Project we would have to ask him, then rely that his answer is honest.
I had not thought of the tragedy upon tragedy of shooting the mare in front of the other horses and its foal. Do we know that actually took place, or was the mare separated? Horrendous!
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Ok, let’s take a deep breath and stick to the facts. Neither eyewitness report(Willis Lamm and Craig Downer’s) spoke of shooting this mare in front of other horses or the colt that was still w/her. The only comment from Willis was that he felt the mare’s body should have been returned to the wild to sustain natural resources, as it would had she died out there. Instead, the mare was buried. PLease, let’s not let emotions carry us away from the facts as they are or play into these people’s hands as they charaterize us as a bunch of nutball, foaming at the mouth horse-loving radicals. We MUST stick to the facts.
Also, remember, this is a business to these people. I am not defending what they do or how they do it, but they regard these horses as they view the cattle raised for market every year. To us, they are beautiful symbols of our wild America, to them, they are animals to be taken off the land and placed somewhere else as quickly and efficiently as possible. So hoping for them to get all warm and fuzzy about these horses is wishful thinking. They have a quota to fill and they will fill it. Cloud’s roundup shows that. They DID end the roundup early, but needed horses to fill the quota, those horses came from Cloud’s own harem and the one little foal who was too lame to be released along w/his mom.
We MUST continue our protests, and letter/email campaigns to the powers that be, they are the ones who can stop this mess. The Cattoors and BLM are NOT just going to stop and go away because they feel bad for what they are doing.
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Roxy, please note I said “speculation”. I have no idea what really happened besides what I have read in the same reports lots of other people have read. It was just a gut feeling….
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ps Did they actually “kill the Mother of a living Foal ?
now why….why would they do that ?
are they “off their rockers ?
Now who; I ask you who will care for the foal ?;
If a Mare is healthy enough to give birth to a Foal at age 20; then she is certainly healthy enough to Live !;
what utter fools ! ! !
ps did i read that right ?
A MUSTANG MARE GAVE BIRTH AT THE AGE OF TWNENTY ?
must be a misprint…SAVE THE HORSES !
(what happended ot the Foal; I know of a Foal Rescue Ranch in Oregon;
I’ll contact Craig Downer for info;
thanx a lot ! a, “Protect the foals..!
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Anna, according to both reports I read, the colt was a yearling, so able to eat on his own
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Roxy wrote:
But the recent events in Pryor of horses going to the trees, and Clouds attempt to turn his band against the helicopter – Seeing Freedom today (but I don’t know if Freedom had every been rounded up before)
– how does it make sense to gather older horses that are not adoptable – it makes perfect sense if you do not want the bands to have that leadership.
Good point Roxy; by rounding up the elders of the Herd; the BLM dismantles the social structure of the Herds and Bands; I am not sure of the dif. between a Horse Herd and Band
thanks for posting ! anna / conn./ usa
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To Jan:
you are right; Cattmoor is just a paid pawn of the BLM; if Catmoor wouldn’t do the roundups the BLM would have found another round up co.
The BLM is to blame totally; but I would like to find out about the Mare;
who dun it ? The BLM or Catamoor Co. ?
ps a recent poll states: 98% of the American people oppose the Wild Horse BLM round ups; poll is as of today..a.
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Not 100% positive on this but I think that the name “Conquistador project” refers to the non-profit rescue group in Phx AZ who actually petitioned for the FOIA documents which revealed the BLM slaughter planning. That group is a non-profit rescue called “The Conquistador Equine Rescue” here: http://www.conquistadorprogram.org/ and these folks were the ones who were the ones who discovered the BLM’s evil slaughter planning by getting hold of BLM internal documents. I believe the slaughter plan itself was NOT called the “Conquistador project” by the BLM. Unfortunately it seems this fact has been mixed up by several authors of reports and blog comments.
BTW Lots of good info including details on how this rescue broke that story is on their website.
Just trying to keep it factual, facts are our friends and a real threat to the evil ones.
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Gardenbelle, correction, the Conquistador Project was not limited to the killing of horses already captured, it was also applicable to horses on the range.
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Unfortunately you might be right, but partly because they may have shot her within the pens for convenience. Mar
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hello fellow citizens:
Ya know what I am going to do? (Realist I hope you are reading this)
I am going to report this to my Rep. and MY senators as
Animal Cruelty ! and I guarnatee you this Mr. BLM
there will be no “using weapons on animals
that is not humane; and u know it !
ps if anyone has any info on whether this Mare was “shot and the other info about how the Horses were “shot at conquisitador; could you please post any links; (or e-mail me; if not; I can look the links up; THIS WILL STOP !
We may not be able to stop the roundups we may not be able to stop the transportation to Ranches;
but we will Stop this inhumane treatment of these Horses;
esp. about the Mare and the others…
Does anyone have a rough count of how many Horses have been “shot by the blm
ok I just read where the Mare who was shot had a Colt: i would assume this is a horse under the age of one;
and you say they “shot and killed this Colt’s mother; merely due to her age ?
There will stop! how do I know ?
It is illegal to “shoot a Horse; and so they weill be investigated for this;
and the Round up will be halted; imo;
ps they do this as psycholgical warfare agaisst the Horses; to purposely spook and scare the Horses…”show them who’s boss…”type of attitufe; poor Mare !
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Gardenbelle, Oh, yes it would be a specultion, we have no way of knowing unless Craig or Laura can get some confirmation – I’m expecting lots of reports over the next 6 weeks (6 weeks?) – hope they get stopped today! I was just wondering … not a critique. Keep asking questions, I will – its like R.T. said its like peeling an onion!
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Gardenbelle, not knowing is the worse – imaginations run wild – dreams of the horrors are not controllable. Hang in there – the reports will be coming out as best they can.
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Just a FYI, the BLM is moving forward with it’s plans to place 805 horses on a 16,000 acre ranch in Montana, will pay $1.31/day per horse, and will supplement them w/ hay 4 months a year. By my calculations that is 20 acres per horse, which they say is fine, yet, Calico has 3000 horses on what, 500,000 acres and that is too many horses???? that’s 500 acres per horse. So, supplementing with hay IS an option, at least on this ranch in Montana., but not anywhere else; Why is it that nothing they do make sense to me; neither common nor fiscal sense??
the website is http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/dillon_field-office.html
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The BLM is a National Disgrace. Freedom & the other horses must be protected from these ignorant killers and destroyers of our public lands. Those responsible need to be held accountable for killing whole horse herds and devastating our public lands, water and wildlife. Someone should do an estimate on what it would cost to undo the damage they have done to all our land they let cattle destroy ,including the costs of restoring our 100 wild horse herds-and include an estimate on all the wildlife they have killed and on how much they have spent on their welfare cattle cronies.
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Shari, The separate issue of over grazing by cattle, alone, has been an issue all my life and I am an old lady. In the 80s we thought something would finally be done but BLM just outlasted all the ruckus. No one has been able to make BLM uphold law it is sanctioned to follow. The only way to do anything is to keep fighting them. I don’t see how we can change all the corruption unless BLM were to just be over hauled by a president. The power inside BLM is considerable and no one has ever challenged it except by the few good Secretaries who have run it and made improvements. The Bureau has never wanted to respond to the Public despite being stewards to our lands. If you are not a Westerner they feel you have no right to make law that they must carry out and administer. It goes on and on and it goes back to the beginning and GAO said that BLM could not effectively police itself and would undermine any office it wanted and do as it pleased. It has. Mar
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I see pix of the Calico Mountains and quite truthfully; i do not see one blade of grasses or brushland degregation there; so the BLM is talking a fool’s game when they cite the destruction of natural grasses and habitat as the reason for roundups
I agree with what you say; maybe some day we can return the Horses to their habitat
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Yes, in fact public testimony to Congress from a BLM expert under oath, possibly supeonad – no way of know that from the article (can’t remember where I saw that – was recenlty on one of our advocates pages, maybe here – but was from 2006 +/- I think) –
Nutshell, my best recollection -“Calico range could accomodate 500% increase in horses”.
But seeing the new detailed expose’ from the Cloud Foundation we now know this was Ruby Pipeline all along (we all suspected as much for a while).
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God Bless all the HORSES, WILD HORSES & BURROS & all the wonderful people helping them including Craig Downer and Elyse Gardener.
AND LONG MAY FREEDOM RUN !!!
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Jan wrote: Just a FYI, the BLM is moving forward with it’s plans to place 805 horses on a 16,000 acre ranch in Montana, will pay $1.31/day per horse, and will supplement them w/ hay 4 months a year. By my calculations that is 20 acres per horse, which they say is fine, yet, Calico has 3000 horses on what, 500,000 acres and that is too many horses???? that’s 500 acres per horse.
