by Maureen Harmonay, Equine Advocacy Examiner
Deadly Helicopter Chase and Improper Feeding thought to be to blame
Terrified, cramped and no longer free - Photo by Laura Leigh
The residual stress of the helicopter chase, coupled with the inability of some horses to adapt to a diet of grass hay, continues to claim lives among the wild horses forced from their homes in Nevada’s Calico Mountain Complex by the BLM’s henchmen. In the last 48 hours, three more mares lost their late-term foals, and one was euthanized after she colicked. At least 68 of the original 1922 horses brought to the Indian Lakes Road feedlot pens near Fallon Nevada have died, and almost four dozen in-utero foals have perished, too.
The emotional toll on these horses cannot be measured. Add fear to the mix of stressors, now that horses are being pushed through squeeze chutes to be vaccinated, wormed, and freeze branded. Their frenzied squeals must sound like alarms to the ones in the waiting line, innoculating them with panic before they even enter the chute.
In the absence of outside observers, we can only surmise how the horses are really faring. It is only by reading between the lines of the Gather Daily Updates that we can piece together a sketchy picture of what is happening to the horses’ hides and hearts. So many of the details are out of focus. You have to wonder, for example, whether the countless fetal losses reported as “miscarriages” are actually full-term foals who were stillborn. In either case, the promise of a new generation–perhaps the last generation–of Calico mustangs may never be fulfilled. What has been done to them is not right, it’s not fair, and it’s not legal.
The gelding of the Calico stallions–including Lightning–is due to start next month. Before these procedures start, it seems reasonable to insist that the BLM conduct a census to determine whether its gather operations have extinguished the herds which rightfully occupied the five Herd Management Areas (HMAs) of the Calico Complex. If a sustainable number of horses cannot be found by aerial reconnaissance, then at least 500 of the currently captive mustangs–stallions, mares, yearling, and foals–should be promptly returned to their range, to ensure that their genetic heritage will be preserved.
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
I suppose one way to reduce wild horse populations is to kill them. Clearly some things have gone askew with BLM in the last year or so. While I certainly don’t advocate removals as a primary herd management strategy, I do argue that if roundups are going to take place, they have to follow safe and sane operational strategies. Previously Nevada didn’t obsessively grab everything that moved out on the range. Except in burnouts and other extreme situations, high risk horses were NOT normally brought into facilities. Older horses don’t adapt well at all, they aren’t prolific breeders, they have minimal impact on the landscape and they provide protein for other animals when they (naturally) die. Heavily pregnant mares and tiny foals were either left alone our eased in by horseback. We now have some out of state know-it-alls running the show and the results speak for themselves. It’s definitely past time for change.
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I really like your comment.
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Change… the magic word with lost meaning these days…. Round ups are wrong, period. The extent of the failed “operations” have way passed safe and sane… the secretive and deceptive mode with the outrageous results that are finally getting a grasp amongst some citizen who are standing up against this calamity – Change is long overdue and as long as BLM evades, hides and operates with unacceptable “solutions” which are nothing but more catastrophic measures to get rid of the mustangs…. it is imperative that new leadership is established, and more people march the streets to demand the change… The mustangs have suffered too long at the hands of greed and corruption – give them back their rightful lands. Restore the West to some degree before it’s too late ! Keep up the pressure to expose the present plight, because most Americans still don’t have a clue, as long as our corrupt government hides the story.
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This war on horses has to be stopped…the mustangs are slaughtered, mares and foals suffer beyond description for the manufacture of Premarin, and the crimes against racehorses are too many to list (drugs, whips, racing them as babies, etc, etc, etc)…..The Lord’s prayer tells us that what is done on earth give sorrow to Heaven. Where is Congress’ conscience? Where is President Obama’s reaction of fury to this injustice against the animal kingdom? President Kennedy sent out the National Guard to protect the Christian cause of equality — where is the response to this crisis for horses? Christ died on the cross not only to pay our sin-debt but to give justice to all creation. Smarten up, America….use your voice and vote to change America back to righteousness and moral integrity.
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Sharon, You are right… but we are not even allowed to have God in certain places anymore in this nation – and the government here is becoming a world police that enslaves us all – they couldn’t even respond to Katrina, how would they respond to anything… – not to mention animals in dire needs of help – Congress is not doing it’s job and Obama is in a winter sleep, too busy with his agenda to become the next dictator. Just check this out, if you wish: http://www.restoretherepublic.net
This documentary made me feel sick and afraid.
The secretive operations of the leadership in this country is more than frightening, and we as “animal rights” activists… are even potential prospective terrorists according to it. So the change lies solely in us… we are the people and we must not forget that and keep fighting. Most are afraid to take on government and with good reason, this is becoming a new America… a place with lost morals and the United States of Lies.
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What really gets me about this whole thing is that if you or I as ordinary citizens had to treat an animal in this manner we would be prosecuted, but for some reason the BLM can do what they like and are above the law. They need to be held accountable for their actions the same as Jason Meduna was (although he got off lightly which makes me sick), they are no better than him.
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When haven’t politicians or their appointees been above the law? We like to blame BLM but the buck really stops with President Obama and Congress. There are actually a few people at the field level at BLM trying to make the best of this situation but their efforts will remain inconsequential until the politics involved with our public lands change. Until then the people actually making broad decisions are likely to make bad decisions. I’m not backing off on a few folks for making some bad mistakes, but Washington DC is where the big picture gets painted.
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Actually Wall Street is where the bigger picture gets painted. Then they tell DC $$$.
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Willis, I’m in agreement with you that the field guys I have met and worked with at Palomino Valley really do love the horses and care about them. They sometimes have their nuts in the cracker due to what they are being dictated, but as a general rule you can pretty much accept those guys do the best they can for the horses. I’m talking Palomino Valley here, I don’t know any of the guys at Indian Lakes so I can’t comment there.
How many petitions do we have to sign, how many people have to call the Whitehouse, how many demonstrations do we have to set up and protest before any of the political hoodlums in DC pay attention? It does have to stop in D.C. but how can we get them to do it when they don’t even reply to reps and senator sympathizers that are heads of and on committees they are supposed to be answering too? GAO seems to have little effect, just what is it going to take for them to stop the killing, maiming and destruction of OUR herds?
ABSOLUTELY UNEQUIVABLE we HAVE TO HAVE AN CENSUS done by AIR and an outside party. Craig, what about that guy that was going to do the helicopter tours of Virginia City and surrounding areas? Ya think he would be interested in an independent census taking?
