Deep water, good food.  H/T Julie Ann.

RELATED: Life on the Salt River.

Virginia Range mustangs at Hidden Valley Regional Park, east of Reno, NV.  The fence was probably installed by volunteers, to keep the horses away from populated areas and hazards related thereto.

Unfortunately, it may impair their ability to find water so the other part of the equation is to provide water where you want them to roam, a concept known as ‘diversionary watering.’  Keeping them wild and up in the hills is a good thing.

H/T Dr. Jennifer Jewell, PhD.

Virginia Range mustangs grazing on private property about an hour before sunset.

An approximate timeline of the wild horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and how they came to the Kuntz ranch.

1876

Sitting Bull and his followers defeat George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  Victory was short-lived, as the federal government sent thousands of additional soldiers to the area.

1877

Sitting Bull and some of his followers flee (on horseback) to Canada under pressure of the federal troops.  They find it difficult to find enough food to feed their people.

1881

Sitting Bull and his men, driven by hunger and desperation, return to the U.S. and surrender at Fort Buford (North Dakota).  They are disarmed and demobilized.

1882 – 1884

Horses confiscated from Sitting Bull are sold to the public, changing hands several times, until a group of 250 was purchased by the Marquis de Mores and moved to Medora, ND, a town he established.

Early 1900s

Horses from the Medora area escaped or were turned loose by their owners (who couldn’t afford to keep them or no longer needed them due to the advent of machinery).  Some migrated to an area known as the Little Missouri Badlands.

Mid 1900s

Wild horses were considered pests by local ranchers, because they competed with their livestock for food and water.  Many were rounded up and sold for slaughter or shot on the spot, with the cooperation of state and federal agencies.

1947

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is established by President Truman, taking in and protecting some of the Badlands, along with the Medora horses living there.

Early 1970s

After returning from the Vietnam War, Leo Kuntz discovers the horses in TRNP and starts spending time there to settle his mind.

1980s

NPS decides to replace the native horses of TRNP with those of other breeds, believing that animals descended from other bloodlines would sell better at future herd-management auctions.  The horses are rounded up and offered for sale.  Leo, seeing an end to the Medora line, buys some of the horses to preserve them.  He moves them to his ranch near Linton, ND, where they are bred to maintain and improve their Spanish characteristics.  He calls them ‘Nokotas.’

1990s

The Nokota herd grows in size, at one time reaching 600 head.  Leo and brother Frank dedicate all of their resources to caring for the horses.  They were named state horse of North Dakota in 1993.

1999

The non-profit Nokota Horse Conservancy is created.

2000

The remaining Nokota horses are removed from TRNP.  Those observed today are only an exhibit, no longer related to the original Medora horses.

2018

Leo Kuntz dies, leaving the Nokota herd to family, friends and supporters.  Refer to the Nokota Horse Preservation Ranch web site and FB page for more info.

See also the documentary at this post and the videos at this page.

It’s a pinto colt, born today to a mare named Giggles.  See the report posted today by WMDT in Salisbury, MD.

The birth comes two days after a two year old colt was put down following an accident with a motor vehicle.

A two year old colt hit by a vehicle last week on Assateague Island has been put down, according a story posted yesterday in Delmarva Now.  The horse was reported down in a salt marsh and unable to stand.  He was injured on 08/06/18 but allowed to roam freely after assessing his condition.

Wild horses grazing on private property just before dusk, 08/10/18.

Look closely at the images between 0:13 and 0:17.  Now you know.  The wild horse narrative is just that…a cover story.  Filmed on the Green Mountain HMA.

H/T American Wild Horse Campaign.

RELATED: Red Desert Gather Announced.

A youngster steps out from behind some trees, 08/10/18.

Water deliveries to the Sand Wash Basin HMA have doubled in the last few days according to a story posted 08/14/18 in Steamboat Today.  Personnel with Wild Horse Warriors are now bringing 3400 gallons of water to the mustangs.

Continued dry conditions in northwest Colorado, where the HMA is found, may prompt an emergency gather.  BLM staff are monitoring the situation.

A fence around the HMA prevents the horses from moving to greener pastures.  What might be on the other side?  Who would benefit if the horses are confined to a fixed area and can’t reach better sources of food and water?

RELATED: Advocates Bringing Water to Sand Wash Horses.

Captured horses look good.  So much for the wild horse narrative and claims of overpopulation and malnutrition.  See the photos posted yesterday by the Daily Mail.

Some of the horses involved in the gather are no longer available for comment.

The report did not indicate if cattle and sheep were present on the affected lands.

Also omitted from the coverage are the names of the shitweasels who hide in the shadows while the Bureau of Livestock Multiplication does their dirty work.

RELATED: AWHC Urges BLM to Stop Bible Springs Roundup.

Virginia Range mustangs grazing on private land an hour before sunset, 08/10/18.

BLM will remove up to 140 wild burros from the Chemehuevi HMA in southern California, beginning on 08/15/18, according to a news release posted today.  The method of capture will be bait traps.  Justification for the roundup was public safety and vehicle hazards.  Accommodations for public observation were not addressed.

Captured animals will be taken to the Ridgecrest Off-Range Corrals to be prepared for adoption or purchase.

The HMA is bounded by Hwy 95 on the west and the Colorado River on the east.  It covers 138,333 acres and has an AML of 108, for an aimed-at population density of 0.78 animals per thousand acres.

A link for gather stats and daily reports was not provided in the announcement nor was the current population of burros.

On the Salt River, Tonto National Forest.  H/T Robert Phelps.

Feeding wild horses is not recommended.  Aggressiveness and obnoxiousness are learned behaviors.

Somebody will get hurt, people will complain and the horses will be removed from the range.

RELATED: Horse Befriended by Campers Removed from Big Summit WHT.

RELATED: How to Make Your Horse Pushy and Disrespectful, Part 2.

Wild horses removed from the Three Fingers HMA in eastern Oregon after the 2016 Cherry Road Fire will not be returned to their home range, according to a report in Capital Press dated 08/10/18.

The fire burned about 90% of the Wildhorse Basin Pasture on the north end of the HMA, which was inhabited by the majority of the horses.  The Riverside pasture in the south, inhabited by a smaller percentage of the horses, was not affected.  Movement between the two pastures is limited by steep and rugged terrain.  Refer to the BLM Emergency Gather Plan for details.

Removal occurred in the Wildhorse Basin Pasture.

BLM argued that horses will migrate from the south and re-establish the herd in the north.

Advocates disagreed, noting that the animals tend to be territorial and in this case would not attempt to cross to the north.

The decision leaves the northern part of the HMA basically free of horses, which may be good news for the government serfs.

Wild horses removed from the nearby Sands Basin HMA after the 2015 Soda Fire were recently returned to their home range.

Swift current, good eats.  H/T Julie Ann.

Looking west across the old Geiger Grade Road, toward Mt. Rose.  Materials and supplies came up the hill, silver and gold flowed out.  Built in 1862, it was a toll road to Virginia City and the Comstock Lode.

A few hundred feet to the south is a straightaway known as Five Mile Flat, an area frequented by the Virginia Range mustangs.

Small band grazing on the Virginia Range, about an hour before sunset.  One of them comes in for a closer look.

The sniffing noise at 1:25 and 2:05 is normal, it means the horse is collecting information about you for his/her database.  Something that should happen when gentling a mustang or working with a new horse.

Filmed 08/10/18.

Looking west to Mt. Rose from Geiger Grade (road to Virginia City).  Filmed 08/10/18.