Western Horse Watchers Association
Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
On the range
Two more deaths were reported on May 5, bringing the total to 129. All fatalities have occurred in pens occupied by horses from the West Douglas roundup.
The May 5 sitrep includes results from additional lab tests.
RELATED: West Douglas Horses Hit Hardest at Cañon City Corrals.
Map 2 in Appendix A of the 2015 EA for resource enforcement actions indicates that the HA overlaps most of the Twin Buttes Allotment and a small part of the East Douglas Creek Allotment.
The HA covers covers 128,141 total acres, including 123,387 public acres, according to Section 1.2 of the EA.
The AML is zero. No resources have been assigned to the horses, although the area was identified for them in 1971.
The Western Watersheds map does not show herd areas but Western Horse Watchers added its boundary based on the map in the EA. Click on image to open in new tab.
West Douglas includes 113,790 acres from Twin Buttes and 9,530 acres from East Douglas Creek per Section 5.6.1 of the EA. These values determine the percentage of the allotments inside the HA.
The Allotment Master Report from RAS provides acreage, management status and active AUMs. All of the land is in the Improve category.
The average forage density in the two allotments is 79 AUMs per year per thousand acres, enough to support at least six wild horses per thousand acres.
Resources in the allotments must be considered when estimating the carrying capacity of areas designated for wild horses. They are routinely ignored by the advocates in their efforts to spread the Montana Solution across the American west.
The forage assigned to livestock inside the HA would support 9,991 ÷ 12 = 832 wild horses, for a True AML of 0 + 832 = 832.
The stocking rate at the new AML would be 6.7 horses per thousand acres.
The 832 horses displaced from the HA by permitted grazing represent about 1.5% of the animals in off-range holding. Every horse in short-term and long-term holding can be explained by this principle.
Most of the horses were removed from the area last August in an emergency roundup prompted by wildfire and drought but the allotment data suggest otherwise.
The incident was not necessary from a resource viewpoint and was likely carried out to protect the public-lands ranchers.
RELATED: West Douglas Horses Hit Hardest at Cañon City Corrals.
The incident began on April 25. Gather stats through May 3:
The cumulative total includes 73 jacks, 77 jennies and 20 foals.
Youngsters represented 11.8% of the animals captured. Of the adults, 48.7% were male and 51.3% were female.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 12% per year.
The location of the trap site was not provided. Three HAs are involved.
Day 9 ended with -1 unaccounted-for animals, more animals disbursed than captured.
The number of burros removed to date is 170.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Death Valley Auxiliary Roundup Day 7.
Four more deaths were reported on May 4, lifting the total to 127.
The only change to the sitrep was the addition of those results.
A statement about vaccinations appears below the daily reports.
RELATED: Cañon City Virus Claims More Lives.
Four deaths were reported in the May 3 update, boosting the total to 123.
The only change to the sitrep was the addition of those results.
RELATED: More Horses Lost to Cañon City Virus.
The incident started on May 2, according to the gather page, with 17 burros captured, none shipped and no deaths.
RELATED: Another Black Mountain Roundup Announced.
The incident began on April 30. Gather stats through May 2:
The cumulative total includes 56 jacks, 58 jennies and 9 foals.
Youngsters represented 7.3% of the animals captured. Of the adults, 49.1% were male and 50.9% were female.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 7% per year.
The location of the trap site within the HMA was not disclosed.
Day 3 ended with no unaccounted-for animals.
The number of burros removed to date is 123.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Sinbad Roundup in Progress.
The incident began on April 25. Gather stats through May 1:
A jenny died on Day 7 due to a head injury. The number of animals shipped is usually less than the number of animals captured when deaths are reported.
The cumulative total includes 55 jacks, 64 jennies and 18 foals. The breakdown for Day 6 is not correct. The number of foals is probably zero.
Youngsters represented 13.1% of the animals captured. Of the adults, 46.2% were male and 53.8% were female.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 13% per year.
The trap site was moved on Day 6 to an undisclosed location.
The maps in Appendix B of the project documents show the location of gather activity relative to the park. The Western Watersheds map does not show Herd Areas.
Day 7 ended with -1 unaccounted-for animals, more animals disbursed than captured.
The number of burros removed to date is 137.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Death Valley Auxiliary Roundup Day 5.
Two deaths were reported in the May 2 update, bringing the total to 119.
The sitrep indicates the virus is of the Florida Clade 1 sublineage.
He was sent to a wildlife sanctuary in Texas according to a report by WBOC News of Salisbury, MD because he had become aggressive toward park visitors and staff.
Stallions are in the minority on the Maryland side of the island, or at least they were a year ago. Western Horse Watchers has not seen a census report for 2022.
The island has been a test bed for the Montana Solution since 1995.
The advocates point to it as a model of wild horse management.
At the Ozark National Scenic Riverways with Tim Layton.