Did anyone see the article in the sunday Gannet newpaper written by Erin Kelly titled Wild horse controversy headed to federal cout on April 30th ? She started out strong and then the article totally went to hell in hand basket. Quoted spokesman Steve Torbit for the Rocky Mountain National Wildlife federation as saying ‘Mustangs are a nuisance and a threat to wildlife habitat, they’re not wild, their feral and like an exotic weed’
This kind of press is total irresponsible journalism. She did not give both sides of a very controversial issue, and convenienly left out everything advocates are ticked off about. Personally I think DOI/BLM spoon fed her this story or she is on their payroll. Facts were not checked, one that was totally backwards she wrote horses were 34,000 when the 71 horse act came into law and now they are 69,000. EXCUSE ME????
I’m sending her some facts for her file, but I doubt if she does anything but delete my email so I’m going to send it to her editor as well. I suggest some of you do the same. These are the kind of lies that push our cause two steps backwards so don’t let her/them get away with it.
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Here is a link to the article that NV Kate speaks about above. I will leave the commenting to the people with the facts and figures, they will have the most impact. Will watch this one closely!!!
http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2010/03/08/20100308wild-horses-CP.html
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I’d like to know how many members of all branches of federal and state government and/or their staff members have ever owned, cared for, or ridden a horse (pony rides when they were kids don’t count). How many have seen wild horses on the range, in captivity, read ANY of the Calico Reports or those from other roundups, and on and on. I bet it’s a MINISCULE a number.
The BLM Wild Horse & Burro Program is a complete mystery to all but a precious few. Mr. Obama, Congress, and the mainstream media rely on Salaczar and the BLM for information. As much as we petition legislators, the vast majority will continue to listen to and believe him.
For good or ill, that’s the way our government is structured. We may vote for a president, but the power to influence is in the hands of those that president chooses as advisors. Right now and for many years into the future, everything will continue to be “all about the money”. The BLM WH&BP is such a drop in the federal budget, it is almost laughable. But federal spending is so out of control even that tiny drop has become an issue.
Remember after Hurricane Katrina Mr. Bush said, “Brownie, your doin’ a hell of a job!” NOT! That’s just one example of how much any president knows about an issue, even a crisis.
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A number of the BLM field guys (and gals) have mustangs. Someone recently reported a foal down at the Stillwater East HMA. A former BLMer (transfered to the Wildlife Service) brought it in, kept it at his house that night and turned it over to the LRTC Lucky Horse Orphan Foal project in the morning. (BLM was notified and the folks at PVC and John Axtel were 100% supportive.) It turns out the foal had neonatal tetanus (99% fatal.) The former BLMer’s wife came over and stayed up all night helping Shirley take care of the foal.
I’m not saying everyone in the field is like this but a lot of them are. A couple have quit over what’s going on. The disconnect seems to occur at the upper level where people are far more concerned about kissing political backsides than they are in listening to the people on the ground.
Sorry to vent but a lot of good efforts out in the field get plowed under due to bureaucratic BS and misguided policies. And where is all this change that Obama promised??? The buck really stops at his desk.
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And in the end, what really matters is that there are now dead horses that could be free and thriving if not for the BS that the BLM is.
That is the entire point. All the good intentions in the world mean nothing when death and destruction prevails.
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RT, thanks for keeping this discussion going.
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Laura, I think it is “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” The mustangs have been on that road as the ‘well intended’ BLM has been handling them.
Why is it so impossible to put 2 and 2 together and release all the older horses back to their range NOW? I know, BLM has a problem with math. But surely a truck haul back home is less stressful than certain death for more? Will these horses be purchased, if any survive, by rescues?? mar
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Here are some of the problems associated with just running some truckloads of horses back to Calico.
Even though Indian Lakes is modern, it still is concentrating lots of horses from lots of different areas in a relatively confined area. A number of the horses at Indian Lakes have been exposed to things that they probably weren’t exposed to much in their remote ranges. Ergo they are going to need a full series of vaccinations and parasite control before being turned loose to avoid possibly infecting what free-roaming horses might remain out there. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but some safety protocols should be followed. The simple argument to me is that a lot of those horses shouldn’t have been brought in at all.
The horses in the facility are socially disorganized. When we did horse releases in the past the horses were organized into family units and were kept in separate pens for a few weeks until each family unit had established its social order. Typically those bands are successful when reintroduced. (Also our stipulation when arranging for horses to be returned was that the agency managing the horses provided immunocontraception to at least 3/4 of the mares so the animals were less stressed until reacclimated. Plus it did help control population growth rates without reducing the genetic pool (number of eventual breeding mares.)
I get concerned when people from BLM observe that there are areas where predation is pretty active and nobody will listen when they suggest relocating horses from overpopulated areas to underpopulated areas. I get concerned when BLM says birth control is just too expensive when Forrest Gump could figure out that the most expensive horse is the one brought off the range and boarded for the rest of its life in long term holding. The cost of birth control is a drop in the bucket.
So long as the people at the top of BLM and DOI ultimately work for politicians, and politicians work for the big money contributors (in this case, mineral and energy companies) the only way to turn this business right side up again is an overwhelming groundswell of voter outrage. It worked with Conrad Burns and Richard Pombo. Maybe Harry Reid is next.
In any event, you can’t make sense of this by trying to apply rational logic.
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No, they should never have been brought to Fallon, but they were brought in for no good reason but removal. And they are the vulnerable ones, old and young, though the older ones are just not doing well.
A release might have to be done from a large area, fenced, so the horses could re associate their bands? Is that a possibility? But just returning older horses may be risky beyond the hauling because the social structure is gone and so their purpose is clouded? They are still vulnerable but they would have their normal winter/spring browse back and the comfort of familiar surroundings. I would think that would still save them from the deaths they are prey to now.
The decisions that come from the structure in BLM are not a cohesive effort and the goals have nothing to do with the living animals. Those who work with the horses even seem limited in their
ability to carry out decent care.
I see your concerns and the difficulties that going back to the range poses. Yet, we need to have a direction, as shunned as we are, and choose what we would have them do if they would do something other than removing the horses longer and further. Choosing to make a demand they will not respond to still does not mean we should not make that demand? mar
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To quote Dr. Ian Malcolm from “Jurassic Park”,”Nature always finds a way.” Humans are the ones who are lost.
Sorry to re-post, but this ended up in the wrong place.
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Here’s how we conducted successful releases of the Virginia Range horses. They got picked up because they were venturing into Reno. (Horses appearing in Reno were caused by a number of factors such as the city failing to require developers of former horse ranges to provide fencing, a large wildfire that consumed quite a bit of grazing range, and town folk that thought it was cool to feed the horses.)
