(In My Humble Opinion) by R.T. Fitch~author of “Straight from the Horse’s Heart”
BLM guide pointing out distant trap to wild horse advocates ~ photo by R.T. Fitch
With no advanced commentary or notice my wife, and talented photographer, Terry and I have arrived at the Twin Peaks stampede. I flew directly from the other side of the world to meet Terry in Denver, who had just been in the Pryor Mts., and then on to Reno to tag up with Laura Leigh, Coordinator of Herd Watch.
Our reasons for putting ourselves through the emotional turmoil of witnessing yet another cruel BLM/Cattoor helicopter stampede is multi-faceted. Besides attempting, first hand, to wrap our minds around the unfounded BLM concept that only 400+ wild horses can be supported on 800,000+ acres, we also want to lend any support that we can to the concerned U.S. citizens who travel from across America to act as witnesses for our rapidly vanishing wild horses. These are very fine folks, indeed.
Without many details let it suffice to say that we attended the roundup Monday, August 23, 2010. It was a very unusual, almost surreal, event. Within moments of our escorted arrival to the very distant observation location we witnessed 2 to 3 horses being herded into the trap at breakneck speed. It was a horrifying sight for the handful of observers who had not seen such an event, before. Remember, the horses are “never” stampeded by the helicopters. Why this was done or where these few horses had come from is unknown to us. But that was the last time that we saw any activity at the trap prior to our departure.
Real, Live, Wild Horses that have, so far, escaped the Cattoor helicopters ~ photo by R.T. Fitch
Not much made sense, we were situated way up a hill and so far away from the trap that we could not possibly see anything or take any meaningful pictures. When our BLM guide was asked why we had to be so far away the pat reply was, and always is, “it’s the contractor’s call”.
Only once, during the morning, did we see any helicopter activity. Way up a mountainside, perhaps 8 miles out we could see a cloud of dust and a helicopter working above the trees. This went on for quite some time and then we lost sight of the aircraft and could no longer see any activity yet, and this is a big yet, we continued to hear the beat of the helicopter’s blades over a ridge to our east for the bulk of the morning. Hour after hour passed with the distant drone of the helicopter being heard over the stiff breeze yet we could observe no activity. Finally, our BLM guide informed us that the horses all wanted to run to the east, away from us and the trap, and that they may just pull the plug on trying to push any horses into the trap today. We were also told that the wind was high and making things difficult for the chopper pilot. When questioned as to why we could hear the helicopter we were told that it was out making scouting flights. Again, this led to more questions and even fewer answers. Considering what has occurred at BLM/Cattoor stampedes over the past several months with the documented cases of “pre-gather” operations rang far too clear. A handful of us took off to view what we could, elsewhere. And we are glad that we did.
Photographer Terry Fitch capturing shots of free horses versus the planned Twin Peaks stampede ~ photo by R.T. Fitch
Instead of witnessing the trauma of native wild horses losing their freedom and the lives that love, only to be whisked off into obscurity with fates unknown, we actually were blessed with visiting horses that were simply being, wild horses. Of course we had to wade through plenty of cows to find them but they were there, quietly living out their lives as God and Congress intended and, to date, free from the living hell that these magnificent creatures are forced to endure at the hands of your government’s runaway agency, the BLM.
It was a pleasant treat and we share these moments with you before we head out to witness, along with many fine folks, another intended day of horse wrecking. But revel in the intent of what was, what still is for a moment and what we shall never be able to recapture again as Ken Salazar and Bob Abbey keep the accelerator of the “Wild Horse Harvester” pressed to floorboard with the full intent of sending our American Icon into the history books, never to be seen in the wild by taxpaying Americans or the world in general, again.
Say a prayer for the horses, today.
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- Mustang round-up outrages animal rights groups (channel4.com)
Categories: Horse News, The Force of the Horse
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Dear God bless our wild horses and all the people trying to help them and please stop the roundups.