The number of horses lost at the off-range corrals between April 23 and April 29 was 102, roughly equal to the number of lives denied every year on the Salt River by the darting program.
These are horses that should have joined the herd to replace those who died, but didn’t because of the Montana Solution.
RELATED: Virginia Range Darting Program Dwarfs Losses at Cañon City.
Eleven deaths were reported in the May 1 update, bringing the total to 117.
The sitrep indicates all fatalities have occurred in the pens holding animals from the West Douglas roundup last August.
RELATED: Death Rate Slowing at Cañon City Off-Range Corrals?
In most wild horse areas, AMLs are small relative to the available resources because most of them have been assigned to privately owned livestock.
Permitted grazing does not occur at Little Bookcliffs WHR in Colorado, one of four such areas managed by the BLM.
Does the AML reflect full utilization of the available forage?
The 150 horses allowed by plan require 1,800 AUMs per year. The WHR covers 36,113 acres and the stocking rate allowed by plan is 4.2 wild horses per thousand acres.
The average rate across all HMAs is one wild horse per thousand acres.
The land must be able to produce at least 49.8 AUMs per year per thousand acres to support the Little Bookcliffs horses.
The Western Watersheds map shows six allotments adjacent to the WHR.
The Allotment Master Report at RAS provides acreage, management status and active AUMs for the allotments. Roughly 76% of the public acres are in the Improve category.
Forage production across the six allotments averages 61.7 AUMs per year per thousand acres, enough to support five wild horses per thousand acres.
The target rate at Little Bookcliffs is close, so the AML probably represents most of the forage in the WHR, with a small amount reserved for wildlife.
Two years ago the Pine Gulch Fire came within a mile of the north end of the WHR.
Almost certainly much of forage in Corcoran Wash was lost, yet it ranks #1 in terms of forage density. That resource would support ten wild horses per thousand acres.
A bill known as the Veterans for Mustangs Act, sponsored by three U.S. representatives, was unveiled on April 28 according to a story by Fox21 News of Colorado Springs, CO.
The measure would increase the use of PZP in areas set aside for wild horses, reducing the need for roundups and potentially saving taxpayers billions of dollars over the next ten years, while offering a unique form of healing for veterans.
Contrary to statements in the article, PZP is a pesticide, not a medicine. It protects the public-lands ranchers, not the horses, and PTSD is not alleviated by engaging in the same type of activity that created it, especially when the targets are symbols of the freedoms you fought for.
Supporters of the idea include Marty Irby of Animal Wellness Action, Scott Beckstead of the Center for a Humane Economy and Cameron Ring of Veterans for Mustangs, according to a news release dated April 29 on EIN.
Curiously, Irby and Beckstead spoke at the SOWH conference just concluded.
Our servicemen and horses deserve something better.
The incident began today, according to information at the gather page, with 53 burros captured, 53 shipped and no deaths.
The current population is around 328 and the removal goal is 260, which will leave the herd near the high end of its AML.
The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.
RELATED: Sinbad Roundup Announced.
Four horses died over the past 24 hours, according to the April 30 update at the Colorado HMA page, bringing the total to 106.
Eight horses were lost yesterday and ten the day before.
The sitrep has been updated with corrections marked in red.
RELATED: More Deaths Reported at Cañon City Off-Range Corrals.
The incident began on April 25. Gather stats through April 29:
Helicopters were grounded on Day 4 due to high winds.
The cumulative total includes 34 jacks, 37 jennies and seven foals.
Youngsters represented 9% of the animals captured. Of the adults, 48% were jacks and 52% were jennies.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 9%. If the death rate is 5%, the growth rate would be around 4% per year. The BLM did not indicate if the jennies had been treated with the Montana Solution.
The location of the trap site was not provided.
The maps in Appendix B of the project documents show the location of gather activity relative to the park. The Western Watersheds map does not show Herd Areas.
Day 5 ended with no unaccounted-for animals.
The number of burros removed to date is 78.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Death Valley Auxiliary Roundup Day 3.
The nation is rigged against the downtrodden and underserved. They can’t succeed without the help of government. Self-reliance is overrated.
The whinefest produced by Golden Productions for the Nevada Rangeland Resources Commission sends the same message.
You can’t expect the ranchers to operate their business on their own land while paying the going rate to feed their animals. Nobody in this country does that and nobody should be held to that standard.
RELATED: Rising Price of Hay Explained.
Eight horses died over the past 24 hours, according to the April 29 update at the Colorado HMA page, bringing the total to 102.
Figures reported previously have been revised due to an error in the initial count:
The Colorado State Veterinarian’s Office posted an FAQ for Equine Influenza.
The sitrep has been updated with corrections in red.
RELATED: Death Toll Still Climbing at Cañon City Off-Range Corrals.
Western Horse Watchers Association 