Anne’s comment: The BLM would be better off moving these Horses to Montana as soon as possible; therefore; atleast they will be out of those wicked awful holding pens
But even on a Ranch in Nevada they have to have Shelter; HORSES JUST DON’T STAND OUT IN SNOW SLEET AND RAIN WITHOUT COVER ! no animal stands out in snow and sleet;
See the point is this: The Horses had a wonderful natural habitat where they WERE protected from the elements to some degree; such as they had crags; rocks; steepes; gullies; hills; mountains; trees; shrubs; sage; trails; water; grasses; EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT ! And they want to transport these same Horses to “a flat field with no sage; no crags; no stones; cliffs; ledges; and put these Horses in a flat field with no shelter ? I guess my main concern is;
You cannot take a wild Horse that is used to an evolved natural enrivonement; and place the Horses in a flat field with no shelter or any trials or trees ? why…
because this would endangner their health to place Horses in fields with no Shelter;
so my point is: If you take a Horse out of his naturul shelter? you have to build run in sheds or barns or stalbes;
you just cannot put horses in a cold wet muddy field and drop hay to them NO Way !
Horses standing in cold muddy field s wiht no run in sheds could get “hoof ciseases and skin coat disease; esp. if like was said; the fur freezes in the rain;
(I understnad livestock in the West are forced to live outdoors during snow stroms!
Thanks for th info…Anna in conn. where fields pastures and barns increasing less
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Hi Roxy: I guess a Herd is a large group of Horses and a Band is a smaller group of Horses; I am not sure tho’; imo the BLM is rounding up Bands of Horses and not Herds of Horses; which is worse because Bands of Horses do not wear the land down like herds might; so to round up little Bands of Horses is truly “nagging me as to why? Why not round up the truly Feral Horses grazing along Hiways and back yard Horse breeders ? Why round up Wild self-sustaining Horses; and leave Feral Horses; who thorugh no fault of their own are seen along Hiways and towns ?
I am 100% against marring any animals with Paint; markings; when a microchip could be used; like they do not treat the Horses as the Intelligent Critters they are..A
(ps I hate that; the way man puts tags and numbers on critters; livestock; etc….
pps What is a freezemark? not sure waht this is so cannot give any opinion; thanx!
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the reezemark is the ID number that is placed on the left side of mustang necks to ID them, yo9u can go to the BLM website to get the explanation of what each symbol means. When there is a U at the end of the mark, it means that the horse is considered unadoptable and may be sold at any time to whoever.
The BLM is not going to use microchips ti ID the mustangs, there is a website out there that discusses the pros and cons of a national ID system for horses.
WIld horses group themselves in bands or harems, w/ a band stallion and 1-10 mares and offspring. After breeding season, the horses will sometimes run together in larger groups, which may be the use of the word “herd” that is so confusing to you. At the Cloud gather, I think the contractors were careful to keep bands (harems) of horses together and ran them in that way. In this gather, I don’t think that’s happening, they run as many as they can in together, as far as the “feral” horses you are refferring to, BLM considers THESE horses to be feral.
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Anna, also regarding the paint stripe. At the Pryor roundup they used paint stripes to identify the horses that were to be returned to the wild from the ones to be sent on to the next holding. As jan eaker has already indicated, in the case of the Pryor roundups – considered one herd, containing several bands, and also they kept the bands together during the Pryor roundups up and therefor could easily release them together.
Calico is diferent in several ways. They actually appear to have two levels of holding andprocessing, rather than the one at Pryor. So much more difficult to capture and release each band in a timely manner without getting them mixed up.
And, Calico, which is larger, and more spread out, even containing different herds, sounds like, if they are using different colors of paint stripes, is attempting to release herd and band members togehter to the right areas, OR, may just be to keep band members identified so that when they release those they will be released together. Sounds perhaps, like BLM has a little
jan or others, your thoughts, any correction needed to what I’ve indicated?
Everyday here is like a mid term or pop quize – gotta love it!
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Anna, PS the paint wears off almost immediatly as can be seen in the Cloud series.
How are you enjoying the Cloud series? I bet I watched them a 100 times, even kept them on while I played solitare! Picked up something new everytime.
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then there are lot of “endangered” wild horses in America, cause that is exactly what the holding pens are, shelterless, barren pens,
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I’d like to get some pix of the holding pens and the water tanks and the hay supplies; a video would be better; if you are going to round the Native wild Horses
atleast give them proper care; food and water; esp. Shelter and water; thanks; A.
ps wonder how many days the horses sit in the pens; just to be transported away;
they rounded the horses up with no good places to relocate them; this type of tretment interfers with the wild horse’s natural personalities ! Stop the roundups!
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Anna, I lost the location of your questions regarding bands and herds and the other one about the painting stipes on the horses to identify herd areas – that is not the only reason.
That is all explained, much better than I can explain, by Ginger Kathrens in the Cloud Series. Have you watched those yet on your computer?
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I saw photos of wild horses in pens Fallon Nevada eating from racks on outside of pens. They all appeared well fed but I saw no indication of run in sheds. The feed bunkers appeared to be the same as cattle feeding operations. The person showing the photos said that she thought the owner of this operation owned a casino.It figures These are good questions for FOIA–Freedom of Information Act. We all should be filing and asking these questions.
1. Locations of all short term and long term holding?
2. Hours open for public observation?
3. Names of all “contractors” involved in long term and short term holding contracts?
4. Amount being paid to each of these contractors per horse?
5. Amount of area per horse in both short term and long term holding?
6. Number of run in sheds for inclement weather per number of horses?
7. Price paid per ton of hay provided to wild horses in holding both long term-
short term?
8. Names of hay and feed contractors supplying horses in holding-short and long
term.
9. Names of veterinarians on duty or on call at all holding facilities?
10. Number of older horses euthanized just because they can?
There are probably already answers out there to some of these questions but BLM is not forth-coming in their dealings(with our money)
Maybe if we all sent out these questions to our repective Representatives and Senators and asked them for answers first they would start an investigation.
anybody reading this is knows more on procedures to file for information FOIA? I have done so on a local level(not about horses) but need to know more about the Federal FOIA.
I also might add that on a personal note I have a BLM mustang that we adopted some 20 years ago. She has a run in shed and is in great condition. Both BLM and my local SPCA required that she has such a shelter. Horses usually turned out and having run in sheds fare much better than stabled. The Hanover Shoe Farms only brings their mares inside to foal but there are run ins in all their pastures. I hear about cattle freezing in the west and besides being inhumane it seems to be rather stupid and not economical to provide shelter for an animal you hope to make money from. But nobody has ever accused these cattle ranchers of being smart. I guess they just write off their losses aqainst their profits gained from other investments!
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I do think you have to be in the state where the info is that you want and it is pretty much the same… Anyone have more details? We will have to make up a procedure list… mar
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Reply about predator killls – I was referring not to payment FOR doing a predator kill.
I was referring to compensation to cattle ranchers for cattle that are killed by predators. I looked back and I did not ask the question correctly though – still learning “venacular” and wild animal “talking points” and what they mean.
Yes this is a very interesting topic, so much to learn, so little time!
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Roxy a ‘predator kill’ is when a predator kills cattle. It is a ‘kill due to predation’. If I thought you got it wrong and you did not, my apologies!
It is Not a predator Being killed… mar
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Barbara, I hope someone can take you up on the FOIA idea.
In AZ, if a huge amount of info is requested, the requested has to pay for the copies, this is determined before a judge I think, if the municipality requests it and proves thier inability to staff and supply such an operation.
But writing to congress – already in my cut and paste – THANKS!
I’d like further information anyone has on a comment I saw somewhere that the cattle are acually insured, which implies to me if they freeze or get hit by lightening the owner gets some $.
I do know I read on BLM or some other goverment report that we taxpayers compensate ranchers for predator kills – which I’m happy to pay those few pennies spread out – in fact, leave more predators for natural population control of our horses – I’ll gladly pay for predator kills if cattle are removed from wild horse land, does not seem like rocket science to me = cheaper than current conditions and certainly cheaper than Salazoo?
Cattle on public lands must stop receiving all those subsidies and must pay more for their cattle allotments! Especially since, now we know most go out of USA – let those forieng buyers pay more!
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PS meant to say:
“Cattle on public lands must stop receiving all those subsidies and must pay more for their cattle allotments! Especially since, now we know most go out of USA – let those forieng buyers pay more!
An additinal option to keep some subsidieis and lower, not as low as current, allotment amounts – keep your crubby greedy hands off of slaughtering wild horses”
And I might drop this particular part of the protest entirely – that in the mean time I am spreading all over You Tube and anywhere else I can find.
You know, most of our e-mail accounts allow mutliple e-mail addresses – I get 5 – that means anytime I find a pro slaughter “any horse” or “anit wild horse” You Tube or comment, I can reply 5 times with facts – sure they can reply 5 times too – but where are thier facts?
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PS again, am I using the term allotment correctly?