I wish there was a way that you could have seen what that helicopter was doing. I sure don’t believe it was scouting.
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Sounds like they set up 2 pens one for observers with a guard to make sure noone wanders.
The other the actual working pen and they were working all day there.
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Right on folks. I found two statements particularly telling RT.
The first, “Not much made sense.” With these roundups, that usually happens one of three ways:
1) as a matter of policy
2) accidentally
3) on purpose.
The second, when you got away from the trap site, getting with the horses who were just “being” was blessed, and beautiful.
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Thank-u R.T. and Terry Fitch; and everyone else who documents these roundups; I would say there might be a chance Animal Activists groups could file a complaint against the Cattoor Co. for
“abusing wild animals resulting in hundreds of animals perishing;
(Official count at Calico is 120 “bit the dust”; 113 in the corrals; 7 @ the gather site; this count does not inlclude most foals either !; 43 at Tuscarora; 4 so far at Twin Peaks; 130 in 2007; 56 in 2008
The Cattoors run the Mustangs to exhaustion…and then when the Mustang or Burros falls “and cannot get up?
The BLM literally just leaves the downed mustang “to rot in sand…
and I KNOW WHY…a. The Cattoors are a Livestock Round up Co.; this means they usu. round up Cattle or sheep; Horses are alot smarter than Cattle or Sheep so Horses run away from the helicopter; thus they get chased to exhaustion by zig zagging against the helicopters; helicopters and Mustangs “do not mix !
b. In a live stock Roundup; many Cattle and or Sheep also “go down…what is a Cattle or a Sheep to the Cattleoors ? I would guess the Cattleoors have seen a greater number of “downed Cattle and downed sheep in their lifetime due to their roundups
than you and I will ever see…
because ya see THE CATTLEOORS CAUSE DOWNED SHEEP THE CATTLOORS CAUSES DOWNED CATTLE; THE CATTOORS CAUSE DOWNED MUSTANGS DURING ROUNDUPs
WHY? Because they are not knowledgeable about Animals and the Nature of Animals in other words:
The BLM Cattoor “don’t know Jack Rabbit squat; about MUSTANG OR BURROS; they know less about caring and feeding for them;
the blm does not give “nutrients; flaxseed fiber; vitamin shots; etc.
Always recall what the BLM website and HSUS agrees with:
BLM says: “There is no Scientific Evidence putting Geldings on the Range reduces population growth…
Oh I See… Geldings do not reduce population growth; but the Cattoor BLM Roundups sure do; Calico was reduced by <10 %
Out of 1,922 Mustangs; 120 "died: 72 adopted; 12 sold and rest in blm corrals; just milling about looking for forage; finding little hay; except on the outside of the fence; so the moral of the story is:
THE MUSTANGS ARE NOT "LIVESTOCK; they never were and they never will be; so a Lifestock company should not be the contractor; A WILDLIFE MANAGING COMPANY SHOULD BE..!
ps Why do the Cattoors run the Mustangs so fast down hills to traps? is the Pilot like some type of Mad Mustang hater ? or what?
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JUST MY 2C: Anna usa 1951 “born and bred in the US of A..: )
I think the Wild Mustang and Burro Advocates should have a meeting or internet conference and they should exchange videos and pix of the BLM ‘s Blatant Mustang Abuse..such as the epitome of who I believe to be “the downed mare and hope the foal; and the others of course; such as Mouse the gelding; and the others
the videos of the downed mare; the video of Feathers; the video of Litchfield with the downed mare; HOW MANY HAVE there been ?
My Gosh I have seen pix of downed mustangs in every single corral and many roundups; and those Mustangs are not resting!
AND THEN COMPILE THE VIDEOS AND PIX in one big book or film ; internet document; slide show;
AND PRESENT THE WHOLE DANG SHOOTIN’ MATCH TO CONGRESS; and then they will close them down in a minute…
What the Cattoors do and the BLM does is inexcusable and illegal…such as not hand feeding downed mustangs and helping them to stand up by rocking them and pushing them back up
OUT OF THOSE MAN MADE SAND TRAP AND QUAGMIRES!
