Western Horse Watchers Association
Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
Photos from Opening Day of the Western States Horse Expo, 06/08/18.
Warwick Schiller, speaking about unwanted horse behaviors.
Curt Pate on how to start a young horse. Seen here riding with one rein.
Gaye DeRusso shares her knowledge of gaited horses.
Heidi McLaughlin, speaking about rider confidence.
Jonathan Field on trailer loading.
Julie Goodnight, discussing communication and social behaviors of horses.
See also this report in The Coastland Times, dated 06/10/18. The Banker Horses, as they are called, are thought to be descendants of those brought to the New World in the 16th century by Spanish explorers.
An opinion piece in The Daily Sentinel, published 06/10/18, addresses the problem of wild horses in long-term holding, which costs the American taxpayer $50 million annually.
Sell them for ‘humane processing,’ as we do with millions of other companion animals such as cattle, hogs and chickens.
Fantastic idea. Gathers would be renamed ‘harvests,’ and poor people around the world would be able to buy meat at reasonable prices.
And speaking of slaughter, don’t forget the $500 million spent each year by the federal government to aid in the murder of pre-born kids. This, of course, saves billions in entitlement spending.
In 1939, Archie D. Ryan of the US Grazing Service (forerunner of the BLM) said “The wild horse consumes forage needed by domestic livestock. They bring in no return and serve no useful purpose.”
Nothing has changed. Today, that statement provides the axiomatic basis of the wild horse narrative. The same way ‘The speed of light is constant’ gets the ball rolling in Special Relativity.
Polls indicate that roughly 80% of Americans want these animals protected and preserved.
But the number of HMAs has been on a decline for years, along with the size thereof.
My friends, the only problem these animals have is you. Same for the poor folks.
They don’t need to be served, they need to be able to labor and produce, and provide for themselves. But that’s not going to happen because it’s bad for business. As the author states, government bureaucrats want more power, more money, more staff. Closing departments, selling buildings and laying people off—because problems have been solved—are the last things on their minds.
Here are the results of cleaning operations on 06/03/18. Exhibit 1, from a corral containing three horses, 24 hours since last cleaning:
Next, Exhibit 2, from a corral also containing three horses, 24 hours since last cleaning:
Both wheelbarrows hold ten cubic feet. Some days you have a bit more, some days you have a bit less. Based on these results, your average horse generates about three cubic feet of waste materials per day (poop and uneaten hay).
After a few years, you’ll have quite a pile. You’re going to need a tractor to work it.
Don’t forget spare rakes and/or rake heads. A rake with one or more missing tines is a productivity killer when you’re scooping poop, but can be used well enough in the barn for cleaning up spilled hay.
Rakes with metal handles, seen in the second photo, are fine in the summer but they draw the heat out of your hands in the winter. Wood is better.
Mustang Meg explains. See also the photo in this Wikipedia entry on Pinto horses.
Scenes from opening day, 06/08/18. Show runs through 06/10/18. Lots of photos in this post, may take a minute or two to load. General admission ticket price $18. Parking fee $10.
Sacramento can be fairly warm this time of year so you may want to alternate between inside and outside activities during the day. Bottled water around $4.
Story out of Aktau, Kazakhstan, regarding the rescue of a wild horse. Refer to this report in BL Daily dated 06/09/18. Includes video.
History was made 45 years ago today, June 9, 1973, at Belmont Park, NY. When the sun sets this evening, the time to beat will still be 2:24.
Conservative coffee. You did see the burro, right?
A federal judge ruled yesterday that the Army can continue rounding up feral horses at Fort Polk while a lawsuit aimed at stopping the gathers works its way through the courts, according to this report at Army Times.
Pegasus Equine Guardian Association, an advocacy group, argued that some of the horses may be traceable to those brought to the New World by Spanish explorers.
The horses roam mostly on the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana, which is managed by the USFS but is not a WHT.
Wild horse advocates are working with the BLM to maintain existing systems and bring water in from other sources if necessary. Sand Wash Basin HMA is in northwest corner of Colorado. Updates can be found at the FB page of Wild Horse Warriors for Sand Wash Basin.
Read these comments from Mustang Maddy, posted 07/13/17 on her FB page.
We see in wild horses what we wish we could see in ourselves—to be blameless before God, to die in a state of grace and be received into the Beatific Vision for all eternity.
On the other hand, you have unrepentant mortal sinners, who will not survive their particular judgment, to join the ranks of the damned forever.
(There’s much more to it than that and nobody explains it better than Ann Barnhardt.)
Might be in southern Colorado, near the town of San Luis, not far from Sanchez reservoir and the New Mexico border. Land ownership unknown (public or private).
This article in The Taos News, dated 02/29/16, may be relevant.
Anyone with more info, please post to comments. H/T Bonnie Scherer for video.
Twenty six wild horses will be returned to the Sands Basin HMA in western Idaho on 06/13/18, according to this news release from the BLM. The action follows an emergency gather in 2015 of all horses due to the Soda Fire.
Horses in the nearby Hardtrigger and Black Mountain HMAs were also affected. Refer to page nine in the BLM rehab report for more information. The fire was started by lightning.
The Sands Basin HMA covers 11,724 acres and has an AML of 64, for a target population density of 5.5 horses per thousand acres.
The wildfire is burning an area of five to ten acres, according to this story at Western Slope Now, posted 06/05/18. BLM fire crews are on the scene.
The affected area is north of Grand Junction, CO. The Little Bookcliffs Wild Horse Range is one of three areas dedicated primarily for wild horses by the BLM.
One of the most respectable professions out there. WTWT. About 44 minutes. Video owner does not allow embedding. From the 2010 TV series Last American Cowboy.
No government serfs here. Nobody trying to graze cattle on public rangelands at fire-sale prices*, especially the areas set aside for wild horses in burros in 1971.
Do not let the U.S. become a nation of renters, tenants and sharecroppers.
*$1.41 per cow/calf pair per month in 2018
A few, they can be found in the Warm Springs HMA, south of Burns, along with an occasional mule. State route 205 marks the eastern boundary of the HMA, second largest in the state.
The target population density of the HMA is 0.42 animals per thousand acres (based on upper range of AML), compared to a state average of 0.97. The likelihood of actually seeing a burro or mule in the area is small, unless they tend to hang out in one place and you know where it is.
A WHB specialist based in Burns or Hines may be able to help you find them.
The Western States Horse Expo starts on 06/08/18 in Sacramento, CA. Exhibitors include the BLM and AWHC. That should be interesting.
The event includes all manner of vendors as well. If you can’t find a western hat suitable to your liking, it doesn’t exist.
Western Horse Watchers Association 