On the Salt River.  H/T Mark Formo.

Ten wild stallions will be removed from the Fish Springs area next week, according to a report posted today by The Record-Courier of Gardnerville, NV.  Written complaints to the BLM have described their behavior as ‘aggressive.’   Damage to private property and a concern for personal safety were also cited in the complaints.

“A formal request for their removal was submitted by the Pine Nuts Wild Horse Advocates group.”

Bait traps will be used to capture the ‘excess’ stallions.

In September the BLM demanded that the Fish Springs herd be reduced from 78 horses to 58 by 2020.  Could it be that the PN ‘advocates’ see this as opportunity to partially achieve that goal?  Will they help the BLM set the traps?

The Fish Springs horses reside in the Pine Nut Mountains Herd Area, south of the Pine Nut Mountains HMA.

See also this news release issued today by the BLM.

RELATED: BLM Dictates Terms of Surrender to Fish Springs Advocates.

Sessions is out.  Who’s next?  See the report posted yesterday by The Hill.

One million AUMs consumed by horses and burros on western rangelands in a year, compared to nine million AUMs for cattle and sheep.  Eighty thousand horses and burros, millions of cattle and sheep.

But the helicopters never chase any livestock, only the horses and burros.  Who will clean up this mess?  Classic ‘swamp.’

RELATED: Population Densities on Western Rangelands.

That’s what ranchers in northern Colorado said about wild horses in 1904.  Although the story is much the same across western rangelands today, the horses have survived and some have become rock stars.  One such example is the Sand Wash Basin.  Refer to this story posted 11/06/18 by the Craig Press for a perspective of this herd.

Refer to this post which appeared this evening in Carol Walker’s Wild Hoofbeats blog.

“…the BLM has withdrawn completely…”

RELATED: Sterilization Delay in the News.

UPDATE: See this report by Oregon Live, dated 11/07/18.

Fifty wild burros will be the subject of an emergency gather this week north of Lake Havasu City, AZ, due to safety concerns along Highway 95.  Refer to this story, posted this morning by Havasu News.

The burros may be associated with the Havasu HMA, which surrounds the city, or Black Mountain HMA, the southern tip of which appears at the top of the map (blue borders).

The report did not indicate how the roundup would be conducted and if it would be open to public observation.  Captured animals will be taken to a BLM facility in Florence, AZ where they will be prepared for adoption.

A formal announcement from the BLM had not been released at the time of writing.

Near the Salt River.  H/T Robin Bender Knight.

They’re getting re-acquainted with their old digs after being returned to the range on 10/27/18.  But volunteers are concerned about their safety near Highway 48 and have asked the New Mexico Department of Transportation to install warning signs to remind motorists of their presence.  Refer to this story, posted 11/02/18 by Ruidoso News.

RELATED: Alto Horses Free Again.

A necropsy was performed before the horses were buried, according to a brief report posted today by the White Mountain Independent of Show Low, AZ.  The $2,500 reward offered by the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office is still available.  Officials are unable to comment on the investigation at this time.

RELATED: No Comment by Forest Service on Heber Wild Horse Shooting.

A horse on Chintogeaue Island, VA has died of a fungal infection, despite an attempt to save her via surgery.  Refer to this story, which appeared today in The Virginian-Pilot.

The affliction usually produces lesions on the lower limbs.  Horses can become infected through a wound if they stand in water containing the pathogen.

At least seven ponies on the island have contracted the illness and seem to be recovering from the surgery, but it’s a slow process according to the volunteers who care for them.

The roundup is complete, according to news reports, but the page with gather stats and daily reports says this:

Ninety three horses were gathered from the WHR, with forty returned and no deaths.

Body condition scores ranged from three to five, not exactly what you’d expect in an area that was overpopulated.  The problem was not lack of food.  Could it be that the forage loss was more than the public-lands ranchers were willing to tolerate?

RELATED: Helicopter Ops Ended at Little Bookcliffs WHR.

The helicopter roundup at Warm Springs HMA ended on 10/23/18 but the BLM has not formally announced it.  Refer to the gather stats and daily reports for this blurb:

There’s your news release.  Are they ashamed of the things they’re doing to the horses, for the ranchers?  Why are they trying to hide the truth?

