The incident occurred a few miles west of Huggins.  The horses roamed the area where Missouri Department of Conservation land is located, according to a report posted today by the Houston Herald of Houston, MO.

The current edition of Horse Tales includes a first-hand account of a darting expedition in the Pine Nut Mountains HA.  See “Wild Horse Tales” on page 9 (pdf).

This is a good time of year to provide birth control to the mares, according to the writer.

We must reduce their reproduction rate to avoid BLM roundups.  Interfering with nature is a good alternative.

Why was the area zeroed out for horses?  Is it subject to permitted grazing?

How much forage has been allocated to the ranchers?  How many horses would it support?  Why aren’t you demanding changes to the management plan instead of shooting mares in the butt with contraceptives?

On the Bullfrog HMA with Death Valley Dazed.

BLM said today that 135 wild horses will be removed from the Fish Creek HMA, starting next week, due to overpopulation.  The current herd size is at 1.4X AML according to the news release, which was dated November 6 but published a few hours ago.

The operation, to be carried out with helicopters, will be open to public observation.

The gather target is 195, including 60 horses to be returned to their home range.  Mares in that group will be treated with PZP-22.

The HMA covers approximately 250,000 acres in central Nevada and has an AML of 180, for a stocking rate of 0.7 horses per thousand acres.  It’s known for curly horses.

The HMA intersects four grazing allotments.  The management plan assigns twice as much forage to livestock as it does to horses.

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Bruneau, ID.

Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.

The HMA was gathered a year ago, with 533 horses removed from a herd of 822.  Now, the population is 240?  That’s a negative growth rate.

RELATED: Fish Creek Horses Get Short End of Stick.

The NDOT weather station on SR 341 says 17 °F this morning.  The water tanks are probably turning into skating rinks for the birds.  Not a great time of year to be a wild horse.  Elevation approximately 6,200 feet.

Other weather stations in the area can be found on the NDOT weather information map.

RELATED: Off for the Season.

On the Big Summit WHT with Joe Hudspeth.

The operation started on September 23.  Gather stats through November 6:

• Burros captured: 411
• Goal: 500
• Deaths: 2
• Returned: 0
• Shipped: 411

Foals accounted for 13.6% of the total.  Of the captured adults, approximately 53% were jacks and 47% were jennies.

The cumulative total says 415 animals removed.  The total based on the daily reports is 413.

The number of unaccounted-for burros is 411 – 2 – 0 – 411 = −2, meaning more burros left the traps than came in.

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup Day 31.

Last week BLM signed a Categorical Exclusion and Decision Record authorizing the removal of up to 75 wild horses from private lands adjacent to the Red Rock Lakes HMA in northern California, subject to a 30-day appeal period.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find an announcement of the event at the BLM news site.

The roundup, if it occurs, may be preceded by a news release with more information, such as timing, method of gather and destination of captured animals.

The HMA covers 18,541 acres and has an AML of 25, for a stocking rate of 1.3 horses per thousand acres.

The HMA intersects six grazing allotments, according to Section 2.23 in Volume 1 of the 2008 Alturas RMP.  The forage allocated to livestock inside the HMA is not known.

The horses require 300 AUMs per year.  Land inside the HMA must be able to produce at least 16 AUMs per year per thousand acres (AUMTA) to support them.

Curiously, the RMP allocates 54,881 AUMs per year to livestock across 457,519 acres, according to Section 2.8 in Volume 1.  Forage production in those areas would be 120 AUMTA, reinforcing an observation made earlier this week that land is much more productive when designated for livestock grazing.

Last horse seen before turning water system off for the winter.  Forecast says 20 °F Sunday morning.  Hoses disconnected, yard hydrant shut, inside valve closed.

The event started October 10.  Gather stats through November 6:

• Horses captured: 1,925
• Goal: 2,400
• Deaths: 10
• Returned: 150
• Shipped: 1,337

No gather activity on Day 28.

One death occurred on Day 27, related to the roundup.

Foals accounted for 22.2% of the horses gathered since October 10.  Of the captured adults, approximately 46% are males and 54% are females.  Body condition scores are not known.

No horses were returned to their home range since the last update.

The number of unaccounted-for horses is 428.

Five HMAs are involved in the roundup.

RELATED: Red Desert Roundup Day 25.

Drone footage of a band stallion fending off a challenger in New Mexico.  Might be a bachelor trying to steal mares.  Thanks to Mindronebusiness for the video.

The stocking rate allowed by plan in the Paisley Desert HMA is 0.5 horses per thousand acres.  Given a forage requirement 12 AUMs per year per horse, land designated for them must be able to produce 6 AUMs per year per thousand acres (AUMTA).

The HMA is also designated for permitted livestock grazing.  Allotment numbers are shown in the following map.  The HMA boundary appears in red.

Appendix E1, of the 2018 Lakeview RMP Amendment, provides data for the allotments.

At Squaw Lake, #0418, 834 AUMs per year have been assigned to livestock on 41,354 acres, for a production rate of 20 AUMTA.

Saint Patricks, #0419, offers 750 AUMs per year on 25,674 acres, for a production rate of 29 AUMTA.

Sheeprock, #0428, provides 3,967 AUMs per year on 146,278 acres, for a production rate of 27 AUMTA.

These parcels can only produce 6 AUMTA if you’re talking about wild horses.

What about the neighboring pastures?

Allotment #0426, on the southwest side of the HMA, offers 1,021 AUMs per year on 47,850 acres, for a production rate of 21 AUMTA.