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Ranchers do get subsidies. Maybe someone can describe how they work.. Predator compensation may come from some state or federal funds but it also comes from Defenders of Wildlife for wolf kills that are verified and documented.
Salazar is leaving with Obama’s blessing to run for Gov. of Colorado since Ritter is not running for second term due to scandal.
We have a new opportunity to clean house at DOI/BLM!!! mar
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I stand corrected; I had no idea Defenders of Wildlife compensates ranchers for livestock kills by Wolves
ps thanks for the Conquistador website
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Here is a link to the BLM FOIA page.
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/res/FOIA.html
Here are the pages you can get to from there:
Reading Room
Filing a FOIA Request
Records Access Categories
Sample Letter Formats
FOIA Questions and Answers
FOIA Coordinators
Frequently Requested Documents
It’s all still new to me too…..
Good Luck !
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thanks for the info; my comment is this; preface; to the BLM: You can fool some of the people some of the time; but you cannot fool all of the peioke akk if the time;
Looks to me like all I see and read; the BLM is beginning to take a look at their ations and maybe changing their stance; but this may just be wishful thinking:
My comment on the holding pens and the Hay; (feel free to crossport my message)
THERE IS NO HAY FOR THE HORSES INSIDE THE ACTUAL HOLDING PENS THEMSELVES; NOT ONE PIECE OF STRAW OR HAY ANYWHERE INSIDE IN THE PENS; (all caps; i’m yelling @ BLM…
the ONLY place they put Hay for the Horse; (atleast in the vidwo of Fallon’s Pens)
is on the OUTSIDE; the Perimeters; of the Mustang Holding Pens; as the writer says
like a cattle trough; The Horses have to stick their muzzles out like Cattle;
they horses have to feed out of troughs; thru barbed wired ; TO get to the Hay !
I watched the video and I will post the video; the Horses are being underfed; imo;
I will post the video but be forwarned; they are treating the horses like cattle; a
ps I agree with everything you said; esp. about importance of run in sheds for ANY outdoor mammal; ESP. when the animal is forecd to live in an pen with no shelter ~
what ? are you saying if it snows; the horses will have 1 ‘ of snow on their backs?
(whereas in nature the tree boughs brush the snow off their backs for them; but there are no tree boughs in the BLM Holding Pens; and not enough Hay out for them!
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Anna, As I said, Defenders of Wildlife compensates WOLF kills that are proven..
Go to “Save Our Wild Horses and Burros” and look under the article “A New Gate to Slaughter” and you will see all the hay & straw put out that the horses have even slept in. There are Many photos of the Fallon Facility here and some eye opening comments about Willis Lamm and his BLM association. These are very revealing photos of this ‘new’ facility. GO SEE. Also, Gary Snow has been given a 9 month extension of his contract with BLM.. WHY?? And where are the horses captured and not accounted for RIGHT NOw??? mar
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Hello again; I may print this out for use in my rough draft to my Legislators;
but I won’t use personal name(s); just the outline; for my own research…
if not ok; let me know; you raise some exellent points; which I wouod like to dwell
wahpoose2003@sbcglobal.net
ps I got intersted in Wild Horses due to a mustang foal named Sweetheart aka My Cheyenee Dreamer; a foal who’s mother was lost by the BLM !; will send web links;
this little foal was adopted; thankfully; has a forever home w/ a Tennesee Walker !
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UTAH ROUNDUP IS POSTPONED!!! RUMOR THAT BLM IS RECONSIDERING ‘PROGRAM’ SINCE PRESSURE OVER LONG TERM HOLDING!!!! MAR
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Hold that thought, Mar…good God almighty hold that thought!!!!!!
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I meant they get money when a predator kills a cow or calf, does that come from Defenders of Animals? The report I read was a government report – & now I remember – the Environmental report signed by Obama when he first took office, and it said that the current program of preditor loss compensation would continue.
Also said helicopters could continue to be used for wildlife, so that trumps some of our other statements that helicopters are not legal – they are legal.
Can’t remember exactly the name of that or where to find, I posted it here and TCF at that time – like his first week or two in office, not much later than that.. It should be easy enough to go search for anything he has signed is listed on line.
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hello: No that money does not come from defensers of wildlife; that money is subsidized by the USDA; I think;
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ooooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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They aren’t rethinking anything. John just spoke to Gorey. EA will be out May 1 for a summer round-up. Nothing “planned” to take the Utah slot.
The protest is going on Monday, as scheduled!
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At least they did not proceed with the roundup, as IDA had put up the letter at their site to stop the Utah roundup which had not had an EA released and no comment period. BLM had to save their butts in the midst of the lawsuit, me thinks. Change is still coming. Mar
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January 7, 2010 at 4:06 PM | #62 Quote Not 100% positive on this but I think that the name “Conquistador project” …“The Conquistador Equine Rescue” … I believe the slaughter plan itself was NOT called the “Conquistador project” by the BLM…
Just trying to keep it factual, facts are our friends and a real threat to the evil ones…”
Kathleen, Thanks yes we must coreect ourselves when we err. And yes, a common term. I was reponding to two separate specific questions from Anna –
The wild horse called “Conquistdore” along with all his mares that was bought/adopted by The Cloud Foundation Freedom Fund, he was part of the Pyror roundup horses that lived on the adjoining US Forest Land – story here somewhere. Tee shirts and mugs and all kinds of stuff available too with his picture are of proceeds to TCF.
Slaughter Project – Ginger Kathrens said in one of her radio spots that was what it was called, or as likely, I may have missunderstood what she was referring to – the FOIA and not the slaughter program itself. Anna can listen to those radio spots and perhaps report back to us when she finds that.
Or anayone else can enlighten us?
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Hi, Roxy. There is a BLM FOIA we have that has team conference call minutes where the intent to exterminate the horses is clear as well as using slaughter. That may be what Ginger referenced. Here is one excerpt from the document…
“Sally had an e-mail from a person in Canada who wants 10,000 horses that he would slaughter the horses and send them to a third world country. Don is going to send the email. Jim said he has a demand for horses going to Denmark, but they are having a problem getting titled horses.”
I have the June Advisory Board Minutes and the conference call minutes posted on my site and the EWA site on the wild horse and burro page under BLM FOIA. There is also an article written by John and Valerie on the press release page titled the BLM Slaughter Conspiracy that summarizes the documents.
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This was what we all feared going into the Calico roundup. It is like an order for 10,000 horses for Canadian slaughter. this is why we all were wondering where the horses were going from capture pens… There is a discrepancy between the number of horses taken to Fallon and the number captured. There is no number that represents releases. There is speculation the horses are in Fallon and separated from the others and may be sold. An article is out from Willis Lamm and commented on by a wild horse advocacy group saying that Willis is making much money and is in cahoots with BLM. Not a new charge. mar
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Since all the rounded up horses will be branded(do we have anybody witnessing this?) there should be a list of horses and their brands available for the public. But of course if horses are not branded–they could go quietly out the back door.
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Yes, dusturbing.
For all their ranting about personal property rights – Sue Wallice & “gang” – are they just really rustlers, horse thiefs? Those are NOT their property, not even under Burns!
How is this any different than drug smugglers or smugling humans across borders for slave laboreres (or worse)? How can they enjoy being in that company?
ANyway didn’t we already settle that peronsal property issue and Union vs States Rights once before – I think it was called the Civil War. Not that horses are the same as humans, but thier is no single or gorup of people that have exclusive rights to any public lands or the animals on those public lands based on those persons locality within the USA.
And why is it that thier (again you know who) rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness seems to always include the right to take away, steal, someones elses right to life, liberty or perusut of happiness?
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Roxy, yes, well put…
Barb, how many are already gone in the night? Mar
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From Save Our wild Horse and Burros blog; (Sorry I do not have the photos, please go see them) The below Parenthesis are from a member of Save Our Wild Horses and Burros Blog. mar
INDIAN LAKES: A NEW GATE TO WILD HORSE (AND BURRO) SLAUGHTER
Here we have a “boots on the ground” report of some horses gathered recently in the Calico Complex in Nevada, and bought to the BLMs BRAND NEW holding facility that is, by the way, contracted to a GAME-MEAT Processing Co that owns a FLEET of Mobile Slaughter-Houses; http://www.huntbrokenarrow.com/main.php?fuseaction=home.main&lev1=contact
This report is given by Willis Lamm, the BLMs “National Lammpoon” (laughable mouth-piece) & General PR (spin) guy; Willis and his crew profess to be wild horse advocates but are actually “in-bed” with the BLM and are HELPING them to remove our wild ones off of their historic rangelands. They get “the pick of the litter” for the “Mustang Makeover” & wild horse placement programs as well as the money thusly funded to the programs by the Ford Motor Co. Willis and his crew are like the feedlot rescues – under the guise of helping horses, they are helping no one but themselves.