Mike Holmes worked out the details in reconstituting family bands, reuniting horses that records suggested made up bands before being removed, and putting compatible horses together each with a lead stallion to form new family bands. Once the horses settled and became socially organized, “trailer trains” provided mostly by volunteers moved the horses to the release points. Each band was moved as a group in a separate trailer and released as a family unit. The bands were released in succession, separated by a few minutes, to avoid confusion and stallion fights. The bands were also released in multiple locations to prevent localized crowding.
These particular horses were the responsibility of the state. The release saved the state a ton of money and the private landowner up on the Virginia Range where the horses were released was very cooperative about the horses being turned out there.
Then the politicians got involved. The know-it-all horse haters started spreading stories that the releases were failures and the horses were wandering back into town. Of course it was total BS. All the horses were microchipped and not a single release horse has been picked up to date, and none of the released bands have turned up where they are not supposed to be.
Here’s a link to a YouTube video of the release. The people who don’t like to see solutions that involve anything other than horse removals sure don’t like this stuff, but this is how problems can be solved without permanently removing horses.
Of course this approach won’t work in every situation but it does show that cooperation can solve problems in a much more humane and less costly way than when big government handles everything.
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This was a video I saw sometime back and it is a good story and I hope Lesperance has backed off now, again? mar
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(For some reason the last post didn’t stay within the thread.)
Mar, re. Lesperance, You be the judge.
(The followup video can be found elsewhere on this blog.)
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Sounds like a plan to me, but it would take time, effort, and dollars. Government ears obviously are closed to that. Also, they might have to listen to boots-on-the-ground, and when does that ever happen? The Army Rangers’ 3 plans to trap Bin Laden at Tora Bora all were rejected, and the list goes on.
The government doesn’t listen to anyone but itself. Politicians all brag about being in touch with the “grassroots”, when all they really care about is the “long green”. No grass for wild horses means more $$ in their pockets.
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Dunno if this is going to show up in the right place on the blog, but here goes.
I’ll check with Mike to see how the horse v. vehicle incidents are recorded. The data is there but as I recall it wasn’t obvious how to find it.
Regarding BLM’s combined management proposal, I agree that we really have to watch AMLs for “creative tinkering.” A while back BLM made an adjustment because they claimed that they assigned a broad AML to a specific area. I can’t state whether that claim was correct or not. Lord knows they do make mistakes. But in this latest instance we should be able to calculate the total AUMs before the proposal, and see what is listed under the proposal. I’ll ask around next week.
If you want to really blow your mind, try getting data on how many months of domestic livestock use are actually taking place in a given region. BLM’s data is so hard to crunch that even responsible staffers who make a valid effort to get the info get bogged down.
The elephant in the room is foal crop. I, like many of you, worry that AML could be manipulated by someone – even in proposals that otherwise would make a lot of sense. The people who actually tried to maintain healthy ranges seem to be being replaced by people who just want the breeding population lowered.
Headed to the annual WHB fundraiser to put on our “burro and pony show.” Be back Sunday if I left anyone’s questions unanswered.
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Thank you Mr. Willis, I value your input..and i much admire you for standing strong in that cesspool of politics in Nevada..I was heading down there to look at some ranch property to lease..but after watching the videos you linked, I thought about moving my search to over the border in Califoria..But then on the other hand-I have never been one to shy away from a fight…so I’ll give it some more thought..I lived and worked on a ranch in northern Nevada before the 71 law went into effect and saw many herds of wild horses every other day as we drove cattle back out on the allotment all summer…The ranch rounded up wild horses and brought them in to the ranch, and traded the 2 and 3 yr olds for a van of the worst horses I had ever seen..but broke..and the wild horses were far and away better stock. It was also the coldest winter I ever spent.. at 60 below….
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What I got from reading the pdf was that the horses are moving from 11,000 feet to 6,000 feet depending on the seasons and because they are forced to high country in the summer for meadow grazing and water sources..it should be considered 1 HMA or WHT you could not keep them in seperate HMAs or do accurate counts as they are moving.
Also several of these units are stated as having mountain lions, so I am assuming there is predation and yet no mention of that in factoring the numbers, no mention of PZP..and maybe that is because actual management is done by BLM. It sounds like the Kelly unit has an abundance of streams and water from reading the specifics on that unit and yet…0 horses??
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Someone has a song”Good Intentions Road pavement Company”! mar
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NW, these are precisely the experienced and caring folks who need to be encouraged and valued by the BLM/USFS. I agree with you, they are the angels on the ground, but the devils rule above.
If you go to the DOI “Ideas” website, you’ll see a number of ideas and comments from government employees who’ve tried to work within the system. They’re extremely frustrated their input has been completely discounted and ignored.
Apparently the government suggestion box has a slot on top and a wastebasket at the bottom.
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This BLM holding facility will only allow TEN people ONCE A WEEK for TWO HOURS to visit Indian Lakes holding facility in Fallon, Nevada. Obviously, that is not enough time for anyone to really check up on the horses and ask about missing horses, how injured horses are doing, etc. BLM has never rounded up wild horses this early in the year. Mares are heavy in foal. But, for some unknown reason, they did and look what happened……….. The death toll so far below. We got the roundup stopped, but it should NEVER have happened in the first place.
Bonnie Matton, President
Wild Horse Preservation League
Dayton, Nevada
Fallon Facility
62
Round-up Site
7
Miscarriages
39
108
Fallon @ 02.17
47
5-Mar
1
1-Mar
1
27-Feb
4
26-Feb
1
25-Feb
1
24-Feb
1
23-Feb
1
22-Feb
1
21-Feb
1
20-Feb
3
Miscarriages @ 02.05
30
5-Mar
2
4-Mar
1
25-Feb
2
23-Feb
1
18-Feb
1
13-Feb
1
7-Feb
1
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More fair share of resources for wild horses urgently needed. public servants in BLM and USFS that really protect the herds not undermine them. high time for a change to restore our wild equids in America and counter all the misinformation campaign!
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Willis, you have some wonderful orphan photos. How is the Calico Callie doing? The Allen household is an amazing place for small foals to find love and security. I have never seen anything quite like it.
