Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation at Palomino Valley
In the interest of accuracy, Bonnie Kohleriter has updated her report after talking more with Mr. Mantle, and has issued a correction on the Mantle Wild Horse training and Adoption Center in Wyoming, to state the correction below (in bold):
Wyoming Mantle Wild Horse Training and Adoption Center 100-150 100-150
307-322-5799 Steve Mantle, owner
Wyoming Mantle Wild Horse Training and Adoptions: Narrative: Mantle has 8-20 horses in training daily at any given time and adopts around 75 horses yearly. Mantle rotates its horses in pens and in pastures supplemental feeding in winter and in drought. The lots have over 400′ of wind breaks 8′ feet high providing wind and snow protection in winter and some shade in summer. The lots also have some mature trees for shade. Recently Nick Mantle initiated an innovative kind of adoption…adopting horses to “guest” ranches. In this adoption Nick trains the horses, adopts them to the guest ranch, and then holds clinics for the wranglers at the guest ranch continuing the training and preparing the horses to be ridden safely and reliably. This approach is designed to integrate Mustangs into the guest ranch riding programs.
Bonnie also corrected information on this:
Kansas Hutchinson Correctional Facility 499 329
620-728-3296 or 620-662-2321
Narrative: In addition to its 10 pens, 30 stalls for horses in training, a large arena, 2 corrals with round pens, it also has a barn to work horses in inclement weather.
THE ORIGINAL REPORT WITH CORRECTIONS:
While the BLM showcases a sprinkler experiment at the Palomino Valley facility north of Reno to the media, it’ll be about 115 degrees the next few days in Ridgecrest, CA. What about the horses and burros at that BLM facility? They can’t all get in the shade under the 5 canopies in 5 out of the 19 pens. Since the BLM has some shade structures there, it must be working, so why not add a few more? Hey, if shade is working at this facility, why couldn’t it work at the other facilities? What is BLM waiting for?
Wild horse advocate Bonnie Kohleriter called all of the short term holding facilities to gather information on the shelter provided at each one. Thank you, Bonnie, for taking the time to compile this information.
BLM Short-Term Facilities June 2013
by Bonnie Kohleriter
STATE FACILITY CAPACITY EST. NO. OF ANIMALS
Arizona Arizona State Prison at Florence
Narrative: This prison is developing a facility to house wild horses and burros. It is not yet in operation.
California Litchfield in No. CA 1000 700
800-545-4256
Narrative: Litchfield has 19 large pens with no shelters.
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California Ridgecrest in So. CA 1000 600
800-951-8720
Narrative: Ridgecrest has 5 canopies over 5 of 17 pens. The canopies are on poles. They are situated to provide continuous shade as the sun moves during the day. The other pens have no shelter. This is a desert facility. Additional canopies and pens are being requested.
Colorado Canon City WH Inmate Program 3000 2400
719-269-8539
Narrative: Canon City has 43 pens of different sizes and 15 shipping pens that hold 15. It has some mature trees. It planted fast growing trees 1 and 2 years ago with a goal to have shade in every pen.
Idaho Boise Wild Horse & Burro Facility 150 50
208-384-3454 or 208-830-4522
Narrative: Boise has 6, one acre pens with no shelter. This facility may be expanded to be more cost effective. Steve Leonard, the facilities’ manager has a successful 4H Club training program wherein 100 horses have been trained and adopted.
Kansas Hutchinson Correctional Facility 499 329
620-728-3296 or 620-662-2321
Narrative: In addition to its 10 pens, 30 stalls for horses in training, a large arena, 2 corrals with round pens, it also has a barn to work horses in inclement weather.
Mississippi Piney Woods for SE Adoptions 150 100
601-715-9711 or 601-317-3815
Narrative: Piney Woods is part of a cooperative with Piney Woods Boarding School where the horses are housed. It has pastures and pens with no shelter. The horses are constantly moved to adoption sites in 11 different states.
Nebraska Elm Creek WHB Center or Mid 499 430
Continent WHB Center for Adoptions in NE & SE
308-856-4498
Narrative: Elm Creek has 9 big pens of 5000 acres with no shelter but with wind breaks and 12 loading pens.
Nevada Palomino Valley in No. NV 1850 1835
775-475-2222
Narrative: Palomino has 10 large pens on the perimeter and 30-40 pens in the center of the facility of different sizes. The pens have no shelter. It is felt by a wrangler at the facility shelter is not important as the animals are not being worked during the middle part of the day. Shelters could be a safety issue as the wranglers on horseback go into the pens to gather up horses and the sun kills the bacteria in the facilities. Shelters with moisture retention beneath them could enhance the growth of bacteria such as the strangles bacteria.