Visit to Indian Lakes (Fallon) contract facility.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Persons present:
Sharon Lamm, LRTC
Chuck Matton, Wild Horse Preservation League
Betty Retzer, Let ‘Em Run Foundation
Willis Lamm, LRTC (report author)
John Neill, BLM, Manager, Palomino Valley Center
Rich Sanford, DVM, BLM holding facility veterinarian
Objectives:
The purpose of this visit was to observe the new contract facility, get a sense as to the most current designs being used for holding and preparing BLM horses, and to ascertain the overall condition of the horses removed from the Black Rock East HMA, Calico Mountains Complex.
Note: All but about 19 of the horses gathered from Black Rock East had arrived at the facility, with the remainder in transit. The gather at Black Rock East has concluded and it was reported that the trap site was being dismantled.
Facility Observations:
As we expected to find in a brand new facility, the design was modern and the layout was spacious. The primary holding areas consisted of multiple 70,000 square foot (1.6 acre) corrals connected by a network of wide alleyways. The facility has the capacity to theoretically hold up to 3,000 horses. (Did you see any of those “Mobile Meat Processing Units” (MMPUs) the contractrors have? )
Straw used to insulate concrete pads was left in the corrals. Several of the horses used the straw to paw out “beds” to lay down on, although all stood up and were watchful when we approached.
On the south side of the corral complex were a number of smaller special use corrals for horses that for one reason or another were being kept separate from the larger populations. (The Slaughter-bound ones, you mean, the ones not suitable for adoption, breeding or your “Mustang MakeOver” Programs?) (In this instance one of the smaller corrals was used for two mares with nursing foals and the orphan from the debilitated mare that was euthanized at the trap site. Another corral held three saddle horses that were work horses at the facility. (I am wondering if those work-horses are ex-wild ones? If not, they should be.)
Near the front of the corral system was a vetting and preparation area that was somewhat similar in design to the one used at Palomino Valley Center. Workers were still installing some of the equipment. A portable vetting squeeze was on hand in the event any of the horses present at the facility required veterinary attention.
Horses in the larger corrals were fed through feeding panels. (When horses have to reach through the panels to eat they cannot easily try to bite each other nor are less dominant horses going to be pushed off their feed by more dominant horses. The feeding panels were set on a ten foot wide strip of concrete. The concrete will facilitate cleaning the area and help prevent the horses from ingesting dirt or sand. The feed provided was oat hay. (No concerns for colic, I suppose)
Hay, heavy equipment and other materials were stored on what appeared to be another 160 acre parcel adjacent to and behind the corral system. (Is this perhaps where they are hiding the slaughter-section?)
Horse Observations:
Our horse observations started at the mare and foal pen. Two of the youngsters were still nursing and were in with their dams. The orphan foal appeared to have socially bonded with one of the nursing mares and her foal. The first two photos show the orphan foal on the left and the third shows interesting markings on one of the nursing foals.. (oh, interesting markings is it that we are looking for, better to sale or breed?)
The stallions from Black Rock East were all placed in one corral. They appeared to be in relatively good flesh. What was interesting was that the corrals had not be graded flat or natural vegetation removed, so the horses had some contour and some natural vegetation. (Isnt that nice of the designers, to make it more like their natural environment, oh yeah, except for being segrated from their mares and the BARS imprisoning them and the strange food)
The mares were in the next of the large corrals and appeared to be in nearly as good condition as the stallions. (A slight difference would be expected since most of the mares had either nursed foals, were gestating foals, or both.)
Foals old enough that they were weaned or old enough to be weaned were located in the next large corral adjacent to the mares. Hay had been scattered about throughout the pen and the foals were divided into social groups, for the most part snuffling hay.
Each of he horses was marked with a red dorsal stripe that identified them as coming from the Black Rock East HMA. Since the groups of horses from different HMAs are not combined until after the animals are freezemarked, (and have seen a vet maybe to see if they have any contageous diseases before the herds are intermingled?) distinctive color markings prevent horses that may be removed from their pens for one reason or another from being inadvertently placed with horses from another gather location.
Other notes:
BLM Personnel confirmed that these horses would likely be rested a couple of weeks before being freezemarked and vaccinated. Horses coming in from other HMAs would be similarly rested.
It was confirmed that the horses would not likely be moved or made available for adoption until well into spring. Historically some of the horses from this region come in with upper respiratory conditions. The crew had no reason to expect anything different this year and the horses would likely all need ot be cleared before the veterinarian would allow them to be removed for adoption and/or long term holding.(Or, as stated above, before intermingled with other herds?)
The contract for this facility did not include accommodations for public adoption, (wonder why?)however BLM staff will be working on a plan to facilitate some form of local adoption opportunity for the Calico horses prior to their being assigned out to other districts for transport to satellite adoptions. By law (the Burns stealth rider) the older horses will be hip branded and assigned to sale authority / long term holding. (You mean slaughter-sale authority, there will be no long term holding for these) Since it could be months before the horses are cleared for release, John Neill asked everyone to be patient (while they butcher up the majority of them) and indicated that BLM would publicize when the (surviving, hand-picked few) horses will be available.
Gary Snow’s expired holding contract has been extended for up to 90 days. (of course, to give him time to dispose of the wild ones in his facility) Some of the horses at Snow’s will be sent to long term holding. (yeah, long term holding in horse heaven, you mean, dont you? Isnt Snows an infamous cog in the slaughter-pipeline system?) Adoptable mares are expected to be sent to the Canon City program. The geldings have been taken for placement by the Mustang Heritage Foundation.
Summary:
The facility was modern and in keeping with, and in some instances exceeded, customary design standards. We observed no safety issues.
The sorted horses gathered from the same HMA were kept in pens that were adjacent to each other.
The horses appeared to be in better condition than we would have expected from that particular winter range. (OMG, you mean NOT STARVING?) I have to add the disclaimer that the horses were in winter coat and might have appeared slightly better in condition from a distance than one might discern from close inspection. (Oh yes, its hard to tell a starving horse with winter coat on NOT) However those horses that did come relatively close to us looked healthy and the horses generally behaved in a robust manner.
A couple of horses moved about as if they were sore footed but we did not notice any visible injuries or profound lameness.
We didn’t try to count the horses, but the estimated population present appeared to represent the numbers of horses BLM reported as being trapped and removed. (Oh but counting is MOST important. Dont you know the BLM is famous for loosing horses and not counting right?)
While we would prefer greater emphasis on management strategies other than permanent removals of horses from the range, (oh really? Then why are you supporting the ROAM Act?) considering that these these horses have been removed, they have been placed in a facility that is more than capable of providing good care. (More capable than what? Other facilities, the open ranges? What?A prison is still a prison, no matter how nice or how “cushy”” the inmates have it. It is still a LOSS OF FREEDOM and definatley NOT WORTH the price.)
This draft will be reviewed by the others present for errors and omissions before the final version is released.
Willis Lamm
January 2, 2010
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UPDATE ON FOAL OF THE MARE WHO WAS INHUMANELY TREATED BY THE BLM…
Changing the world, one mind at a time.
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Calico Complex Roundup, Dec. 28 thru Feb 2010
UPDATE ON ORPHANED FOAL (Jan. 7, 2010):
First the BLM traumatizes this foal by chasing him with helicopters to remove him from his home on the range. Then after the BLM kills his mother by shooting her, they leave this baby by himself overnight at the capture trap site. The next day he is trucked for hours, with other captured horses, to a holding facility where he is put in a pen with two mare/foal pairs. After he bonded with one of the mares – standing near her for comfort and security – the BLM then pulls him away from this mare and puts him by himself in a pen. Once again the BLM claims to be doing this for the “benefit” of the horses. What a sad and tragic story.
Photos and text below from http://www.aowha.org
1/2/10 on-site observation of the new contract horse holding facility in Fallon, NV: Our horse observations started at the mare and foal pen. Two of the youngsters were still nursing and were in with their dams. The orphan foal appeared to have socially bonded with one of the nursing mares and her foal. The first two photos show the orphan foal on the left and the third shows interesting markings on one of the nursing foals.
http://www.aowha.org; W./S. Lamm, Jan. 2, 2010
http://www.aowha.org; W./S. Lamm, Jan. 2, 2010
Update from Willis Lamm, January 7, 2010:
John Neill promised to provide an update on the “Calico orphan.” I received the following report this morning.
Willis, just a quick update on the orphan. He has been gaining strength each day. We did relocate him to an adjacent holding pen next to the pairs in order to provide him more nutrition than he would consume through oat hay. He presently has both oat hay and alfalfa along with BLM formulated pellets for foals. Dr. Sanford and I continue to monitor the health of the animals each day.
end of copy…”and a foal shall lead the way out for America’s Wild Horses…: ) A
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Update from Willis Lamm, January 7, 2010:
John Neill promised to provide an update on the “Calico orphan.” I received the following report this morning.
