Western Horse Watchers Association
Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
Ranchers bid $565,203 for 21,590 AUMs, according to a BLM news release, yielding an average price of $26.18 per AUM, 19.4 times higher than the fee for livestock grazing in areas set aside for wild horses.
You could argue that Congress has been shielding those ranchers from the realities of a free market for over 40 years, while denying the United States a fair price for their use of public lands.
RELATED: McGregor Grazing Land Up for Bids Again.
The colt, born on Saturday, is the ninth foal of the year, bringing the herd size to 105.
The target range is 110 to 130, according to a story in today’s edition of OBX Today, with birth rates controlled by the advocates, not the horses.
The incident began on September 8. Gather stats through September 19:
Reports for Days 9 – 12 were posted today.
Helicopters were grounded on Day 11 due to high winds and gather ops were cut short on Day 12 for the same reason.
The cumulative total at the gather page is 712. There is a discrepancy in the figures for Day 10.
A mare was put down on Day 9 due to blindness. The death rate is now 1.0%.
Foals represented 20.7% of the horses gathered. Of the adults, 44.6% were male and 55.4% were female.
Body condition scores ranged from 2.5 to 4.
Three HMAs are involved in the roundup.
Day 12 ended with 55 unaccounted-for animals.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Barren Valley Roundup Day 7.
The incident began on September 16. Reports covering activity through September 19 have been posted to the Modoc news page:
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:
RELATED: Devil’s Garden Roundup Begins.
The incident began on September 15. Gather stats through September 19:
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:
RELATED: Jackson Mountains Roundup Day 3.
On Assateague Island with The OutDoor Explorer.
There are many other dewormers on the market, overlooked, or intentionally omitted, by the writer of this story in The Washington Post.
The incident began on September 1. Gather stats through September 18:
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:
RELATED: Stone Cabin Roundup Day 12.
The warning was cancelled by NV Energy, so the horses have water for another day.
The trailcams took over 8,000 photos from April to July but only one foal was spotted at the water tanks, thanks to the advocates.
RELATED: NV Energy Warns of Intentional Power Outage on Virginia Range.
Because of the drought? No, because of PZP, according to a story posted today by the Telluride Daily Planet.
Three mares were moved from Sand Wash Basin to Spring Creek in the final days of the roundup.
The incident began on September 15. Gather stats through September 17:
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:
The incident may begin tomorrow, the first of its kind for the Virginia Range.
Wild horses were not available for the announcement, as they have fled the area in fear of the advocates, not wildfires.
Something darts across the background (heh) at 0:08, along the tree line.
RELATED: Virginia Range Now Subject to Public Safety Power Shutoffs.
Refer to this letter to the editor, appearing in today’s edition of The Herald Star of Steubenville, OH.
The advocates, not mentioned by the writer, cooperate with the government to make sure privately owned livestock, not wild horses, are the leading consumer of resources in the HMA.
Why are you still giving them money?
The incidents occurred last night on a road near a residential area, according to a report by the Reno Gazette Journal.
The loss pales in comparison to the estimated 600 wild horses eliminated this year by the advocates and their ruinous darting program.
The incident started yesterday, according to the gather page, with seven horses captured, seven shipped and no deaths.
The capture/removal goal is 73 and the pre-gather population was 298.
Comments will be accepted until October 1, according to a news release issued today.
The proposed facility is a symptom, a downstream effect, that cannot change the land-use plans that are driving the horses off the range in favor of privately owned livestock.
RELATED: Comments Invited on Draft EA for New Off-Range Corrals.
Refer to this report by Reuters.
RELATED: Why All the Backlash Regarding BLM’s Headquarters Move?
UPDATE: BLM news release just issued.
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
Refer to this letter to the editor of the Aspen Daily News, posted today.