Help the Mustangs up out of the blm sand quagmires (sandpits)
give them feed; help them up; give them Vitamin B complex shots;
but don’t just let them lie out there in sandlots or you will be indicted! and you know it ! so stop the insanity to save yourselfs
if not for the mustangs and burros; BLM YOUR SHIP IS SINKING
ps that reminds me of this trivia: Camels are called: The Ships of the desert…they carry their own food and water in their camel humps; camels can close their nostrils at will to keep sand out;
Mustangs cannot do this; so Sand is very bad for Mustangs; Anne
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yes maybe if they have 10 years worth of pictures all together that would make an impact on someone with a heart.
or perhaps we can offer a cash reward for any ‘under cover’ pictures from blm helpers and renderers local to the blm facilities.
It is so depressing knowing that they march on killing off all the wild horses or forcing them to live in feedlot conditions.
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pps i hate to say this but: has everyone seen the pix of “the mustang with the rope burn around the mustangs neck; 2006?
(an eyewittness report by Ginger Kathyrn; Wild Mustang preservation.org); the rope killed the Mustang; and adult mare !
oh…my…goodness ? what is the blm on ? don’t give me any! thnx.
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R.t & Terry, I am so glad you are there, mostly to give Laura some rest (hah) & some much needed friendly company. It’s too bad that it’s under such unbearable circumstances as watching the life sucked out of the Wild Ones. I’m also very happy you got to see some of them just being wild :).
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Glad you made it, be careful. mar
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BLM’s web site says they gathered 29 horses Monday and did so into the afternoon. Sounds to me as if they were keeping you away from watching what was really going on.
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exactly, thats what they are now doing. setting up a distraction pen to keep the people away from them. They make people pre register so they know whos coming to watch. Delay them in the office for a hour or 2 ,drive slow. And the real action happens 10 miles away. The shootings of the difficult to round-up, happen the days before or after.
If there were a lot of cattle out there and the brush is very high, that could be why they only got 29. I hope they didn’t go out the next day and shoot all the horses that refused to seperate from cattle or hid in the brush 😦
I don’t think after 40 years that helicoptor horse killer will ever change or stop, unless they make it against the law to run animals with aircraft.
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God bless our wild horses and the advocates wishing them well.
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Thanks for being there and reporting back to us.
Remember: vigil tonight and every Tuesday night for our wild herds.
And on Saturday, please take a few minutes of quiet time, light a candle and say a prayer. I’ll be in a prayer ceremony all day Saturday with my family & community –singing, drumming, crying and sweating — to honor the lives of our wild horses and burros, to ask for wisdom and clear vision for our decision-makers, to ask for continued strength for those advocates in the field, and for positive outcomes for our wild ones.
So many of you have said this before, and I’ll echo it now. We’re strong together through support and caring, and we stay strong for the horses & burros left in the wild and those who are now in captivity. We can’t allow the negativity of these horrible round ups to drag us down or to discourage us.
I’ll hold all of you in my heart on Saturday.
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I will join you in spirit and pray along. The horses are hearing our prayers as well.
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I join in spirit as well. We must leave no stone unturned for the wild horses and burros and for us. Our wild horses are the last stronghold on lands that are being stolen from us along with the theft of our beloved wild life and freedom.
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Really great to hear about some horses still living as they are supposed to. Hope they stay that way!
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R.T., so glad you and Terry were there and really appreciate your feed back. Thanks for your continuing devotion and support of our wild horses.
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The contractor calls all the shots (pardon the expression)??? Who’s in charge here??? More tail wagging the dog???
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The extractors…err, killers/exterminators are in charge with a blessing from the taxpayer funded org in charge of “caring” for the wild equines via Federal law.
Can’t get any more sick than this unless it were people we are talking about…and that is not far behind.