Willis, just a quick update on the orphan. He has been gaining strength each day. We did relocate him to an adjacent holding pen next to the pairs in order to provide him more nutrition than he would consume through oat hay. He presently has both oat hay and alfalfa along with BLM formulated pellets for foals. Dr. Sanford and I continue to monitor the health of the animals each day.
end of copy…”and a foal shall lead the way out for America’s Wild Horses…: ) A
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Each of he horses was marked with a red dorsal stripe that identified them as coming from the Black Rock East HMA. Since the groups of horses from different HMAs are not combined until after the animals are freezemarked, (and have seen a vet maybe to see if they have any contageous diseases before the herds are intermingled?) distinctive color markings prevent horses that may be removed from their pens for one reason or another from being inadvertently placed with horses from another gather location.
You can see a pciture of a wild Mustang in the Pen with his “painted Red dorsal strip at the web link I gave in my previous posts; a weblink I just found recently;
Other notes: http://www.aowha.org/war/calico0910.html
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http://www.aowha.org/war/calico0910.html
a. talks about how the foal was a dependent nursing foal taken from his mother for no cause; due to her age only; this is “age discrimination and cruelty to Mare…
b. You can see for yourselves; the Horses have to stick their head thru a fence to eat their hay; there is no peacful grazing in the corrals
c. in the Fallon pens looks like barbed wire near the hay; will find video
ps ONLY the Orphans and Foals get ahy in the pens; the others get the “troughs…
ps do you see any run in sheds ? or do they stand out in wind sleet and snow ? anna
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My Mission / Anna:
a. make sure the Horses in the pens get plenty of food; water and shelter…(they say they left some natural habitat in the hors’s pens; those shurbs wont’ last tho’
b. Make sure the Horses “are not destoyed due to their age; this should only be done if the Horse is down and unable to get up; even then IV nutrion can be uted
c. If any Horse is too sick to live; the Horse is “destoyoed Humanely only; (not in the gol awful way the BLM destoyed the unsuspecting Mare in front of her Foal !
that is wicked ! that is aniamls cruelty; this is my mission; to Save the Horses;
so I will be spending time fourmulating my leter to my Senators and Reps;
these projects take time; and patience ! NO MORE DESTROYING OF HORSES WITH FOALS !
not today; not tomorrow; not ever…no more destoyed horses due to their age ! A.
ps to Roxy “you didn’t know what typos were until you met me; lol; keep on keeping on; I woory about any Horses going to Montana tho; this is such Bum BLM tactics; a.
ps i do not see any run in sheds in the pix; not even for Rain; in many ways; Rain is worse for a Horse than Snow; they must have run=in sheds !: ) to stay healthy;
not necessily fancy stables or barns; just shelter from the elemnets; snow rain ice
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Anna, not only is there no protection –
and to add insult to injury (salt in the wound) –
You can see that there are pole support systems in the pens for tarps – but no tarps.
More insult to injury – IN this weeks Howling Ridge radio spot Ginger Kathrens was told they could not put in shelter becaue the wild horse wuld injur themselves on the poles – so they are just done one of two things:
1. lied about the poles injuring the horses (most likely scenario)
2. knowlingly allowed potential harm to the wild horse by allowing poles in the ucrrent holding pens. (I don’t know if the poles do in fact allow for possible injury or not)
Ginger also said that, back then when she was told that, her group took tarps put them on the fences. I’m far away or I would donate some tarps I have laying around – since those tarp stuctures and fences are already there anyone care to take out some tarps and bungies and put them up? Permission and coordination needed through BLM for sure.
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Hi Roxy; and thank you so much for YOUR words of encouragement to the Horses of course; interesting what you say about the Tarps not being used; would make a world of dif. for the Horses in terms of preventing drafts and icy wind chills; in fact the Horses sitting in their cold pens duirng winter was the first thought in my mind today; soooo;
Maybe I could contact the BLM and ask them to put up Tarps; I mean isn’t the psychological stress of being forced out of the horses home enuf?
Do they have to add to the Horse’s stress by not providing tarps or run in sheleter for the Mustangs in pnes?
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Anna, ps thanks for the words of encouragement about typos! I think we may be in a race to tie!
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lol; thanks Roxy you have met yoru typo match…but ya’ know who has the worst typos of them all ? The BLM; why
they get the words Trap and Tarp mixed
They TRAP but they do not TARP; so they are; The Trap but no Tarp BLM;
“where they take Horses out of a natural highly conducive envrironment
and put them in a cold windy pen; ps the idea of trapping a horse is wrong;
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Straw used to insulate concrete pads was left in the corrals.
Several of the horses used the straw to paw out “beds” to lay down on, although all stood up and were watchful when we approached.
my comment; I was listening to the “Imus in the morning program yesterday; I think most people know the I-man has a horse ranch for sick kids in the mid west; anyway
he had an country western singer on who donated Horses to Imus’s Ranch for kids…
this horse ranch singer/songwroter said:
Never;… ever; mount a horwe; train a horse or saddle a Horse; “while the Horse is standing on concrete…
the Songwriter did not explain why and unfortunalty I could not catch his name;
b. Myabe Don Imus’ Ranch could Adopt some Wild Mustangs for the childten to care for; train and ride because as I say: the smaller stature of the Mustang physique is what imo makes the Wild Mustang especially attractive for chidrens horse riding;
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posted by anna; this is Mr. Craig Downer’s field report on the Calico Roundups:
Issue: The Calico Mountains Complex wild horse roundup.
Update: 1/2/10 on-site observation of the “Black Rock East” trap site at Paiute Meadows.
Persons present:
Craig Downer, Cloud Foundation
Elyse Gardner, Cloud Foundation
The following report is based on a telephone conversation with Craig Downer who returned to the trap site on Saturday when gather operations had resumed.
Objective.
To determine if gather operations were conducted safely and followed appropriate gather management protocols.
Background.
(Please see the previous page on this subject.)
Observations.
They day was cold and icy. The path of travel for the horses at the trap wings and inside the trap consisted primarily of hard packed snow. It did not appear that sand, straw or hay had been spread out to restore traction at the throat of the trap wings or in the sorting areas. Mr. Downer reported that there was an undesirable amount of slipping and sliding among the horses entering the trap and during the sorting process.
Mr. Downer further observed that the horses were not provided sufficient time to settle while in the trap system which seemed to contribute to the agitation of the animals in the corrals. One stallion jumped out of the trap system and escaped, pushing through a barbed wire fence on the ranch property to do so. (The observers nicknamed the stallion, “Freedom.”)
While Mr. Downer expressed concerns over unnecessary risks associated with the footing conditions in the trap at and the pace in which horses were being handled, he did not report any accidents or injuries aside from the stallion likely receiving barbed wire cuts during his escape.
BLM reported that a foal had died during the previous day’s operations. BLM would not let Mr. Downer inspect the foal. A necropsy report was provided to Mr. Downer, who forwarded it to us. We had a retired veterinary pathologist (DVM, PhD) who is also a wild horse advocate and adopter review the report. Her conclusions were that the report as described was valid.
The report and various comments can be viewed here.
While the foal could have had some preexisting condition, the circumstances following this incident have led advocates to speculate why BLM refused to let an experienced range ecologist inspect the foal. Not only would Dr. Kane have been able to point out his findings, but a valuable anatomy opportunity was lost. More importantly, inspection of the foal would have removed any doubts that the necropsy report was correct.
Mr. Downer reported that he did not observe BLM providing birth control to and (intentionally) releasing any horses back onto the range.
– – –
This report will be revised as may be appropriate after it has been posted.
——————————————————————————–
Continue to Indian Lakes Facility Visit
Return to the previous page on this topic
my comment: I thought maybe the Wild Horses in Calcio Mountain Ranges were one big band of about 500 horses or 1,000 horses; so I thought the BLM would get this big herd and put them in pens in a few days; but I did not actually understand this;
The Calcio Wild Horses are not One Big Herd; no; the Calcio wild Horses are: MANY bands (small herds) of Horses; such as Bands of 10 or 20 horses with a leader…
so the BLM actaully SCOURS the land looking for SMALL BANDS OF HORSES; how foolish!
(as if tiny teeny weeny little bands of Horses on 1 mil acres of land could cause damage when the Truth is ! ! !:
The Horses keep the weeds and thorn bushes under control; (esp. Burros do this: AND
the biodegradable droppings from the Mustangs BENEFIT the land; opposite of heresay
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on this page you can see the red dorsal stripe painted on the dorsal area of Horses
http://www.aowha.org/war/calico0910.html (scroll down to middle pciture;white horse
My comment:
This page states something like this:
The Pen area itself is only about “1. 3 acres (one acre plus 3/10s of an acre;
and the area where they store tracotrs + hay etc. is a whopping 150 acres !; question;
Shoulddn’t the horses be in the 150 acre pen and Hay tractor in the 1.3 acre pen?
ps I am going to get an update on the Foal the BLM PURPOSELY made an Orphan ! : ( !
ps I have looked but I see only old straw inside the pens; not fresh nutritous Hay!