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Nevada Broken Arrow in Fallon NV 2500 2400
Overflow from Palomino
No telephone number as BLM claims it is a private facility
Narrative: 30-40 pens with no shelter with feedlot feeders. The public is denied access except for well-planned visits during ideal weather about twice a year.
______________________________________________
Nevada Stewart Conservation Camp 1400
Northern NV Correctional Center
775-887-9331 Hank Curry
Narrative: This correctional facility has 8 large pens 400 by 400 feet and 12 small pens. The 1400 horses are crowded into these pens with no shelter. They are the overflow from Palomino Valley. Of the 1400 approximately 60-100 yearly are picked to gentle, halter and saddle in 120 days in preparation for adoption. The question is how many are injured as prisoners try to settle these 75-100 horses. The other horses are not seen in prison so have no chance of being taken to a good home. The lack of transparency for the wild horses and burros in prison and in privately contracted facilities is abhorrent defying our rights as citizens.
______________________________________________________________________________
Oklahoma Paul’s Valley Staging Site for SW Adoptions 590 400
405-794-9624 or 405-238-7138
Narrative: Paul’s Valley has some pens and 12 green pastures with ponds on 400 acres.. The USGS is conducting research on some of the animals at this facility. You can drive the perimeter and through the middle of this facility to observe the horses. Cemetery Road cuts though the middle of the facility. Adoptions are the 2nd Tuesday of every month.
Oregon Wild Horse Corral Facility Burns Dist. 600 650
541-573-4400 or 541-573-2748 or 542-573-2749
Narrative: Burns has about 45 pens of varying sizes. It has no shelters.
___________________________________________________________________________
Utah Delta Wild Horse and Burro Facility 300 260
801-419-9609 or 435-743-3100
Narrative: Delta has 18 pens approx.. 70 x 60. It has no shelters
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Utah Axtell Utah Burro Facility 500 500
Narrative: Axtell is a private contract, temporary holding facility for burros. Kerry Despain has a one year contract terminating in October, 2013. Most of the burros are from Ridgecrest, California. The facility has irrigated pastures on 15-20 acres and corrals.
____________________________________________________________________________
Utah Gunnison Central Utah Correctional Facility 1500 1318
435-528-6063 or801-538-4057 or 435-896-1538
Narrative: Gunnison has 10 pens or runs of different sizes, 10 sort pens, no shelter and rubber belting on some panels that serve as wind breaks.
Wyoming Rock Springs Corrals 800 671
307-352-0302
Narrative: Rock Springs has 19 pens some of which can act as pairs to open to give the horses more space to roam. It has no shelters but some plywood site boards that act as wind breaks.
Wyoming Riverton Honey Farm Correctional Facility 375 204
307-856-9578
Narrative: Riverton is a training facility for 2-3 year old geldings. It has 15-20 pens, 8 round pens, and a covered arena. It has no shelters. Adoptions are in May and in August.
_________________________________________________________
Wyoming Mantle Wild Horse Training and Adoption Center 100-150 100-150
307-322-5799 Steve Mantle, owner
Wyoming Mantle Wild Horse Training and Adoptions: Narrative: Mantle has 8-20 horses in training daily at any given time and adopts around 75 horses yearly. Mantle rotates its horses in pens and in pastures supplemental feeding in winter and in drought. The lots have over 400′ of wind breaks 8′ feet high providing wind and snow protection in winter and some shade in summer. The lots also have some mature trees for shade. Recently Nick Mantle initiated an innovative kind of adoption…adopting horses to “guest” ranches. In this adoption Nick trains the horses, adopts them to the guest ranch, and then holds clinics for the wranglers at the guest ranch continuing the training and preparing the horses to be ridden safely and reliably. This approach is designed to integrate Mustangs into the guest ranch riding programs.
