Author: Western Horse Watchers

WHB Adoption Next Month at Wyoming Honor Farm

BLM announced today that thirty saddle-started and halter-trained horses and burros will be offered for adoption at the Wyoming Honor Farm September 7 – 8.  Refer to this news release for details.  Photos will be posted to the BLM Wyoming FB page.

Gentling and training were provided by inmates at the facility, located about a mile north of Riverton, WY.

Events are free and open to anyone interested in wild horses and burros.  A training demonstration will occur on the 7th, with competitive bidding on the 8th.

WHB posters will probably be available somewhere on site.

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Case Against Man Who Rescued Foal Dismissed

A man from Placitas, NM, charged with unlawfully impounding a stray animal, appeared in court yesterday but the case was dropped.  The New Mexico Livestock Board could not prove that the foal was a stray or was found on public land.  See the story posted 08/22/18 by KRQE News in Albuquerque, NM.

The defendant operates the non-profit Placitas Animal Rescue and cares for cats, dogs and horses.

Sounds like the wild horses near Placitas are managed at the state level, like the Virginia Range mustangs near Reno, NV.

RELATED: Wild Horse Shares Road with Cyclist in Placitas, NM.

Red Desert Gather Ends Early

A BLM news release issued today indicates the Red Desert gather ended sooner than planned because the off-range corrals housing the animals had reached maximum capacity.  Of the 1442 horses removed from the range, 25 were returned and 10 died.

The announcement said horses were moving outside of HMAs, causing impacts in places not identified for their management.  Details were not provided.

A wild horse was euthanized on August 8 for a pre-existing condition and again on August 9 but the conditions were not explained.

A foal died in a temporary corral on August 12, cause of death undetermined.

Two horses were put down on August 13 for pre-existing conditions that were explained.

Captured animals will be available for adoption or purchase through the Wild Horse and Burro Program.  Animals not adopted or purchased will be placed in off-range pastures.

Gather stats and daily reports can be found on this page.

RELATED: Red Desert Gather Announced.

Virility and Potency in Action

Check out the photos of a cremello stallion defending his band in this article by the Daily Mail, dated 08/22/18.  The incident occurred in the western desert of Utah.

The photographer associated the stallion’s behavior with preparations for a roundup.

“Usually he keeps them farther away from the others but because water supplies have been drained in some locations as they get ready to do a round-up it meant they were all coming together in the same area.”

The location of the event was not provided in the story, but under what scenario would someone tamper with water sources for the horses?

A helicopter roundup?  Probably not.  So where are they bait-trapping in western Utah?

How about Cedar Mountain, near the Nevada border?

PTH Laments CSU Decision

A news release issued yesterday by Protect the Harvest blamed an unnamed ‘extremist’ group for persuading the folks at Colorado State University to withdraw from sterilization research on wild mares, calling the decision ‘disappointing.’

And rightfully so, because cutting ovaries out of wild horses is as mainstream as cutting unborn kids out of pregnant women.  Everybody does it.

Although many wild horse advocates filled out the computer-generated letter and sent it in, the driving force in the university changing its mind may have been just a few right-minded and highly influential people.

Can you spell e-n-d-o-w-m-e-n-t?

The folks at PTH, like the Clinton supporters on election night, can’t understand why some people—most people—don’t agree with the idea of ovariectomy via colpotomy.

Could it be the flow of mutilated ponies to the demonic futurity might be reduced?

Or is much more at stake?

Look at the list of the organizations in favor of sterilization.  Many are aligned with the livestock industry, cheerleaders for ranchers who fatten their cattle on public lands at fire-sale prices.

Gotta keep the gravy train rolling, reward the donors and political supporters, let more cattlemen suck on the sugar teat.  That means WHB populations must be reduced to AML, immediately, by sterilization or euthanasia.  Slaughter is another option.

A better approach would be to raise the grazing fee on public lands to $25 per AUM and require labels on beef that show where it was produced.  Educate the public on threats to our wild ones by public-lands ranchers and their allies at the BLM.  Admit the carrying capacity of the land is higher than publicly acknowledged and allow the horses to return to Herd Areas and beyond.