(I see fresh nutrious Hay outside of the pnes but the Horses have to put their head thru this skinny little fnece; What if the Bigger Horses could not fit his head thru the fence; does that mean those big horses go with less Hay ? and furhermore; what if a horse god forbid gets his head “stuck in the skinny railing?
http://www.aowha.org/war/calico0910.html (see pix of horses eat Hay thru a Fence !
Just say NO to the Wild hOrse Round Ups because the roundups do not benefit anyone!
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http://www.aowha.org/war/calico0910.html
SCROLL TO PIX NO TEN AT BOT. OF PAGE PLS.
Please not the very large Mustang standin in the background heads above the rest in the bottom photo of this page…
then look at the phots of The Horses eating the Hay thru the Fence and then tell me
how I aks you…how is that big horse going to stick his head thru that little skinny fence to get his hay ?
answer : he will not !~ and the bigger horses will have to eat short non green grass which gorws naturally in the pnes; The BLM says; let them eat Grass; not Hay!
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I notice in the pix of the wild Horses in the man made pens at Fallon Nevada; (I have traveled thru Fallon many a time in the 1970’s..; pretty deseerted land…):
and what I see is this: MANY Horses are grazing on very short natural grass growing in the pens; (pens are just land with fences put up by men and women);
as opposed to eating the old brown Hay put in the pens; (the BLM puts the fresh green Hay Outside the pens; making grazing a chore; esp. for the bigger horses;)
SHORT GREEN GRASS V. TALL FRESH HAY;
Fact: Calcium depletes Magneiusm; Fact; Horses have a high requirement for Magnesium; Fact; short green grass has roots very high in Calcium
tall fresh hay has very high Magnesium
“When a Horse gets too much Calcium due to eating Short grass (the roots are pulled up by grazing when the shoots are too short; Roots are Calcium bound)
sooooo; A Horse eating short grass as opposed to green Hay could develop a Deficiency of Magnssium; A Defcicieny of Magnesium causes “a weak system causing a symptom named Tetany…Magnesium is found in GREEN Hay; which cures excess Calcium
(Magnesium is the known cure for Tetany…
BY PUTTING BROWN HAY OR NO HAY IN THE PENS and forcing the Horses to forage on SHORT GRASS; which causes an unwanted increase in Calcium…depleting Magnesium;
thus casuing nutrional deficincies producing sympotms of “tetany…
This is another reason why GREEN HAY should be put INSIDE the Pens a.s.a.p. to DETER the Horses from eating too much short green grass which will make them sick !
Horse must have Hay to graze on 24/7; how many times a day do they put Hay out ? !
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hey guys thaknks for your replies; I read the replies from Roxy and Jan a few times to make sure I did not miss anything; I understand the pix alot better; thanx
I will do some research on the Pryor Mountain and then ask my questions; I have seen part I of the cloud series; I just got new speakers so i will watch II and III
thanks for telling me the paint stripe wears off; what bothers me is what Jan wrote
about the BLM determing which Wild Mustangs are Adoptable and or Unadoptable: as Roxy said; why remove the older horses at all if the BLM admits these Horses are “usually Unadoptable; then why do they round them up at all? this hints that they are selling the older Horses after rounding them up; due to their age;
Judging a horse by his age (and his teeth is truly unethical; appreciate your replies ! a very intersing saga the BLM v. the Wild Horse Mustangs! I’ll set up my speakers and listen to the sites Roxy recommends; re c. downer; and report a.s.a.p.
Save the Mustangs ! anna
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PS I also want to investigate whether the Pens where the BLM has the Horses; have any run in sheds or tarps up; any Fresh Green hay in pens yet? I want to check the Foal named; Brownie a Calico Colt; I thought of the name; and find out these:
a. Why does the BLM say the reason the Green Hay in some holding corrals is put on the outside of the pnes only and the Horse have to eat their hay like cows do; as “the Horses could bite each other if the Hay was put inside the Pens as bales of Hay in the center of the pen; I am glad they put hay for the Horses; of course;
b. if any horsse over 10 is considered old; then why did a Mare who was about 19 years old give birth to a healthy Colt? Mares who can do this are certainly not old
so the whole scale used to judge a mustang’s age is not true eveidenced by the Mare begin old; yet giving birth;
the horses must be “suffering in the cold pens;
I think I will write to the BLM on the contact us; will find out about Foal’s health and get any updates on hay and or protection for the Horses from wind/snow
one pix today shoes the horses standing in snow with NO protection whatsoever !
just standing on cold earth with the grass long gone; in the blowing cold sleet !
not even a blanket; a shed; a tarp; not even pieces of wood set up along the pens!
(just put up pieces of plywood along the outside of pen; even I could do that…:(
I’ll write to them; thanks guys ! as a public citizen they may read my e-mail; but if I were a horse rescue they might put the email in the trash bin; A FOOL’S GAME !
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Anna, there are no run-in sheds there, and I doubt that BLM is going to build any; there is no windbreak for these horses, the horses do not need blankets, they DO need a way to get out of the wind; and there is nothing on the pictures or reports from this place to indicate that any windbreaks have been providedor are likely to be in the near future; that is one reason I can’t understand the Humane Societies are not getting involved over, here, it is against the law to not provide shelter for horses;
The green hay looks nice, but it has caused one horse to die, as it is too rich for these horses; my horses would colic if I fed them really green alfalfa hay, I can only imagine what it does to horses that have foraged all their lives on natural plants.
As far as putting hay in the pens w/the horses, if I don’t spread the hay out in 4-5 separate piles, then my mare and the gelding who fancies himself bosshorse would eat all of it and be fatter than they already are, and the 2 geldings that are last in the pecking order would not get much hay to eat. That is one fact that the BLM has correct. I don’t like the cattle bunker-type feeding for horses either, but I don’t know what a good alternative is , the horses can’t get away from each other, there’s not enough room in these pens, so to just drop hay in there would not be a solution; the best thing would be to just leave them where they were, but that would make too much sense.
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Hi people; thanks for the replies; I am sorry to hear the BLM; who paint themselves as Horse people; did not know the Green Alfafa Hay was too rich; oh so this is how the third mare perished ? too rich hay ? see their plan backfired ; they thought the american people like me would fall for “the green hay being good and better than the natural forage;
however I guess not ! Wouldn’t you think the BLM would know this ? ! ?
ok; I can understand how the Hay on the outside of the pens might be better; however one question…
What if some of the bigger older horses cannot “literally fit their heaads thru the rail to get the Hay?
Then the bigger horses would not get any Hay; how sad would that be ?
as far as the BLM naming the Colt Trooper ? NO WAY !
I am not following the BLM’s ways; see I already named the Lil Guy this:
Jacob the Calcio Colt also known as: Brownie ! ! ! this is becuz another BLM Colt in Oregon is already named Jackie aka Blackie ! so we have Jacob aka Brownie and Jackie aka Blackie !
AND I named the Mare who was “shot by the BLM for “being old…EVEN THO THIS NURSE MARE HAD A NURSING COLT @ age 20; that in itself is remarkable !
I have named her Sarah; in honor of the famed Sarah of sarah and abrahan where Sarah gave birth and nursed @ 90
the Mare Sarah birthed and nursed @ 20 which would prob. be qbout 90 in horse years; you know what I think of the BLM:
a. they shot a Mare nursing a Colt !
b. they give NO protection from wind !
c. they give wrong type of Hay !
I g9ve up ! YOU STAY WELL BROWNIE; I miss your Mother like I know you do;
even tho I never met your Mare; luv; a
ps Thx Jan and Marilyn will go to IDA; anna in conn. pps”luv ya’Brownie!
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FYI, there is a new update on IDA’s blog concerning the orphaned foal, now called “Trooper” and the mare that was euthanized by being shot to death. there is a picture of both and good information, also some good questions that need answers.
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When Sue Cattoor says that the mare shot early in the roundup for poor condition was not the orphan’s mother, IS She Implying that the foal was already orphaned or that the mother died along the route that the helicopter drove the horses that Day?? Very Likely the Latter.
I had heard there were several lame horses from the early part of the roundup but there has been no news… mar
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Mar, she ‘s not addressing how this foal came to be orphaned at all, he’s just orphaned, I think we all want to know what happened to his mama.
I am frantic for some news of Freedom, I hope he is all right,
also if the BLM would allow it, I know there are plenty of adoptive homes ready for little Trooper!