____________________________________________________________________________
Summary: The BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program has 19 short-term facilities plus a few with nominal numbers of animals like 0-20. Of the 19, five appear to be in prisons and four in privately contracted facilities. The animals in these facilities are rarely seen decreasing their opportunity for possible adoption. Transparency is questionable and possibly a violation of the constitution. Almost none of the facilities have shelter. Canon City is trying to develop shelter with the planting of fast growing trees. Ridgecrest has 5 canopies, 2 with canvass tops and 3 with metal, and they appear to be safe for the horses and the wranglers. These structures do not appear to impede the movement of the horses or the wranglers when they have to go into the pens. There’s been a concern for the safety of the horses and burros should shelters be constructed. A construction engineer could design safe shelters such as in Ridgecrest should the BLM fund it. Given horses are now spending time up to three years and beyond in these supposed short-term facilities, it appears only humane to provide them with shelter particularly in Nevada, Arizona, Mississippi and California when the heat is over 100 degrees. Paul’s Valley in Oklahoma, Axtell in Utah, and Mantle in Wyoming have pastures where the horses and burros can stretch their muscles. Nevada’s Correctional Facility, Stewart Camp, and Oregon’s Burns facility are of particular concern at this time as the animals are living in an overcrowded condition. While Nevada’s correctional facility provides a good training program for adoptable horses and a place for the overflow of animals from Palomino Valley, it should not be allowed to provide overcrowding because of its out of sight operation.
Bonnie Lynn Kohleriter
June 28, 2013
Related Articles
- Video: Battle with the BLM over Burros (rtfitchauthor.com)
- BLM’s Pick-Up Truck Wranglers (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Wild Horse and Burro Advocates Say Enough is Enough to the BLM’s Continued Stampede Tactics (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Support the Gimme Shelter campaign (rtfitchauthor.com)
- BLM decides to scare shit out of wild horses with sprinklers (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Bureau of Land Management Ignores the Laws of United States AND Nature (ppjg.me)
Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
kudos to Bonnie Kohleriter for the great work (and it took a lot I’m sure) on this subject. This is a very important report on the various facilities and their shelter etc.
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YES What are the BLM waiting for GET THOSE CANOPIES UP NOW!!!!!! This more torture for thew Mustangs burros, BLM your unnecessary rounds ups, have deemed you explicitly are responsible for taking care of the Mustangs and Burros….IF you cannot do this for sake of all that is right PUT THEM ALL BACK WHERE THEY BELONG !!!!!! Nature has a fool proof plan , let her do what she does !!!!!!
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Thank you Bonnie for going the extra mile and compiling this information. Will be interesting to compare this in a couple of months. We won’t ask you to make all these calls then, though
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Please DO something with the information! Action speaks louder than words! Look at what BLM did with one sprinkler!!! Maybe they have finally got folks willing to fix this at all these facilities.
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Huh? Strike my last sentence there…. ?????
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Kudos for the great work to compile this list and monitor the conditions. Much work to be done to get these facilities adequate for our horses.
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OK, why are we trying to do this now? We tried this 3 and 4 years ago and it comes up each year. This disorganization of advocates just shines through these ongoing and glaring problems because no one works on this year round. It always comes up when the heat or cold or wind and snow become immediate problems. The best solution is freedom. When I think of renovating holding facilities I feel like we have given in and want the horses to continue to live this way. The time to do this has passed. We are heading towards more serious outcomes for all of the horses and burros, both free and captive. This program needs a new home of its own and to be cut loose from BLM. I want them to have shelter. But this only plays into BLM plans and holding as if this was a legal activity. Is holding our horses, processing them and domesticizing them legal? We don’t want this, right? They need to be free. This could be studied right now if a degreed horse specialist were to apply for a permit to be at PVC and collect data daily. But we don’t even have someone like that or the funding to do it. We keep telling BLM what we want but we did prepare first to have the ability to pull this off with their cooperation… not once year did anyone take this past the asking and demanding of BLM stage.
Why does the advocacy sit on their hands when it comes to captives and horses in the wild? Why do we repeatedly make demands of BLM over and over? Why did the Nevada governor sign an agreement with the local advocates to allow them to help management the Nevada wild horses? Because they are prepared to do what has to be done. We are not coming to BLM with a plan and ability to carry it out. BLM does tell us all the time to do this. WE don’t. Why? Because we need a deeper commitment and deeper pockets.
I am not putting down the desire to see right done by these wild captives who are suffering and dying, undocumented from within by non government observers. I appreciate all the efforts made by individuals and groups but where is your offer? I heard there was an offer of materials. If we had a design approved by BLM and people in each state with the same offer of materials and people to do the work then I think you would get the horses and burros the shade/shelter they need. This year. But we need all these people to work to free these captives also. It is not an either or as we can all do both… but don’t think that BLM will foot the bill for for this. They want us to. And we have not come close to a physically possible proposal on this.