Allotment #0420, on the northwest side of the HMA, provides 1,056 AUMs per year on 21,882 acres, for a production rate of 48 AUMTA.

Allotment #0430, on the east side of the HMA, has 4,202 AUMs per year on 43,654 acres, for a production rate of 96 AUMTA.

What can you conclude about these numbers?  Land is much more productive when it’s designated for livestock.  Productivity drops sharply when it’s earmarked for horses.

That’s why AMLs are small and true AMLs are much larger.

RELATED: Paisley Desert Horses Get Short End of Stick.

The event started October 10.  Gather stats through November 3:

• Horses captured: 1,851
• Goal: 2,400
• Deaths: 9
• Returned: 150
• Shipped: 1,246

No gather activity on Day 23.

Two deaths occurred on Day 23 and three on Day 25, all due to pre-existing conditions.

Foals accounted for 22.2% of the horses gathered since October 10.  Of the captured adults, approximately 46% were males and 54% were females.  Body condition scores are not known.

Thirty two horses were returned to their home range since the last update.  The number treated with fertility control is now 75.

The number of unaccounted-for horses is 446.  The contractor may be holding them on site.

The release of captured horses may indicate the operation has concluded in one area and has resumed in another.

The reports don’t say where the helicopters are flying.  Five HMAs are involved in the roundup.

RELATED: Red Desert Roundup Day 22.

BLM announced today the signing of a categorical exclusion and decision record authorizing the removal of approximately 75 wild horses from private lands in the Piceance-East Douglas HMA, subject to a 30-day appeal period.

The documents were approved last week but the news release appeared today.  It’s not an announcement of a roundup but the intent to round up wild horses.

The operation would be carried out in a grazing allotment at the north end of the HMA and probably wouldn’t be open to public observation due to the method of capture.

The HMA covers 190,130 acres in western Colorado and has an AML of 235, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 1.2 horses per thousand acres.

The number of allotments intersecting the HMA and the amount of forage allocated to livestock are not known.

The current wild horse population in and around the HMA is approximately 1,200.

About three dozen animals have died over the last two weeks and the number is expected to rise, according to a report posted yesterday by AP News.

The burros live in an area between Moreno Valley and Colton, CA and are managed at the county level.

RELATED: Reche Canyon Burro Rescued from Sinkhole.

The Paisley Desert HMA covers 297,802 acres in central Oregon and has an AML of 150, according to a 2009 Environmental Assessment for wild horse management actions over a ten year period.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find a current assessment and record of decision in the NEPA register, which may explain why the roundup last month was carried out on an emergency basis.  The appendices and maps were not provided with the old EA and ROD.

The horses allowed by plan require 1,800 AUMs per.  The stocking rate allowed by plan is 0.5 horses per thousand acres.

The HMA intersects four allotments.  The map packet in the 2003 Lakeview RMP shows them, along with many others, but does not show the HMA boundary.  A rough outline has been added by Western Horse Watchers, suggesting that all of the land inside the HMA is subject to permitted livestock grazing.

Table 1 in the EA provides grazing seasons and forage allocations inside the HMA.

The management plan assigns 10,151 AUMs per year to livestock, 1,800 AUMs per year to horses and 624 AUMs per year to wildlife.

The Christmas Lake grazing season is 9.5 months per year.  The CL permittee would have to place 484 cow/calf pairs inside the HMA to graze off 4,598 AUMs in that time frame.  The estimated herd sizes for the other three allotments are 882, 300 and 238 cow/calf pairs, respectively, for a total of 1,904 cow/calf pairs inside the HMA.

The estimated stocking rate is 1,904 ÷ 297,802 × 1,000 = 6.4 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres and the weighted average grazing season is 5.3 months per year.

These figures are compared in the following charts.

The HMA is managed primarily for livestock.  Wild horses receive just 15% of the total authorized forage, excluding wildlife, providing more evidence that fractional stocking rates correlate with large amounts of forage diverted to privately owned livestock.

The forage assigned to livestock would support an additional 846 horses, for a true AML of 996.

The 350 horses remaining after the roundup put the HMA at 0.4X AML, not 2.3X AML.

The pre-gather population of 1,050 contained 54 excess horses, not 900.

If livestock aren’t free to move from one allotment to another, how are the horses supposed to do that?  The map above only shows the allotment boundaries, it does not show the pastures within the allotments.  The place must be crawling with fences.

RELATED: Paisley Desert Preview.

On the Virginia Range with SKYNNET PRO LLC.

Most of the AUMs in the HMA are assigned to the ZX Ranch.

A 1994 report by AP News says it’s owned by the J.R. Simplot Company.  A 2017 story by American Cowboy provides details.

If you knew it would you buy it?

Volunteers with Wild Horse Connection are using unnatural methods “to make sure the horses stay in their natural habitat,” according to a story posted today by KOLO News of Reno.  If feeding wild horses is a good idea, why is it illegal?

RELATED: Volunteers Needed for Virginia Range Feeding Program.

Here are the forage allocations for the Paisley Desert HMA, as presented in Table 1 of the Final EA for wild horse management actions therein.

The HMA intersects four allotments and has a Herd Area Management Plan (HMAP).

Would you say it’s managed principally for wild horses?

The Saint Patricks allotment is 100% inside the HMA but livestock receive over 20 times more forage than horses on that parcel.

The EA said on page 27 that solar-powered wells were proposed for the HMA to provide water for the horses but over 700 of them were removed last month due to lack of water.