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hello you do understand the Foal named Trooper IS the foal of the older Mare; one wrote: she ’s not addressing how this foal came to be orphaned at all, he’s just orphaned, I think we all want to know what happened to his mama.
my comment is: we know what happened to his Mother ! The BLM Vet “had her shot ! ”
even though the Vet KNEW the Mare had a Nursing very young very vunerable Foal;
I have just attached the field reports stating clearly; The Mare who was “inhumanely shot WAS the Mother of Trooper; now The Cattmoor Co. is trying say:
The 1st mare was NOT the mother of Trooper; to Sue; it’s all on record “dear…Anna
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Hi Marilyn: re: Brownie the Calico Colt; from what I have read the tradegy was like
The Vet of the BLM inspects each Horse rounded up; the Vet decides which Horses are too old; based on the Vet’s recommendation; the BLM destroyed the Mare “Sarah;
“due to her age and her body conditon; possibly based on her worn down teeth; SAD
and then they simply “led this living Mare WHO HAD A NURSING COLT; off to the side of the Pen; “shot and killed the Mare in front of the Colt son and other Horses !;(
and then eventaully put the Colt IN A PEN BY HIMSELF! Someone please adopt Brownie!
Brownie (aka Jacob the Calico Colt) would make a Perfect riding horse for children;
esp. if this colt were put in a Rescue A.S.A.P. and gentled and trained with love !
the only good news I can think of is this: Thank God the Utah round up is canceled and thank Goodness the Horse rounded up have not be tranposted anywhere; Have Hope!
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hello; i have returned from the IDA website: VERY interesting; methinks Sue Catmoor just “shot herself in the foot…pun intended; you wont’ believe this one;
Sue Catmoor claims the Mare the BLM “shot was NOT the Mother of the Orphan Calico Colt ! (since it was not the BLM who named him Trooper; I will call him Trooper aka Brownie); but what sue Catmoor doesn’t truly understand is this: imo; Sue; the BLM is a Government Agency; not a pivate co.; so you do understand this; the original report from the Vet. and the BLM says; The Mare shot WAS the Mother of the Foal; and this is on record; so if Sue tries to alter this testimonye; sue could be investigated for Perjury; they killed anohter Mare to cover up first Mare;
see what the BLM has to get is this: a. when you “hire convicts; you risk this co. performing illegal acts; which is what has happened to two mares and changing stories is NOT smart so Sue no offense buddy; you just possibly wrecked your co. !
I’ll be back ! ! ! Roxy or anyone: CAN YOU GO TO THE BLM WEBISTE ASAP AND GET COPIES OF THE ORIGNAL BLM AND VET. REPORTS BEFORE THE BLM CHANGES THE REPPORT ?
To make it look like the Mare they “shot was not the Mare who was nursing a Colt?
the Saga continues; Brownie I luv ya lil’ guy; you stay safe and get big; ya hear?
The Mystery of “Trooper” – What really happened to this orphan’s mother?
January 11th, 2010 | Author: Suzanne Roy
Trooper the Calico Orphan, courtesy of http://www.aowha.org; W.S. Lamm, Jan. 2, 2010
Several days ago, I wrote the post below about the orphaned foal rounded up in Calico and now housed by himself at the BLM’s Fallon holding facility. The little dark brown/bay colt has since been named “Trooper” by the horse advocates who are monitoring the situation.
Since that posting, Sue Catoor, the BLM helicopter roundup contractor, has stated that Trooper’s mother is not the older mare who was shot by the BLM.
Of course there is no way to verify this information, due to the BLM’s lack of transparency and the agency’s failure to give continuous access for public observers to witness the Calico roundup activities. This restriction directly contradicts the public statements of BLM horse program chief Don Glenn that “All of our gathers are open to the public; the public is invited to come and watch all the time.”
ue Catoor says this is the older mare “euthanized” by rifle on December 28, 2009
If true, Ms. Catoor’s claims beg the question: if this mare is not little Trooper’s mother, then who is and what happened to her? How did this little foal end up by himself, held alone in a pen, without his mother or another horse to give him comfort or shelter from the biting Northern Nevada cold? And why didn’t the BLM allow the elder mare, who reportedly had a yearling with her, the opportunity to be adopted by horse rescue groups, instead of being terrorized and traumatized in a helicopter stampede before being shot in the head in what BLM calls a “mercy” killing.
Stay tuned as we try to unravel this mystery as well as the true story behind this brutal winter roundup of the beautiful Calico Mountain horses.
UPDATE ON ORPHANED FOAL from Jan. 8, 2010 :
Sad news on the poor little foal whose mother was shot by the BLM in the first days of the Calico roundup. The agency says it “euthanized her by rifle” because she was in poor body condition, yet horse rescue groups were standing by and would easily have taken this older mare and her foal, thus sparing the little colt the agony of losing his mother.
After being trucked to the Fallon holding site, this baby was placed with two mare/foal pairs. Photos taken by Willis Lamm (see below) show this baby bonding with one of the mares, standing near her for the comfort and security his mom would have provided. Disturbingly, on January 7, the BLM reported that it had separated this foal from the mare/foal pairs. This little horse is now housed by himself in an adjacent pen; with no one to provide him comfort or shelter from the cold. The BLM says this was for his own good, just as it claims that the brutal helicopter stampedes and capture of these majestic animals is for their own good. The heartless policies continue, but hopefully for this beautiful and innocent foal’s sake, the agency will let Mr. Lamm adopt him and provide him with a good life as soon as possible.
The photo and text below from http://www.aowha.org
http://www.aowha.org; W.S. Lamm, Jan. 2, 2010
1/2/10 on-site observation of the new contract horse holding facility in Fallon, NV: Our horse observations started at the mare and foal pen. Two of the youngsters were still nursing and were in with their dams. The orphan foal appeared to have socially bonded with one of the nursing mares and her foal. The first two photos show the orphan foal on the left and the third shows interesting markings on one of the nursing foals.
Update from Willis Lamm, January 7, 2010:
John Neill promised to provide an update on the “Calico orphan.” I received the following report this morning.
Willis, just a quick update on the orphan. He has been gaining strength each day. We did relocate him to an adjacent holding pen next to the pairs in order to provide him more nutrition than he would consume through oat hay. He presently has both oat hay and alfalfa along with BLM formulated pellets for foals. Dr. Sanford and I continue to monitor the health of the animals each day.
Posted in Featured News, Wild Horses & Burros Comments are closed.
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From the field report my Willis Lamm; this report is from the first days of roundup; and explains how the Mother Mare was simply lagging behind the others; my comment is: so what ? She was waiting on her Foal to catch up; she was not slow !
(quote from page follows…Willis Lamm’s personal field report on Calico Horses…
this is the only original report on the Mare and Foal Trooper I know of…
Craig Downer raised the question of the helicopter producing flying snow from the rotor wash and its potential impacts on the horses’ respiratory system. The APHIS veterinarian on site acknowledged that this could be an issue, but suggested that the incidence of airborne snow should be minimal, and less problematic than summer dust. I formed the opinion that so long as aerial operations are conducted correctly, the amount of “exposure” to wind blown snow would be less than that experienced on a typical Nevada windy day with powdered snow on the ground.
A discussion took place regarding an aged mare that had been euthanized. This was one of a few areas where different personnel had a different take on what actually took place.
What was consistent in the explanations was that an aged and debilitated mare had been observed nearby that had become disassociated with her band. (This is typical situation involving elder “end stage” horses who eventually can no longer keep up with their bands and there was no evidence that this was an instance where her band had been driven away and she had been left behind.) The mare was moved to the trap site where the veterinarian determined that she was well into her twenties, had naturally declined and would not survive the winter. The mare was then shot and disposed of.
The decision to euthanize this mare was not unreasonable. Later discussions revealed that she also had what was described as a colt with her. Being disassociated from he protection of their band, the colt would be vulnerable to predators. (I later located the colt at Indian Lakes and it was in fact a dependent nursing foal that was too young to survive outside a protective social structure and without supplemental feed.)
The decision not to transport the pair to Indian Lakes was not extraordinary either. While it clearly is a myth that older horses (aged 10 or older) cannot adapt to a managed enclosed environment or even successfully be adopted, the relocation outcome for debilitated elder horses is seldom good and it may not only be inhumane, but illegal in Nevada to load a severely debilitated horse into a transport along with robust horses for a several hour trip.
Since each circumstance is unique and since it is not always easy to administer IV injections to a wild horse at a trap site, I am not going to speculate over the decision to use a rifle rather than barbiturates to euthanize this mare.
My personal problem with this euthanasia is that the carcass was buried which in my opinion was a waste of otherwise available nutrition for wildlife. If the mare had been allowed to die of natural causes, her protein would have been available to the ecosystem. Since the mare was not euthanized by use of barbiturates, a more eco-appropriate disposal would have been to relocate the carcass to an suitable location available to wildlife. I am not sure if the maze of regulations permits surface discarding of deceased animals by BLM, however if such disposal is allowed, it should be utilized wherever appropriate.
Another discrepancy arose as to the condition of the horses coming in. The veterinarian graded the horses as being in poorer condition than did the personnel who were actually receiving the horses. (A report on the horses follows this report.) The overall condition of horses being gathered is an interesting issue but its relevance is limited since the criteria for BLM’s decision in removing horses is based on population and range impacts, not body condition.