This is the feel good story of this decade. Or this is the ugliest tale of death and greed still stalking the West. Any one who has the courage to stand up to DOI/BLM and the administration will find beyond the politics and land grabbing the essence of beauty and freedom that will attract people forever; wild horses running. The attempt to wipe out the wild herds has made so many people angry and sick at heart that they are not about to let this go. If this becomes symbolic of what has become of our nation so be it. What better poster child than Courage or Callie? Let DC beware of the masses as they learn more and more how the innocent are treated. All I see is a growing movement of people who are at every stage I have been in over the years from wide eyed kid to saddened old lady, the wild horse advocates keep coming. Wake up, Obama, we are knocking at the White House door. mar
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Check
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Marilyn, little Calico Callie is doing great. She has socialized with the other animals and has made herself at home. Dawn Lappin also took in a foal that came from one of the other Calico Complex trap sites and it’s doing well also.
One of the things that concerns me is that oftentimes different bands will hang out together. Then when pressured they often split up and head back to their home territories or to a shelter area that they know of. Foals occasionally get confused and follow the wrong band. Mom often figures this out and heads out to recover her foal, usually ending up as a member of the new band so the foal is fine and the breeding population gets stirred up a little bit more. However that can’t happen if one of the bands goes into a trap and is removed.
From my view the faulty logic used in this gather involved the assumption that all the foals were old enough to stay joined with their bands, and since they planned to snag everything that moved, any separated foals would be eventually rejoined with their dams.
Using the Buck and Bald gather as an example of “if you’re going to do it, here’s how you need to do it,” Dave Cattoor and his granddaughter were out on horseback and made sure that any foals didn’t get separated from their dams. Cattoor is a contractor. The gather specifications had more safety built in and that’s what he provided. Jill Starr and I did a report on the Buck and Bald gather that can be viewed here: http://www.kbrhorse.net/wclo/buckandbald01.html . Again, I don’t like trap and toss to be the be-all end-all management strategy, but if BLM is going to gather, they have to do it right!
Regarding the foals, I do need to post the disclaimer that occasionally an older mare will get seriously injured or ill and die, and some foals are old enough that they will survive on their own so long as they stay close to the band. Little Callie was pretty underweight so she could have had a dam that went down out on the range. But if a gather is too aggressive, it creates conditions where foals could get separated as a result of the gather, as happened at Sheldon a few years ago.
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Thank you, Willis. Do you have an opinion on why BLM did not release any of the horses from Calico Complex, at all? Did they not release older horses as the norm in the past? mar
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Evildoers that destroy horses and live in the fever of bloodshed and violence will be held to the moment that God picks for justice — any nation that forgets that He is Governor of All Nations will fall to the dust and be destroyed.
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My question, are the observers at the Calico roundup who can give eye witness testimony going to file complaints with the FAA, OSHA and Safeco-the aviation safety division of the DOI? Do you know that any complaints go on the contractors record, and have to be given consideration on any future contracts? The WH&B Aviaation handbook states that helicopters flying into the trap area must be 30 ft. above the ground..watch that video, as the landing gear(runners) disappear below the jute fencing as he is hazing that foal..that foal is an obstacle and he is neither 30 feet above the ground nor 30 feet above the foal..It also states that because “the trap area is EXTREMELY hazardous for the helicopter all BLM personel should be cleared out..and yet I saw 3 different personel in the pictue..That is reckless disregard for the safety of the pilot, the BLM personel, and the OBSERVERS—-should there have been contact with the foal or jute fecing it would have caused a crash and people could have been decapitated by flying propellers..SOMEONE needs to file complaints…especially to OSHA
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I am asking around.. let’s see what the people say. mar
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Replying to the why gather everything question. (The reply button didn’t work on that post.)
I dunno what’s wrong with these people. They have this obsession with AML, but they keep lowering AML so it’s a moving target. The elephant in the room is really foal crop. They need to get the population down so foals aren’t produced in greater numbers than their lackluster adoption program can absorb. So long as they are fixated on trap and toss and only pay lip service to other management options, nothing much is going to change.
I have some suspicions but I’m reluctant to post speculation on the internet. I will, however, bet that a lot of this mess could end up on Alan Shepherd’s doorstep.
I was in a conversation with a couple of former horse people whom I’ve tangled with at times but I respect. We were talking about Susie Stokke who wasn’t the most diplomatic person in the system but you could work with her. A number of advocates thought she should get the boot. Alan Shepherd (her replacement) walked by and didn’t even acknowledge when out of common courtesy I said “hello.”
The two people I was with just looked at the ground. One rolled his eyes up to me and said, “See, you have to be careful what you ask for.”
What we all three knew was while Susie wasn’t all that diplomatic, you could go to her if something was starting to go sideways and if you could convince her of your point, she’d try to fix it. This horse business isn’t a popularity contest and I have to say I don’t remember the kinds of disasters we’re seeing now when Susie was in charge.
One of the things that we have to be careful about is that there are a number of staffers who in public have to advance the company line, but when under the radar would try to do what was right. BLM is losing those people and the results are just starting to show.
Moving on to Indian Lakes, it’s a modern facility and pretty well designed, and of course BLM is going to allow people to see it. Indian Lakes isn’t the problem, and my sense is that they would love us to get distracted on a non-issue. The real problem starts on the range and is manifested in absurd gather operations.
Where I think we need to take this is so: Since Indian Lakes is so well designed, the gather specifications and the actual gather operations must be to blame.
A winter gather can be conducted safely. I think it’s pretty self evident that this one was not. Sadly, probably nobody will be held accountable since BLM seems to have become more proficient in producing spin and excuses than it is in managing our public lands.
Your tax dollars at work.
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So where/what category is Indian Lakes? I’m trying to keep up with places that aren’t on the Feb. 2010 BLM Facility Report. Also, the Shelby Horse Feedlot isn’t on their list. Are they possibly called by other names? I’m confused!
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Indian Lakes Road is on the new list. Shelby is private I believe. mar
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I spent several days trying to get this handbook-as there was a broken link to this manual..I finally contacted the BLM and they sent it as an attachment in an e-mail…having read it i sent it to the mustang project blog-where you can read it…Just in case the link remains broken. Please, will someone act on this..we must take action on any opening we can get…and this is omne of those “stones” that needs turning.
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Sandra, some contacts from me;
lightprint1949@eartlink.net
mar
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Sandra, Do you know to click onto Laura’s name in blue and you will go to her blog site?? mar
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Sandra, Follow through.. or go by Tracie’s…mar
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To quote Dr. Ian Malcolm from “Jurassic Park”, “Nature always finds a way.” Humans are the ones who are lost.
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I’m going to repost since the last one didn’t fly for some reason, so my appologies if it posts twice.
Willis, I am going to call you on the carpet over ‘Susie Sunshine’.