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This is my contention exactly: the Cattoors are calling the shots–what is wrong with this picture? The BLM is charged with the job of “managing the horses”, not Sue and Dave. The BLM folks are ultimately responsible for these public horses on public land, as gov’t employees. Sue and Dave just pack up their jute and whips and head off somewhere else to make their money–with no responsibilities as a contract business. Thank you RT and Terry for being there with your eyes, ears, and hearts.
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RT and equine warrior crew…thank you for the update.
I suspect that there just ain’t as many wild equines out there that the taxpayer subsidized idiots believe. And fairly soon they will have massacred themselves out of jobs. Wouldn’t be surprising since these idiots not only don’t use science in their disgusting management plans, I don’t think they can even spell the word “science”.
I’m starting to believe we need to go out there and round up stallions to protect the species.
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And yes…not the herd stallions per se. We might want to find ways to get the older bachelors (yes, that has problems too), because by the time Congress and the White House do anything the herds will be descimated.
Good Gravy…what a MESS!!!!!
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Yes, Denise, it is a terrible mess. I am glad R.T. and his “crew” got to watch and finally found some “free” Mustangs to take the bitter taste of the chase from their mouths. I wish it would STAY windy and that damned helicopter would be grounded forever.
Where is a hurricane when you need it.
We have to keep trying, but sometimes it seems so futile.
I’m going to light my candle right now.
Good luck advocates.
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i believe the herds are ALREADY decimated. Look at Calico, what is left out there to replenish?
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I agree. This is a travesty.
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Thanks, R.T., Terry, Laura, and everyone. I’m so glad you got to end the day on a high note among the wild ones still enjoying their freedom.
And to the advocates – thanks for everything you do. We may not always agree on tone, labels, or methods, but I know we share the same goal. I’m just thankful to be part of the “herd”!!!
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Amen!
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Thank you, R.T., for going through all that you do & for sharing with us! It’s great if some horses not only resisted captured, but, eluded it completely!! If only they (the wild horses) could out manuver & out smart the BLM & the round up contractors ALL the time!! Maybe, they’ll try mixing in with the cattle, let’s see the BLM try to stampede & round the horses up along with the ranchers cattle!! They’re “worried” about us, wait till the cattle ranchers go after them!! Maybe, this will all turn around in favor of our wild horses, only God knows, & I pray for the horses everyday, that God will protect them.
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Too bad wild horse advocates can’t “sneak in”, & quietly round up, the old-fashioned way, on horseback, wild horses slated for BLM round up & removal, BEFORE “they” get to them!! Hide them on private land somehow, until this madness is resolved, protect them from harm, then release them when it’s safe. Maybe, somehow, “we” could also “sneak in” & turn all the captured ones free! You know, go in there & knock the idiots out, set the horses free, tie the idiots up & leave them in the middle of the desert to wake up, scared as hell!! If only wishes could come true! Had to “vent”, thanks for understanding!
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HMMMM…NO! We don’t advocate violence, just enforcement of the law and humane treatment. Yeah…I get the “vent” part.
Seriously… let’s really put our money, effort, science where are mouths currently are,
Migration is used by the equine killers to remove them. Let’s see what we can do with a paultry 20K (if that is really true). The Feds and states want all the roundup males sterilized. Maybe we can take some equines off their hands. On private property of course.
