Caliente Trapping Ends

The incident concluded on May 28 with 350 horses captured, 338 shipped, none released and 12 dead.

There were no unaccounted-for animals.

The death rate was 3.4%.

All but two of the deaths were intentional.

Youngsters represented 10.6% of the animals gathered, lower than expected for an event that occurred during foaling season.

Of the adults, 49.8% were male and 50.2% were female.

There were no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range, a huge disappointment to the advocates.

The roundup supported three tenants of rangeland management.

RELATED: BLM Announces Caliente Bait Trap Roundup.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Forest Service Schedules Hearing for Montgomery Pass Roundup

The agency will take public comments on June 8 regarding the use of helicopters and other motorized equipment to capture and remove wild horses from areas outside the Montgomery Pass WHT.

Instructions for participating were included in the news release.

Although some natural and cultural resources may be affected, as indicated in the announcement, a concern of equal or greater importance must be AUM liberation and rancher prosperity, given that the project area contains numerous grazing allotments.

RELATED: Forest Service Seeks Bids for Montgomery Pass Roundup.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Impounds Another Pryor Stallion?

The Decision Record says the agency retrieved him, after he was captured on private property, and transported him to the corrals at Britton Springs.

The news release says removal from the HMA is permanent.

This is the third such incident since December.

The CX and DR were uploaded to the project folder yesterday.

RELATED: BLM Nabs Pryor Stallion.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM to Reauthorize Hutchinson Training Program?

A new five-year agreement is in the works according to a report by KAKE News.

The agency told prison officials earlier this year that the inmate training program had been defunded.

BLM horses are still at the facility but the current inventory is less than half of capacity.

RELATED: Reprieve for Hutchinson Training Program.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Wild Horse Refuge Grazing Permits Safe for Now

An administrative officer with The Wild Animal Sanctuary, parent of the refuge, told Western Horse Watchers that they were aware of the Taylor Grazing Act developments in Montana and the potential implications they could have in Colorado, but as of today there have been no issues or changes to their permits.

The nonprofit flipped the preference in three allotment to horses, presumably to support a conservation herd, which the BLM now says is illegal.

The May 8 news release did not mention that the final decision, and the agency’s new understanding of the meaning of livestock, arose from bureaucratic interpretation of the statutes, to pacify the crybabies in Phillips County, not the court’s.

RELATED: BLM to American Prairie: Get the Bison Off the Public Lands.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Forest Service Joins Forces with Anti-Horse Club

The agency signed a MOU with the Boone and Crockett Club to improve access to public lands for hunting, angling and wildlife conservation according to a May 27 news release.

The nonprofit will work with 14 other groups to identify opportunities and solutions.

The club issued a statement on April 2 calling for the essential use of roundups and expanded sale opportunities to protect Western rangelands and native wildlife from wild horse and burro overpopulation.

“When on-range populations exceed the land’s carrying capacity, they don’t just compete with native wildlife like elk, mule deer, and pronghorn; they fundamentally alter the landscape.”

That remark reflects a complete misunderstanding of the way federal agencies manage the resources on public lands or a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.

Consider this example from the Warm Springs HMA in Oregon.  Who’s stripping away most of the forage—by design?

The AML tells you almost nothing about resource availability, carrying capacity and management priorities in the HMA.

Wild horse advocates would likely oppose the club’s demands but would see its concerns as an opportunity to sell more pesticides.

The announcement did not indicate if the club had a similar agreement with the BLM.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

County Posts Results from Currituck Wild Horse Advisory Board Special Meeting

The current population is approximately 115 according to the minutes.

Herd demographics were not given.

The status of the fertility control program, and the long-term effects thereof, were not included in the report.

Another meeting was held on May 21 but results have not been published.

RELATED: Currituck Wild Horse Advisory Board to Hold Special Meeting.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Black Mountain Trapping Ends

The incident concluded on May 18 with 495 burros captured, 486 shipped, six released and one dead.