She was not the angel you make her out to be. She was nothing more than a BLM mouthpiece and when she mismanaged so many things it was time to give her the axe and relocate her to an area where no one knows her, because that is how BLM operaters.
I do recall she was in charge when the Jackson MNT fiasco occurred. That round up was just as if not more devistating to the horses as Calico is. It caused over 400 horses to die from a rare but fatal Salmonia outbreak at PVC. Not only did that round up cause horses that never should have been removed to die, but placed everyone in Palomino Valley (horse owers) to be quarentined until the outbreak passed. This situation could have been easily solved IN THE FIELD, by having the ranchers that ILLEGALLY constructed fences along their migration trail, taken down or at the very least made so that those horses could pass.
After personally speaking with her when the salmonila outbreak was in full bloom I found her to be misinformed, unwilling and self rightous. Not only did she stonewall me, but she wasn’t even listening to the wranglers that worked there tending to the horses with bachelor degrees in horse husbandry. Most of them were shaking their heads cussing as they walked off.
I also recall how she treated an adopter two years ago at the WHB Expo after adoption a horse at this satelite function. One would think after that person has to fill out weeks in advance paperwork just to get into the bidding process and be approved the least she could do was what she was supposed to by BLM protocol and make sure the paperwork went with the right horse and everything else was in order. This man did nothing wrong but ask for his folder with all the paperwork in it for the horse he purchased. While he stood there with his 3 year old daughter in tow, she threatened him with armed security to leave because SHE couldn’t find the paperwork for the horse they brought to be adopted. That man needed his coggins certificate to even remove the horse from the ground and BLM never should have left PVC with this horse is she didn’t have it. As it was the poor man left the adoption without his horse, the money he had already handed over to BLM, while they still had possession of the horse!
Tad Dunbar who works for channel 4 tried to do a live interview with her about the Jackson Mnt horses and the salmonila outbreak. She constantly ducked the questions he asked her point blank and would go off into lala land about something else. He got so exasperated with her he cut her off (10 minutes early) ended the interview abruptly and said somethings to me personally about her that I will not repeat here.
You may have been able to work with her but the majority of other people were not.
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sue.wallis@unitedorgsofthehorse.org
Wyoming Governor signs landmark legislation providing the option of horse processing to deal with abandoned horses
Don’t read this if you want to eat in the near future.
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Here’s the link to the article from the “Cattle Network” (why am I not surprised):
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Wyoming-Governor-Signs-Legislation-For-Option-Of-Processing-To-Deal-With-Abandoned-Horses/2010-03-10/Article.aspx?oid=1001178&fid=CN-LATEST_NEWS_&aid=760
The first comment hits the nail on the head. Or maybe the heads of pro-slaughterers
with a captive bolt. Whatever.
So Wyoming “wants” “unwanted horses”. What happens when they run out of those “small (foals & young ones, your kid’s pony) and in poor condition (Who let them get that way?) Doesn’t take much imagination to guess the next candidates for the table.
And once they’ve slaughtered all the wild ones, ranchers will start raising horses for slaughter as they do in Canada. If these “livestock” get sick or injured, it’ll be just too bad for them. No help for you, you’re just four hooves in search of a dinner plate.
And “Horses for Humanity”??? More like “Poison for the Poor”!!!
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Are these people for real? What motivates them?? It seems that hate does. How pathetic. It is as if they have become contraries to all they hate; environmentalists, wild horse advocates, anti horse slaughter advocates, wildlife advocates, anything “Eastern”, wolf advocates, intelligence, good sense, safety, add what you will.. these are not moral people, but they think they are, sadly. They are sick like many who seem to want to have power over helpless and loved animals. Madness. mar
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dinner conversation: OH, daddy are we having…pony.. again? No, susie Q-we are having spot tonite..your puppy..he tastes just like chicken..
Seriously, I cannot imagine the foks in Jacson Hole WYO are going to stand by for this!!!
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taking another stance besides just how inhumane it is, don’t these people care what they eat? As long as they can make a buck they have no morals. Horse meat is proven to be carcenogentic due to the modern day drugs they are being fed.
I think BLM is in cahoots with Sue Wallis to ‘dispose’ of all the horses that are racking up tax payer dollars in holding. It’s only a matter of time if they get their way and it’s not stopped that those on the range and in holding are gone. Keep your eye on them,mark my words this will be their next objective. I’ll be curious now that this is law just how many “adopters” will be filing paper work in WY.
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I certainly think it is a strange coincidence that 30,000 horses are standing in pens and old Sue just up and decided now was a good time to get slaughter houses opened again
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Yesterday I was working on a media slide show about wild horse advocacy that included some photos of the 55 horses we got released back onto the range. Of course it was controversial but you know what, the horses survived and so did the range. From my observations that was the last “decent act” that took place before the “grab everything and don’t put it back” mentality took over.
Anyway, last night I uploaded the piece to YouTube.
This is what we’re doing in Nevada and California. I’m not trying to “one up” folks in other states. It’s just that I have photos to document what goes on here. But my point is that the “special interests” who try to dismiss wild horse advocates as some kind of computer geek tree hugging do gooders can go choke on what advocacy is really all about.
(And if anyone reading this is a computer geek tree hugging do gooder, at least you’re hanging with folks who are actually trying to preserve something valuable, not just rip off the taxpayers to increase corporate profits.)
Damn! I’m starting to sound like an environmentalist.
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One video I saw was What Nevada Wild Horse Advocates Do was very good and winning… hope it leaves a good impression and clears the air… mar
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I think we should call ourselves…fundimentalists..we believe in common sense..If we fall in a hole..we don’t keep digging down to try to get to china…we go whoops shouln’t have stepped in THAT hole, and pull ourselves up and out..
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I remember a number of years ago, some rocket scientist in Los Angeles County thought that the best way to rid the populace of coyotes was to poison them, en masse, to get their numbers down. The Coyote Response: Babiesbabiesbabies – in unprecendented numbers.
Some animals react that way to environmental stress.
If the BLM is to be believed, Wild Equines are breeding (to borrow a phrase from an Advocate) ‘like bunnies on Viagra’. If this is a fact, might the very management techniques the Bureau is using be contributing to their own issues?
Since I’m fairly new to the Vocal Advocacy, I have to ask – is this year’s Excercise in Stupidity the norm for the Bureau? Or has this become deeply weird?
I read the articles, the blogs and comments and hear not just emotional pleas for restraint, but logical and intelligent arguments. We are not an army of over-emotional baby girls, yet it seems any appeals to the Powers labeled “Wild Horses” are summarily dismissed as the misinformed rantings of those who ‘don’t understand’. And this label is killing us, our credibility, our reputations – and our horses and burros.
