Three horses were taken to the Spring Creek HMA and released, while 49 horses were returned to the Sand Wash Basin HMA, according to the gather page.
Bringing in horses from other areas improves genetic diversity while keeping herd sizes small.
Unfortunately, it dilutes herd identity. Today you might be able to adopt a Spring Creek horse, but in the future you’ll be adopting a horse captured at Spring Creek, assuming they haven’t been wiped out by a safe and humane darting program.
UPDATE: Event acknowledged in BLM news release.
Western Horse Watchers Association 