Western Horse Watchers Association
Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
More fallout from the drought in southwestern U.S. See this story dated 06/21/18 in AZ Family dot com (CBS affiliate in Phoenix).
UPDATE #1: See also this report, posted 06/22/18 on KJZZ 91.5 FM, Tempe, AZ.
UPDATE #2: And this report from FOX 10 in Phoenix, AZ, 06/22/18. Includes video.
UPDATE #3: Added video.
New band on the Virginia Range, 06/15/18. Looks like mom (on the left in first photo) has another one on the way.
Many of the so-called advocates, along with the wild horse haters, say this is wrong, it has to be stopped…that the horses are overpopulated and the land can’t sustain them.
Do you see any evidence of that in the photos that have rolled out this week?
Keep in mind that the Virginia Range has a population density of roughly ten horses per thousand acres, compared to a population density of one horse per thousand acres on your average HMA.
Two from Victoria Jackson.
Then.
Now.
Last set of photos from 06/15/18. These guys spent most of the afternoon near the pond but decided to move on to other pastures around 6:00 pm.
The pond is seasonal and will dry up in another month or so, typical for the Nevada high desert. The horses were not very interested in drinking from it, only saw one go in it.
Fifteen to twenty halter-trained mustangs, along with three to five saddle-started mustangs will be available for adoption at the Missoula County Fairgrounds June 22-23, 2018, according to a BLM news release dated 06/20/18. Fifty untouched horses and ten untouched burros will also be available.
Wild horse & burro posters will not be available at the event.
Flushing new system a few times to remove sediment. Water was a bit cloudy initially, but cleared up after four or five cycles (drain tanks until pressure hits 40 psi, pump comes on and refills tanks, repeat).
Some Virginia Range mustangs came by to check it out…and they liked it! Photos taken 06/15/18.
Video from 2018 Yakama Nation Treaty Days rodeo in Washington state. This is what happens to the wild ones they don’t send to slaughter? Language warning.
More photos from 06/15/18. Elevation 6500 feet. Wind out of the west with a temperature of 70 deg F.
The Virginia Range mustangs roam an area east of Reno, NV bounded by I-80 on the north, Hwy 395 on the west, Hwy 50 on the south and Hwy 95 on the east.
Refer to this news release dated 06/20/18. Pastures must be able to accommodate at least 100 animals and must be located in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma or Wyoming. They must provide a free-roaming environment and allow for public visitation and viewing.
The action is justified by the number of wild horses and burros on western rangelands vis-à-vis ‘other legally mandated land uses’ [such as, ahem, cough-cough, livestock grazing].
Bidders will be expected to care for the animals for periods of up to ten years. Proposals are due 07/10/18.
It’s not what your horse does after you give him a bath. It’s not how he gets fresh dirt on his back. It’s the natural rounding of the edge of the hoof that occurs in free-roaming horses and burros.
Here are two examples from the Virginia Range. The rounding of the edge eliminates what’s known as a ‘stress concentration’ in engineering work.
A sharp edge can be susceptible to cracks. Your farrier probably rounds the edge with a rasp when he trims your horse’s feet.
Next time he visits your ranch or barn, ask him about the mustang roll.
Last Friday was a great day for watching horses on the Virginia Range. You normally don’t see this many together in an area of just 25 to 30 acres. Almost all heads were down, they did not seem to be put off by my presence.
Video of auction of BLM mustangs at 2018 Western States Horse Expo. Where else are you going to get a saddle-started horse for $300? On the other hand, the purchase price will seem small compared to the amount you’ll spend over his life. Not to mention all the work…
You can also get inmate-trained mustangs through the Northern Nevada Correctional Center partnership with the BLM. You can read about the last adoption here. Next one set for 10/20/18.
If the video does not load, you can view it here. H/T Friends of R3C.
This band, consisting of one stallion and four mares, was photographed on the Virginia Range 06/15/18. Stallion on the right, no youngsters present.
Closer inspection revealed two mares with welts on their right flanks.
Bruises from getting kicked? Doubt it.
Insect bites? Possibly.
Handiwork of the PZP zealots? Who knows.
There were other bands with foals, why not these guys?
Virginia Range mustangs catch some Zs on 06/15/18, while others stand watch.
A few more photos from Opening Day of the 2018 Western States Horse Expo. See you next year!
See this report in the Mohave Valley Daily News dated 06/16/18. No reason was given for the gather or the number of animals to be removed.
Bullhead City lies to the west of the Black Mountain HMA, but does fall within the Black Mountain HA, a space where WHB are not managed by the BLM because the land doesn’t have the resources to sustain them. Go figure.
The Black Mountain HMA is noted for the panhandlers in Oatman, who work the tourists on a 9-to-5 basis.
So says a report in the Arizona Daily Sun dated 06/15/18. Normally, a story like that would get the goodbye click upon reaching such a claim, but there is a problem here.
Horses don’t stand around on dry lots and die of thirst. Maybe somebody put up a fence or other obstruction that impedes their ability to find food and water?
Anyway, when this story broke a few weeks ago, little if any effort was being made to help them. But now the advocates have mobilized. It’s the locals helping the horses, not the government.
What an individual can do, society should not take over, and what small societies can do, larger societies should not take over.
That is the principle of subsidiarity.
If you didn’t follow the link to Barnhardt’s post on meekness, at least watch the damn video.
Western Horse Watchers Association 