Does mainstream media understand that we are not blaming the Bureau as a whole, only those who enforce policy with reckless and bloody methods? Does the media understand that it’s not simply the injustice of the roundups and management methods but the ridiculous amount of money ‘bailing out’ the Bureau for a program that is completely FUBARed?
Broken, my Friends. Limpin’ along on two spokes. No amount of Hail Mary’s or chewing gum is gonna fix this. Most of my appeals to law makers and policy setters are answered with the standard “Thank you for your interest in the WH&B Program…blah and blah and BLAH.”
Well, now, that was pointless. Here I am preachin’ to the choir. So are our concerns just not falling into the right ears or are 50,000 plus Advocates just wrong?
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Lisa, We did a great deal in 6 months. We have them ramping up. They are not happy we are still here and growing. What I hear from people who have seen the Cattoors work over the years and the normal allowance of older horses not being held at all, is this is harsher and it is taking a toll higher because of disregard. People with lots of experience are asking me? ‘what is wrong this time around?’ They have us to contend with and make their plans less smooth. BLM is striking out and always it is the horses and burros who pay the price. We would do so much if allowed to save them. BLM doesn’t want them saved. I do not believe they have the right to kill so many with no other avenue explored or allowed. This is all wrong and they want it this way. mar
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News flash, I wish someone would verify this;
There has been a new response posted to the following discussion on Change.org:
Idea for Change in America: STOP cruel BLM round ups of WILD HORSES
———————————————-
Chris- What reports of horsemeat in American food? Now the USDA needs to be sued too? Are you saying there are slaughter transport trucks at Indian Lakes? The pics I’ve seen of these mustangs since their imprisonment do show alarming weight loss. DID YOU KNOW THE VET ONSITE (during roundup) DR.ALBERT KANE, IS NOT A LICENSED VET IN THE STATE OF NV??? Evidently NV doesn’t require state license. Scary huh? Like going to a DR who isn’t a DR.
posted by lisa norman
Is this the man at the holding site?? mar
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Recieved a notification: The state of WYO is ready to start slaughtering horses so the food banks in the US can feed the meat to the poor ..seriously
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Marilyn wrote:
People with lots of experience are asking me? ‘what is wrong this time around?’
Think part of it might be having a cattleman in charge of the Department of Interior?
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Willis, Yep, and he is running roughshod over the lot of us. mar
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A part was left out of the coyote story.
1. Kill off most of the coyotes.
2. Jackrabbit population explodes.
3. Rattlesnake population explodes (to eat all the jackrabbits.)
4. People realize that coyotes were better than rattlesnakes.
5. Good thing since the coyote population rebounds.
Lesson: Don’t mess with the balance of nature.
6. Last month Churchill County decided they had too many coyotes so they held a big coyote hunt.
Lesson: Some people just don’t learn.
Regarding BLM’s stupidity, they have always been driven by politics. They work for the President and get their funding from Congress. But it looks to me like we’re reaching a whole new level of hard nosed screw-ups.
Write the President every day. Dear President Obama. Here’s what BLM did today. You promised us change if we elected you. The only change we’ve seen is from bad to worse. Is that what you meant by change?
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I would happily drive out on Indian Lakes Road on some sunny (or not) Saturday, park my truck and just stand around the Facility with 100 or so of my closest Friends, not doing anything, not threatening anyone, just standing there, enjoying the day. Maybe have brunch or a picnic, exchange pleasantries. The fact that we’d all show up in the same T-shirt should not concern anyone.
Maybe we can do it again the following Saturday. And the one after that.
Indian Lakes Road is, after all a County road, a road which leads to the Stillwater Wildlife Refuge, so I can’t see any objections to a few of us using it to stop by and let a few other Friends know we’re there for them, even if they can’t see us.
(This meandering was brought to you by the Mind of Lisa, where fantasy and reality sometimes bump with surprising results.)
If this sounds like it might be fun, lemmee know when.
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Wish I could join you. Hope there are a few who would venture forth and just have a look see and a spend a few minutes saying hi… mar
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I love a troublemaker! I am in….
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Mar – Googled the dude; he’s apparently DOI Royalty, having a position as the Department of Ag’s HMFIC of all the veterinary doings within the government. So maybe that gives him a pass. Also qualified to minister to the Wild Horse and Burro Program as he cut his Horsie Teeth in the Thoroughbred Racing field. And, as we all know, Wild Equines is just like Race Horses. (did that sound bitter? ’cause it sounded a little bitter to me).
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Some perspective.
There aren’t any slaughter trucks showing up at Indian Lakes. Someone keeps bringing that up every few weeks with so-called “confirmed reports” of trucks leaving one facility or another. There are a number of reasons that this isn’t happening and won’t happen. If someone really wants to read all the reasons, I’ll lay them all out. Suffice it to say Nevada is a “brand control” state and the paperwork required to move horses just within this state is cumbersome. (It’s why most of us who ride horses here carry state issued horse photo IDs.) You might sneak a couple of horses in a personal horse trailer out of state if you know the back roads but not a whole transport load.
In Nevada a veterinarian only needs a license to “practice” which has determined to be providing services for third parties for a fee. If you work for a governmental agency, a license isn’t required. Heck, the Nevada State Veterinarian isn’t licensed. Here’s the hypocrisy. A friend of mine is a vet tech and she was fined $200.00 for drawing blood on her own personal horse to have it tested for EIA. No excuses. That’s how things are here.
The vet for BLM facilities is Rich Sanford. He is licensed and he’s a darn good vet. But he is usually at Palomino Valley or Litchfield.
I’d be a little wary of claiming alarming weight loss on the Indian Lakes horses because that is precisely the “animal welfare” justification of the ranchers and BLM. The horses came in thin. We almost lost the Virginia Range herd because some people complained about how thin a few horses were and Tony Lesperance got the idea to try to remove the horses “as rapidly as possible” because they must be starving.
A lot of wild horses get thin in the winter. It’s how it is. Pregnant mares look the worst to the untrained eye because by being pregnant the foal’s weight adds stress to their top lines and they “bulge” at the bottoms of their bellies. They aren’t going to look like some QH fed up in a box stall. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t healthy. I suspect that Indian Lakes may have erred in trying to get the horses to regain weight too quickly as some responded by having some lipid issues, which sometimes can be fatal.
Here’s the problem. Out here we know what horses look like in the winter and how they naturally rebound (slowly) when the spring grass comes up. The really old ones don’t make it (Nature’s way) but the rest come back fine. It is how generations of horses have adapted to this environment through natural selection. mess with this system and you run the risk of producing adverse consequences.