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A couple of questions: How can we “track” the wild mustangs that have been rounded up at Twin Peaks? I have heard that this can be done but don’t know how. An example would be a particular foal in one of the videos or perhaps a stallion that was rounded up in the past few weeks. A stallion that was rounded up and assumed to be over the age of 10 years old [how do they know???] could be legally sold by BLM [for slaughter] for $25. Please correct me if I am wrong – I’m still learning. We may assume that all of the herd stallions captured (not bachelor stallions without mares, but actual herd stallions) would likely be over 10 years old … so eligible for slaughter. Can we track them? Can we find out if they immediately go to slaughter or are they first sent to the long range holding and then determined to be of sale [slaughter] age? And if so then can we prove that and follow their destiny? And if so can “we” adopt them / buy them before they are slaughtered and send them to a sanctuary? And can we pledge to the sanctuary that we will pay “X” amount of dollars per month for their upkeep if they will take that particular stallion [or foal or mare]? I do not have a lot of money but would be honored to save a mustang by providing it a home [with my monthly donation] and tell my grandkids that it is what I am doing for them [our future generations] instead of a birthday/Christmas gift. In other words, I would be willing to sponsor a wild horse at a sanctuary in honor of my grandchildren. What better way to open the eyes of our future generations to the plight of the wild horses? I know this will not stop the illegal and immoral roundup going on this very minute … and we must continue to share our knowledge of this injustice until it is stopped but perhaps it is one way to save some of these incredible creatures “today” and perhaps the future. Any information on this idea will be appreciated. Thank you.
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Here’s what we can do— and the more who do it, the greater the impact. Go to SFTHH Aug.10,2010–article”Wild Horses Lose Again: Twin Peaks Stampede to Proceed.”. Go to paragraph 6 and click on “54 congresspeople sign letter”–print the entire letter ( 5 pages) and mail it to Pres. Obama on Sept. 7th. Include your own message ( be polite) and sign it –Your Name–a Horse Advocate– from Your State. The more letters that are sent, the more visible we become– Obama needs to know that we are here and from every part of the nation– and that we agree with this letter from Congress and are waiting for some action .
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I like that idea, Ann,
I don’t have much faith in our president right now, but maybe a Bunch of letters will help.
I remember on that report on how the Forest service decided on building the fence on the P. Mts. the woman said they only received a small number of letters. And also said that many of them carried the points of The Cloud Foundation. Seemed like they discounted those pre written letters. Those letters still held OUR Views on the fence.
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Well.. we can only try— other than send out a mounted posse to fire at a roaring helicopter! It’s something people in every state can do–doesn’t take a march or a meeting– and costs just pennies. A few thousand letters–all the same–copies of 54 signatures– might wake up the Pres.– I will not vote for him again if he does not take positive action on this issue. I will vote for anyone who signed that letter.
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If you’re a registered voter, be sure to include that as well.
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The classes at the University started yesterday. Last night about 9PM while I was trying to exercise my dogs at the field on campus, in pitch darkness two helicopters began flying around about a half mile away.
My dogs were disturbed by the noise that the blades produce and this kept on and on and I am assuming, being that this is the mountains that they were trying to locate something other than wild horses.
Their flight patterns were repetitive and they kept on and were over distant ridges and back again and again, till I packed my guys and little girl up to head for home.
I could see the nervousness of my dogs and imagined the intensified noise of a looming helicopter right over head and how the poor defenseless horses would be totally terrorized by this loud and persistent machine of which they had never seen or heard before. At a half mile away, it was scary and loud and obviously fearful enough.
Maybe the Cattoors got sidetracked by something other than our horses.
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this might be a way to avoid observers.
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this is posted on BLM’s gather report for yesterday:
Gathered at Cold Springs today. Twelve individuals observed morning gathers, and many of them visited the corrals. Because of cooler weather and the lack of wind, gather operations continued until later afternoon.
is this anywhere near where the observers were? and you were right about the helicopter, the lies just keep on comin’.
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Letters are a good idea if and when they reach the president. Because of the “white powder” sent in some I think it takes quite awhile for them to be opened.
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If we all send the same letter–on Sept. 7th it could clog up the WH mail room for a week– maybe it will get some attention–maybe not–worth a few cents?? Yes.
My mother was concerned with an issue–she called her local rep–the secretary said–you are the 6th caller today–the issue makes it to the “agenda calendar”. Each call represented 100 voters! We can only try every possible legal avenue.
I live on the east coast–but those horses are truly important to me– BLM is killing my dream………..know what I mean?
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