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Where is our constructive power? Where is our funding? The horses and burros need us to be able to act and we can’t seem to manage to get people to meetings let alone to make a fully planned out proposal that would benefit the wild ones in pens. My hat is off to the Nevada advocates for their work and commitment to produce results. We have at least two well funded .orgs that could be using their money to make good things happen for the health and safety of the wild captives but they seem not to offer grants to the working members of the advocacy. Why is this? If any of the larger wild horse 501c3s have it written into their qualifications by their government permit to give grants to others doing similar works then they need to say so and do it.
What I am here to say today is we need new strategies and new directions and new people because the past 4 years of ups and mostly downs are an indicator of what we lack. The frustrations of the advocates I am painfully aware of toward the wild horse and burro program hostilities boils down to the fact that we cannot act and we do not act because of a lack of funds. BLM knows this. The press knows this. And the group I see trying to become the big cheese is pro contraception. Another non group is fanatical and does great harm with misinformation and misuse of funds and the manipulation of ethics and people and is pro BLM and approves of roundups. Yes, she does and she wants to work with BLM. What has BLM done to appease the the majority of us who want the roundups stopped and the wild ones returned home? Hmmm? Not a darn thing. The rest of our .orgs are either doing some excellent work and could sure use more funding or they are still fledging and need recognition for excellent work that needs more support. Where is it? It is being siphoned off by the fanatics who tell their cult that all the other groups have plenty of money, a huge lie, and that they are most in need of funds, another lie. These people have never filed a tax statement and have never been transparent. They fund raise using lies about the other legitimate groups and forbid their members to help them.
We do not even have a roundup schedule yet. How many directions will the too few activists get pulled in this year? We need more people and more funding. We have too many little groups ands we need an advocate run group that is national and responsive and good at raising funds and peopled with folks who get results.
And the saddest thing is when ever someone does try to do honest work they get slandered for their trouble by the same people who have been slandering us for over 3 years. Stop the games and the fear tactics and back off! Honesty seems to be lost on you and the truth is something you do not even seek. You are heading right into BLM’s arms. BLM is not going to save our wild horses… we have less than 75,000 all told, wild and captive. This is not a number to fear and they do just fine when we leave them in the wild. Nature is their manager and we can add some creative and positive
programs with a little science to help nature, not hinder her. If we want.
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Mar I do what I can where I feel its best served.
I can tell you what I’ve found. This is only my experience so don’t take it for everyone across this country. Everyone is begging for money. It is so hard to decide who to give precious little funds to. My money can only go so far. It is overwhelming to hear of horses being starved or abandon by their mothers. And the vet bills are horrendous to say the least.
So I do what Theresa at Beauty’s Haven says. No donation is too small. Every dollar adds up. You choose where to give your money. Some you support and others you don’t.
For experience carpenters etc–there donation is in the actual work to the pens. And that in itself is no small feat.
This may not be the best place for this analogy but the Amish have barn raisings when a barn needs replacing. Everything is well thought out in advanced. Plans are drawn and lumber is donated and on site. I believe it’s actually cut to specifications too. Kinda helps when everyone uses the same model…
The day of the raising becomes more than a community affair. Lots of people from other districts show up to lend a helping hand. Kids take water to thirsty adults. The men put up the outside shell of the barn in a day. Everyone contributes.
So it is with shelters. If BLM would approve designs–either their own or ours–we would need serious volunteers who can and would show up for a work weekend. And that could prove a problem if a boss won’t let someone off that really needs to be there.
I think letting the horses go and letting Mother Nature do what she does best is the best solution. It may not always be pretty. But it’s how the strong survive. Mother Nature needs us less and less. We need to pay attention to that.
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Margaret, this is what I have said; if you want it done do it yourself, stop whining and put the whole thing together and get BLM approval on the structure in advance. People could have done this years ago but they think BLM will pay for it. Do it yourself and it goes a long way to prove that advocates can actually solve problems and apply them and get them accomplished. When have we been able to depend upon or trust BLM?
And YES, let them go back home. This is artificial and inadequate and deadly. If you want the shelter put a plan and materials and people together. Ask Willis where to start. Give it a try!
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This is intolerable! After having been so unfairly jerked out of their rightful natural homes, now monopolized illegally by other interests: ranching, mining, energy extraction, these wonderful presences are treated to the torture of no shelter and overcrowding, disease ridden air, water and soil, etc. This is a shame to America! It must stop. They must regain their rightful freedom, the horses and burros that is to say!
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BLM only has ONE sprinkler. Our ground crew took pictures for the last 3 days in a row and has only found ONE sprinkler.
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That is sad and a publicity stunt and an insult all rolled into one.
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Good luck to Anne Novak and others who are taking up the shelter issue. This will be a sort of Sally Jewell litmus test.
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