Ironically the mares on temporary birth control didn’t lose weight over the winter. A couple of ladies told me that’s not unusual in the human species either.
Back to Indian Lakes. As far as intake facilities go, the physical layout is pretty modern and “mechanically” safe. From my experience the mortality rate doesn’t lie in the “physical plant.”
I haven’t seen all the horses at Indian Lakes but the ones I saw look “normal” for winter horses. I have called for a mortality review during one of the “conflict resolution” procedures covering this matter and among quite literally a binder full of other arguments and complaints about BLM’s present courses of action, I raised a couple of issues about Indian Lakes.
1. Monitoring of the horses brought in has to be improved. While it isn’t always practical to treat a colicky or otherwise ill wild horse, clearly too many horses are being found in one mortal condition or another.
2. I don’t like the fact that the regular BLM crews who know what they are looking at and looking for and the real licensed veterinarian aren’t assigned to stay at this private facility. The facility operator could have all the good intentions in the world, but lack of relevant experience could be resulting in horses dying. If BLM was so worried about the condition of these horses when they rounded them up, I think a rational argument is that the horses should have had intensive experienced monitoring after being brought in. It is pretty evident that something was missing in the follow-up.
3. I did have some concerns about the oat hay that was being used for feed. Certainly it was better transitional hay than alfalfa but oats are somewhat fatty (having the second highest lipid content after corn.) I believe that by the time BLM got rolling on this roundup there wasn’t much grass hay available, at least in the quantities that they needed. If this was the case it was bad planning.
Another bit of perspective.
In a population this size around 100 horses will die of natural causes in a year’s time. Clearly the mortality rate peaks in the winter and declines in the summer. Also a fairly high percentage of mares will miscarry, abort (whatever you want to call it) out on the range. I can’t quote percentages but come mid summer it is rare to see more than two-thirds of mature mares with standing foals. My point is that some of these things are going to happen.
Having been involved in bringing in over a hundred very underweight pregnant mares (the Fish Creek rescue) I am keenly aware of the issues and risks, and the delicate nature involved with bringing these horses back to normal weight. I can say that we didn’t have any mature horse losses and most of the foals made it, while before the horse groups got involved some 48 horses had died. But it was a high stress recovery and rehab operation.
http://www.kbrhorse.net/news/fishcr01.html
Is that it is my argument that if any entity is going to remove free-roaming horses from the range, they take on a responsibility to organize and manage their activities in such a way that the risk to the animals decreases. Based on accepted statistics, the results of BLM’s Calico Complex gather produced a spike in mortality. Therefore it is academically and morally unacceptable for BLM to claim to our political leadership and the public that these activities are designed to benefit the horses.
But we’re talking about a branch of DOI here. By its own published policies, DOI agencies are exempt from the Data Quality Act when submitting reports to Congress.
“6- Testimony and Other Submissions to Congress. Information presented or submitted to Congress, which is simultaneously disseminated or previously disseminated to the public is exempt from these Data Quality Act guidelines.”
When you get that apparently “brain dead” response from your senators or congressman in response to a wild horse communication, this could be part of the problem!
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Thanks for all this, Willis… Data quality Act, huh?
Will look this up… mar
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It’s very difficult to winnow out the people from the organization; whenever I see John Smith, worker for the BLM, all I see is ‘BLM’; what my brain sees is ‘filthyevilblackhearted’.
Trying to remember that there is a sentient human being who has a job to do is tough. And this is probably the perspective the average BLM employee has about anyone under the label ‘Wild Equine Advocate’. He sees dangerous & radical when most of us are pretty decent people. But there is that divide, like the chasm between the two major political parties. Fear and prejudice keeps us from understanding or finding common ground. I know I’m guilty of it, but honestly don’t know how to stop.
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Mar – there was an article posted on the Examiner yesterday by Carol Abel(?), detailing the Data Quality Act. More good news for those fightin’ the good fight.
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Can someone link this article please?? Data Quality Act; Carrol Abel…. mar
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Here’s the link. It’s long so I hope it works. If not go to http://www.examiner.com and search data quality act in the article search box.
http://www.examiner.com/x-25094-LA-Equine-Policy-Examiner~y2010m3d9-Bureau-of-Land-Management-data-quality-the-9-page-loophole?cid=examiner-email
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Right here, Boss
http://www.examiner.com/x-25094-LA-Equine-Policy-Examiner~y2010m3d9-Bureau-of-Land-Management-data-quality-the-9-page-loophole?cid=examiner-email
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Thanks Lisa and Willis… mar
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Mar,
You can be the judge…
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Willis, I did see this one last fall also and there was some buzz about it and I never forgot it. Shirley took heat for the foals and I hope she is well today… I hope people will watch this now. This is a slippery slope we tread. Thanks once more, this is still relevant to all we are involved in out in NV. mar
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It just shows you how corrupt and disgusting people can be especially in the Gibbons administration.
Both of those foals found great adopters at last fall’s Western States Wild Horse & Burro Expo.
Shirley now has the orphan that BLM brought in from Paiute Meadows, Calico Callie, who is doing great. A couple of weeks ago a former BLMer (who transferred to the Wildlife Service) brought in another orphan from the Sillwater East HMA but it got left behind its band because it had neonatal tetanus and didn’t recover. Neonatal tetanus is nearly always fatal in these cases, but ya gotta try. Shirley sure stays busy!
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Cooperation and volunteerism; people handling situations before intervention is necessary. That used to be the wave of the future.
This is one reason why I think putting names to bands and names to faces might go a long way toward ‘personalizing’ the Equines, making it more difficult to summarily round ’em up. Each and every member of a band has a vital role to play in the social structure and health of that band and it’s ancestry. Old men and old ladies know where the good stuff is – water and grub – and the best ways to avoid adversaries.
Euthanizing older Equines is tantamount to burning the Family Bible. Even if current Captives are released, there’s huge portion of their social structure and culture destroyed simply because ‘old’ is equated with ‘useless’.
By anthropomorphosizing these animals, it may make harder to objectify them. With names, they have a legitimacy.
Time to go out and adopt a herd, a band or a family unit. The LeBlanc Family of the Soldier Meadows Band of the Calico Mountain Herd, for example.
And the Herd Patriarch? Kenny the Wonder Stallion! (let’s see ’em round HIM up!)
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It will happen this year. Nevada may be big but we can use spotter volunteer planes and find them. Calneva area and Wyoming, too. Then all the smaller herds in other states who have guardians and names already. We will know our horses.
