Author: Western Horse Watchers

Devil’s Garden Roundup Day 4

The incident began on September 16.  Reports covering activity through September 19 have been posted to the Modoc news page:

  • Type: Planned
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Horses captured: 98
  • Average daily take: 24.5
  • Capture goal: 600
  • Removal goal: 600
  • Returned: Unknown
  • Deaths: Unknown
  • Shipped: Unknown

Gather operations were cut short yesterday by weather.

The death rate is unknown.

The breakdown between stallions, mares and foals was given for Day 4 only.

Body condition scores were not provided.

The number of unaccounted-for animals is not known.

Losses to the economy of Modoc County, mentioned in the Day 1 report, means the horses have been trying to reclaim some of their food from the public-lands ranchers.

Other statistics:

  • AML: 402
  • Forage assigned to horses: 4,824 AUMs per year
  • Pre-gather population: 1,926
  • Forage liberated to date: 1,176 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 980 gallons per day
  • Forage assigned to livestock: 15,711 AUMs per year (estimated)
  • Horses displaced from WHT by livestock: 1,309 (2.6% of off-range holding)
  • True AML: 1,711

RELATED: Devil’s Garden Roundup Begins.

Jackson Mountains Roundup Day 5

The incident began on September 15.  Gather stats through September 19:

  • Type: Emergency
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Horses captured: 126, up from 98 on Day 3
  • Average daily take: 25.2
  • Capture goal: 600
  • Removal goal: 600
  • Returned: 0
  • Deaths: 4, up from 1 on Day 3
  • Shipped: 88, up from 42 on Day 3

Two mares were put down on Day 4 because of hernias and a foal was euthanized because it was orphaned, boosting the death rate to 3.2%.

No effort was made to place the foal with a rescue, such as the nearby Chilly Pepper Miracle Mustang?  All three deaths were justified by IM 2021-007, Euthanasia of Wild Horses and Burros Related to Acts of Mercy, Health or Safety.

Foals represented 22.2% of the horses gathered.  Of the adults, 29.6% were male and 70.4% were female.

Body condition scores were not provided.

Day 5 ended with 34 unaccounted-for animals.

Other statistics:

  • AML: 217
  • Forage assigned to horses: 2,604 AUMs per year
  • Pre-gather population: 1,018
  • Forage liberated to date: 1,512 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 1,260 gallons per day
  • Forage assigned to livestock: 7,394 AUMs per year (estimated)
  • Horses displaced from HMA by livestock: 616 (1.2% of off-range holding)
  • True AML: 833

RELATED: Jackson Mountains Roundup Day 3.

Stone Cabin Roundup Day 18

The incident began on September 1.  Gather stats through September 18:

  • Type: Emergency
  • Method: Bait
  • Horses captured: 261, up from 207 on Day 12
  • Average daily take: 14.5
  • Capture goal: 450
  • Removal goal: 450
  • Returned: 0
  • Deaths: 8, up from 7 on Day 12
  • Shipped: 231, up from 193 on Day 12

No horses were caught on Days 13, 14, 16 and 17.  Previously, no gather activity was reported on Day 12 but now the page shows 24 horses captured.  The cumulative total of 256 does not agree with the sum of the daily numbers.

One horse was put down on Day 15 because of fractured neck, taking the death rate to 3.1%.

The rate at Stone Cabin, where horses are baited into the traps, is ten times higher than that for the cruel and inhumane helicopter roundup at Sand Wash Basin, so described by the advocates.

Foals represented 14.6% of the horses gathered.  Of the adults, 46.6% were male and 53.4% were female.

Body condition scores were not reported.

Day 18 ended with 22 unaccounted-for animals.

Other statistics:

  • AML: 364
  • Forage assigned to horses: 4,368 AUMs per year
  • Pre-gather population: 1,037
  • Forage liberated to date: 3,132 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 2,610 gallons per day
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Unknown
  • Horses displaced from HMA by livestock: Unknown
  • True AML: Unknown

RELATED: Stone Cabin Roundup Day 12.

Jackson Mountains Roundup Day 3

The incident began on September 15.  Gather stats through September 17:

  • Type: Emergency
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Horses captured: 98
  • Average daily take: 32.7
  • Capture goal: 600
  • Removal goal: 600
  • Returned: 0
  • Deaths: 1
  • Shipped: 42

One horse was put down on Day 2 due to an abscess, typically not a life-threatening condition, lifting the death rate to 1.0%.

Foals represented 23.5% of the horses gathered.  Of the adults, 26.7% were male and 73.3% were female.

Body condition scores were not provided.

Day 3 ended with 55 unaccounted-for animals.

Other statistics:

  • AML: 217
  • Forage assigned to horses: 2,604 AUMs per year
  • Pre-gather population: 1,018
  • Forage liberated to date: 1,176 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 980 gallons per day
  • Forage assigned to livestock: 7,394 AUMs per year (estimated)
  • Horses displaced from HMA by livestock: 616 (1.2% of off-range holding)
  • True AML: 833

RELATED: Jackson Mountains Emergency Roundup in Progress.

Lying for the Cause?

The views expressed in this commentary are those of its author and not necessarily those of Western Horse Watchers.

If the government assigns 84% of the forage in HMAs to privately owned livestock, the number of wild horses displaced thereby would be 141,750, enough to empty all of the off-range corrals and long-term pastures almost three times over.

The True AML, the number of horses the HMAs could support if they were managed principally for horses, would be 168,750, to be achieved by ending public-lands ranching in those areas.  A similar assessment for WHTs would likely drive the number higher.

The current population of 86,000 is well within this range.

Show your work:

Current AML = 27,000 (horses and burros but assume all horses)

Available land = 27,000,000 acres

Current stocking rate = 27,000 ÷ 27,000,000 × 1,000 = 1 wild horse per thousand acres

Forage demand = 27,000 × 12 = 324,000 AUMs per year

Total authorized forage in HMAs = 324,000 ÷ (1 – .84) = 2,025,000 AUMs per year

Forage assigned to livestock in HMAs = 2,025,000 × .84 = 1,701,000 AUMs per year

Horses displaced by livestock = 1,701,000 ÷ 12 = 141,750

True AML = 27,000 + 141,750 = 168,750

New stocking rate = 168,750 ÷ 27,000,000 × 1,000 = 6.25 horses per thousand acres

Land ratio at new AML = 1,000 ÷ 6.25 = 160 acres per horse

New Management Paradigm for Wild Horses

You can see it in the news release for horses returned to Sand Wash Basin: Government gets rid of most of them and the advocates make sure they never come back, leaving the ranchers as the primary—if not principal—consumer of resources in the HMA.

The rate at which the new way of thinking can spread to other wild horse areas will be limited only by the number of kool-aid drinkers that can be recruited and trained on the use of darting rifles.

RELATED: Sand Wash Basin Aftermath.