FOAL to Host Free Picnic at McCullough Peaks

The event runs from 10 AM to 1 PM on June 13 according to an announcement in the Cody Enterprise.

BLM expert Tricia Hatle will talk about wild horses and herd dynamics but will probably avoid the sterilization program (initially sold as a fertility control program) inflicted on the herd by your hosts.

The picnic will take place at the FOAL educational kiosk 28 miles east of Cody on US Hwy 14/16/20.

If the advocates were honest, they’d change their name to Friends of the Ranchers.

Protection, preservation and conservation are codewords for long-term use of fertility control pesticides, with the inevitable result of permanent infertility and herd collapse.

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

Advocates to Protest Virginia Range Fencing Project

They will meet at Washoe Lake, across from the bird watch area, on June 13 according to an announcement in Carson Now.

Organizers are urging the Nevada Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Land Management to pause the project and engage with the public to discuss humane, practical alternatives that protect both public safety and the long-term welfare of the horses—a likely reference to the mass sterilization program, which has already inflicted more harm than a fence ever could.

Are you surprised that the advocates would push for the greater of two evils?

They are phonies, leaders of the blind, and don’t deserve a penny of your support.

RELATED: BLM Issues Decision on Virginia Range Fencing Project.

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

House Proposes $144 Million for WHB Program in FY27

Search for “horse” (CTRL+F) in HR9171 to see the provisions and prohibitions related to wild horses and burros in the next fiscal year, which starts on October 1.

The accompanying report says that “up to $11,000,000 shall be used for the administration of humane population growth suppression strategies, including immunocontraceptive vaccines and permanent sterilization efforts, of which not less than $7,000,000 is for the implementation of existing immunocontraceptive vaccines.”

It also mentions the Wild Horse and Burro Task Force established in FY22, and the quarterly reports produced thereby, but Western Horse Watchers is not aware of a place where they can be accessed by the public.

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

Advocates Suffering from Johnston Syndrome?

They could get rid of more wild horses if they had more money.

Why aren’t the donations pouring in?

Their would-be suitors and chief beneficiaries, the hunters and ranchers, still think of them as disciples of Velma, a role they abandoned years ago.

What’s the best way to change perceptions without sacrificing their current supporters?

A morally depraved public supports the use of contraceptives, which are more harmful in the long run, but won’t tolerate the “cruel and costly” roundups.

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

CAAWH Reiterates Commitment to Mass Sterilization?

Motorized removal provides quick but temporary relief from the pests.

Nonmotorized removal provides lasting results but requires patience.

Shooting, practiced by rogue elements in the population while your faithful public servants look the other way, provides the best of both worlds.

Quick results, permanent relief.

Protection, conservation and preservation are codewords for long-term use of fertility control pesticides, with the inevitable result of permanent infertility and herd collapse.

If you’re a hunter or rancher, know that the advocates are on your side and are more than deserving of your financial support.

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

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

Would Alkali Winter Make a Good Wild Horse Preserve?

Highway 395 runs through the allotment and there are no fences at the northern end to keep livestock off the road, but the Lakeview Field Office has approved a project to resolve that according to a BLM news release.

The parcel offers 6,223 active AUMs on 87,570 public acres, equivalent to 518 wild horses or 5.9 wild horses per thousand public acres.

The allotment master report puts it in the Maintain category.

Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres, and that rangeland health will suffer if the stocking rate exceeds that value.

But in Alkali Winter, the stocking rate is almost six times higher and the land meets or exceeds those standards.

An impediment to setting up a refuge is the number of permits in the allotment—four to be exact—so you may need to purchase or lease several base properties to access all of the AUMs.

RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.

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

► Search for other posts about wild horse preserves.

Chincoteague Foal Production Sputtering Along

The total reached 65 on June 6, up from 56 on May 17.

Last year’s record was 103.

There was a two-way tie between Hoppy and Twist for top producer.

Colts led the battle of the sexes 35 to 30.

Refer to this spreadsheet for a ranking of sires.

The herd has been engineered for maximum production and revenues, despite a limit of 150 horses in the refuge.

PREVIOUS: Chincoteague Mares Taking a Break?