BLM is not stopping and we need many people doing real field work and gathering info to create a data bank to protect them and use in their defense. what are you doing this summer? If you want to help keep your eyes peeled for more information. We need you… mar
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Lisa,
I think you hit the nail on the head. We often name the bands around these parts based on the stallion: Sentinel, Bubba, Three Socks, Big Blaze, Big Roany, Gus, etc. Most correlate to the horse’s appearance although some just get fun names such as “Oscar” (the golden boy.)
There is some method to this madness. If we use commonly known names for the bands pretty much everyone knows who we’re talking about, and that can be important if something is going wrong or someone was messing with the horses.
When Don Alt (the President of the Nevada Live Stock Association… yes, they don’t know how to spell “livestock”) trapped some horses, folks were concerned. When the Mayfields revealed through photos that he was trapping Bubba and his band, the town went postal.
(We released the horses and Alt, who enjoys protection from Gibbons and Lesperance, was offered the “suggestion” that he shouldn’t be doing that. The NDoA inspectors were told to drop the issue and have no contact with BLM on the matter.)
And it wasn’t a “misunderstanding” as later claimed. The Mayfields got pictures of Alt’s pickup and we ran the plates to make sure everyone recognized that they had made a correct ID.
Here are a few documented adventures with the old “cattle boss.”
http://www.kbrhorse.net/news/alt01.html
Anyway, the only way we’ve been able to hold the line in those instances where we managed to do so was by giving the horses some kind of identity and functionally “adopting” them on the range.
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Hey nevada, since you are local..I need your input on the situation with the horses up in Tonapah..The BLM and USFS are combining forces in what may or may not be a good idea WHT(wild horse territories) allowing horses up there to migrate from 1 gov. agency to another..you may have read the pdf..and comments end March 19..and I would like to get your take on it before I comment..I was also wondering if this was the area where complaints were being filed about WH on the road..altho you can see for 200 miles on that road..I have been through there many times hauling horses..but never been off road to know what kind of feed situation is there..thanks
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Tonopah and Goldfield present an interesting situation. There’s the National Wild Horse Range (Nellis AFB) which is military but the horses are looked after by BLM, BLM and USFS lands. BLM and USFS horses are both covered under the Act.
Water resources are a concern down there.
We need agencies to think outside their comfort zones and pursue alternatives to trap and toss. However like the Salazoos, we need to be hopeful skeptics.
“Wild Horse Territories” are pretty much the USFS equivalent to BLM’s Herd Areas. Combining activities with BLM is not a new idea as BLM typically handles the horses for USFS. However looking at the “big picture” with respect to populations and range resources and not getting hung up on jurisdiction has its positive attributes. I always worry who’s operating the controls behind the curtain but in general I think in general we need to support the idea of broader based perspective when managing horses and burros.
A great deal of “creative planning” appears to be geared towards facilitating renewable energy. Renewable energy is coming for sure, but we need to preserve a balance of range uses, not just cover it with solar panels.
I think the safe and sane position is this:
The proposed strategy is supportable so long as it actually makes better use of available range resources, reduces dependence on expensive gathers and long term holding, and all horses and burros remain protected under 16 U.S.C. 1331, et seq. (The Wild Free-roaming Horses and Burros Act.)
I would expect that Cindy MacDonald has done the most research on this subject. I’ll ask for her analysis and suggestions.
Here are some links for readers who aren’t familiar with the Wild Horse Territories.
http://www.fs.fed.us/rangelands/ecology/wildhorseburro/territories/index.shtml
Click to access final_horse_burro.pdf
The primary horse strike issue seems to be further north on US-93. On US-50 we have experienced a significant reduction in horse and deer strikes where Strieter Reflectors have been installed.
http://www.kbrhorse.net/news/strieter01.html
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OK, I found the USFS proposed action.
Click to access E2010-150.pdf
The map they provide shows the layout. For folks not familiar with central Nevada, this is a heavily mountainous area.
I think we mainly need to be watchful that this idea doesn’t get tweaked by someone using “creative accounting” to reduce the overall AMLs for the combined management area.
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Willis – a few weeks ago, I looked for archived records of ‘horse versus vehicle’ accidents on the 93 on DOT and NHP web sites. All I could find was 203 ‘deer versus vehicle’ incidents. I’m not saying they don’t happen but in our ‘question everything’ atmosphere, I was surprised to find no mentions. I would think an accident involving an equine would be record-worthy and publicly accessible.
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Willis, From the pdf on comments to Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests they are intending to move HMAs and there by be able to change AMLs. When they have done this before, land designated to the horses disappears. Cindy MacDonald wrote about this in “Dead of Winter”, which was land just East of Central NV, I think. Why doesn’t anyone see this for what is is? The manipulation of land and populations to fit what BLM wants to do to them? Why are they able to do this and ignore the original herd areas? Is this not the basis of their illegal activity? Thanks for continueing with Introduction to Nevada Wild Horses 101 and 202, as many of us are far away, even if we are West of the Mississippi, (and not). it is appreciated. That is a big, vital wild horse area. mar
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I remember a Q&A about the power to change/remove/create HAs & HMAs. I thought it was in my downloaded PDFs or Favorites, but now I can’t find it.
Does anybody remember it and have a link?
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I realize that this discussion is wandering a bit from RT’s original subject, but most of these things relate to each other and it sometimes helps to see the big picture when trying to develop a response strategy.
I was prowling through YouTube and came across a video that I had forgotten about that shows another side of this issue. I know the video is correct because I watched this all go down and we now have a couple of the horses involved safely in the LRTC corrals and the other allied groups have helped where they could, primarily Wildhorses In Need (WIN).
It’s not just BLM or Governor Gibbons’ minions that keep us from solving horse problems. Some of our biggest problems lie in a small number of horse groups who exist mainly for their own self aggrandizement rather than the horses, and who undermine the work of the other groups.
The video I found involves a 1988 scandal that nearly tanked an unsuspecting Oregon based horse sanctuary. It involves Tony Lesperance and Nevada’s wild horse license plate money. People are told when they buy the wild horse plates that the money goes to keeping horses “wild and free.” You can be the judge. The audio clip in this video is really revealing.
By the way, the Oregon group is still struggling to get horses placed since the load of horses dumped on them by the state with the help of a couple of Nevada “wild horse organizations” trashed their pasture so badly the following year’s grass didn’t come up. When they finally get all the horses placed, they’re closing shop. Great win for the horses.
http://www.youtube.com/wwequinerescue#p/u/6/fLBpBhshFtg
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