Short video on the Corolla wild horses. Filmed at dawn. H/T Bill Williams.
Happy Independence Day!
Author: Western Horse Watchers
Advocates Win Approval to Haul Water to Sand Wash Horses
BLM says OK. See this post on their FB page, originally published 06/29/18, updated 07/03/18. The area has received some rain in recent weeks but they’re still not out of the woods.
The Sand Wash Basin HMA is in northwest Colorado. The target population density (at upper end of AML) is 2.3 animals per thousand acres, a bit higher the national average (all HMAs) of one animal per thousand acres.
RELATED: Water Delivery Plans On Hold at Sand Wash Basin HMA.
Not a Care in the World
Bachelors playing on the Virginia Range 06/29/18.
Independence Day Quiz
Mustangs of Oregon
Sometimes it’s better to watch a TV program several years after it was broadcast, because you can see what’s changed. Consider this documentary by Oregon Public Broadcasting, originally aired February, 2014.
At the time it was filmed, wild horses and burros inhabited 32 million acres. Today, that figure is 27 million acres.
When the video was produced, there were 179 HMAs across ten western states, now there are 177. Back then, Oregon had 19 HMAs, today it’s 18.
Some things haven’t changed. In 2014, the carrying capacity of the land for WHB (based on upper value of AMLs) was about 26,000 animals. Ditto for today.
Rancher sentiment hasn’t changed. They still think wild horses and burros are destroying western rangelands and consuming forage that belongs to them.
But there is hope. The BLM corral facility in Hines, OR, may soon become Auschwitz of the West, where the Josef Mengeles of the of the wild horse world perform gruesome experiments on mares to find the best method of sterilization.
Stay tuned folks, you won’t want to miss it.
Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies
That’s the name of an unfinished sculpture set on a ridge above the Columbia River to commemorate the statehood of Washington and the horses that once roamed there (not the horses that died off 10,000 years ago, the horses that were rounded up and slaughtered in the middle of the last century to make way for wineries, farms and Democrat pinwheels).
The video is as haunting as the memory of these free-roaming spirits.
Outer Banks Adventures
Report posted earlier today by 13News Now, the ABC affiliate in Hampton Roads, VA.
The horses in the story are thought to be descendants of those brought to the New World by Spanish explorers 500 years ago.
See also this article in Smithsonian.com on the best places to see wild horses.
RELATED: Wild Horse Hit by Truck in Outer Banks, NC.
Caravan on the Virginia Range
Family unit passing by on 06/29/18. These bands are usually a bit more quiet and subdued, compared to the bachelors.
Mustang Monday
On Heber WHT. Many of the trees in the area were destroyed by a fire in 2002.
For Your Sunday Contemplation
Two from Barnhardt, related.
Immune cells pass from a pre-born child to the mother across the placenta. They carry the complete DNA of the child and persist in the mother’s body for the rest of her life.
Thus it is possible for a woman to be healed in part by the baby she murdered.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate heart of Mary, pray for us.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Still Barren
Update on the horses in this post. Tried to get some photos of the mares with welts but the stud wouldn’t have it. No improvement on the mare with the smaller welt. Unable to see the mare with the larger welt (third photo in original post). Inflammation due to bites or stings should have resolved by now. These photos taken 06/29/18.
The pond seen in the photos from 06/15/18 has lost quite a bit of water, which increases the concentration of dissolved minerals, making it unfit for animal consumption.
Boy’s Day Out
Yesterday the bachelors took center stage on the Virginia Range.
Boys Will Be Boys
Two boys exchange pleasantries at a stud pile? Filmed on Spring Creek Basin HMA in western Colorado. Follow the action at Spring Creek Basin Mustangs.
Salt River Mustang Killed Along Bush Highway
See the report published 06/29/18 by ABC 15 in Phoenix.
Stallion, age 7. Sad, but at least he had a chance at life. The PZP zealots, hell-bent on spreading the serpent’s venom across the fruited plain, won’t even allow that.
Another horse was injured in the same area after colliding with a car the following day.
What Are Wind Knots?
At first glance, you might think someone tried braiding the mane of this horse. Nope, the wind did it. Fairly common in horses with long manes. Especially if they’re wild or in pastures.
And what the wind creates, the wind can take away. A few days later the knots may be gone, without human involvement.
Update on Navajo Horses
Refer to this story by KJZZ 91.5 FM in Tempe, AZ.
[Good grief, you’d think parts of it were written by the BLM: “…thousands of horses that damage the land and compete with livestock for food and water” and “…partner with outside groups to round up horses and adopt them out as well as administer contraception.”]
RELATED: Wild Horses Suffering Because of Climate Change?
Carrots and Apples Kill Horses?
An advocacy group near Corolla, NC recently installed a billboard reminding tourists not to feed the horses that roam the area. It’s part of a campaign to educate visitors about the dangers of human interaction with the wild herd.
Yes, wild horses should eat food from their natural habitat, such as beach grass, but carrots and apples are not going to kill them.
The problem is hand feeding, not apples and carrots. Bananas and fig newtons, not covered by the initiative, should be offered instead?
RELATED: How to Make Your Horse Pushy and Disrespectful
RELATED: A Word about Hand-Feeding Your Horse
RELATED: What the Heck Is That?
RELATED: Keeping a Safe Distance
Punished with a Baby
Speaks volumes. How many of the PZP zealots agree with this guy? How many voted for him?
A woman, commenting on the FB page of a wild horse ‘advocacy’ group in Nevada, said this about PZP darting of mares in May, 2018: “Hey, look at it this way, they get more sex without the consequences!” You’d be hard-pressed to find a better example of the sexual perversion and moral depravity that have overtaken the country.
BLM Plans Gather at Range Creek HMA
No start date was given for the bait-trapping operation, announced in a news release dated 06/28/18. Approximately 100 horses will be removed from lands in and around the Range Creek HMA, northeast of Sunnyside, UT on Hwy 123.
The gather was prompted by letters from private landowners and the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
The HMA covers 83,410 acres and has a target population of 125 (upper end of AML), for a population density of 1.5 animals per thousand acres.
Wyoming Wild Horse Sanctuaries
This one is on the Wind River Indian reservation, near the town of Lander. It’s a working cattle ranch and off-range pasture for BLM horses.
Visitors welcome, tours available. Learn about native American culture and the history of horses in North America at the Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary.
Western Horse Watchers Association 