BLM said today that the gather was suspended due to weather conditions that allowed the mustangs to move to higher elevations, evading capture.

As of yesterday, 294 excess horses had been removed from their home range, with nine deaths and no animals returned.

The operation will resume in January, according to the news release, when the horses are expected to return to the valleys.

RELATED: Seaman Range and White River Herds to Be Downsized.

The WHB Act no longer affords the protections sought by Velma.

RELATED: Multiple Use – The Old Days.

An unexpected guest startles a Virginia Range mustang on 10-31-19.

Animal Wellness Action, a lobbying group in Washington D.C., said today that wild horse advocates met at the U.S. Capital on Saturday to protest the ill-conceived management plan for wild horses and burros.

They said the Marr Plan was a better option, according to the news release.

The proposal calls for the removal of livestock from public lands—not all, just some—but it’s a step in the right direction.

RELATED: Outside the Box.

On Pryor Mountains WHR with Pryor Wild.

This little guy hasn’t been named yet according to the roster at the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center, but it will begin with ‘T,’ following the naming convention created by the BLM and subsequently enhanced by wild horse enthusiasts.

RELATED: History of the Pryor Mountain Horses.

BLM said yesterday that 159 employees now in Washington, D.C. were notified of their reassignment to offices in the western U.S., with 40 of those jobs moving to the new headquarters in Grand Junction, CO.

Affected personnel have 30 days to accept.  Individuals who decide to relocate will receive an incentive equal to 25% of base pay, according to the news release.

RELATED: BLM Picks New Headquarters.

The forage assigned to livestock on the Challis HMA would support _____ additional wild horses.  The AML is 253.

(a) 68

(b) 213

(c) 495

(d) 775

(e) 977

Answer: E (11,725 ÷ 12).

BONUS QUESTION: The number of animals computed above represents _____ % of the horses in long-term holding.

RELATED: Binge Grazing at Challis HMA.

Livestock may be few and far between on the Virginia Range but so are the foals.

RELATED: Livestock Notably Absent.

Along the Verde River in central Arizona with IO.  Volume up.

Trailcam photos of some drinking buddies on the Virginia Range.

Small band of Virginia Range mustangs in a residential area, filmed by Julie Deloach.

Now you know what the white stripes on the edge of the road are for.

BLM said today that 295 wild horses had been gathered from the HMA, taking the herd from 429 animals to 134.  No deaths were reported and the number of horses to be returned has yet to be determined.  The post-gather population target is 185.

Captured mares will be treated with contraceptives before being returned to their home range, according to the news release, and the sex ratio of the herd will be altered to slow population growth.

The gather stats included 14 geldings and 43 foals.  After deducting the geldings from the total, the youngsters accounted for 15% of the horses captured.

RELATED: Challis Wild Horses to Experience ‘Thriving Ecological Balance.’

On Sand Wash Basin HMA with HighStakesRanch.

This story was in the news a few days ago but was passed over because the original site was fouled with ads and tracking software.

But this syndicated version by Fox News of St. Louis is readable.

Visitors to the park had been feeding the animals and they became a bit too friendly, so they were removed and put up for adoption.

Hand feeding is one of the best ways to make a horse pushy and disrespectful.

RELATED: Wild Horses in Missouri?, Echo Bluff Horses Featured in Kid’s Section of Washington Post.

Short video from the Black Mountain HMA by John Hynek.  Nice to see the youngster!

RELATED: PZP Zealots Target Black Mountain Burros.

What body condition scores would you assign to these Virginia Range mustangs?

The wild horse population density in this area is ten times higher than that set by the BLM for lands they manage.

Surely you’ll choose 1’s and 2’s, not because of what you see in the photos, but because of what you’ve been told by the PZP zealots and public-lands ranchers.

RELATED: Livestock Notably Absent.

This 46-minute radio segment by KNPR of Las Vegas features J.J. Goicochea, Nevada state veterinarian and public-lands rancher, Greg Hendricks, director of field operations for American Wild Horse Campaign, and Celeste Carlisle, WHBAB member and science advisor for Return to Freedom.  Listener comments included.

How can the ranchers fatten their cattle on lands where horses are starving?

RELATED: The ‘Path Forward’ is Wrong, Livestock Grazing in Nevada.

The population density on the Virginia Range is about ten wild horses per thousand acres, compared to an average of two or three wild horses per thousand acres on lands managed by the BLM.  The aimed-at population density on those lands is one wild horse per thousand acres (to be achieved by the glorious ‘Path Forward’).

Why not ten on BLM lands?  Because most of the forage has been assigned to privately owned livestock.  That’s what drives the roundups and warehousing of wild horses.

The shooting occurred in the Lincoln National Forest so the case was turned over to the Forest Service, according to a report posted today by Ruidoso News.

The wild horses of Alto, NM were returned to their home range a year ago after a judge ruled that the state livestock board had taken them into custody illegally.

The incident follows the Clark Mountain wild burro shootings in California and Heber wild horse shootings in Arizona.  No arrests have been made in those cases.