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

Nevada Board of Agriculture Meets This Week

The meeting begins at 9:00 AM Pacific time on June 11.

The notice includes a link for online access.

Public comments will be taken after the call to order.

Hopefully questions will be raised about the Virginia Range fencing project and its effect on the horses.

The animal industry report, not yet posted to the meetings page, may offer a vague update on the mass sterilization program.

Your host visited the area on June 4 and saw no wild horses at the higher elevations, in sharp contrast to the period before 2019 when the NDA allowed the pesticide pushers back on the range.

The following video is from June 2018.

Western Horse Watchers believes the advocates are underreporting (lying about) the reduction in herd size and the long-term effects of the program.

If you’re a hunter or rancher and want to support an uncharitable organization opposed to wild horses, look no farther than the advocates.

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

Forest Service Selects CD Warner for Montgomery Pass Roundup

Go to the solicitation in SAM and click on Award in the left sidebar.

The contract amount is $228,147, about $507 per animal captured.

An op-ed in the Monterey Herald, which turns out to be a sales pitch for pesticides and sanctuaries, says $400,000 to Cattoor.

PREVIOUS: Forest Service Schedules Hearing for Montgomery Pass Roundup.

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

Advocates Call for Investigation of Wild Horse Sales Program

A coalition led by Rewilding America Now, the former CANA Foundation (known for its checkered past), sent a letter to the Pesticide Caucus asking for a formal audit by the Government Accountability Office of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Sale Program, including the use of “Sale Authority” and “sales without limitation,” according to its news release.

The signatories are concerned that the program’s insufficient protections enable the secondary sale of federally protected wild horses and burros via auctions, which ultimately results in their slaughter, despite long-established congressional mandates intended to prevent such incidents.

RELATED: More Wild Horses Land in Kill Pens as Sales Rise Sharply.

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

Foal-Free Friday, Growing Your Donor Base Edition

If you’re a hunter or rancher, are you more inclined to give money to a nonprofit that produces videos and policy statements against free-roaming horses or an NGO that has volunteers in the field sterilizing the mares?

The choice is clear.

The smart money’s going to the NGOs.

PREVIOUS: Foal-Free Friday, Word to the Wise Edition.

Who said the advocates don’t have a credibility problem?

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

Light Attendance at Bruneau Open House?

The event was held on a weekday, according to the BLM news release, when many people are at work.

Good thing, because income taxes keep the scam going.

Wild horses come off the range and go into feedlots.

Livestock come out of the feedlots and go on the range.

The government spends about $6 per day to care for a horse in a feedlot while it collects a little over 5¢ per day for a cow-calf pair on the range, losing about $5.95 per day per horse in captivity.

The facility currently houses over 1,200 horses according to a report by KIVI News, racking up a deficit of $2.6 million per year.

If the Trump administration is s serious about reducing government spending, why hasn’t it killed the grazing program or at least asked Congress to cancel it?

RELATED: Bruneau Off-Range Corrals Owned by Simplot Livestock.

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

Vandals to Compensate Ranchers for Damage to Pumphouse

Five individuals were charged with malicious injury to property and ordered to pay $5,000 each to permittees affected by loss of water according to a BLM news release.

The incident occurred in August 2023.

Interesting how cases involving injury to ranchers are solved while those involving injury to wild horses are not.

The name of the allotment and a link to the NEPA review for the range improvements were not given.

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

Shackleford Herd Adds Three New Foals

A story by WITN News says the number of wild horses continues to grow, as if there were no losses in 2025.

The population was 102 at the end of the year according to NPS.

Can you think of a reason why the birth rate is low, the breeding population is small and genetic diversity is at risk?

Here’s a hint:

RELATED: Shackleford Herd Declined Sharply in 2025.

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

Scoping Begins for Wild Horse and Burro Programmatic EA

The project will evaluate a range of management actions, and the environmental effects thereof, to be used in site-specific EAs for wild horse and burro management.

The idea is to streamline the planning process by analyzing actions found in a majority of management plans so the results can be dropped into future EAs by the field offices.

Comments are due by July 2.

UPDATE: The news release, published after this post went live, does not refer to a programmatic EA.

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