Author: Western Horse Watchers

Foal-Free Friday, Spending Your Money Wisely Edition

The explanatory statement for HR6938, a bill that will give the BLM a budget for FY26, indicates that the amount available for wild horse and burro activities, $144 million, includes up to $11 million for immunocontraceptive vaccine strategies.

The bill does not acknowledge that roughly one third of FY26 has already passed and that the department was funded during that time by a continuing resolution.

Helicopter roundups are the fastest and most efficient way of shifting resources from wild horses and burros to privately owned livestock.

In the preceding paragraph, the statement directs the agency to prioritize the analysis, review, processing and approval of grazing permits, as well as the administration of grazing permit renewals.

Given these priorities, which part of the new roundup schedule—not yet published—will receive the most attention, darting operations or motorized removal?

PREVIOUS: Foal-Free Friday, Systematic Removal Edition.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Forest Service to Remove Nine Snow-Bound Horses

They’re outside the Montgomery Pass WHT with limited food and water according to today’s news release.

They’ll be drawn into the trap with bait.

Operations will not be open to public observation.

They’ll be held at an undisclosed location until the next steps can be determined.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Chincoteague Mare Found Dead

She became trapped in mud according to a story by Shore Daily News.

The report did not indicate if she was pregnant.

The herd is known for its highly abnormal sex ratio and unprecedented birth rate, where a handful of stallions produced 103 foals in 2025—the result of social engineering by the saltwater cowboys.

FWS limits the population to 150.

RELATED: Trends in Chincoteague Pony Auction Results.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Court Sides with BLM in Winnemucca Appeal

The Ninth Circuit ruled today that the agency can continue to use the privately owned corrals, despite claims of pollution and inhumane conditions by Friends of Animals, according to a report by Courthouse News Service.

The November Facilities Report showed 3,210 wild horses at the ORC with a capacity of 4,000.

The BLM spends an estimated $6 million per year to care for those animals while it collects around $52,000 per year from public-lands ranchers grazing in their stead.

Nobody in the private sector would do that.

RELATED: FOA Returns to Court to Appeal Winnemucca Decision.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Double Standard for Rangeland Health?

Your faithful public servants claim that wild horse herds need to be kept at AML or less to achieve and maintain rangeland health.

That works out to one wild horse per thousand acres (25,600 animals on 25.6 million acres according to the last page of the 2025 population dataset).

Yet the Muddy Mountain allotment in Wyoming, grazed by Big Red Creek Ranch, carries livestock equivalent to 15.3 wild horses per thousand acres and it’s in the Maintain category!

Who should we believe?

Not the bureaucrats and not the advocates and not the ranchers.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Pulling Wild Horses from Hutchinson Correctional Facility?

The inmate training program will close at the end of February according to a report by KAKE News.

A representative of the Kansas Department of Corrections said the program had been defunded.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find a statement from the BLM at its news site.

The November Facility Report put the Hutchinson population at 306 wild horses and 16 wild burros.

The move follows the closure of the inmate training program at Cañon City.

RELATED: Was Cañon City Closure Political?

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Casper Base Properties Available for $16.7 Million

Big Red Creek Ranch covers 2,130 deeded acres and 7,997 leased acres, including 4,363 BLM acres, with support for 500 cow-calf pairs.

The asking price is $7.5 million.

The listing does not provide a map of the deeded acreage and does not give the name of the attached allotment but Western Horse Watchers believes it’s Muddy Mountain.

Thieves Den Ranch covers 3,040 deeded acres and 5,441 leased acres, including 5,286 BLM acres, with support for 125 cow-calf pairs.

The asking price is $9.2 million.

The listing does not include a map of the deeded acreage but identifies the allotment as Posvar.

The allotment master report gives management status and active AUMs.

Big Red Creek meets three out of four requirements for a wild horse refuge.

Same for Thieves Den.

Muddy Mountain currently supports livestock equivalent to 15.3 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Posvar supports livestock equivalent to 7.5 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.

The advocates, unable to distinguish between an AUM and AML, underscore the narrative with their darting programs.

Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring base properties associated with grazing allotments and flipping the preference to horses.

RELATED: Key Indicators for New Wild Horse Preserves.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

The Perfect Gift for Your Wild Horse Valentine

The third edition of the National Pesticide Applicator Certification Manual should be available for sale this week—giving you plenty of time to order one for Valentine’s Day.

