Colorado Wildfires – What does it mean for our wild horses?

A lot of folks have been asking us about all the wildfires that are happening in the state of Colorado. There are a lot of them occurring.

One question on a lot of peoples’ minds: what does this mean for the wild horses?

Right now, none of the fires burning in the state are threatening any of the wild horse herds in Colorado.

One dun Colorado band stallion

A Public Call to Action for the removal & possible slaughter sale of Arizona wild horses

Cross-posted from The Conquistador Program

Press Release:  For immediate release

PUBLIC CALLED TO ACTION TO PREVENT THE REMOVAL & POSSIBLE SALE TO SLAUGHTER OF ARIZONA WILD HORSES WHOSE HISTORY TRACES TO 17^TH CENTURY MISSIONARY

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) indicate that the US Forest Service may remove horses from the Tonto national Forest without period for public comment or environmental impact study

 (Phoenix, AZ May 31, 2012).  The Conquistador Equine Rescue and Advocacy Program (CERAP), a 501c3 equine rescue and advocacy charity, has received material under the Freedom of Information Act indicating that the United States Forest Service (USFS) may be considering the imminent removal of unbranded, free-roaming wild horses living along the Salt River on the Tonto National Forest (TNF) near metropolitan Phoenix in Arizona.

Two Girls, One Very Battered Tent, and a Herd of Wild Horses

(A.K.A. How I Spent My St. Patrick’s Day Weekend – A note from Lauryn)

Dear Wild Horse & Burro Friends;

Some of you may remember my first trip to the Sand Wash Basin herd back in June, 2011. We didn’t see very many horses, but we were also clueless where to go. That’s why we got the low-down ahead of time—before St. Patrick’s Day weekend rolled around. With detailed instructions from Sand Wash expert Nancy Roberts, I drove up to Denver to meet fellow wild horse advocate and enthusiast Rachel Reeves. We loaded up Rachel’s dad’s pickup on Friday evening (complete with instructions), and drove the winding roads to Craig, arriving at the little motel just shy of midnight.

Our instructions from Rachel's dad

A Snowy Visit to the Pryors

Sunday, March 3, was a warm, sunny day in the Pryors. The mountain was blanketed from top to bottom with a fresh coat of wet snow. This is great for future forage production, although it made accessing the range a challenge—but that’s part of the adventure!

A very snowy Sykes Ridge

We drove just a few miles up Tillett Ridge “Road” (more like a rocky obstacle course), when we spotted the new band stallion, Grijala, and his little family foraging on a hillside. Just a few miles past them we found Jackson and his expanded family. The hefty, coyote dun stallion had somehow acquired part of Cloud’s band! While it is great that Cloud’s daughters, Dancer and coming 3 year-old, Jasmine, are with the Jackson band, we were surprised to see that Cloud’s young mare, Ingrid and her cute little dun foal, Lynx, were also with him.

Cedar & Onaqui Mountain Roundup – Feb. 2012

These photos are from the Onaqui/Cedar Mountain roundup in mid-February 2012 southwest of Salt Lake. Some photos are of the release of mares and stallions as well. All released mares were treated with PZP. All photos were taken by Lisa Friday.

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National Wild Horse & Burro Protest Day

March 1, 2012

Dear Friends of Cloud and the Wild Horses;

I fear for our wild horses that have been captured and are now in government holding facilities. Why has Secretary Salazar appointed yet another pro horse slaughter person to the BLM’s National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board?

Please read the following, mark your calendars, and on March 1st act to block the appointment of this latest threat to all captive wild horses.

Happy Trails!

Ginger

Safe in the wild, Cloud enjoys a foggy morning.

Stone Cabin Wild Horses Released – Feb. 2012

For the hundreds and thousands that are removed from the wild, there are still a lucky few who are released back. The Stone Cabin Wild Horse Complex roundup in eastern Nevada removed over 600 horses from their rangelands. Here are some of those that got the chance to go back home. Their families have been splintered, but at least they are free again. Photos of are both mares and stallions. All mares were treated with the infertility drug PZP. All photos were taken by Elyse Gardner, who was on site for the release. You can check out her reports from the field at her Humane Observer blog here.

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Nevada Wild Horses Get a Win

Dear Wild Horse & Burro Defenders;

There are good days and bad days, but Tuesday was a great day! The Cloud Foundation, Western Watersheds Project, and American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) achieved another victory for the wild horses of the Pancake Complex in Nevada. The U.S. Dept. of Justice signed an agreement Tuesday cancelling plans to round up 198 mustangs living in the U.S. Forest Service’s Monte Cristo Wild Horse Territory.

Our legal challenge prevented not only the removal of the Monte Cristo horses, it blocked BLM’s attempt to geld 200 stallions and return them to the range, and to zero out the entire Jakes Wash herd.

Wild horses in eastern Nevada

Park Service Puts Up Pryor Signage

Park Service Puts Up Pryor Signage

Dear Supporters of the Pryor Wild Horse Herd;

I want to share the following letter we received this week from the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (BCNRA) regarding signage which they have erected along the paved Park Highway. It alerts motorists that there are animals on the road. We appreciate your emails and letters encouraging this action by the BCNRA in response to the hit and run deaths of the band stallion, Admiral, and his yearling son, Climbs High (Kapitan is his BLM name) along the park highway last summer.

Climbs High, May 2011

As you may recall, the driver of a truck, Adam Finn of Germantown TN, was intoxicated when he ran them down at 2 am  on July 24th. His case is being heard in the Lander, WY U.S. District Court and, as yet, no decision has been reached. Mr. Finn drove away from the accident, but his truck broke down about a mile from the crime scene. Authorities found him still drunk in his truck the next morning.

We appreciate the signage which the BCNRA put up this fall to alert drivers that animals may be on the road. It is common to see not only wild horses, but bighorn sheep and deer as well as smaller animals along the highway, hence the generic nature of the signs.

Photo Courtesy: Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

Thanks for speaking up. Your voices made a difference!

Happy Trails!
Ginger

 

Sierra’s Return: The Journey of a Freedom Fund Mare (New video!)

Dear Friends of Cloud’s Herd & the Freedom Fund horses;

As many of you know, a devastating 2009 roundup of Cloud’s Herd in the Pryor Mountains included the permanent removal of an entire sub-population of Pryor Mustangs living outside the designated boundaries of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range on Commissary Ridge in the Custer National Forest.

Sierra & the rest of her band driven into the trap atop Commissary Ridge, Sept. 2009

Those horses included then 21 year-old Grumpy Grulla, Raven’s mare for many years, and 19 year-old,Conquistador, the striking dun who Cloud fought with in my first PBS documentary about the Pryor wild horses. In all, we ended up with four little bands, which included a blaze-faced, 13 year-old chestnut mare named Sierra.  I have known her all her life, and I knew the three foals I can confirm she gave birth to. The first two foals were likely killed by mountain lions, but the third—the light sorrel with the blazed-face lived to adulthood.