There were two unaccounted-for animals.

495 – 486 – 6 – 1 = 2

The death rate was 0.2%.

Youngsters represented 4.4% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 58.4% were male and 41.6% were female.

There were no plans to treat any of the jennies with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.

The roundup supported three tenants of rangeland management.

RELATED: BLM Announces Black Mountain Bait Trap Roundup.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Beckstead Joins CAAWH?

He’s the Government Relations & Policy Director according to the staff directory.

He was with the Wild Horse Refuge but his bio at CAAWH is silent about that.

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses and its partner organizations lead the nation in mass sterilization, which they peddle as wild horse conservation.

RELATED: Dirty Jobs: Taking CAAWH from Collapse to Strength.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Advocates Issue Memorial Day Warning for Currituck Herd

Approaching the horses can cause dangerous habituation, according to a report by WCTI News, a condition that can ultimately lead to them being removed from the wild.

Apples and carrots are not part of their natural diet and can cause fatal choking or colic.

Not all of their advice is good.

Moving away if they approach you tells them they’re higher, a practice that may lead to more encounters and removal from the wild.

Who’s giving the orders and why are they being overly cautious about the herd?

The rangeland eugenicists, who routinely got as close as they could to the mares to pummel them with pesticide-laced darts.

It’s still not clear if the program was halted soon enough to allow the birth rate to rise above the death rate and stay there, avoiding slow but certain demise.

RELATED: Four New Foals Spotted at Currituck Outer Banks.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Chincoteague Mares Taking a Break?

No new foals have been reported in the past week.

The herd has been producing about one a day, on average.

What’s the probability that you get none when you expect seven?

The herd, known for an abnormal sex ratio and elevated birth rate, operates like a puppy mill for wild horses on land managed by FWS.

PREVIOUS: Chincoteague Foal Crop Growing Steadily.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Forest Service Seeks Bids for Montgomery Pass Roundup

The scope of work, according to the solicitation, is to capture and remove 450 wild horses in and around the Montgomery Pass WHT.

You must sign in to access the attachments.

Proposals are due by May 28.

The BLM was the lead agency for the environmental assessment and the Inyo National Forest is the lead agency coordinating the roundup.

RELATED: BLM Issues Montgomery Pass Final Planning Documents.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

► Search for other posts about Montgomery Pass.

Planning Documents for North Complex Out for Review

The scoping phase was skipped and the process moved directly to the environmental assessment, which was copied to the project folder today.

Comments will be accepted through June 22.

The Complex consists of the Granite Peak, Dogskin Mountains and Flanigan HMAs according to the news release.

Alternative A, the Proposed Action, features removal of excess animals to low AML and application of fertility control pesticides.

The impact on permitted grazing is discussed in section 3.5.

PREVIOUS: Wild Horse Management Plan for North Complex?

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Foal-Free Friday, Suspension of Disbelief Edition

The Salt River advocates have thrown their support behind SB1199, a bill that would place a moratorium on wild horse removals while researchers conduct a genetic viability study to determine how many animals are needed for a healthy breeding population.

As if the herd was still viable.

To give your assent, you must disavow all knowledge of their actions, especially the fertility control program that has morphed into a mass sterilization program because it has outlived the window of reversibility.

There’s still time to act!

If the legislature formed a truth commission, here’s what they’d find:

  • The herd is toast
  • The advocates have been lying about PZP
  • The only way to restore genetic diversity is to introduce mares from other areas

The advocates want you to think they’re the good guys.

They shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near wild horses.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Slow But Certain Demise Edition.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Seven of Ten Iredell Mustangs Captured, Suspects Identified

The owners have been charged for allowing livestock to run at large and for failing to cooperate with recovery efforts according to an update from WSOC News.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find a statement about the incident at the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office news page.

PREVIOUS: Sale Authority Horses Running at Large in Iredell County.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.