Here are the results: 846 animals gathered (including 41 burros and 2 mules), one horse returned to the range (by accident), 32 deaths (3.8%).  The stated goal, when the gather was announced, was 652 animals.

News reports, such as this one posted yesterday by the rancher-friendly Capital Press, ignore the fatalities and inhumane treatment by the BLM and its contractor(s).

The pre-gather population was estimated to exceed 800 animals.  The stud that escaped must be very lonely.   The story by CP said only twenty to thirty remained.  The next step, of course, is to cut the ovaries out of 100 mares and return them to the HMA along with 100 intact mares and some stallions, under the guise of ‘research.’

On 10/03/18, a two month old filly died from a head injury after being captured and a three month old filly died of ‘gather myopathy’ after she was moved to a holding pen.

On 10/04/18 a three year old mare died of a broken neck after running into a panel while being sorted.

On 10/05/18 eleven horses were ‘humanely euthanized’ for various deformities.

On 10/15/18 a six month old filly died of ‘gather myopathy’ after she was moved to a holding pen.

On 10/16/18 a yearling captured the previous day died at the holding corrals due to pneumonia.

On 10/19/18 a yearling died after capture, also due to pneumonia.

Other deaths were the result of ‘humane euthanization.’  The reports did not indicate if it was carried out by lethal injection or multiple rounds to the abdomen.

Survivors will be available for adoption in January 2019.

RELATED: BLM Hauls Water to Warm Springs Horses?

On this day we count our blessings….which might include too much food and football!

Wild horses of the Virginia Range, south of Virginia City.  H/T Base Camp Chris.

Six wild horses that tried repeatedly to cross the North Carolina state line into Virginia have been apprehended and placed at a rescue, according to a story that appeared yesterday in The News & Observer of Raleigh, NC.

They had been returned to their home territory six or seven times, but were determined to reach Virginia.  Officials were concerned they would end up in populated areas, so after being declared a nuisance by the Department of the Interior (hard to believe, I know), they were rounded up.

Poor things, they only wanted a better life in Virginia Beach.  With a little training, they could have done work that other horses wouldn’t do.  What a bunch of equinophobes!

Friends of a Legacy, a group that works with the BLM to manage the wild horses of McCullough Peaks HMA in northern Wyoming, has received a $5000 grant from ASPCA to support a fertility control program started in 2004, according to a story posted today in the Cody Enterprise.

“The program has lowered birth rates in the herd management area and the reduced population has benefitted habitat for the wild horses, wildlife and domestic cattle that share the public land.”

The AML for the area is 140 animals, which has nothing to do with the carrying capacity of the land.  Rather, it represents an acceptable forage loss.  By keeping the wild horse population in check, more food is available for livestock.

Welcome to the new reality of western rangelands.  Areas set aside in 1971 for horses and burros are now managed primarily for cattle and sheep.

Anything for the public-lands ranchers.

Wild horses rounded up in 2016 were released on 10/27/18 into the area they previously inhabited, according to a report posted today by the Ruidoso News.

A district court judge ruled earlier this month that the New Mexico Livestock Board had no jurisdiction in the case, allowing their return to the range.

RELATED: Judge Rules in Favor of Alto Wild Horses.

On the Verde and Salt Rivers.  H/T Laurel Strohmeyer.

Advocates from Wild Horse Warriors are no longer hauling water to the herd, as rains have refilled their ponds.  Tanks seen in this video will be removed.

RELATED: Volunteers Keep Sand Wash Horses on the Range.

UPDATE: Post edited per WHW FB page.

They actually mentioned livestock and public-lands ranching.  The remarks at 1:32 and 1:39 contradict information at the Devil’s Garden web site.  Closed for use by cattle ranchers?  These areas don’t have cattle in them now?  Since when, yesterday?

Has the WHB Act been inverted?  With over 10,000 animals gathered so far this year, you might be thinking that lands set aside for wild horses and burros are now being managed primarily for cattle and sheep.

RELATED: Lies of Omission at Devil’s Garden WHT.