It’s a no-brainer.  What advocate isn’t striving to become a certified applicator of restricted-use pesticides?

Unfortunately, the publisher does not donate a percentage of the selling price to Rifles for WretchesTM or similar charity that equips the advocates with the tools of their trade.

RELATED: PERC Updates National Pesticide Applicator Certification Manual.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Would Owens Dugout Make a Good Wild Horse Refuge?

It’s too small but the permit is up for renewal according to a BLM news release.

The project description says the new permit would have the same livestock numbers, grazing periods, AUMs and terms as the existing permit.

The allotment master report puts it in the Improve category with 275 active AUMs on 2,155 public acres, equivalent to 10.6 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

HR6938 Advances in Senate

The bill cleared a procedural hurdle yesterday according to a report by The Hill.

The plan is to bring it to a floor vote and pass it without amendments this week.

The article said there appears to be enough support among the members to quash a filibuster and get it across the finish line.

The measure would give the BLM a budget for FY26.

Look for a new roundup schedule to drop shortly after that.

RELATED: BLM to Receive Full-Year Funding with 30% of FY26 Gone?

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Nevada Vanadium Selling Fish Creek Ranch

The original plan was to lease water rights from the ranch to serve mining operations to the south.

But a year and a half before the Final EIS was released, the company bought the ranch, including water rights.  Refer to section 4.7 in this report on mineral resources.

Now, the company has listed the property for sale, minus 650 gpm of water and 100 acres for a man camp.

Gone is the grazing preference on the Fish Springs Ranch Allotment.

That asset was retained by or transferred to Bench Creek Ranch in Fallon.

The allotment offers 4,815 active AUMs on 289,292 public acres, equivalent to 1.4 wild horses per thousand public acres.

The allotment master report puts it in the Improve category with most of the AUMs in the suspended column.

RELATED: Water for Vanadium Mine to Be Supplied by Fish Creek Ranch.

UPDATE: The listing on Redfin shows a price increase last October.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

PERC Updates National Pesticide Applicator Certification Manual

The Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative, not to be confused with the Property and Environment Research Center, has prepared a third edition that covers changes in regulations since 2014 according to an article by Capital Press.

The second edition is available at the EPA website.

The manual is intended as a study guide for those planning to take the Pesticide Applicator Certification Core Exam.

The 2014 edition states on page 51 that restricted-use pesticides (such as PZP) demand special attention because there is reason to believe they could harm humans, livestock, wildlife or the environment even when used according to label directions.

Such as permanent infertility in mares.

Unlawful use of pesticides is discussed on page 39.

Failure to use the product as directed on the label.

The advocates want you to think of PZP as a medication, always referring to the product as a vaccine.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Foal-Free Friday, Systematic Removal Edition

As stated in its Year Two Report, the Colorado Wild Horse Working Group believes that strategic darting should be the cornerstone of wild horse management.

It’s an indication that the stakeholders are willing to play the long game in support of their goals and a major win for the advocates.

Not mentioned in the discussion are the long-term effects of the fertility control pesticides and the eventual disappearance of the herds.

PREVIOUS: Foal-Free Friday, Year of the RUP Edition.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Stewardship or Exploitation of the Public Lands?

One of the most amazing statistics in this report by High Country News is the number of individuals who declined to comment.

The article did not mention services provided by the wild horse advocates that benefit the ranchers.

Beating the horse populations down with ovary-killing pesticides.

The aim of the grazing program is to ensure that high-net-worth individuals receive generous government benefits, often at the expense of America’s wild horses, with no means testing and no expiration dates.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Helicopters Heading for Muddy Creek and Sinbad HMAs

They’ll be flying for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to capture bighorn sheep according to the BLM news release.

The Decision Record authorizes the Proposed Action, discussed in section 2.1 of the Final EA.

Table 1-2 indicates that “captures could take place in the Muddy Creek Wild Horse HMA as well as the Sinbad Burro HMA.  Helicopter overflights may temporarily disturb wild horses and burros in the vicinity of the capture.  Impacts beyond short-lived stress are not expected because these animals would not be the target of pursuits, which would already be short in duration, and could readily escape the area.”

Although the EA mentions livestock grazing, it does not show the allotments in the project area.

One of the greatest threats to wild sheep is illness picked up from domestic sheep.

The Authorization Use Report at RAS would tell which if any of the allotments are permitted for sheep.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.