A third discrepancy arose regarding possible upper respiratory issues with the horses. In my opinion the APHIS veterinarian was not candid on this issue and appeared to have selected his words carefully, that he had not diagnosed any upper respiratory issues with the horses that were gathered. I have a personal problem when public officials try to imply one thing when our years of experience have shown the facts to be otherwise.
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A discussion took place regarding an aged mare that had been euthanized. This was one of a few areas where different personnel had a different take on what actually took place.
What was consistent in the explanations was that an aged and debilitated mare had been observed nearby that had become disassociated with her band. (This is typical situation involving elder “end stage” horses who eventually can no longer keep up with their bands and there was no evidence that this was an instance where her band had been driven away and she had been left behind.) The mare was moved to the trap site where the veterinarian determined that she was well into her twenties, had naturally declined and would not survive the winter. The mare was then shot…
My Comment;
a. the Mare was not slow!; she was waiting for her little Foal to catch up who could not keep up due to his young age; Trooper looks to be only a few months old !
b. the APHS (gov. agency) Vet. who was the Vet. at the Calico roundup site said:
the mare had naturally declined and would not survive the winter: anne’s comment:
“the mare would not have survived in the Fallon corrals; w/ hay and water ? i doubt
c. “If the Mare who was lagging a little bit behind; due to waiting on her Foal to catch up; (because obviously a Foal cannot run as fast as an adult horse;) WAS THE PILOT RADIOED TO GO TO THE MARE AND FOAL AND HELP THEM OUT ? and my point is : IF the Pilot was not radioed to get the Mare and Foal; then OBVIOULSY THE MARE WAS NOT VERY FAR BEHIND THE HERD…or else they would have told the pilot to find her;
So the Mare was not actually behind the Herd at all ! why ? if the mare and foal Tropper were lagging as far behind the Herd as they say; then why not looking for the Mare and Foal; like the BLM and helicopter did with the first foal who perished becuz he could not keep up with “the thundering stampede the BLM created? because the Mare and Foal were right there with the Herd; and the BLM exaggerated how far behind they were and the Mare’s body condition; and created an Orpahn Foal!
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my comment is: if the Mare and Foal Trooper were as far behind the herd as the BLM states; then why was this not reported by the BLM? like the first lil foal was?
becuz the Mare was not that far behind; and they did that to the Foal’s Mother for absolutley no known reason ! esp. considering the Mare had a living nursing Foal !
http://www.aowha.org/war/calico0910.html (Comments added by Tracie L. Thompson)
There is also protocol for the pilot to follow should he see a horse not able to keep up
with the movement of the herd. If the pilot observes such a situation, he is to radio the
gather officials to request assistance for the horse, and he is to reduce his pursuit of
the horse and/or cease his pursuit of the horse. This is to ensure that the horse is not
pushed beyond his physical limitations. According to the necropsy report above and sources
within the BLM, this was the case during the development of this situation.
Basically, the foal died from Acute Pulmonary Aneurysm Secondary to Left Ventricular
Hypertrophy. This condition is genetic, is a pulmonary condition, and is a congenital
heart defect. So, based on this report’s information, the answers to the questions above…
Was this foal’s death a direct result of the gather? Yes, if this foal was not
being gathered, he would not have died at that time.
Could this foal’s death have been prevented? No, this foal’s death was imminent.
It is likely that the foal was in pain daily until his death, suffering from symptoms
such as shortness of breath, fatigue, nutritional deficiencies, just to name a few. It
is highly unusual for foals with this condition to live past the age of 6 months age and
in some cases even 1 month of age without medical and/or surgical intervention.
What were the actual circumstances? The only information that is available at this
time as to the actual circumstances of this foal’s death from an official accounting is
the necropsy report above. Other reports have not become available at the time of this
writing. As mentioned above, there are several second and third party reports available
on the internet.
The BLM states that it is common to have injury, illness and sometimes death during gather
operations. They state however, the rate is very low.. According to some sources, the rate
is as low as 1%. Other sources place the rate much higher.
There is also protocol for the pilot to follow should he see a horse not able to keep up
with the movement of the herd. If the pilot observes such a situation, he is to radio the
gather officials to request assistance for the horse, and he is to reduce his pursuit of
the horse and/or cease his pursuit of the horse. This is to ensure that the horse is not
pushed beyond his physical limitations. According to the necropsy report above and sources
within the BLM, this was the case during the development of this situation.
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http://www.aowha.org/war/calico0910.html On the south side of the corral complex were a number of smaller special use corrals for horses that for one reason or another were being kept separate from the larger populations. In this instance one of the smaller corrals was used for two mares with nursing foals and the orphan from the debilitated mare that was euthanized at the trap site.
See? there is no doubt the Foal Trooper IS the Foal of the Mama who was “shot…!
and now Sue Cattmoor is saying: this is not true ! I pusue you; Sue the Perjurer !
(Sue doens’t get the reports are on record and if she cannot alter the orig. report OR she can be investigated for “altering Vet. reports and other similar !
Sue is not going to make false claims about Trooper’s Mum; no way no how…anna usa
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Just a FYI, the BLM is moving forward with it’s plans to place 805 horses on a 16,000 acre ranch in Montana, will pay $1.31/day per horse, and will supplement them w/ hay 4 months a year. By my calculations that is 20 acres per horse, which they say is fine, yet, Calico has 3000 horses on what, 500,000 acres and that is too many horses???? that’s 500 acres per horse.
and what a waste of taxpayers money: that’s is about $1,000 a day; not includ. hay;
stop the silliness BLM; the american people are not “made out of money ! the Horses were eating For Free for 400 years; that was sensible !
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When buffalo do begin their migration, they will find some of their habitat improved; Buffalo Field Campaign will be removing a significant stretch of barbed wire fence on the Gallatin National Forest along land adjacent to Duck Creek, which is a favored migration corridor for bull bison. Too many times BFC has documented buffalo being run into this fence during hazing operations. Removal of the fence should also help keep buffalo off of Highway 287, since they will have a much easier time accessing this habitat. This area was once a public lands cattle grazing allotment and has been vacant for years. The Forest Service finally permanently closed it to cattle, and tomorrow, BFC will lend a hand to free the land so that buffalo and other wildlife will no longer have to negotiate this cruel stretch of wired injustice.
This is just a copy from the Buffalo Field Campaing how they will “remove thousands of yards of Barbed Wired from Yellowstone nationa park; good news = ps
Did I forget to say: Go Freedom Go; run; join another band; u can make it Freedom !
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That is great news about the buffalo! Is it possible that something is being done right somewhere!!!????!!!!!
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It is a long time coming. It took 12 years to do this. I can only hope that more will be coming along with this concession. mar
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hi Janet: re: BFC taking down thousands of yards of “barbed wire @ Yellowstone…a.
yeah; the Buffalo Field Campaign is excellent; you can sign up for weekly or monthly updates from the field; the BFC live in cabins @ Yellowstone and monitor the Buffalo; to make sure they are ok; and they do legislative work too; I like the way the writer wrote:
BFC will lend a hand to free the land so that buffalo and other wildlife will no longer have to negotiate this cruel stretch of wired injustice.
this curel strectch of wired injustive…clever wording; I The Yellowstone Buffalo (Bison and Buffalo are the same); is America’s Oldest Living Buffalo Herd;
dating back perhaps milenium…(ps BFC also stopped Buffalo hunts; basically; anna
I understand the wild horse roundups have been going on for 30 yrs; this must stop!
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FEDERAL LAW ~ Wild Horse Annie Act
**A 1959 American law that sought to restrict the use of motorized vehicles by cowboys rounding-up wild horses on public land.**
In the US Code, it is Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 3, ¶47.
The name came from the woman who spearheaded the legislation, Velma B. Johnston, later known as “Wild Horse Annie”.
The Act (since slightly amended but still “on the books”) was as follows:
“Whoever uses an aircraft or a motor vehicle to hunt, for the purpose of capturing or killing, any wild unbranded horse, mare, colt, or burro running at large on any of the public land or ranges shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
“Whoever pollutes or causes the pollution of any watering hole on any of the public land or ranges for the purpose of trapping, killing, wounding, or maiming any of the animals referred to (above) shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.”
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Whoever pollutes or causes the pollution of any watering hole on any of the public land or ranges for the purpose of trapping…
very good info; because the BLM set up water traps over the Tuscarora Range and then said they are “watering the mustangs…
my foot; that is a water-trap; which is several large troughs of h20
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oh ps “18 Tuscarora Mustangs have “bitten the desert dust…
shame on the blm ! blantant lying fools ! plus a mare @ PVC
19 in total..just in 3 days of roundups?; blm: mustang abusers !
to the blm: your days are numbered…mark my words…anna usa
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