Put more land in private hands, waive property taxes on acreage purchased for sanctuaries and rescues, omit sales taxes on equipment and supplies procured therefor.

RELATED: CSU Withdraws from Wild Horse Sterilization Research.

Bedtime Snack

Every evening they get some rice bran, crimped oats and hay pellets, along with some carrots and apples.  Everything mixed in buckets (barn), which are then dumped into the troughs.  No hand feeding.  Any supplements, such as Farrier’s Formula or Red Cell, go in there too.  Sometimes they get a fig newton or some flax seed.  Filmed 08/19/18.

Wild Horses on the Edge (of the Hills)

Virginia Range mustangs at Hidden Valley Regional Park, east of Reno, NV.  The fence was probably installed by volunteers, to keep the horses away from populated areas and hazards related thereto.

Unfortunately, it may impair their ability to find water so the other part of the equation is to provide water where you want them to roam, a concept known as ‘diversionary watering.’  Keeping them wild and up in the hills is a good thing.

H/T Dr. Jennifer Jewell, PhD.

Story of the Nokota Horses

An approximate timeline of the wild horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and how they came to the Kuntz ranch.

1876

Sitting Bull and his followers defeat George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  Victory was short-lived, as the federal government sent thousands of additional soldiers to the area.

1877

Sitting Bull and some of his followers flee (on horseback) to Canada under pressure of the federal troops.  They find it difficult to find enough food to feed their people.

1881

Sitting Bull and his men, driven by hunger and desperation, return to the U.S. and surrender at Fort Buford (North Dakota).  They are disarmed and demobilized.

1882 – 1884

Horses confiscated from Sitting Bull are sold to the public, changing hands several times, until a group of 250 was purchased by the Marquis de Mores and moved to Medora, ND, a town he established.

Early 1900s

Horses from the Medora area escaped or were turned loose by their owners (who couldn’t afford to keep them or no longer needed them due to the advent of machinery).  Some migrated to an area known as the Little Missouri Badlands.

Mid 1900s

Wild horses were considered pests by local ranchers, because they competed with their livestock for food and water.  Many were rounded up and sold for slaughter or shot on the spot, with the cooperation of state and federal agencies.

1947

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is established by President Truman, taking in and protecting some of the Badlands, along with the Medora horses living there.

Early 1970s

After returning from the Vietnam War, Leo Kuntz discovers the horses in TRNP and starts spending time there to settle his mind.

1980s

NPS decides to replace the native horses of TRNP with those of other breeds, believing that animals descended from other bloodlines would sell better at future herd-management auctions.  The horses are rounded up and offered for sale.  Leo, seeing an end to the Medora line, buys some of the horses to preserve them.  He moves them to his ranch near Linton, ND, where they are bred to maintain and improve their Spanish characteristics.  He calls them ‘Nokotas.’

1990s

The Nokota herd grows in size, at one time reaching 600 head.  Leo and brother Frank dedicate all of their resources to caring for the horses.  They were named state horse of North Dakota in 1993.

1999

The non-profit Nokota Horse Conservancy is created.

2000

The remaining Nokota horses are removed from TRNP.  Those observed today are only an exhibit, no longer related to the original Medora horses.

2018

Leo Kuntz dies, leaving the Nokota herd to family, friends and supporters.  Refer to the Nokota Horse Preservation Ranch web site and FB page for more info.

See also the documentary at this post and the videos at this page.

Rural Water Systems – Parts

You’ll want to keep some parts on hand to keep your system running smoothly.

  • Filter elements
  • O-rings for filters
  • Wrench for filters
  • Bulb for UV unit
  • Quartz tube for UV unit
  • Pump for well

These items can be stored in the pump house.  Filter elements should be replaced when water pressure gets low (takes longer to fill water buckets for your horses).  The UV bulb should be replaced annually.

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Don’t forget salt pellets for the softener.  Not really a spare part but a consumable.  Put at least five 50-pound bags in storage.  Check the brine tank once a month and add salt as needed.